How Many Cloth Diapers Do You Need? And, What About Accessories?

Hi everyone! 

I'm Ruth from Viva Veltoro

Today, we're going to talk about how many cloth diapers
you'll need and all the accessories that go with them. 

How many cloth diapers will you need? 

First, you’ll have to decide how often you want to do laundry.  If you can wash every day then youdon’t need as many diapers.  Mostpeople (myself included) will tell you to wash every other day – this keeps thestink factor to a minimum.  Iwouldn’t ever try to push it past every 3 days unless it was really necessary.

If you are planning to start with a newborn you’ll probably need about36 diapers.  Newborns pee and poop all. the. time.  Most go through about 12 diapers per day so you’ll need at least 24 andthen some to wear while the laundry is going.  Most one-size (OS) diapers don’tstart to fit until 8 (more like 10) pounds so you’ll likely need specificdiapers for the newborn stage unless you just want to use disposables until yourbaby fattens up a bit and fits in OS diapers J. 

Older babies go through about 6-10 diapers a day.  Keep in mind that cloth diapers shouldbe changed about every 2 hours during the day. There are heavy duty or pocket diapers that you can stuff with moreabsorbent materials (hemp doublers, etc) for naptimes and overnightthough.  Another thing to thinkabout - the smaller your stash of diapers is the more use each one willget.  That means if you only have 20 diapers and they are washed every other day then each one will getwashed over 150 times per year.  So, don't be mad at anyone if your diaper doesn't last through 3 kids.  I'd say 24 cloth diapers would get you through washing every other day or so; if you're using covers/flats/prefolds you'd need 6-8 covers and 24+ flats or prefolds.  

What else do you need?

Depending on the cloth diapering system that you choose you may needthings like:

Pins,Snappis, or Boingos:  Theseare products that will hold the prefolds, flats, or fitteds on your baby.

Wetbags: Theseare waterproof bags that come in a slew of different sizes – some that you cancarry with you in your diaper bag, some that hang off a doorknob or yourchanging table.  Basically, it’s abag to hold your dirty diapers until wash day.  And, on wash day turn it inside out and throw it in withyour diapers. 

Pailliners: These are waterproof bags that go inside your diaper pail to store yourdirty diapers until wash day.  Onwash day, turn it inside out and wash it with your diapers.  You’ll want 2 of these – that way whenone is in the wash you’ll have the other to use. 

Creams: Regulardiaper creams (i.e. Desitin, A&D, other zinc containing creams) are NOTcloth diaper safe.  I repeat, thesecreams are NOT cloth diaper safe. The whole purpose of these creams is to create a moisture barrier, so ifyou slab that on your baby and then put him in a cloth diaper it will coat yourdiaper and make it repel (read: LEAK).  There are cloth diaper safe creams available like That’s BALM! BABY, CJ’s BUTTer, and the Grovia Magic Stick amongothers. 

Clothwipes: These are optional of course, but it makes good sense to use them.  That way when you are done wiping up amess you don’t have to fish the disposable wipe out and throw it in a separatetrash can.  You can cut up receiving blankets or use baby wash cloths as wipes if you'd like to save money.  

My little one in my favorite cloth diapering accessory - baby leg warmers!

A Special Thanks to Ruth at Viva Veltoro for this Wonderful Post!