How Many Cloth
Diapers Do I Need?
When parents first take to the idea of cloth diapering
their baby, they easily overwhelm themselves with both the choices and variety
of cloth diapers and cloth diapering accessories available. "How
many diapers should I buy?" is the most common question, but the answer is not
the same for everyone.
If you are new to cloth diapering, we would always
recommend trying out a few different things before investing in any one system.
Best option is to buy one of each of the most popular diapers for you to “test
the waters” and discover what will work best for your family. Keep in mind that
usually the best systems involve using a little bit of everything. After all,
each type of cloth diaper, diaper cover and cloth diapering combination can
serve a very different purpose. What's best for overnight use, may not be the
trimmest for day use. And what's you use for day use may not be the most
convenient for trips out of the home.
The most agreed upon number of cloth diapers preferred in a full-time
cloth diaper stash is a minimum of 18. With 18 cloth diapers, you can develop a
washing system of every other day. If you desire to wash your diapers less
frequently than every 2nd day, you will obviously need a larger stash. Some
parents initially purchase MORE cloth diapers for this reason, but please know
that cloth diapers are not intended to sit in a pail for more than 3 days
without being washed; the longer a soiled diaper remains in a cloth diaper pail
unwashed, the longer you will work to treat any stains, not to mention the
stink. I do NOT recommend leaving your diapers for longer than 3 days between washing.
Every 2 days is optimal for best cleaning results.
Full-Time Cloth Diapering
For the first year and 1/2, full-time cloth diapering
requires a minimum of 18 diapers cloth diapers. As your baby grows to
toddlerhood, he or she will wet less frequently, and won't need to be changed
as often; at this point you will need fewer cloth diapers overall.
NEWBORNS
– Newborns need the largest cloth diaper stash. With newborns, especially those breastfeeding, every meal is liquid - as
a result, they have more explosive bowel movements and urinate more frequently.
As newborns develop and solid meals are added into their diet, these patterns
change to allow for less diaper usage overall. Newborns will generally go
through 10-12 diapers in a 24 hour period. Since
you don’t want to be doing laundry every single day (to reduce laundering costs
and to avoid wearing out your diapers too quickly), we recommend that you have
at least 24 diapers – enough for a non-stressful rotation. Typically, a set-up
of 24-36 diapers would get you through 2-3 days.
6 – 18 MONTHS – Once your baby is a little older, at approximately
6 months, you won’t have to change diapers as frequently. At this point, you
can have fewer diapers in your rotation and still not have to do laundry too
often. A six months old & up requires about 6-10 diapers a day. Once baby begins to roll,
crawl, pull-up on furniture, and sit up on their own, their wetting patterns
typically decrease and their cloth diaper needs change. Whereas before, baby
was just lying around, now baby is dynamic and needs a cloth diaper that can
move along with them. This is often a time when parents will modify their cloth
diaper stash to accommodate more flexibility in the thigh and waist for baby's
added comfort. If your newborn stash was made up primarily of prefolds, you can
re-purpose them as burp rags, changing pads, or diaper doublers. At this point,
16-18 cloth diapers are still recommended for a washing cycle of every other
day.
18 MONTHS – POTTY TRAINING
- When your Toddler begins to gain interest in using the 'big potty', your
cloth diaper base can be reduced significantly. Even 12 (a dozen) cloth diapers
may be more than enough, because your Toddler will no longer be considered a
full-time cloth diapered baby. Many parents will switch over to the pull-on
style of cloth diaper Training
Pants during the day and use
their regular stash for night-time
diapering.
As you can tell, there is really no need to become
overwhelmed with the question "How many diapers should I buy?" Though
it might alter slightly, overall you can count on needing 18-20 cloth diapers
for a full-time cloth diapering system from birth to 18 Months. If you are
cloth diapering your baby part-time, you can cut that number in half.
So, in
the nutshell, this answer depends on:
- The age of your baby
- If you have more than one child in cloth diapers
- If you use cloth diapers exclusively
- How often you want to wash your cloth diapers
- What style you choose
A good rule of thumb is 8-10 diapers per day for the amount of days you
won’t be washing.
Requirement of Cloth Diapers based on your washing schedule:
Number
of Cloth Diapers
|
This
will work best for….
|
8 – 10
|
Using Cloth Diapers Part-time
|
10 - 12
|
Washing every day
|
16 – 18
|
Washing every other day
|
18 – 24
|
Approximate 2 days between washing. 24 diapers is recommended as a bare
minimum for the average parent and to improve the longevity of your
diapers, reducing wear and tear.
|
24 – 36
|
Washing 2 times a week (every 2-3 days between washing).
|
36 – 48+
|
Enough cloth diapers to pass on to siblings
|
No comments:
Post a Comment