How Many Cloth Diapers Do I Need to go Full Time.

Starting with reusable nappies can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t need to be. How many nappies you start with is up to you and your budget, because you don’t have to wait until you have a full stash to get going. You could start with one a day, or two or three… Every cloth nappy you use is one disposable saved from landfill. In fact, if you use just one cloth nappy a day that would add up too around 1000 disposable nappies saved from the rubbish bin within your child’s nappy wearing life.

But if your like me and keen to keep all diapers out of landfill you’ll want to start building a full time stash of nappies as soon as possible. So how many washable nappies will you need to cloth full time?

Depending on your babies age you’ll need 2-3 days worth of nappies to use cloth diapers full time. Roughly 20 for a toddler, 25 for a baby, and 30+ for a newborn as they need changing much more frequently.

The amount of nappies you buy will also depend on the amount of storage and drying space you have. Bad weather and cold damp days can lengthen drying time, for this reason is it also handy to have some cheap back up nappies like flat nappies or any type of two part system.

How many cloth nappies do I need for a newborn baby?

If you want to use washable nappies full time with a newborn you will need at least 30 cloth nappies. Newborn babies need changing more often, around every 2 hours and soil their nappies more frequently. This means you may need 8-12 nappies a day.

Don’t worry this phrase of so many diapers will pass. The good news is newborn poo is water soluble so you don’t need to do anything with it other than chuck it in the dirty diaper bin.

However remember as I said before, using cloth nappies does not need to be linear especially in the newborn stage. If the washing and drying is too much use cloth when you can and add in some disposables if necessary.

By our second baby we felt like we knew what we were doing so used cloth full time throughout the newborn stage, however even though it was summer (quick and easy drying)and we had more than enough nappies we still found we couldn’t believe how many we were going through, at times struggling to get nappies dry in time. These were the moments I reached for back up nappies like muslins and wraps. This is also a very cheap and efficient way to cloth a newborn.

Read: “Cloth Nappies for Newborns. Everything you need to know.”

“Are Newborn Cloth Nappies Worth It? The facts and figures.”

How can I reduce drying time to have a smaller stash.

If your budget doesn’t stretch to having 25 nappies there a few things you can do to get by with less. The quicker they dry the less nappies you will need in your stash. The material of your cloth nappies will effect how long they take to dry and weather or not you can tumble dry them.

Materials such as bamboo and hemp are often used in reusable nappies as they are extremely thirsty and therefore great for making long lasting, leak proof nappies. The problem is they take a long time to dry and tumble drying is not recommended as it can cause balding.

A good way to reduce the amount of nappies in your stash and drying time is to use pocket nappies or two part nappies. A pocket nappy is essentially a waterproof wrap on one side, has a soft fleece layer on the other with a pocket in the middle for you to stuff an insert inside. The pocket shell is extremely quick to dry. You could therefore buy extra inserts to have in your rotation, meaning you use the nappy more often and stuff with spare inserts. Baba and Boo are my favorite example of a pocket nappy. You can buy them here and their inserts for just £4.50 for a pack of two here.

Similarly two part nappies mean you can use more inserts to outer shells except in this case the outer nappy can be used multiple times between washing, simply swapping out the insert for a clean one unless the outer nappy has been soiled. I go into more detail in "Modern Cloth Nappies Explained" to help you out if necessary.

Read: “Beginners Guide to Cloth Nappies.”

How many cloth nappies should I start with?

While it will take 20-25 reusable nappies to go full time, but you can start with as many or as few as you have. It’s good to start with 10-15 this is because you will like different nappies for different reasons. You will not get on with all of them. You can then buy more of what you like.

For this reason it is variety of nappies to try out before buying more or seeking out a nappy library or renting service to try before you buy. The Nappy Lady has a good service for this.

Read: “Modern Cloth Nappies. A simple illustrated guide.”

“Nappy Brand Index.”

While deciding which nappies you would like to buy more of great options such as using terry nappies, muslins (for younger babies) and extra inserts (as I spoke about above) are good ways of bulking out your stash while you do this.

Try not to buy too many cloth nappies.

It’s oh so tempting to keep on buying cloth nappies. There’s so many styles to try and so many beautiful prints to have. However, I urge you to try and stick to what you need. In every way I try to encourage myself and others to live with less, and only what we need. The same goes for nappies. Yes they are an eco-friendly product but they still take resources to make and be shipped to us. If we buy more than we need we are almost negating the idea of less waste we set out to achieve when deciding to use reusables in the first place. If you do find yourself with too many or a style that doesn’t suit you and your baby why not sell them on the pre-loved market to make sure they are used to their full potential else where. As for muslin nappies, well they make great dusters. I believe my Mum still uses some of my nappies for dusting to this day…..

Hannah xx

Find Everything you need to know to get started in my Cloth Nappies Series…