The big question every pregnant mum asks... 

How many nappies am I going to need?

because let’s be honest, you never changed a nappy before right? and if you were holding a cute little bub and it decided to poo, you sent it straight back to where it came from (mum or dad) for the change.  Even if you were one of those that had to change your younger siblings nappies, were you really keeping count of how many?

Which leaves you at, ahh pregnant and suddenly how many nappies matters!

Ok, let’s start at the beginning, a tiny little newborn.  So, yeah, these guys are small, but man do they go a lot!!  With their teeny tiny bladders and immature digestive systems, stuff just shoots through.  Sometimes with quite a rate of knots (top tip: don’t put your change table on your new carpet). 

So, you're probably looking at anything between 8-12 nappy changes a day!  Which means you are wanting about 20-30 nappies for a newborn.

• We recommend a minimum of 24 prefolds in newborn size and 6-7 covers 

At about 3-4 months your child will probably move into infant size nappies, but they are still being fed liquids only (milk) and liquid in = liquid out.  You will still need a similar number of nappies although could get away with slightly less.

• We recommend 18-24 prefolds in infant size and 6-7 covers.

The newborn and infant stage lasts for about 6 months and basically while they are being breastfed/bottle-fed.

Then when they are starting to move into solids and hitting that 6 month benchmark, they are starting to hold on for longer and go less often.  And, the poo starts getting more solid and condensed.  Now, I know talking about or even thinking about poo isn’t what usually excites people, but once that poo starts condensing and becoming more solid it means less poo, which is great because it also means less nappies.  Yah!!!

Nappy changes can be reduced to about 6-9 a day, so you’ll want to have about 12-18 nappies at this point.

• We recommend 12-18 prefolds in crawler size and 6-7 covers.

As you wee one gets old, the bladder gets bigger and they can hold for longer and their poo comes down to 1-2 a day you probably only change about 5-6 times a day and at this point you really only need about 10-12 nappies in your nappy stash.

• We recommend 12 inserts and 5 covers at toddler size.

 

 

Other things to consider

How often you wash

We have based the above number on washing your nappies every second day, but if you plan to wash every day you could reduce the numbers.  Or if you want to wash less often, then increase the numbers.

How quick they dry

If you live in a hot climate then you can get away with less nappies, but if you are in a cold or damp climate then this is where prefolds really do win the nappy drying race as they are the quickest drying nappy option.

Mixing it up with disposables

Want to use disposables at night or while out and about? You can definitely reduce the number of nappies from above (possibly even half the number), or wash less often.