How many maternity pads and newborn nappies???

[MrsHuxtable]

Right, those of you who have had babies already and are therefore experienced and wise.

How many maternity pads and newborn nappies will I need to stock up on before DD arrives.

About the pads, I always read "double the amount you think you'll need"...that's not really clear as I tend to overthink things and have no idea how many I might need in the first place, therefore can't double that amount. Please, can someone just tell me an actual number, for say...the first 14 days???

The nappies: We're starting off with disposable ones, the Nature babycare ones. Their size 1 is from 2-5kg (4-11lbs) and size 2 is from 3-6kg (6-13lbs).
What's with the size overlap? Is it pointless to buy the size 1 unless I have a tiny baby under 3kg? Should I buy a mix of both and again, how many????? I want to have enough for the first 4 weeks.

We don't have a car so having a decent stock for the first few weeks is essential.

It varies for everyone, that's the problem. I was wearing three pads at a time in the early stages but that doesn't last forever. You could easily get through a pack of 10 per day at the start, or you might not. Your loss might be lighter.

Newborns can have up to 10 nappy changes per day. The problem is that different nappies suit different shaped babies so not as simple as you would think to stock up. With dd Huggies leaked but Pampers were great. Personally I would stick to the smaller size for a more snug, leak-free fit.

Sorry, that didn't sound very helpful! I'm 39 weeks, have done this before and am still not sure. It's not an exact science :)

Everyone's different, but I got through about 5 packs of 10 maternity towels before I was ready to change to normal towels.

I used size 2 nappies straight away. They are slightly bigger so have the 'Simon Cowell' high waisted appearance, but they also hold a bigger volume of liquid so are less likely to leak, and need changing less frequently. I find supermarket own brands better than Pampers (cause nappy rash) and Huggies (go big and saggy round the crotch), and they are cheaper too.

Neither of my children ever needed 10 nappies a day!!!! On average, they used about 3 or 4 per day once they had cleared their meconium.

I'm pg with DC1 too and been wondering this. So far I've bought 4 packs of 10 maternity pads, so I'm not sure if that's enough or not - it sounds like it's not quite enough. Same with nappies as well, going to do reusable after the first 3-4 weeks, it's so hard to know isn't it!

Start online shopping if you don't already now.

Then you'll be set up with your favourites etc by the time the baby comes and you can't think straight.

I seem to remember the Newborn nappies have a slightly lower cut so as to not irritate the cord stump. Or maybe I've made that up.

I do remember dramatically under estimating the amount of breast pads it was possible to get through, though.

And then Rosebud, I never needed breastpads at all! So it's really hard to predict! That's why I second the advice about an online shop, because it's genuinely hard to know exactly what to buy for four whole weeks. You don't know the size/ shape of your baby or the amount of your blood flow- tis all guesswork. To the OP I would say, we don't have a car either. I am buying 2x size 1 naturecare nappies and 1 x size 2, and four packs of pads and no breastpads. And 15,000 muslins. That's my best guess, but it'll be Ocado to the rescue almost certainly in the first week.

just get way more than you think you need, in various sizes. Keep receipts. they'll probably all get used eventually, and if not you can take them back.

i would get a couple of packs size one,as size 2 tends to be big on most newborns, and a pack of size 2 just in case or for later & maternity pads about 5 packs. breastpads get a pack incase u need it. dont forget u can send your dp or whoever else out to get extra stuff for you if needed. sometimes you feel you have to get every single thing ready in advance but the shops will still be open when you need them even if you dont drive is there no shops near, or shopping online is very handy as others said. but if you do want to stock up a lot then buy both size 1 and 2 so you have them all there.

I think I used about 70 maternity pads before changing to normal ones and then I used about 15 of those. It might be best to get a couple o packs of nappies one pack in newborn size 1 and one in size 2 in case (like I did) you have a big baby.

It is quite tricky - I had DS 3 days ago and have probably used a dozen maternity pads so far, but for my first I had torn quite badly and I'm sure I had used so many more by this point. We've probably used 6 size one nappies a day. An average baby is around the 7lb10 mark, so I felt pretty safe buying the size one's. If you buy size 2's and have a small baby you will have to fold it down a lot around the umbilical stump. OTOH, if you buy a pack or two of size 2's you will use them eventually regardless.

And if you don't use all your pads/nappies you can always pass the unused ones on to someone else heavily pregnant.

Trying to be frugal is much easier if you are in walking distance of Boots and can just pick up more pads/nappies as and when!

I've got in 2 packs of maternity towels then 2 packs of "extra heavy nighttime" towels. will see how that goes and send DH out for reinforcements if needed!

Have two packs of disposable breast pads (lanisoh brand from mothercare as they have gel in and are WAY better then other brands I tried last time - was v leaky!) They are £6 a pack but well worth the money.

Have two packs of size 1 newborn nappies - one pampers and a free pack of huggies from one of the Bounty packs. Planning to use reuseables at some point after that but a few packs are bound to get used esp for the early night changes of which there will be many!

As everyone else said, it does vary. I think we got through 4 packs of size 1 nappies (nature babycare) with DS before moving up to size 2 and he was an average 7lb 14oz at birth. For maternity pads, I think I had 2 packs of 20 and also 2 packs of big old fashioned night time sanitary towels (kotex I think), before moving on to my normal sanitary towels - but I had no tearing etc.

Online shopping can be a big help - and if you don't want to do a full supermarket type shop, try Amazon. It may sound funny, but I know for sure that they sell the Nature Babycare range (including being able to set up regular deliveries for bulk buys) and I have also looked for breast pads and various creams on there and found the brands I like to use (DC2 due in the spring so doing some research now).

Thanks everyone. Your replies really give me a better idea and I appreciate that it's different for everyone.

I already do online shopping but will have to rely on it mostly no because we just moved to a small town this month with only a small Tesco. We were in the city centre before and nipping to Boots wouldn't have been a problem.

I already discovered the Nature Baby bulk orders on Amazon and I think we'll go with that.

I already have 2 boxes of breast pads, not sure if they're any good but I discovered them in Poundland, so I guess it doesn't matter if they are rubbish.

I'll get 5 packs of maternity pads for now.
Nappies, think I'll get 3 packs in a size 1 and 5 packs in the size 2 (as that's the Amazon bulk pack). I have no idea about the baby's size and I know there can be big surprises but I think DD will be smallish to average. I was 2.9kg myself, am still only just 5ft2 and petite and have consistently measured a week behind (am convinved my actual DD is 4 days earlier than calculated though).

You will all be laughing when I come back here in 6 weeks tine and had a 10pound baby.

My 10 week old was 7lb 3, is now 11lb 6 and is still in size 1 nappies!

I use the wilkos breast pads, they are pretty shitty but cheap and do the job.

Don't buy cheap maternity pads - I had to wear them for about 10 days and found the crap ones chaffed (as if my bits weren't sore enough!!)

We used about 4 packs of size 1 nappies and then moved onto size 2 when they got too small & leaked everywhere. With the leftover half pack i gave them to a friend i met at antenatal classes who had a smaller baby.