Parents on a Fixed Budget: Monthly Cost of Diapers Can Double by Second Year

Don't get caught off guard and bewildered by the sneaky nature of diaper economics! We seldom take time to notice how much we're really spending on diapers. In a busy world it's easy to make assumptions about such a seemingly routine expenditure. But buying diapers is not like buying other things that need regular and predictable replacement. We all know what it will cost to buy a fixed quantity of shampoo and laundry detergent on a monthly budget, but even if you've been buying diapers routinely for several weeks you're likely to mis-budget for them at some point. You may not miscalculate the cost per pack, but what's easy to overlook is the fluctuation in quantity per pack among progressive diaper sizes. And since a child's growth changes are so gradual, it may be hard to notice that your actually paying more and more for a monthly supply. With each increase in diaper size, the same priced package of your brand usually yields a smaller quantity of diapers. Yet, your child will continue to use about 224 diapers a month! How much you spend a month on diapers depends on, among other things, your child's weight.

The average newborn weighs 7.5 pounds. My last child weighed 8.5 pounds. He started off with what is termed a "mega pack" of size newborn diapers. It contained 96 tiny diapers and cost around 20 bucks. At an average of 8 diapers daily, he went through two and a third mega packs of a popular brand the first month. It cost around $47 to diaper him for his first 4 weeks. He will be 2 years old in about a month, and I'm now paying almost $90 for a months supply.That doesn't include wipes or tax. Add those into the equation, and and it's over $100 monthly.

The cost of diapers has to be recalculated often to avoid confusion about where some of the shopping money is "disappearing" to. During the first year, I spent around $680 on diapers alone. I will have spent an estimated $950 during the course of the second year. That's $270 more during the second year for the cost of diapers. Add in the baby wipes and the whole second year total comes to over $1000. That's a complete tax return for some, a home computer for others, and a full years worth of utilities for many! Obviously, that doubles if you have twins. A person with twins of within the average birth-weight range can expect to spend an estimated $3600 over 2 years for diapers and wipes. That's a pre-owned car for most of us!

So, before you and your significant other get into arguments about where some of the shopping money is going you might want to get together and look at the chart below. Perhaps you will both have a shocking revelation. Then you can agree that no one is at fault. It's just easy to get misled regarding this whole diaper thing. Keep in mind that the chart dose not include wipes or tax. It gives a common price for popular brands in the mega pack quantity. Take note that I have calculated the number of packs used per month based on my own child's diaper needs. Your child may be smaller or larger then mine was at different stages of growth and spend longer or shorter periods in a particular diaper size. My child was in size newborn for about a month, then went to size 1 for just over 2 months, increased to a size 2 for over 4 months, and so fourth. Take particular notice of the Packs per Month and Diapers per Pack information. It's always good to know where your money is going. Happy shopping!

BASED ON POPULAR BRANDS

BABY'S WEIGHT Up to 10 lbs Up to 14 lbs 12-18lbs 16-18lbs 22-37lbs Over 27 lbs Over 35 lbs

DIAPER SIZE Newborn Size 1 Size 2 Size 3 Size 4 Size 5 Size 6
(Based on popular brands)
PRICE PER PACK Around $20 $18 $18 $18 $18 $18 $18

DIAPERS PER PACK 96 ct. 84 ct. 72 ct. 60 ct. 52 ct. 46 ct. 40 ct.

PACKS PER MONTH 2.33 2.80 3.11 3.73 4.30 4.86 5.6
(Based on 8 diapers daily)
MONTHLY COST $46.60 $50.00 $55.98 $67.14 $77.40 $87.48 $100.80