As I approached my due date, I was worried about the expense of a third child. Our income was about to be slashed in half due to my decision to leave my job and become a stay-at-home mom. Now we’d have five mouths to feed and clothe, and two in diapers. The thought of spending money on at least two big boxes of diapers a month – something that would just end up being thrown away – was making me cringe.
I started looking into ways to save money on diapers and learned about creating a diaper stockpile. Stockpiling diapers to save money sounded like a great idea, but I ended up wasting money instead. The thing about stockpiling diapers is that you have to do it right if you want to save money. Here’s what I learned about saving money by stockpiling diapers that REALLY works.
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How to stockpile diapers
You can save money by creating a diaper stockpile. When you find diapers on sale, you grab a few packages at the lower price. When combined with coupons (especially if you watch drugstore sales), you can snag diapers at a significant discount. When you are expecting and on a tight budget, stockpiling diapers to save money sounds like a great idea.
How many diapers will you use the first year?
A newborn baby will go through 10-12 diapers and day. This drops to 8-10 diapers a day by the time your child reaches their first birthday.
This article tracked the diaper usage of two children over the course of a year. One parent used 1,700 diapers and the other used almost 2,500 diapers during that year.
If your children are close in age, you may even have two in diapers at the same time. I had nine long months with two kids in diapers. And even when the older one was trained during the day, we still needed to use diapers at night.
That means we had some serious cash going out the proverbial window. I knew I had to find a way to make this stockpiling thing work – for the sake of our family budget.
3 REASONS YOU SHOULDN’T STOCKPILE DIAPERS
So, stockpiling diapers doesn’t always work, and it can end up costing you more than saving you in the end. How? Imagine you’ve spent hundreds of dollars stockpiling diapers and……..
1. What if your child had sensitive skin or allergies?
Imagine you stockpiled several packages of one brand of diapers only to find that the particular brand gives your baby a rash. How would you feel about all that money wasted on a product you couldn’t use?
My second child was constantly getting diaper rashes. I switched diaper creams. I tried different wipes. I sampled several diaper brands.
It took several tries to find products that did not irritate her skin. It was bad enough to have half packages of products I couldn’t use, but I was glad I didn’t have a stockpile of diapers to go to waste.
If you want to stockpile diapers, wait until after baby arrives. Once you know what products work for your child, then you can stock up on the larger sizes for later.
2. Your baby may need a different style or fit.
Your baby’s size and needed fit can change as they grow. You may need to find a different brand to fit their changing body. One brand might fit well when your baby has all those cute chubby rolls. Once babies become more active(particularly after they start walking), they tend to slim up. The brand that fit your chubby baby might not fit your slimmed down toddler.
Stockpiling might be best done at the different stages. Some brands might work fine for your baby all throughout the diaper stage. But some may not.
3. Every child grows at different rates.
Even if you stumble across a chart that gives you an estimate of how may diapers you’ll need for each size, your child may not follow those estimates.
Newborn diapers: Many babies use these for at least a few weeks. But my youngest weighed nearly nine pounds at birth and never fit in newborn diapers. Even in the hospital.
Large size diapers: Depending on your child’s size and when they potty train, you may not need the whole range of sizes. I have yet to use a size 6 diaper with three kids. And my oldest was very petite and potty trained early-she stopped at a size 4 diaper.
Your child may vary how long they are in different sizes. All three of my kids have different body types and have grown at vastly different rates. This can make stockpiling diapers difficult, as your baby might only wear one size for a short time and other sizes for months. By nine months, my chubby little guy was wearing size 5 diapers. The same size as his 3 year old sister wears.
Taking advantage of sales and coupons to stockpile diapers is a great way to save money. Before stockpiling diapers consider potential skin allergies, body types, and varying growth rates. You don’t want to end up wasting money on diapers that you won’t be able to use.
You Can Still Stockpile Diapers Without Wasting Money
Now that we’ve addressed the potential negatives, is there still a way to stockpile diapers without wasting money? You bet. Check out the tips below.
