Stocking up

heatherperkins14 · April 2016

FTM wondering what size diapers to stock up on? Also how many onesies in each size?

coffee89 · April 2016

It depends on each baby. My sons was in newborn diapers for maybe a week, size one for 3 months and size two for only maybe 2 months. He stayed in size 3 for over 6 months then shot past size 4. If you goggle you can come up with a list of "typical" amounts. I plan on grabbing 1 box of newborns , 2 of size 1 and then spending my money stocking up on wipes since they don't go bad and you use a million.

Outfits we planned for 2 a day because of spit up and laundry once a week, some people keep their kids in zip up pjs all day so its preference. I wouldn't buy a ton of newborn to start because they could be in it for 3 months or 3 days. 0-3 months I bought a whole wardrobe for and stocked up on basics for the next size up every few months (onsies, pants, socks, light sweaters) because you never know how fast or what season they will hit a size. Mine couldn't wear newborn pants until he was 3 months old, but was in 3 month onsies at 2 months.

LizaKate1213 · April 2016

We buy a package of diapers every few weeks. We tape the receipt to each box that way if baby grows and you have an extra box of smaller diapers you can exchange them. It worked well last time. I would buy 3 boxes of newborn, 3-4 size 1's, and a 3-4 size 2's to start. They grow out of the newborn stuff fast, so plan the same way for onesies.

LGW2015 · April 2016

I read that you shouldn't necessarily buy a bunch of diapers beforehand because baby might have a reaction to one kind or for whatever reason one will work/fit better for the baby than a different brand. But FTM here so I have no idea, just what I read!

coffee89 · April 2016

@LGW2015 We got a ton of brands from our shower last time so I had a bunch to try. Pampers never worked for us, Huggies stopped fitting right around 8 months and we could only get one line of theirs, Target and Walmart cheepies are my favorite for the past year. Each kid is shaped different and the weights on the boxes are a joke.

nlane0723 · April 2016

Depends. We bought a few boxes of newborn, one, and two. DD was in preemie for almost two months. We get Honest brand now (I used Pampers Swaddlers with DD until she was about 6 months) so I've ordered two bundles of newborn and size one so far. I'll wait to buy preemie until I get closer to an expected arrival date, but I will probably need several boxes.

@LGW2015, most retailers will let you exchanged diapers for other brands, they just have to be similar size/count.

jillianpardo · April 2016

Good idea to tape receipts on the boxes to exchange!! We were pretty particular with sposies. We are a huggies family. Luvs are so cheap but they reek of chemicals. Pampers didn't fit as snugly as huggies on our girls. The Costco brand was OK but the outside of the diaper felt kinda damp after it was soiled. If DD fell asleep in the car seat her pants would often be damp. The cheap brand I liked best were the target diapers. They weren't as trim as huggies but they didn't smell like chemicals and they don't really have issues with moisture seeping out. Some families swear by Pampers (or other brands). I'm curious to see if we continue to prefer huggies with 3rd baby. I do want to give my cd stash another try as we will be moving to a house. Hooray for line drying and a washing machine in our home. I will probably still use sposies at night but who knows :

FemShep · April 2016

Don't stock up on diapers or wipes. You don't know what will/won't work for your LO.

DD2 did great in Pampers Swaddlers. Normal Pampers gave her a rash. Huggies leaked like crazy. MIL, trying to be helpful, got us a HUGE box of Huggies and another one of Pampers before she was born. So I had the fun of trying to return two opened boxes of diapers with a newborn baby.

Nope nope nope. Not worth it. If you're worried about the expense, just transfer $20/week into a savings account instead.

kmvisioli · April 2016

For us, having 10-12 onesies in each size has been about right. We hardly had any nb size but wound up having to go buy more because our guy was little longer than expected. He shot through his 6mos stuff, then slowed down and stayed in 9mos the longest so far (he is 13mos, wearing 12-18mos now).

Some diapers will work better than others for your baby, so don't stock up on all one brand. I like the Costco brand and the Huggies little movers at this point, hated the pampers with the weird netting in them and we had a lot of leaks with the other kind of huggies. You'll find you also have a preference on wipes- I love the honest co ones (especially for sticky nb poop) because they are thicker and big enough to tear in half, and the babyganics. Huggies always shredded and some pampers ones irritated my son.

Schell2013 · April 2016

If you have a box of new born and a box of size 1 I honestly wouldn't get more than that. Some babies can't have certain brands and some don't fit them right, so to avoid wasting money I just set aside a bit of money every month in a seperate account for my baby fund. This is my third this time so I don't need much but with my first it was expensive to get set up.

jillianpardo · April 2016

@FemShep that is a great idea!

cd92007 · April 2016

We followed this with our first baby and it was amazingly accurate. I don't think we ever had too many or needed to buy more (I think we bought up until size 3 if I remember correctly).

https://www.southernsavers.com/stocking-up-on-diapers-how-much-to-buy-at-what-price/

We want to do it with this baby, too.. but we need to get started ha! But i don't get paid maternity leave since our business only has 3 employees (including me) so it's so nice to not have to buy diapers while I'm not getting paid.

heatherperkins14 · April 2016

Thank you everyone! The advice is much needed and greatly appreciated!

