Calling STM- Diaper stash advice

Katm89

Hey ladies,
My husband and I are first time parents, so we don't have any baby items. We have been trying to buy the necessities before the shower to ease on stress. I wanted to know how many diapers you bought prior to the birth. I was thinking of buying 320 of size 1 and then 300 of size 2. I currently have 320 of size 2 in two different brands and 160 in size 2. Just curious if I should stop there or buy more. Not sure how long that will last us before we have to go out and buy more. I'm guessing about 1 month 1/2?

sammy520

Newborns are usually changed about 10-12 times per day. I didn't stock-up too much before my son was born. I probably had about 2-3 big boxes. I had gotten a box of Huggies at my shower, but my son leaked in them. I've heard different brands work for different baby bums.

Also, the hospital let me take home everything in my room. I think I left with 2 smaller bags diapers and some wipes. Plus other odds and ends, like nasal aspirators and Vaseline (if you're having a boy you'll need to put it on his privates if he's circumcised).

If you're not too far from stores, I would see what works first. Definitely have at least 3 weeks worth on hand, but it's good to get out of the house anyways (even for a quick trip to Target).  

jamiesc58

I agree with pp. Don't stock up too much as certain brands might not work for you. We got diapers from our baby shower also. I only had to buy 1 large pack of newborn diapers because the ones from the shower were all bigger sizes.

texasmama2014

Keep in mind: babies grow differently, but you might only want a few smaller packages of NB size, size 1 and 2 you will use for awhile, but the brand might not work for your baby.  Make sure you can return any diapers you buy.  Example:  We couldn't use huggies because every time she pooped it was a major blowout.  This rarely happened with pampers or luvs.

Katienu

I would say a couple of boxes of each but you will be surprised by how quickly they grow out of sizes. I was shocked. Definitely stock up on wipes! They don't out grow them and you will use a ton!

Sekerambo

I wouldn't get too many of one size or one type.  We used newborns and size ones longer than I thought but we were only in size two for a short time.  I switched to cloth shortly after my dd sized up to 3's so I'm not sure after that.  I also know from watching a friend's little one full time that I can't stand certain brands of diapers.  Some brands just work better and honestly I couldn't stand the smell of another brand.  I have also known of many babies to have allergies to one brand or another. 

skelly70

Ditto @Sekerambo . We went through maybe 1.5 value boxes of Pampers (and a few random brands we got as gifts) before switching to cloth with DS. We tried Huggies, but they leaked horribly. We also had to use the sensitive Pampers wipes. I don't think we ever used anything bigger than a size one, and we stopped using disposables right around 2.5-3 months. 

Some kinds of diapers have a really strong perfume-y scent that is activated when the diaper gets wet. I tend to have allergic reactions to fragrances, and there were a couple of bands (Huggies, one kind of Pampers) that I couldn't stand to use as a result. Something to think about if you have issues with scents!

Neesey

Costco or Amazon prime worked well for us. I hate storing crap so I never stocked up. With Amazon you can set up automatic shipments too so you don't even have to think about it. Personally I liked having a reason to get out of the house since we were on our last package of diapers. 

kriley602774

I went through about 2 boxes of newborn, DS grew out of these quickly. We were in size 1 for a few months. Size 2 he grew out of quickly as well. I also agree with the above, though, about certain brands. DS leaked in Huggies and I just had this weird thing against Luvs. They worked well and the price is nice, they just seemed plastic-y or something and I personally wasn't fond of them. (I'm sure that will change second time around

haboobjob

I didn't stock up with DD. We tried a couple brands out in the beginning before finding what worked best for us and then buying the mega boxes. Luckily we have a Target nearby and they are always running promotions where you buy 2 boxes and get a $10/$20 gift card so that's the only time I stock up. I would recommend trying out the small packs rather than being stuck with a huge box that don't work for you and/or baby.

ShanRum3

When my older boys were born, I remember them being in Newborn diapers for about 6 weeks, which surprised me considering they were 7lb 10oz and 7lb 12oz! This time, I bought 2 boxes of 88 count Newborn pampers and 1 box of 216 count Size 1 Pampers.  I know we only have enough Newborns to last a couple weeks, but we will also get some from the hospital when baby is born, and I'll just send Hubby to the store when we get low on things! I'm also anticipating that friends/family will get us diapers for the Shower/Sprinkle that my sister in law and step mom are having for me.

ethiwen4

Honestly, and this may be unpopular advice, I suggest waiting.  You won't know if your baby needs the sensitive skin ones until after they're born and you won't know what brand you prefer until you try a couple of different types.  Save yourself the headache of returns by grabbing some samples from the major companies and having diapers be listed on your registry.  I had so many diapers from my shower, I didn't have to buy a single newborn diaper at all.

telicious2

With DS, I started buying diapers at 20 weeks, sizes 1 and 2. Then add in diapers from shower, I had enough diapers that lasted I think for his first 6 months! Luckily he wasn't against a particular brand. When he was born I bought 2 boxes of newborn diapers. When those ran out we just started with size 1. 

