Cloth Diaper Malaysia – Natural & Eco-Friendly Living, Why Not!?

(Berapa Cloth Diaper Perlu Saya Ada Untuk Bayi/Anak Saya?)

If you have read about “10 Things to Consider Before You Start Cloth Diapering”, your next question as a potential or new Cloth Diaper user will be: “How many cloth diapers do I need in my collection”? How many is “too little”? Is there such thing as “too many”? What is “JUST NICE”??!! Argh… Cloth diapering is so confusing and difficult!! *starts pulling hair*

Calm down, it doesn’t have to be difficult

Like I’ve mentioned before, it all depends on how often your baby wets/poops himself in a day, AND how often you are doing your cloth diaper laundry. Even better, the Cloth Diaper Blog came up with a simple enough “mathematical calculation” to determine how many cloth diapers you need for your child:

No. of Diapers You Need =

No. of Times you Change your Cloth Diapers per day  X  No. of Days Between Washings

See, not really rocket science right?

So, what exactly does this mean? Some things to keep in mind:

1. If you wash your cloth diapers LESS OFTEN per week, you need MORE cloth diapers in your collection.
2. If you do MORE cloth diaper laundry per week, the LESS cloth diapers you need (the opposite of the above)
3. Consider the climate: Our weather has its ups and downs. If it’s sunny all day, CDs would dry in no time. If it’s rainy season, longer drying time is required!
4. Also consider the type of Cloth Diapers you use: All in Ones (AIOs) take longer drying time as compared to Pocket Diapers, for example.
5. How many Cloth Diapers you need depends on: Your child’s age and wetting/pooping pattern.

Let’s see how the above formula works with babies and children of different ages:

A) Cloth Diapering NEWBORN BABIES

-          Newborn babies pee and poop VERY often. We will assume newborns do so at least 12 times per day (12 diaper changes).

-          Option 1: 12 diaper changes per day X Washing every day = 12 Cloth Diapers (1 dozen) – include some extras

-          Option 2: 12 diaper changes per day X Washing every 2 days = 24 Cloth Diapers (2 dozen)

-          Option 3: 12 diaper changes per day X Washing every 3-4days (twice a week) = 36 – 48 Cloth Diapers (3-4 dozen) – this is more than enough

B) Cloth Diapering OLDER BABIES

-          Older babies (crawling age) do not pee and poop as often as newborns. We assume they go through 8 diaper changes per day.

-          Option 1: 8 diaper changes per day X Washing every day = 8 Cloth Diapers

-          Option 2: 8 diaper changes per day X Washing every 2 days = 16 Cloth Diapers – include some extras

-          Option 3: 8 diaper changes per day X Washing every 3-4 days (twice a week)  = 24 – 32 Cloth Diapers – more than enough

C) Cloth Diapering TODDLERS/CHILDREN

-          Toddlers (talking and walking babies) require less diaper changes as they approach potty training age. We assume they only change diapers 4 times per day. This also means you won’t have to wash you diapers too often as before.

-          Option 1: 4 diaper changes per day X Washing every 2 days = 8 Cloth Diapers

-          Option 2: 4 diaper changes per day X Washing every 3-4 days (twice a week)  = 12 – 16 Cloth Diapers

See, it is very simple! Let’s summarize:

1. Newborn babies require MORE cloth diapers compared to Older babies and toddlers.
2. The more often you do your cloth diaper laundry (e.g: every day), the less cloth diapers you need.
3. The number of Cloth Diapers that you need to start with (from newborn), can range between 12 – 48 cloth diapers. Amount needed will decrease as you baby grows older (time to sell off your used cloth diapers maybe?)

If anyone else ever asks you this question again “HOW MANY CLOTH DIAPERS DO I NEED??!!”, just refer them this article and hopefully they’ll get it too. Cheers!

QUESTION: How many Cloth Diapers did YOU start off with? How many do you have in your collection now?