I was looking around my house the other day and realized I have 3 packs of baby wipes open and it started me thinking. How many wipes do babies go use in a day? You might be wondering the same thing. It’s good know if you should get bulk wipes before the baby arrives. If you’re a new parent you’re probably already thinking “good lord how many wipe am I going to go through?” “I’m going to go poor just on wipes and diapers alone.” You might also be thinking, “If I go with washable wipes how many should I get?” “Will it even save me money?”
The number of wipes babies go through was surprising to me. To get to the truth it required some math, so let me break it down.
I first had to get some facts on how often babies go through diapers.
On average babies should get changed every 2-3 hours. For newborn babies the first 6 months they need diaper changing about the same as how often they eat. So, figure every feeding is a diaper change including the middle of the night feedings. That equals to around 8-12 diaper changes per day. With those diaper changes your looking at 2-4 bowel movements with the rest being just wet.
For wet diapers your looking at 1-2 wipes per diaper change. A poopy diaper uses between 7-10 wipes per diaper change.
By 6 months old you’ll be changing them 5-6 times a day. They may poop less too but the consistency of the poop can cause you to still use as many maybe even more. You may even use more wipes per dirty diaper change. So, by end of day you’re still looking at using about the same amount of wipes.
Wipes Per A Day
So if you do the math, the good news is I’ll do it for you, your looking at on the low end 20 wipes a day, and on the high end 56. Depending upon the pack size 56 wipes could almost be a pack a day for a brand name like Huggies. That could be $2-3 a day.
In a 30 day period you’d be using roughly 600-1,680 wipes. Using somewhere between 7,300-20,440 in a year.
Cost Per Year
It changes by brand and pack size but you’re looking on the low end between $150 & $200 and on the high end around $400-$500 a year on wipes.
How Wipe Usage Changes
Over time, for various reasons, you’ll end up using more wipes then just what you planned on.
As they get older their bowel movement change. At first it’s a lot of tar like poops. That is called meconium and is made up of amniotic fluid, mucus, skin cells and other things ingested into the utero.
After that when they are breast feeding or formula feeding it changes again. Breast feed babies poop is more yellowish runny and seedy. Where formula feed babies poop is brownish and a little more paste like and more stinky. The more breast milk or formula they eat the more they produce… This is usually the times you get a lot of blow outs. Lots of runny poops equal ruined onesies. When you get a blowout you’re using a lot more wipes. Sometimes up to 20-30 wipes on the bad ones.
As babies get older and get on to solid foods your looking at more wipes per soiled diaper.
Baby wipes will become a go to wipe for everything. Other then just butts we use them on faces, clean up messes, clean off a cart handle, wipe hands, feet, and just about anything else that gets messy.
So, by now your like “Great you’re telling me how much I’ll be spending” how can I save money?”
Well there are a few ways you can save. Some are easy and others are a bit more extreme.
Proper Diaper Size
If you want to use fewer disposable wipes and still get the job done the best advice I can give you is make sure your baby’s diaper size fits correctly. Too small or too big and you’ll be using many more wipes when the poop it’s all up their back.
Make Your Own Baby Wipes
You can make your own baby wipes using paper towels. If you buy in bulk the store brand of each paper towels and baby wipes you’ll save almost $10, or so, buying the paper towels. Making baby wipes with paper towels is super easy. It only takes water (distilled or tap), baby mineral oil, and liquid baby bath soap. The site Favorite Family Recipes has what I see as a good recipe. Simple and cheap to make.
Reusable Wipes
These are also a great option if you want to save money. Not only are they reusable but you use less wipes per diaper change using this method. It does cost more to invest in the beginning. You’ll want a few day as worth of washable wipes but where you’ll be using fewer wipes you only looking at 40-50 wipes. You’ll be spending $200-250 dollars or so for wipes. You’ll need a bins to put dirty wipes in, plus the cost of washing. Even if you have to buy a few replacements over the 3 years your still saving over 1/3 of the cost of using disposable wipes.
Do you want even more savings? Get rid of disposable diaper and change to cloth diapers. You are already having to wash cloth wipes you could just as easily toss in soiled reusable diapers with them and save $1,000-$2,000 over the years your baby is in diapers.
Buying In Bulk
I always suggest to start with a pack and get bulk once you know what brand works best for your baby.
Don’t rule out store branded wipes. We found that the Target brand fragrance-free baby wipes worked best for our son Dominic. We discovered these after he broke out with a rash using one of the Pampers brands of sensitive skin wipes. Pampers was the brand we used for our daughter and they worked fine on her. They just didn’t work with our son and his particular skin sensitivity.
Before you go out and buy your kids a lifetime supply of wipes know that under optimal storage wipes stay good for 2-3 years. They don’t have an expiration date but they do have a shelf life.
I never suggest buying all the wipes you’ll need up front. First of all who has that kind of space. You’re looking at 10+ boxes of 1200 wipes. Secondly, I want newer wipes so I know nothing is wrong with them. An accidental puncture of the packaging and they’ve dried out or molded.
We usually buy a box of 1200 wipes at a time and that usually lasts up to a few months. Longer now that we are in the process of potty training our youngest.
Wipes On Your Baby Registry
Wipes are a huge thing you usually get gifted, that and diapers. Keep in mind if you’re choosing wipes, babies are know for having sensitive skin and some have more sensitivities then others. There are many wipes that have natural, sensitive, and fragrance free options. Choosing one of these will give you the best outcome. However, even those could still cause a rash. Like I said above one brand was great for our first born but made my son get bad diaper rash so we had to go with another brand.
New Parents
Ultimately, you’re going to try a few options and see what your baby reacts best to. Some may cause your newborn to break out with a diaper rash. Some might just not do the job the way you want them too. Some are a pipe to pull out of the pack and you end up with 3-4 being pulled out and your shaking them with one hand to get them apart while holding your baby’s legs in the other hand. Not a great experience when you are dealing with a super poopy diaper.
Once you find the one that works for you and your baby you’ll then be in a good spot to buy in bulk.
Let me know what option you’ve decided to go with. Is it branded, store brand, or are you going the DIY route.
