How many diapers do I need?
How many diapers you need to diaper your child successfully depends on a few things.
Age of child, how often you want to wash, if you use cloth diapers full time or part time, and what type of cloth diapers you use.
Each child is different, both in elimination frequnecy and how much they eliminate each time. When doing laundry every other day, we would recommend having three days worth of diapers.That gives you a buffer to wash every other day, and have enough diapers to diaper your child while the others are washing/drying
The General rule of thumb while washing every other day
Newborn - 0-6 months
Typically need 10-12 diaper changes a day, so you will need 36-40 diapers if you plan to wash every other day.
Infant - 6-16 months
Typically need 8-10 changes a day, Washing every other day means you should have 24 diapers on hand.
Toddlers - 16 months+
Typically need 5-8 diaper changes a day or a minimum of 20 diapers if washing every other day.
If you want to wash less frequently, just add a day's worth of diapers, for each extra day you want to extend the diaper laundry. We do not recommend letting more than 3 days pass between laundry days, to prevent mildew, mold or ammonia building up in the diapers, as it causes the diaper to wear out more quickly.
Newborns go through a lot of diapers daily, generally they need about 10-12 changes every 24 hours. They are still eating and wetting often during the night as well, so some newborns need up to 15-18 changes. After the first 6 weeks of life some newborns poop at every diaper change, while others might only soil every three days, so that is also a factor to count for, when you know your child’s pattern. It is recommended to change the baby's diaper max every 2 hours, but for newborns this often tends to be every hour, as they pee so often. We would recommend a minimum of 36-40 diaper changes on hand for the newborn stage, for washing every other day.
As the child ages and their bladder capacity increases, the child may start to hold it longer and pee more at once instead. At this stage the child might go through fewer diapers. But it is still very individual how their frequency is. General rule is that 8-10 diapers a day should be enough. Check them every 2 hours, but if the diaper is still dry, check again every 15 minutes until they have a wet diaper. Usual recommendation would be to have a minimum of 24 changes on hand, and that should get you through the OS toddler stage.
As the child grows into their toddlerhood they might decrease their frequency even more, using 5-8 diapers every 24 hours. At this stage 20 diapers should get you through the toddler stage, with the same washing frequency.
Another variable that can affect how many diapers you need is what kind of diapers you use, and if you will be line drying or using the dryer. All in One diapers take longer time to dry vs flats that dry very quickly. So you might need to count for longer drying time when using only AIO vs using flats and covers.
