How many cloth diapers do you need?

When you are thinking about switching to cloth diapers, one question that comes up time and again — especially for first-time parents — is how many cloth diapers you will actually need. Some will tell you 10, others 30, and they will all be right in their own way. The truth is, the answer depends on several factors: the style you choose, your child's age, their diet, how often you do laundry, whether you have a tumble dryer, and so on.

But don't worry — we will give you all the tools you need to work out exactly how many cloth diapers you will require to get started on your cloth nappy journey. Grab a piece of paper, a pen, and a calculator. Here is what you will need to know:

- Your baby's age

- How often you plan to do laundry

- Do you have a tumble dryer?

- Which style of cloth diaper

First of all, to work out how many diapers you will need, you need to know how many nappy changes they will have to cover.

The number of nappy changes a child needs per day

The figures we give here are averages — every child is different, and there can be big variations between two children.

Baby's first weeks (up to around 3 months)

Every mum of an exclusively breastfed baby will tell you the same thing: one feed = one nappy change! In 90% of cases, this rule holds true. In those early weeks, you may need to change your baby around ten times a day.

Formula-fed babies feed less frequently and tend to need changing a little less often. Their stools are also less liquid. A formula-fed baby will need changing around 8 times a day in the first weeks.

From 3 months to 6 months

The number of changes starts to decrease a little — around 7 changes a day will be needed.

From 6 months to 15 months

With the introduction of solid foods, the number of changes decreases further, and your baby will need around 5 to 6 changes per day.

From 15 months until toilet training

At this age, a child will need to be changed around 4 times a day. Doubling the insert should become standard practice, as they urinate in larger quantities.

How many changes based on your laundry frequency?

Now that you know how many changes per day you will need, you must decide how often you will wash your cloth diapers. This will tell you the total number of changes you need to cover.

To prevent the build-up of bacteria, we recommend not storing soiled diapers for more than 3 days. Depending on your routine, you can wash your diapers and inserts every day, every 2 days, or every 3 days — whatever suits you best.

Let us say your child is 4 months old and you want to wash their diapers every 2 days — you will need 7 changes x 2 days, which equals 14 changes.

If you do not have a tumble dryer, we recommend adding an extra half-day's worth of changes to allow time for the diapers and inserts to dry.

Going back to our example of a 4-month-old with washing every 2 days, that means 14 changes + 4 extra changes for drying time. This child will therefore need around 18 changes.

How many cloth diapers based on the style you choose?

Now that we know how many changes you will need, we can work out how many diapers are required depending on the style.

With Pocket diapers, it is quite straightforward — one change = one cloth diaper!

Cover diapers can be used for 2 to 3 changes (beyond 3 changes, even without any major accidents, we recommend changing the cover anyway). That said, not every diaper cover can be reused multiple times before washing. On average, a Cover diaper covers around 1.5 to 2 changes.

So, going back to our 4-month-old who needs 18 changes: with Pocket diapers, they will need 18 cloth diapers. With Cover diapers, they will need around a dozen.

And if you are unsure which style to go for, I invite you to read this article which will help you choose between Pocket diapers and Cover diapers.

How many inserts do you need?

Regardless of the style you have chosen, the number of inserts required is the same for Pocket diapers and Cover diapers.

Up to around 15 months, you will need the same number of inserts per day as you have changes, plus 3 or 4 extra inserts per day for naps and night-time. From birth, we recommend doubling the inserts for nights and naps across all our styles.

After 15 months — sometimes a little earlier — you will need to double the inserts every time.

So for our 4-month-old, with washing every 2 days (no tumble dryer):

(7 inserts per change + 3 extra inserts for naps and night-time) x 2.5 days = 25

You will need around 25 inserts for a 4-month-old whose diapers are washed every two days, without a tumble dryer.

You now have everything you need to work out how many cloth diapers are right for you. The number of daily changes is very high for a newborn, which is why we recommend doing your laundry a little more frequently in the first few weeks, and then spacing it out as baby grows.