With this baby, I am at 20 weeks and haven't bought diapers yet. Going to try to find a place to put them all. Or I read a suggestion of buying store GCs to use for diapers/wipes so space isn't an issue. 

ashleym373

Both of my boys were so different and it depends on the size when they were born. 
Most stores let you exchange unopened boxes for new sizes, so that is one good thing.

With DS1 (6lbs 14oz, went down to 6lbs 3oz) I went through a lot of newborn size diapers, DS2 (8lbs 11oz, lost only 3 oz and starting gaining immediately lol) he fit them for maybe 5 days! 

Size 1s you stay in for a bit, size 2s we stayed in longer than size 1s. At 13 months DS2 was in size 5 and still is at 17 months. 

amandazap

I didn't buy diapers until DS was 7 months. My husband's friends and fellow firefighters threw him a diaper party. They bought a keg and everyone was asked to bring diapers of all sizes. Then at my shower, I did a diaper raffle. 

KUGirl09

I think we were in NB diapers for about 2 weeks since my son was 9 lbs at birth.  Like the others said, I'd have a couple brands to try in each size so you know what will work best for your baby's bum.  We ended up using Honest Diapers because he was super sensitive to the bleaching agents in the other diapers.  We pretty much stayed on a bundle a size till he hit 18 months.  He has been in 5s for about 4 bundles now.

Katm89

Thanks for all the responses ladies. I bought two different brands. They're both the sensitive ones so I don't anticipate our child having and issue but who knows. I think I will stop at stockpiling at this point. I just didn't want to rush out during maternity leave to have to buy them because my 3 months is mostly unpaid. I also wasn't planning on getting newborn because I was 8.6 pounds at birth... so I figured our baby is going to be big too. Plus, I heard the hospital gives you some newborns.

ginger819

I found this website on Pinterest and followed it. 
https://www.babysavers.com/how-to-stockpile-diapers/
It came out pretty close. I had a jumbo pack of 2s left and I stopped stock piling at 3s. We knew we were going to have another so I didn't mind if we ended up with extra or if DD had a reaction and we couldn't use that particular brand. For this baby we probably won't stock up as much, because we're done after this I also babysit so it's nice having extra just in case. 

texasmama2014

@Katm89 You may actually welcome the little outing.  It was nice to get out of the house even for a quick 30 minute trip to walmart.

SkiChic626

I wouldn't stock up, you just don't know what you're going to need.  My DD was in size 2 by the time she was 5 weeks old.  If your baby is over 8ish lbs, he or she likely won't be in newborn at all.  You also don't know which brand of diapers are going to work for you.

SkiChic626

Also, if anything, you want to stock pile larger sizes like 4 and 5.  Once they get to those sizes they stay in them for a looong time.

Curls919

SkiChic626 said:

Also, if anything, you want to stock pile larger sizes like 4 and 5.  Once they get to those sizes they stay in them for a looong time.

It depends on the size of the child. My son never wore more than a size 3, even at almost 2 1/2!  Has has skinny thighs and a small waist 

Curls919

We didn't stock up at all. We bought one pack of huggies newborn (the ones with the cutout for the umbilical cord) and the hospital sent us home with some diapers. Once he was born and we knew what size he was we went out and bought a larger box. 

bananers

Curls919 said:

SkiChic626 said:

Also, if anything, you want to stock pile larger sizes like 4 and 5.  Once they get to those sizes they stay in them for a looong time.

It depends on the size of the child. My son never wore more than a size 3, even at almost 2 1/2!  Has has skinny thighs and a small waist 

This! DS1 never made it past 4s before we potty trained. 

SkiChic626

bananers said:

Curls919 said:

SkiChic626 said:

Also, if anything, you want to stock pile larger sizes like 4 and 5.  Once they get to those sizes they stay in them for a looong time.

It depends on the size of the child. My son never wore more than a size 3, even at almost 2 1/2!  Has has skinny thighs and a small waist 

This! DS1 never made it past 4s before we potty trained. 

And this is exactly why I would say not to stock up!  You just don't know what size your babe will be.  Once you get their growth figured out it'll be easier to gauge what sizes you may need more/most.  DD was never nb, she was in 1s when she was born, up to 2s by 5 weeks old, then 3s around maybe 3 mos and stayed there until around 8 mos, then she was in 4s until a little after she turned 1 and now she's been in 5s ever since and she's 21 mos and I don't anticipate having to move up to 6s before we PT.  She started walking since we switched to 5s so her body has slimmed down a lot and they've fit differently depending on stages in her growth.

Itsally1011

Don't stock up too much!  As others have said some sizes and brands may not work for you.  You guys will be busy but someone will have 15 minutes to make a diaper run when needed!