Stockpile Cash Instead of Actual Diapers
One way to be able to be prepared for diaper costs is to stockpile the cash you’ll need to buy them instead of stockpiling actual diapers. This will help you ensure you’ve got the money to pay for them when needed. You can do this in a couple of different ways.
Have a Diaper Stockpiling Poker Party
This is the guy equivalent of a baby shower. While the ladies are having the baby shower, the guys are having a poker party. Serve snacks, food and drinks. Set a buy-in rate ($20 or so) that goes to the father-to-be.
Also, have each guy bring a pack of diapers as a gift. Recommend they bring varying sizes between 1 and 3. Have them avoid getting newborn diapers or anything bigger than a 3 or 4. These sizes are likely what you’ll use the most of.
As the guys play poker, they can throw some of the games to work in dad’s favor so he brings home the majority of the cash. Or, they can take up collections of poker winnings as a bonus for dad.
Save Your Spare Change and Bills
Another way to stockpile cash for future diaper purchases is to put all of your spare change and bills into a jar. Do this during the duration of your pregnancy, and you’ll likely have amassed a nice stockpile of cash by the time baby comes.
Bring in Some Extra Income
You could also spend your pregnancy days (both parents can do this) bringing in some extra income. Maybe pick up some extra hours at work. Or, dad gets a temporary second job delivering pizzas.
You don’t have to save a ton of cash – just put away some extra money here and there. It’ll add up big time over the course of several months.
Other Ways to Save Money on Diaper Stockpiling
Besides stockpiling diapers or cash, there are other things you can do to save money on diapers. Try these tips.
Collect Diaper Coupons
Diaper coupons can be found on most manufacturer websites, as well as in coupon books such as Smart Source. Checking online sites such as coupons.com might be helpful too. Save every coupon you can since you never know which brands will end up working for you.
Also, consider signing up for diaper manufacturer online email lists. Email list members for brands such as Pampers, Luvs and Huggies often get insider coupon deals on diaper savings.
Sign Up for Store Baby Registries
Stores such as Target and Walmart have baby registry programs. When you sign up for them, you’ll sometimes get gift baskets that include free diapers, free wipes, and coupons for diapers and wipes.
The registry programs can be a great way to give friends and family members who are planning on buying gifts some good gift ideas. Even if you don’t have an actual baby shower, there will likely be a few close family and friends who will want to buy the new little one a gift.
(Hint: put mom pampering items such as bath salts or at-home spa products on your baby registry. It’s important to take care of yourself as you take care of your baby.)
Don’t Be Afraid to Try Off Brands or Lower Priced Brands
You may feel as if you have to provide the best diaper for your baby. However, the most expensive isn’t necessarily the best. When I had kids in diapers, I found that Luvs worked just as well as Pampers – for a fraction of the cost.
Other friends I know have had great luck using the warehouse club diaper brands. Don’t be afraid to experiment with lower cost brands. If they don’t end up working, just give them away.
Don’t Buy Too Many in One Size
The thing about diapers and babies is you never know how long your baby will fit into any particular size of diaper. Babies have growth spurts and slow-growth weeks and months.
Therefore, it might be wise to not buy too many diapers in one size as you’re creating your stockpile. Buy just a few boxes in each size to minimize waste.
Stockpiling Wipes
Some people also stockpile wipes. I did this when my babies were on the way. However, I recommend being careful about doing so. I was lucky in that none of my kids had allergies or reactions to the scents used on baby wipes. Other families might have issues.
So, if you’re going to stockpile wipes (and I think it can be a good idea), buy the unscented ones. The “cleaner” (non-chemical filled) they are, the less chance your baby will have a reaction to them. And don’t forget to look for coupons for wipes too; they’re out there.
The moral of the story is that you can stockpile diapers for your baby without wasting money. You just have to take care in how you do so. By following the tips above you can create a stockpile that works for your baby and your family.
And saving money on diapers and wipes will help you have extra cash for other expenses – like baby’s college fund.
Have you stockpiled diapers before having a baby? If so, share your experience in the comments below.
