How many diapers does a typical baby use?
Before you have a baby, it's hard to imagine just how many diapers you're going to need in a given day (let alone week, month, or year)! Furthermore, as babies grow and change, so does their diaper usage. So, how many diapers do you need for a new baby? Let’s break this down into a bit more detail.
Newborn babies (age 0 - 3 months)
Babies will likely wear size N or 1 for the first month to three months of their lives. In a diaper of that size, you can expect to change it once every 2 - 3 hours, or 8 - 12 times a day. That means about 220 - 330 diapers in the first four weeks. Oof! But, take heart. This period of frequent changing does not last forever. Babies grow ridiculously fast at first, so try not to overstock on these smaller sizes, in case your baby’s growth outpaces your stash.
Summary for months 0 - 3: Take it one month at a time, and don’t stock up too many sizes N or 1, in case your baby grows quickly.
Age 3 - 6 months
Around 3 - 6 months, babies will start consolidating sleep, and they will up their wiggling and rolling activities. A diaper size 1 - 4 may fit a baby in this age range, depending on their size, shape and activity level. There’s a lot of variation here so read your baby and make changes as needed. If you are one of the lucky ones whose little one sleeps most of the way through the night, consider sizing up at least one size from their daytime diaper for overnight use, to reduce the likelihood you would wake to a leaky diaper. You can expect to change a baby every 3 hours during the day and maybe once overnight during this period (especially if you’re using an absorbent diaper like Kudos). This means you can expect the quantity per day to reduce to about 6 - 8 diapers per day, or about 150 - 230 diapers per month.
Summary for months 3 - 6: Keep taking it one month at a time - babies grow really fast! Be prepared to keep a couple sizes on hand so you can size up overnight.
Age 6 - 12 months
Be warned: Solid food changes poops. You can expect to change a baby’s diaper just about as often as before, though probably more consistently on the lower end of the range (about 6 times a day). Additionally, baby will fill out during this time but will still likely fit in the same diaper size, somewhere between a size 3 to 5. Definitely size up overnight to get more absorption out of your diaper. You can expect to use about 150 diapers per month.
Summary: Watch out for the solid food poop transition! But otherwise, it’s business as usual but with fewer occurrences of baby outgrowing their diaper.
Age 12+ months
After a baby transitions to toddlerhood, you can expect to change about 5 diapers a day in sizes 3 to 6, depending on your baby’s size, shape and fluid output. This will add up to about 140 diapers a month in those larger sizes.