Diaper Stockpile?

[TheWoman]

Originally Posted by kcchica I am a little curious about bigger babies... We are in size 4 now (huggies/pampers) and have been a for a few months, he is only 9 months old and he is doing fine in the 4's (he is only 23 lbs, but is already 31" which is super long for his age)... anyway. I have been buying size 6 at walgreens, because we have plenty of size 4 in huggies/pampers/cvs for now and I figured it would be better to go bigger, since some people say walgreens run small anyway... Any thoughts? I realize its a "crap shoot" :) on guessing, but I would appreciate any ideas/experiences with babies that run 90% or higher in height and weight.... Thanks kc

In my experience, once babies start walking they tend to start growing up but not out, so they stay in the same size for a long time. That usually happens at 1 year old, give or take a couple of months.

[small1der]

I wouldn't buy anymore of the newborn size...rarely do you ever need them for very long! Some newborns dont even fit in them, like my 9 lb baby (and im not a big girl)...

My baby girl is 2.5 and potty trained during the day...we went thru LOTS around sizes 3-5 (never got to a six, she's 28 lbs) and we went thru LOTS of pullups! Size s/m!

HTH and good luck! Congrats!

[small1der]

Oh, and btw, the wieghts on those things are GUESSTIMATES! My tiny tiny dd always used the next size up b/c she wet so much and leaked out of the smaller sizes, go up as soon as they start leaking out...no matter what the weight on the pkg. says!

[Wheresthedeal]

Ya never know till you have the poo on your lap!

All 3 of my kids were born larger than average, 8-10 lbs. Then they started to thin out around 4-6 months (size 3 diapers and 6-9 clothes for a long time). None of them were able to wear newborn anything for more than 3 weeks. My family seems to be the only freaks we know that cannot use luvs (leaks galore). Almost every other brand has worked at least o.k. for them. I haven't tried the Walgreens diapers yet.

The recommended weight on the packages has never been even close for my kids. They are average to tall, but have been between 20% and -10% on the weight growth charts all their lives after the first 6 months (not uncommmon for breastfed babies). My 21 month old is about 23lbs and wears a size 5 Huggies or White Cloud - anything smaller has me doing more laundry. His 2.5 year old (much larger) friend is still wearing size 3.

I wish I could suggest a number, but all babies are different. If I remember right, we changed about 10 diapers/day for the newborns. Now my 21 month old uses 5-6 per day and my 3 year old uses about 4-5 on a bad day. Today she used underwear and we only had to change her once - yippie, getting closer!

[honcho]

Good advice on the smaller sizes. I swear that both my kids (both 8-1/2#) wore the N size for about 2 weeks (gift diapers) and then sizes 1 & 2 for about 6-8 weeks each, then stayed at size 3 for about 4-5 months. My 18 month old girl currently wears a 4 (huggies) or a 5 (walgreens). The weight on the sides REALLY do not tell you a whole lot except give you an idea +/- one size.

Your biggest issue will be if you and baby like the diapers. It is far and few between that I hear a parent say any diaper will do. Usually there is a strong preference between Huggies & Pampers. Most generics and Luvs take after one or the other.

I am a Huggies fan and my DD cannot wear Pampers or Luvs (she really breaks out). The Walgreens premium diapers are the first generic I have found that seem to be more Huggies like and Whoooohooo she can wear them.

[JoanMarlene]

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! This advice is great. I have read all your posts. I didn't realize that the weights they had on the package are very general estimates and don't necessarily translate to what babies weigh. I also didn't realize that Walgreens diapers run small so bigger sizes might be better. It's also good to know that I probably won't need a lot of newborn sizes and I might not need a lot of size 1 either. Another thing I didn't know is that there is such a high preference for one brand or another based on experiences and the babies reaction to the diapers. This makes me wonder if these diapers will even work for me at all.

I am going to try to do some exchanges next week when these stores get their shipments in so I can get more of the size 3's and 4's. I think donating the diapers I can't use is a great idea! Since these diapers are costing me next to nothing I don't mind taking the risk and stocking up on these and if it does not work out then I'll just consider all of this stockpiling an act of charity.

I also really appreciate the diaper stockpiling threads by Mrs. Pinecone and all the comments people made there. Those threads were extremely helpful too and if I had done a search and found those threads first I wouldn't have started this thread. Still, I think the conversation here has helped me get a general picture about the Walgreens brand.

Thanks again everyone.
Joan

[JoanMarlene]

Mrs. Pinecone,
Can you please do another "diaper stockpile" update? I am using your diaper count to help me figure out how many diapers to stockpile. I sure would appreciate it!!

Thanks
Joan

[MrsPinecone]

Newborn
Never actually bought any. He was 10 lb at birth. We used about a pack in the 4 nights we were in the hospital, and the 32 sample diapers I had collected from the OBs office. We then went straight to Size 1.

For the average person, I would purchase no more than 2 packs.

Size 1
Have: 14 (may exchange some of the Luvs since they gave the Nut a rash)
Goal: 12 (what I actually used for the Pinenut) DONE

Size 2:
Have: 18
Goal: 18 (22 was too many) DONE

Size 3:
Had: 35
Used: 34
Have: 13.5 + some random ones that probably add up to another pack
Goal: 35

Size 4:
Had: 28
Have: Checking what's left tomorrow. I think it's about 20 packs used so far. He's still in 4s at almost 19 months. Weighs 25.5-26 lbs and is 35 inches tall.
New baby pile: 6

Size 5:
Have: 2
Goal: Haven't decided-- I may not need to go to size 5s. He's pretty skinny.

3T/4T:
Have: 4
Goal: Haven't decided- I don't honestly know if I plan to potty train with PullUps. Maybe just training underwear.

4T/5T:
Have: 2
Goal: Haven't decided

[ank220]

I think you've gotten great advice. I love the WAGS and CVS diapers, and I dislike pampers (I think they have a funny odor to them when they get wet). I would think you have plenty for now, especially if you are planning to exchange them later for different sizes. You may even want to talk to the store manager and see if they'll special order you a quantity in the sizes you want and exchange them as soon as possible.

Anyway, in my experience the size 3 & 4 are the sizes used the most. I never did pull-ups with my older kid, and don't really plan to do them with my youngest either... but that's a personal preferance kind of thing here.

Any diapers left over can be donated or used to make giftbags for new mom's. :)

[BabyB]

I also have a boy, and everyone is right with the preference thing! The better quality diapers are important in the beginning, when they are laying down all of the time, and have 10 explosive diapers a day!!! I used Pampers for N and size 1 and moved to Huggies until size 3, and used the Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid, diapers during the day when they weren't too full, and the better ones at night for the heavy jobs! The brand name diapers also don't get "bricklike" once they are wet, which can also be a preference, but doesn't bother me. It is all trial and error. Craigslist is great for getting opened packages of diapers for free or next to nothing to try them out first.

Boys are very unpredictable in the types and sizes of diapers you will need to use, mine leaked out quite a lot and I just went up the next size. The size is based on the height of the diaper (rise in cloth terms) and has nothing to do with weight, so if your boy springs a leak you can catch it for awhile with a bigger diaper! I already have mine trained during the day at 22 months!

Good luck!