When I first found out my daughter was pregnant, I instantly set out to develop a diaper/wipe stockpile. During my own pregnancies, I did not, and I paid the price for it. Literally. Do you know how many baby wipes per month I was using? Tons! Diapers and wipes are expensive. The goal behind the diaper/wipe stockpile was to save money and buy them on sale. However, you can’t just randomly buy diapers or you wind up with too much of one size and not enough of another size.
There’s nothing wrong with having to pick up an extra pack, but if you find that you are running back to the store every few weeks you don’t save as much money as you could. I did the math according to weight, did the calculations and developed a comprehensive list before I began building this stockpile.
In this article
Newborn Diapers
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Most babies, with the exception of my preemie grandson, leave the hospital in newborn diapers. These diapers are designed to fit a baby until they are eight pounds. I stretched ours a bit and they fit him snug until almost nine pounds. It’s important to remember that most babies are born weighing 5-8 pounds, and some are larger than that, so you will not use a lot of newborn diapers.
If you do your own calculations, it’s important to remember that babies use approximately 10 diapers a day. They pee and poop more at this age than they do as they get older. Also, keep in mind how fast babies grow. Most newborn babies gain about 1 ounce a day, which leads to 1 pound per 1 1/2 weeks. So, if your baby weighs 6 pounds, they will only use newborn diapers for approximately 2 weeks.
If babies use 10 diapers per day for 14 days, you would need 140 newborn diapers.
Size 1 Diapers
Pampers Swaddlers Size 1 diapers are made for babies that are 8-14 pounds. At this time, most babies are over one year old. They usually start to pee a little less than they previously did. Instead of several wet diapers a day, you will start to see babies having fewer wet diapers, but the diapers will be much wetter than they were before.
Keep in mind that every baby is different, so you might not see this until they are 2 months old. Assuming that you’re building a diaper stockpile like I was, we’ll say that babies still use 10 diapers a day to make sure that you don’t run out.
On average, babies at this age are still growing quickly. You can expect to see them grow 2 pounds a month. If you have a preemie that uses a baby formula with an increased calorie amount, expect them to grow a little quicker. Based on this information, you’ll need approximately 1200 size one diapers.
Size 2 Diapers
Size 2 diapers are designed to fit babies that are 12-18 pounds. There is a bit of an overlap with size one and three diapers, though. Babies can fit size 1 diapers until they are 14 pounds, and size 3 diapers start at 16 pounds. Because of this, you only need size 2 diapers for those little four pounds in the middle. Assuming your baby is still growing on schedule, he’ll be in size two diapers for 2 months. If he’s still using 10 diapers a day, that equals out to about 600 Size 2 diapers.
Size 3 Diapers
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Size 3 diapers will fit babies that are 16-28 pounds. This is one of the most forgiving sizes of diapers when it comes to size.
By the time you get to size 3 diapers, you’re definitely going to see fewer wet and soiled diapers. You’ll also notice that your baby is not growing as fast as they previously did. They will more than likely only gain a pound a month. Some may grow two pounds a month. This means that they will be in size 3 diapers longer than any other size.
Assuming you will be using size 3 diapers for 9 months, and change diapers 6 times a day, you will use approximately 1620 size 3 diapers. You can use some size 2 diapers as a substitute for size 3 diapers if you like as these packages usually have more diapers per pack than larger sizes.
Size 4 Diapers
Size 4 diapers will fit babies that are 22-37 pounds. Most moms will find that they are in size 4 diapers for approximately six months. Assuming that you change your baby five times a day, you’re going to need 900 size 4 diapers.
Keep in mind that there is also a size overlap for size 3 and size 4 diapers. Size 3 diapers will fit a baby that is up to 27 pounds, while size four diapers start at 22 pounds. You can always use size 3 diapers longer to save some extra cash. Remember, the smaller the size the more diapers there are in the pack.
Size 5 diapers
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Size five diapers are for children that are over 27 pounds. By this time, your little one should be three years old. If you’re planning on potty training early, you might not even need these. Personally, I did not stock up on any size five diapers. Other moms might want to buy a pack or two just in case.
Size 6 Diapers
Size six diapers are for children that are over 35 pounds. At this point, your young one should be approximately four years old. At this point, potty training might be well underway depending on the child. My son wasn’t potty trained until he was four, and we went through a few packs of these. My daughter was potty trained at two and we never used size six diapers. Don’t add these to your diaper stockpile. Instead, wait until your son or daughter is closer to the weight limit for these to pick up a few packs.
How Many Diapers Does A Baby Use Per Month?
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If you’re not building a monstrous diaper stockpile, it can be helpful to know how many diapers does a baby use per month? During those first few months, expect your newborn baby to use 300 diapers per month. When they get older, babies will cut that in half at about 150 diapers per month.
Related Article: Do Diapers Expire?
How Many Diapers Does A Baby Use Per Year?
If you’re estimating how many diapers does a baby use per year so that you have an idea of how many diapers you’re going to need for the first year, estimate that you’re going to need about 2,500 diapers. This is a large estimate because it’s better to think of too many diapers than too few diapers.
Baby Wipes
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When your baby is younger, you can expect to use two or three wipes per diaper change. There are blowouts that might result in you using five wipes for a diaper or two. As your baby gets older, you will use less diapers and more wipes. A poopy diaper will cost you up to ten wipes. A diaper blowout might be more than that. You’ll also find yourself using wipes for sticky fingers, to clean up messes in your car and to wipe off whatever made the little one sticky in the first place. You’re going to go through a lot of baby wipes.
How Many Baby Wipes Does A Baby Use Per Year?
That leaves the question of how many baby wipes do you need? Instead of estimating that you need about 12,000 baby wipes per year as a goal, it can be less overwhelming to determine how many baby wipes per month will be used.
During the first six months, plan on using 1,000 baby wipes per month. When babies get older, estimate that at double, which would be 2,000 baby wipes per month. It can seem like a lot but remember that baby wipes are sold in large boxes with 1,000 baby wipes and are much cheaper than diapers.
If you’re planning to build a diaper and wipe stockpile to save money, start shopping early. Utilize coupons or sales and use this as a guide to save thousands of dollars. You won’t run out with this diaper stockpile guide.
