20 + Diapers Per Day... OH MY WORD! :)

[orange_mommy]

Ok, I have been LIED to, lol!  I keep hearing that in the newborn stage, you may need around 12 diapers per day.  Not so around here!  I've been using at least 20 per day.  My little guy is a constant nurser, which means he is also a constant pee-er and pooper.  I am forever doing diaper laundry! He is wet at least every hour and a half and in need of a change.  And sometimes he has just a tiny bit of poop that requires a change in order not to aggravate a sore bum.  And let's not even talk about those times when I change him and barely slide the diaper under his bum and he shoots off a volcano of breastmilk poo, and sometimes does this trick more than once in a row (although I've learned to be wise and if this happens once, to wait around with a prefold sitting below him to catch the next several squirts.) ;)

So do some of you honestly only use around 12 diapers per day on your newborn?  Seriously?!!!!

[kanga1622]

We used 15 a day normally but when he had a day where he pooped a little bit more often, we would get to 18-20. Heck, the worst day we went through 5 diapers in a half hour because every time we changed him he would fill it right back up!

At 12.5 months we now go through 9-10 on a typical day. I think it switched to fewer somewhere around 4-5 months and then when we stopped all the middle of the night changes at 7.5 months.

[Adaline'sMama]

Wow. That is a ton of dipes. My 12 month old uses about 6 a day, but she spends about  2 hours a day naked. When she was a newbie she probably used 10, but thats it. I used to put a flannel wipe on her bum area so that if she pooped just a tad, I could just take that out and the diaper was still good.

[SubliminalDarkness]

Yep, that was us, too. And get this.... We started out with only a dozen diapers. So I was doing laundry at least once a day, every other day twice, just to get by. 

I very quickly decided to add to our stash(which at that point was a dozen bG one-sizes, yes, on a newborn). I got two dozen prefolds and six or seven covers and that greatly helped because then I could laundry every other day or so. 

Imagine what you'd be spending on disposables!!! OMG!

[somegirl99]

That was us too!  We had 3 dozen and were doing laundry daily.  Sometimes if it was just a tiny hint of poop I was able to flip it and refold it so none of the poop was touching him but that didn't always happen.  Starting EC was the best thing for us, sounds like it could help you too as you are already catching some poops.

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Yep, here too. I couldn't believe how many diapers we went through with DS. It did calm down eventually, but he was pooping at least at every feed for 3 or so months... and then several times a day after that. It did slow down!

(You know, even though the number of diapers is fewer now, AND we do EC, I don't wash ALL that less often simply because the larger diapers fill up the pail faster!)

[Fulhouse]

I think what she was trying to say was that a newborn requires about 24 diapers in order to wash less than once a day.  It doesn't matter to a newborn mom if by 12 months her baby will slow down his poop production; she needs more dipes now!   Thanks for warning -- I am trying to slowly gather a stash for my baby in August, and I love to hear what it's like in the trenches.  I am trying to buy diapes whenever I see a good used deal.  I will aim for about 24 for the newborn stage.  I'd like to not have to wash daily...

[somegirl99]

Originally Posted by Fulhouse 

I think what she was trying to say was that a newborn requires about 24 diapers in order to wash less than once a day.  It doesn't matter to a newborn mom if by 12 months her baby will slow down his poop production; she needs more dipes now!   Thanks for warning -- I am trying to slowly gather a stash for my baby in August, and I love to hear what it's like in the trenches.  I am trying to buy diapes whenever I see a good used deal.  I will aim for about 24 for the newborn stage.  I'd like to not have to wash daily...

My newborn wet/dirtied about 20-24 diapers a day, hence with 36 diapers on hand we had to wash daily or we'd be out of luck.

[Monkey pants]

Wow. At least you are not having to run to the store every other day for disposables! I have an 8 weeker and he has really slowed down on dirtying the diapers. It will get better!! :))

[KABB]

I know my newborns, especially EBF, were the same way. I had one lady respond to a blog post I made ask for NB CD help that "rule of thumb for diapers with a newborn, 1 per every day of life" Based on what I went through with my newborns [in disposables] there is no way that will apply to Baby Valentine! I'd rather be over prepared than under....now I'm wondering if I need to by more prefolds. We only have three dozen infant size. 

[Fulhouse]

Yikes. So to not wash every day, you need like 50 newborn dipes!! I am slowly collecting them used... See how many I can get. Expecting a small baby so I am collecting newborn size.

[outlier]

 Agreed, OP!  I was unpleasantly surprised that I was going through almost all 24 prefolds every day when DS was a newborn (and I used disposables at night!).  Each meal was accompanied by 2-3 separate pees and either a poop or a wet fart(s).  At some point between 2 and 4 months, he very gradually started peeing only once per meal and he rarely wet farts anymore.  Hang in there, it'll get better!

[sapphire_chan]

I went through about 20 flats a day in the newborn stage with  dd. But I was changing for every pee.

Even if you don't have an interest in EC, any time you change a diaper with only a bit of poo, hold him over a potty (a bowl just for that, the toilet, even the diaper you just took off). Holding him in a squatting position (http://www.tribalbaby.org/EChowwestarted.html second picture down) and blowing gently on his head will help him relax and go if there is more inside.

ETA: Ooops, I see you're already holding him over a prefold for that! =D

And when dd was in a stage of lots of poo farts, I'd put a rag in the diaper. Saved a couple of diapers a day with that, because I just had to toss the rag into the diaper laundry and not the whole diaper.

[mrsbernstein]

Thanks y'all for the heads-up.  I have read on several posts on here that 12 or so/day would be enough for a newborn.  And my mother INSISTS I'm off my rocker!  She wants us to have about 3/doz per day...just in case.  And listening to these stories...Mom just might be right after all!  :-)

Mrs B

[octobermom]

my first was a super pooper and even using sposies in the NB stage we were averagng 20-25 diapers a day.

THis baby didn't poo as much but we still went through around 14-18 a day. Now at a year we do around 8.

Deanna