Mintz1982 · April 2016

I always buy 2 or 3 large cases of 1s 3 to 5 of 2s I only buy small packs of nb. My daughter was in nb for 8 weeks but my son was 4 days he was in a NICU on fluids and they made him pack the weight on fast. My daughter never got out of size 3s. We stick to sensitive brands.

Mintz1982 · April 2016

For Onsies we buy 6 newborn and we are putting 25.00 away every pay for our baby we are not finding out the sex so my DH is going to go out and get gender stuff once it is born. If our baby ends up larger we do have 0-3 as well. However all 6 of our older kids were between 4 and 7.5 lbs

NoraAurora · April 2016

We will have a box of nb and a couple boxes of size one. As far as onesies- from experience, DS spent most of his first 3 months in "gowns," and the next 3 in zip up one piece style sleep & plays. They go through clothes amazingly fast in the first year, due to both growing and to making huge poo and spit up messes. You'll want a good supply on hand (FYI, go with zips and avoid snaps as best you can).

nsquaredlife13 · April 2016

I found this calculator incredibly helpful. Just remember your baby may chunk up faster than average, or may metabolize faster and be petite. I would recommend only buying a box or two of newborn (or just raid the hospital stays before you go home) and size 1's and sign up for a subscription service like Amazon mom or Honest (my absolute fave diapers).

https://howmanydiapers.com/

nsquaredlife13 · April 2016

And in terms of onesies and whatnot... I listened to a bunch of people and skipped buying newborn clothes. Despite my baby boy weighing in at 8lbs 1oz when he was born, we had no clothes that fit him because 0-3m were gianormous. Buy a couple newborn onesies. Worst case you won't use them and you'll be out a few bucks. Best case you'll need them and you'll be prepared.

NoraAurora · April 2016

Yeah...Amazon prime and Netflix are basically the only universal "must-haves" for new moms

SuperNerd42 · April 2016

Another STM advising to skip the diaper stock up. DD had a very particular bum, so we could only use certain brands and styles. If you do want to stock ahead I'd say buy a small pack with any big packs and save receipts. That way if you don't like the diapers it is only a small pack that was opened and the big one can go back (and check return policies! Target will probably be past date if you buy now, etc).

For reference, she was in Pampers Swaddlers as a little one, then in Luvs as she got bigger. We actually had great luck with Luvs. Huggies never fit well, and Target brand gave her a rash. Wipes we did Pampers Sensitive the entire time. Huggies shredded on us.

fallbabyround3 · April 2016

I never buy newborn anything. I had to get rid of it all when I had my first son. doctor swore he was gonna be around 7.5 pounds he came out 9lbs 5oz. he went straight to 3-6 month clothes and size one diapers. my second son was 9lbs 3oz and now my doctor doesn't think ill ever have a kid much smaller. so to me newborn clothes are a waste maybe 2 newborn outfits just in case its your first or your kids normally are smaller but my family bought so many newborn clothes for me to never use them. plus the hospital usually will send ou home with a pack of newborn diapers.

nsquaredlife13 · April 2016

SuperNerd42 said:

Another STM advising to skip the diaper stock up. DD had a very particular bum, so we could only use certain brands and styles. If you do want to stock ahead I'd say buy a small pack with any big packs and save receipts. That way if you don't like the diapers it is only a small pack that was opened and the big one can go back (and check return policies! Target will probably be past date if you buy now, etc).

For reference, she was in Pampers Swaddlers as a little one, then in Luvs as she got bigger. We actually had great luck with Luvs. Huggies never fit well, and Target brand gave her a rash. Wipes we did Pampers Sensitive the entire time. Huggies shredded on us.

If you buy from your registry I believe the extend the return policy to 30 days past your due date. I could be totally making that up but for some reason my brain said that it's legit.

We only tried pampers swaddlers and honest and both worked great, but this still so true.
Some mamas have to go through 3 or 4 different brands before finding one that works well for their baby.

