On Friday we posted about how to build a cloth diaper stash, most specifically, Emi of The Cloth Diaper Report‘s question, “How did you decide on what styles and brands of diapers to purchase.”.
Today we are going to give you a basic formula we use both in our online and brick and mortar store to calculate (don’t worry, you won’t need a calculator…I don’t think) HOW MANY cloth diapers you will need for your baby.
Are You Ready for Some Cloth Diaper Math?
Diaper changes times laundry. More diapers, wash less often. Cloth baby diaper math is that simple.
(# of diaper changes per day)
x
(# of days between washing)
__________________________
(# of diapers you need)
More diapers, wash less often
If you change your newborn baby’s diaper 12 times a day, but you only wash twice a week, you need 3-4 dozen diapers. This may be more diapers than you need. If you schedule more washing into your busy life with a newborn, you will only need about 2 dozen cloth diapers.
|
age
|
changes / day
|
washing
|
# diapers
you need |
|---|---|---|---|
|
newborn baby
|
12
|
2 times / wk
|
36 – 48
|
|
newborn baby
|
12
|
every 2 days
|
24
|
Fewer diapers, wash more often
Once your baby is a bit older, you won’t be changing diapers quite as often. For a crawling baby, 8 changes a day may mean fewer washes for you.
|
age
|
changes / day
|
washing
|
# diapers
you need |
|---|---|---|---|
|
crawling baby
|
8
|
2 times / wk
|
24 – 32
|
|
crawling baby
|
8
|
every 2 days
|
16 + extras
|
Very few diapers, wash every day
You can just make cloth diaper washing part of your daily routine. When you wash every day, you need far fewer diapers.
|
age
|
changes / day
|
washing
|
# diapers
you need |
|---|---|---|---|
|
newborn baby
|
12
|
every day
|
12 + extras
|
|
first steps baby
|
6
|
every day
|
6 + extras
|
Toddlers need fewer changes
Once your baby is talking, you may hear, “Diaper! Diaper!” Your baby will let you know when it is time to change. A toddler may even tell you before it is time. It’s time for potty training! Even when your toddler tries to get to the toilet each time, you will likely continue to change diapers for a while.
|
age
|
changes / day
|
washing
|
# diapers
you need |
|---|---|---|---|
|
toddler
|
4
|
2 times / wk
|
12 – 16
|
Ideal wash load
You can get by with 4 or 6 diapers for a toddler, but you may not want the expense of laundering so often when your toddler uses few diapers every day. It may be convenient to have 4 dozen diapers for a newborn, but does your washing machine allow enough room to clean so many diapers well? Depending on the capacity of your washer and the type of diapers you use, you may find the ideal number of diapers per load is 12 – 36 diapers.
Emergency stash, the extra diapers
What if you usually wash every other day, but you need to skip a day? What if your baby is sick and uses twice as many diapers as you expected one day?
If you keep a dozen cotton prefold diapers handy, you don’t need to worry about baby outgrowing the diapers. Then, when your toddler leaves diapers behind, these cloth baby diapers make wonderfully soft cleaning rags.
Do all of the diapers need to be the same?
No! Needs vary. There are a variety of cloth diapers and cloth diaper covers to choose from. You may find different times of day/different activities call for different styles of cloth diapers and diaper covers. If you are unsure of what to try, there are a number of cloth diaper sample packages available to discover which cloth baby diaper best fits your needs.
Bryana is the owner of 
Becca is a part-time Spanish Teacher and part-time Stay-At-Home-Mom. She's a cloth diaper expert who enjoys spending time with her family, crafting and selling her wares in her very own
Julie is a mom to three kids including a set of identical twins. Through cloth diapering her twins she developed a passion for the industry and is an avid cloth diaper advocate. You can also find her on her blog
I agree with your tip about different diapers being used for different days. We use prefolds at home, all-in-ones on outings, and fitteds with inserts overnight. We built up the collection just by looking for good diapers and ended up with a great variety of diapers we can’t live without.
I too use different diapers depending on the day. gtg
Not only are cloth baby diapers more economical, they are a tremendous benifit for the environment. Our mothers had the right idea. It may be a little more work, but in the long run it is totally worth it. Your schedule is great and thank you very much for your advice.
We have a really, really varied stash since I do cloth diaper reviews for http://www.clothdiaperreviews.com and I test them for my store as well. At last count we had over 60 kinds of diapers here. In the end, we love prefolds with covers, fitteds with wool, and all in one/pocket diaper for the diaper bag.
I like a verity of diapers as well. But I think having similar wash requirement helps. Otherwise you end up making multiple tiny loads!!
Great insights! I was looking around for resources about how o establish a sash, and i have some of my website visitors asking me for such things. Thanks, now i’m more informed!
My advice on the formula is to add one to the number of days between washes.
My baby uses about 8 diapers per day. I wash every 2 days, and based on that I have 3 days worth of diapers (24 diapers). Each load of laundry has 2 days worth of diapers in it, and I need another days worth to diaper my baby while the wash is running. I line dry my diapers so it can take some hours to dry.
I have a varied stash and the stash you would want really depends on your child, the fit of the diaper and your preference for trim fit or velcro or laundering needs. I will say thought that my 19 month old sometimes uses more diapers than my 5 month old…i have not found less diaper use as she has gotten older.
Thanks for boiling this conundrum down to a simple formula. I had the “# of changes/day” part down, but haven’t really taken into consideration how often I WANT to do laundry, so I’m washing them every night. It’s not so bad, except I’m sure I’m wearing them out faster than I need to! Guess I need to triple my stash. Shucks! ;)
thanks for the helpful information! we are planning on using cloth diapers when our baby arrives in september. i was just discussing the “formula” with my husband, and he is worried that the diapers will stink if we don’t wash every day. i’m thinking we could get by with every other day. what do y’all think?
This is such helpful information. I showed this post to my husband this weekend and it’s convinced him to let me purchase more to add to our stash. Thanks!
For us, no matter how many I have it comes down to my favorite 12-14 cloth diapers. When Sterling was born (march 09) we did laundry every other day so that my favorites were always ready.
oh and one more thing, I have been appalled at my lack of changing diapers lately but I realize from your chart that I’m not too far off. Sterling only goes through maybe 6 cloth diapers a day. He wears alot of really absorbent diapers so that makes it harder to change him!
That is some nice diaper math. I am a firm supporter of using cloth diapers. They are much better for the environment.
This is a really good chart, that is one of the biggest questions new cloth diaper users have is just how many do i need to order
Elizabeth, I’ve found that if you rinse your poopy diapers right away, (i use a small trash can in the bath tub, i wish i had a diaper sprayer) they don’t start to smell as fast. I just use a pillow case inside of a medium trash can as our diaper pail and I wash every other day. My husband has a very sensitive nose and he has never complained so I must be doing something right!
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