Stockpiling Diapers: How Many and Which Sizes?

Reader Looney asked me: how do you figure what sizes to stock up on? Well, there are a few variables to keep in mind when considering stockpiling diaper.

How many of which size diaper you stockpile will directly depend on:

1. Birth weight of the baby: This impacts whether you need to stockpile newborn diapers or you go directly to size one diapers. The average baby in the United States weighs seven and a half pounds at birth. That puts the baby in newborn sized diapers but for how long? This bring me to the second variable:
2. Growth rate of baby: How much and how fast your baby grows affect how many packs of diapers you get on each size. Breastfed babies are known for growing very fast initially. My first son was born 7 and a half pounds ant by a month old he was over 11 pounds. My second son on the other hand was born 6 and a half pounds and by a month old was barely ten pounds big. As a result he ended up using more size one diapers than my oldest child.
3. Baby’s body build: Some people believe that the way the baby’s body is built affects how the diaper fits the baby and as a result how well the diaper works. This is why you will hear some people saying that Huggies diapers fit better chunky legged babies whereas Pampers diapers fit better lean babies. I have been able to switch back and forth between brands of diapers without any impact on how well the diaper works. It has been my experience that babies begin to leak from their diapers when they are ready to move to the next size up.
4. The diaper itself: Diapers are of course not standard and you will have some diapers that are supposed to be size 3 but are smaller than the competition’s size three diaper.

With this in mind when you start building a diaper stockpile you need to know the number of diapers that come in a pack and the weight range the diaper is good for. HotCouponWorld has the most extensive diaper chart I have found yet. Their chart has diapers per pack for every brand available out there.

All of this still doesn’t answer the question of how many diapers and of which sizes. That is because the answer is a big “it depends” and the best you can do is guess what your needs may be and be prepared if you have to buy diapers to supplement your stockpile. Most likely you won’t be able to stockpile all of your diaper needs, so make sure you always have diaper coupons on hand.

Finally let me share with you what we have used in the first 8 months of my baby’s life: two newborn jumbo packs, eight size one jumbo packs, ten size two packs and three size 2/3 (only Pampers makes this size). We switched to size three diapers when my youngest was around 4 months old and I estimate we will be in it for a few more months. I think I still have another twenty jumbo packs of size three diapers. If anything this is the size you are safest stockpiling because a baby will be in it for a few months. If you would like to read about other people’s stockpiling experiences check out this thread.