Congratulations! You have decided to go green and use cloth diapers to keep your little one healthy and his environment safe. There are myriad questions in the mind of a new mother. How many times should you change a diaper? How many diapers would you need for a new born? Do diapering needs change with the age of the baby? Will a cloth diaper like Fig-o-honey hold pee and poo and prevent leakage and so on..
Using diapers with a new born
Diapering needs do change with age. A new born may need up to12 diaper changes a day, depending on whether he is breast fed or bottle fed, what the mother’s food habits are like, which formula is being used etc.
On an average a pocket diaper with natural inserts like Fig-o-honey can hold up to 10 pees in a new born. As a thumb rule change diapers every 2 hours for a new born. This will prevent leakage and also keep the baby super dry during the day. Night time requires a little more flexibility. Uses inserts and do it yourself flat inserts made of old towels or sarees that will increase absorbency. These inserts increase absorbency manifold and can your baby most of the night or till your baby sleeps. Poopy diapers should be never left on a baby and must be changed immediately.
Diapers usage as your baby grows
The infant who has started weaning poops less often and pees less too! The changing food habit means less work for you too! The poop may be a little more in quantity and not as organic as new born poop but the baby will not poop as often. It will be easy to scrape off the poop with a hand shower and proceed to wash as usual.
The baby pees more in quantity but fewer times. It is a good idea to change a diaper every 3-4 hours or when the baby poops. You will find that by this time the baby poops at specific times as a pattern.
The toddler has now migrated to consume a variety of solid foods. The nature of diaper usage also changes. The baby is now trying to be potty trained and the challenge is new to both mother and child. The toddler now has a pattern and would be pooping ideally not more than twice a day. The habit of using a toilet can also be factored in. Most kids can be induced to use a small personalized potty or a toilet seat. Most children can be in the habit of going to the toilet and diaper usage can be as low as 4-5 a day.
The potty training phase can be stressful for both mother and child and should optimally be complete, barring a few accidents by three years of age. It is never good to force the process on the toddler and the more fun you can add to the habit forming stage can mean lesser diapers for you to wash!
