How many newborn nappies do I need?

Something that I get asked a lot by parents to be, is how many newborn nappies do I need? Knowing how many nappies you will need for those early days is sometimes difficult to decide. Here’s our quick guide to working out how many nappies you will need.

How many newborn nappies do I need?

To work out how many nappies you might need, you might want to think about the following:

• How often are you planning to wash? You will probably need around 6-10 nappies a day: If you are washing every other day then you will need at least 12 newborn nappies. If you wash every day then you will need 6-8 nappies.
• What time of year is it? If it’s winter, then you might find that it takes longer for them to dry. Think about the type of drying you can do. If it’s going to take a while to get them dry, then you might need 6 or so more that you’d other wise need.
• Are you using just in the day time? If you aren’t using them at night, then you will probably need one or two less nappies than full time use.
• Are you going to use them as boosters later? Newborn nappies make great boosters for older nappies, so if you’re planning on doing this having a few extra won’t be a problem.
• For most people 12-24 newborn nappies is more than enough, with between four and six covers. You will need less covers as you don’t need to change them every time and they dry quickly.

What size

Most newborn babies will fit the newborn nappies and covers for around the first month or so. The weight range on the covers is up to 10lb (4.5kg) so if you are expecting a larger baby then you might want to start with the small size nappies instead of the newborn nappies. Some people don’t start using cloth nappies until they are over the first few weeks, again you might be better going straight for the small size at this stage as they will be that little bit bigger.

Although babies do grow out of the newborn size of covers and nappies fairly quickly, if you are planning on using from birth, it can be worth starting with these, simply because they give a much better fit on tiny babies, and you are less likely to get leaks.

Where to start

If you’re not sure where to start with your cloth nappies, our basics pack can be a good place to begin. This comes with 12 of our pre-fold nappies and four covers. You may find that this is all you need for those early few weeks, but it is easy to add a few extra nappies to the mix if you need more.

You can find our nappy packs here, with lots of different sizes, you can find the size of pack that right for you.