Wet wipes are a necessity for new parents. If you’re stockpiling your nursery in preparation for your baby’s birth, you’re probably wondering how many boxes of wipes you should buy before the baby comes. If you want to know, ask yourself this: How many wipes does a baby use in a year?
Let’s find out.
How many wipes does a baby use in a year?
There was a time when moms and dads had to use cotton wool and water for everything from cleaning their babies’ butts to wiping down surfaces. But those days are long gone.
Now, we have conveniently packed wet wipes that you can bring anywhere and everywhere, helping you clean up messes in seconds.
Wet wipes are inexpensive, quick to use, and super efficient. They are essential to nappy changes, poop explosions, sick days (and basically any other day). You can use them on your kids, your pets, your house, your shoes, your car, and so much more.
If you’re a first-time parent, you may be wondering just how many packets or boxes of wipes a baby can go through in its first year of life. This information is quite handy because if you buy baby wipes in bulk, you’ll save a lot of money.
The amount of wipes you will need in the first year depends on a bunch of factors, including how many babies you have, how meticulous you are with cleaning up during nappy changes, whether or not you will be traveling a lot, and for what you will be using the wipes.
If, for example, you will be out and about often, you will probably go through more wipes than a family who doesn’t travel as much. If you use baby wipes solely for nappy changes and not for, say, wiping down your baby’s high chair, you definitely won’t need that much.
With a newborn, you’ll be using fewer wipes because they have less poop than older babies. Some parents will use three to four wipes to clean up the baby’s bum after he or she poops and use a single wipe if it’s just for pee.
During the first month or two, a pack of 80 wipes will probably last a week or a week and a half.
As your baby gets older, they’ll need more wipes. Poop becomes more solid, more stinky, and just… more.
By the time your baby starts solids, you’ll be using five to six wipes to clean up poop and a wipe or two to clean up pee. If there’s a poonami, you may need as many as 10 wipes.
At this stage, you’ll likely be needing two packs of 80 wipes per week. That will continue until your child is a toddler. All in all, you’ll probably go through thousands of baby wipes before your baby turns a year old.
If you want to use fewer wipes, you can restrict their use to cleanups after baby poops. Some pediatricians warn that the excessive use of wipes can lead to rashes, so this makes sense from a health perspective as well.
Today’s absorbent diapers wick urine away from baby’s skin anyway, so there’s really no need to wipe up if it’s just pee.
According to WebMD, you shouldn’t use wipes to clean your baby’s bum, as the alcohol and other chemicals in them can irritate sensitive skin and cause rashes.
Instead of baby wipes, you can clean your baby’s backside with a soft cloth and warm water. You can also use moist tissues or some cotton squares.
Other uses for baby wipes
If, on the other hand, you’re left with a surplus of baby wipes, you’ll be glad to know that there are tons of uses for them. You can maximize the usefulness of your baby wipes by using them to:
- Clean grubby hands and faces
- Wipe down dirty walls, countertops, tables, and other surfaces
- Remove your makeup when you’re too tired to wash your face at the end of a long day
- Remove makeup that gets on your clothes
- Tame flyaway hair
- Soothe sunburn
- Get rid of excess nail polish
- Remove deodorant marks on clothes
- Wipe off hair dye stains
- Remove carpet and upholstery stains
- Disinfect surfaces your baby will be on when you’re in public
- Clean inside the car
- Clean your car windows
- Shine your bags and shoes
- Clean your pets
- Clean a chalkboard
- Wipe down light switches, remote controls, and doorknobs
- Freshen up at the gym
- Get sand off body parts before leaving the beach
- Wipe off dirt and mud from your shoes
Alternatives for baby wipes
If you think wipes are an unnecessary expense or that they’re bad for the environment, then you have some options. There are now baby wipes that are 100% biodegradable and have none of the potentially harmful chemicals in mainstream wipes brands.
You can also make disposable wipes from paper towels and water. Place them in a clean wipes container and you’re good to go.
So how many wipes does a baby use in a year? The answer: a lot. So buy in bulk and check out our forums for baby wipes deals and discounts.