NoraAurora · April 2016

@nsquaredlife13 - we must have the same babies because pampers and honest fit perfect since day one on us too.

ahohenadel · April 2016

I had a ton of pampers and huggies from my baby shower and honestly once my first was out of those we went to Luvs and havent looked back! We have very few leaks etc. This time around we've started the stock pile but skipped the newborn and just went right to size 1. PLUS, if your hospital is anything like ours, we left with a full package of newborn

maysmiles · April 2016

With DS, I think I had one box of newborn and brought what they gave us at the hospital home (which was most of a package). He had some feeding issues and was in them for 2ish months, so obviously we had to go out and get more. Then he went right into cloth, so we had a box of size 1 for back up or when the laundry had piled too high. Honestly, stocking up is probably only worth it if there's an incredible sale, because you have no idea when your baby will be what size and what brand he/she will work best in. As for clothes, same deal, I had some clothes in every size, and as the seasons changed and he grew (or didnt grow, as was the case for the first few months), we went out and got more. There's definitely no recipe and having just enough for to get your started, might be as good as you can do until your little one is here and you know more about him/her.

comealongponds · April 2016

*semi-lurking (officially due Nov 16 but it's twins so I'm sure I'll actually be an Oct mama)

I've signed up for all the mailing lists (like Enfamil, Nestle etc) and am trading the samples and coupons (that'll expire before my babies get here) for various types and sizes of diapers on VarageSale. Cheap (free) way to build a stash and you get the opportunity to get a variety of kinds to try out and see what you like!

edit for clarity

nsquaredlife13 · April 2016

NoraAurora said:

@nsquaredlife13 - we must have the same babies because pampers and honest fit perfect since day one on us too.

It was so nice not having to try every brand of diaper to find the perfect fit lol! I really wanted Honest to work because I just adore the cute prints and we couldn't CD so it was sort of my happy compromise. Pampers Swaddlers were the diapers the hospital used and they worked perfectly too. I actually used swaddlers at night until recently when Honest Company launched their night time diapers. Now we are 100% Honest Company diaper customers.

nsquaredlife13 · April 2016

NoraAurora said:

Yeah...Amazon prime and Netflix are basically the only universal "must-haves" for new moms

The number of orders I placed on Amazon (prime and fresh), and the hours spent binge watching netflix during the first few months post-pregnancy, is quite embarrassing. I don't know what I would have done without either!

NoraAurora · April 2016

nsquaredlife13 said:

NoraAurora said:

@nsquaredlife13 - we must have the same babies because pampers and honest fit perfect since day one on us too.

It was so nice not having to try every brand of diaper to find the perfect fit lol! I really wanted Honest to work because I just adore the cute prints and we couldn't CD so it was sort of my happy compromise. Pampers Swaddlers were the diapers the hospital used and they worked perfectly too. I actually used swaddlers at night until recently when Honest Company launched their night time diapers. Now we are 100% Honest Company diaper customers.

now I totally agree with Honest being cuter (and probably healthier, better for the environment etc) than pampers but tell me- do the new Honest overnight diapers work better than overnight pampers? because DS pees through EVERY SINGLE NIGHT in his pampers.

LizaKate1213 · April 2016

@NoraAurora, Huggies overnights are amazing. I just can't justify the price tag on Honest diapers.

owlcup · April 2016

I've been putting 25$ on a gift card every few weeks for diaper buying. My first two did fine with Target brand diapers but my third DD broke out in yeast infections with literally every single disposable we tried even the "natural" brands. She started getting her first yeast infection while we were still in the hospital! She ended up being in cloth from about 2 months until 10ish months. I wasn't a huge fan of cloth so we tried switching back to 'sposies and thank goodness she stopped breaking out. She uses Target brand now.

mothernorth · April 2016

I would stock up on diaper and clothes money, but not on diapers and clothes yet. Then once LO is born, you'll know exactly what you need in what size and won't have to worry about the hassle of waste or returns.

NoraAurora · April 2016

AllyTheKid said:

I would stock up on diaper and clothes money, but not on diapers and clothes yet. Then once LO is born, you'll know exactly what you need in what size and won't have to worry about the hassle of waste or returns.

THIS^

Brilliant. We have started putting away $200/month for baby stuff, but haven't actually purchased anything yet (besides a few clothing items). Mostly because we are building a 3rd bedroom so we don't have anywhere to store baby stuff yet. But it's also convenient for diapers, wipes, formula (if needed), filling in (or in our case, purchasing most items) off the registry etc.

nsquaredlife13 · April 2016

@NoraAurora we haven't had a single leak and we've been using them since they launched. We actually haven't had a single leak with ANY Honest Diaper.

NoraAurora · April 2016

@nsquaredlife13 SOLD.

klv · April 2016

Huggies never fit my DD (except overnights!) pampers were great for us. I liked Luvs, and target diapers were great once we got past the liquid poo stage.

For wipes, if you stock up go for the unscented ones. You don't want a bunch of smelly wipes and have a baby with a sensitive butt.

nsquaredlife13 · April 2016

NoraAurora said:

@nsquaredlife13 SOLD.

If I could let you try one or two of mine I would. I hope they work for you!

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