Newborn babies need lots of diapers in their first year. As a new parent, this is something that most parents don’t know. In the first month of life, your baby may need 8 to 10 diapers per day. It has been estimated during the first three months your baby may consume almost 700 disposable diapers. But don’t worry about that. As they grow old, their bladder also grows with age so this diaper change will reduce with the passage of time.
Your newborn babies will ruin lots of diapers as a result of soil and wetness in the first few weeks. It happens because there are limited activities of babies such as sleeping, eating, urinating, and the bowel movement. So if you have a newborn baby it is important for you as a parent to keep disposable or newborn cloth diapers ready every time. Most of the parents start to stock the diapers prior to the birth of a baby. There is always a question in the minds of how many diapers I need for my newborn? This number will vary with the size of an infant. It is said that a newborn baby diaper can be used until the weight of the baby is 10 pounds.
When the age of your baby reaches 6 months you may need only 5 to 6 diapers per day. It can be assured that changing a diaper every 2 hours will no longer be in practice. A report suggests that your baby will consume up to 2200 diapers in the first year. This quantity is too much but it will be reduced with the passage of time. Breast-feeding is the main reason in early age for more spoiled diapers. At this young age, they cannot fully digest milk.
The average diaper change according to the age of a newborn is given below:
During the first few months, you will feel that you are doing nothing else except changing the diapers. A number of diapers per day can actually provide you information about the health of the baby. A diaper change is a good and clear indication of whether your baby is getting enough to eat and they are hydrating sufficiently.
Newly born to one month
Newborn babies need more diapers as compared to older babies. A newly born baby may need 6 or more diapers a day. During the first month, your baby may have 3 to 4 bowel movements and peeing every time when they eat something. During the initial months, this can go up to 12 diapers a day.
One to five months
As your baby starts to grow, there will be a noticeable decrease in the amount of diaper change. Between 1 to 5 months they may consume 8 to 10 diapers per day. Babies who took breastfeed will consume more diapers as compared to those who take formula milk. It is easier for babies to digest breast milk as compared to formula milk. This will result in more bowel movements and more diaper changes.
Older than five months
Once your baby reaches the age of five months or more the bowel movement will decrease. Now the diaper quantity required will be reduced to 7 or 8 diapers per day.
What are cloth diapers?
Disposable diapers came into existence in almost 1961. But the cloth diapers have been used by parents for more than thousands of years. There are made up of a natural material like cotton. They have more absorption power as compared to disposable diapers. These diapers are available in different forms such as
- Fitted
- Contoured
- Flat
- Pre-folded
- Tied up
Most of the cloth diapers now a day’s came up with an inner layer made up of water-absorbent and the outer layer of waterproof cloth. The main advantage of cloth diapers is they are reusable. You can wash and disinfect them like other clothes.
Now the question is how many cloth diapers do you need?
If you want to use cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers you may still need them on reserve. Even though you may have planned to wash them daily still there should be some on reserve. It is better to use disposable in the first month because the baby will change lots of diapers in this period. So, if you are interested in cloth diapers and want to invest in them then keep at least 20 of them. And one thing to make sure before purchasing that your baby may not fit into these for longer periods.
The wash of cloth diapers will depend on how many diapers you have on hand. If you have more than twenty you may not have to wash them daily. Lesser the amount more washing they need.
Diaper sizes for newborn
It is most difficult to find out the perfect size for your newborn. It is something different from clothing. Newborn diapers are designed according to the weight, not the age. You should check the label on the diaper pack and then buy it according to the weight of a baby. You should follow the size charts as these charts will help you to find the best diaper size for your newborn baby.
Sizes of disposable diapers usually not vary for different brands, but they vary in hybrid and cloth diapers. The diaper should not be so tight that it leaves a red mark on the skin of a baby. So it is difficult to predict the size of a diaper for a newborn.
Conclusion
As a new parent during the first few months, you will be doing nothing except a diaper change. At the start, you might need 12 diapers a day. This rate will decrease with the passage of time and the growth of the bladder. After five months this quantity will be reduced to almost half as compared to the first month. Babies will start to digest milk and bowel movement will also decrease. So choose the diapers first and then purchase the exact quantity according to your needs.