How Many Diapers

When you first venture into cloth diapering, figuring out how many diapers and accessories you will need seems like a bit of a challenge. This page will go over how many diapers we have needed at various ages and guide you in Discovering What Works For Your Family based on your child`s age and your preferences for washing.

A Day of Cloth Diapers + Cloth Supplies = 1 rotation
First off, we look at each day of diapers as a rotation; X amount of diapers, X amount of inserts, Y amount of doublers, Z amount of cloth wipes and 1 hanging diaper pail. You can figure out X, Y and Z fairly easily by noting how many changes your child has per day and when he or she needs the extra absorbency of a doubler.

When our son was a newborn, he went through 8-9 diapers per day. We used doublers periodically and we often needed more than one wipe per diaper change.

For our newborn, one day of supplies (or rotation) consisted of:
9 diapers
9 inserts
3 doublers
14 wipes
1 hanging pail

At 18 months old, our son now goes through about 6-7 diapers per day. At this point we use doublers only at night, if at all. We use one wipe per diaper change and may use one or two extra for "big jobs".

For our older infant, one day of supplies (or rotation) consists of:
7 diapers
7 inserts
1 doubler
9 wipes
1 hanging pail

To figure out what one day of supplies is for your family, simply note the number of diaper changes per day, the diaper(s) when you need extra absorbency (typically at night or during naps) and how many wipes you use per changing.

changes per day = # of diapers and inserts
diapers needing extra absorbency = # of doublers
wipes per change X changes per day = # of wipes

One day of supplies (or rotation) for your family consists of:
__ diapers
__ inserts
__ doublers
__ wipes
1 hanging pail

# of days before having to wash X 1 rotation = Total Cloth Supplies
When we first started with cloth diapers, we got the number of diapers and supplies we thought we`d need for one day (or one rotation). We quickly learned that we felt somewhat chained to the washing machine and we would wash 1/2 a rotation of supplies just to ensure that we wouldn`t run out.

We decided that, while ideally we`d wash every evening, we didn`t want the diapers "hanging over our head" every night. So we have two rotations of diapers and supplies; one to use while the other one is washing. This also gives us the flexibility to skip a day of washing diapers if we are busy.

For our newborn, our total cloth stash consisted of (2 rotations):

First Rotation
9 diapers
9 inserts
3 doublers
14 wipes
1 hanging pail

Second Rotation
9 diapers
9 inserts
3 doublers
14 wipes
1 hanging pail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
18 diapers
18 inserts
6 doublers
28 wipes
2 hanging pails

For our older infant, our total cloth stash consists of (2 rotations):

First Rotation
7 diapers
7 inserts
1 doublers
9 wipes
1 hanging pail

Second Rotation
7 diapers
7 inserts
1 doublers
9 wipes
1 hanging pail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
14 diapers
14 inserts
2 doublers
18 wipes
2 hanging pails

We know some parents that do just fine with one rotation of supplies and we also know others who have three rotations. Really this decision is simply personal preference based on your schedule.

Also, don`t forget a few extras that you may need for outings. A Wahmies Fun Print Wet Bag is the prefect thing to use to bring home soiled diapers and it also works great for swimsuits too. We keep one of these in our car and one in our diaper bag just in case. A cloth changing pad also has multiple uses in a pinch. We`ve used ours as a sun shade for the stroller, a placemat mat and even a blanket.

Please let us know if I can be of further assistance in helping you determine the ideal cloth diapering stash for your family. For information on our daily routine involving our two rotations please see How We Cloth Diaper and for care instructions, please see Washing Diapers.