What’s the purpose of baby wipes?

Of all the baby items, baby wipes are probably the most versatile. They are useful for a lot of things, from the well-known main use of cleaning the baby’s bottom in a diaper change, to wiping clean almost any surface the baby might have made a mess on. Baby wipes are really a parent’s best friend - whether it be spit-up, diaper blowout, leftovers from a meal, or even dirt on a baby’s hands, baby wipes are a quick and convenient way to get things clean when water and soap are not immediately available.

Are baby wipes necessary?

The short answer to this question is yes, baby wipes are necessary. A newborn can get as many as ten diapers dirty a day, sometimes even more, and the baby’s bottom will need to be cleaned after all of those diaper changes. This is where baby wipes prove to be very useful and, more importantly, convenient. There are alternatives that parents could use instead of baby wipes, of course. After all, they have not been around forever. But alternatives have a tough act to follow when it comes to convenience.

The most popular alternative is to clean the baby with water and soap. While this is effective, to some extent, even more so than wipes, it is not practical to take the baby to the sink or tub every single time they get their diaper dirty. What’s more, water, even if warm, is most definitely very stimulative to babies, so it would be very inconvenient to get a sleeping or sleepy baby wet in order to clean them. In this sense and others, baby wipes offer the best balance between getting the baby clean while allowing the cleaning process to be as smooth as possible.

How long does a pack of baby wipes last?

How long a pack of baby wipes lasts depends on two factors: how many wipes (units) the pack has and how many wipes a baby needs on a given day. The first factor, how many wipes are in the pack, really varies, as there are many presentations out there. For example, parents can buy the typical plastic pack meant for a single use, which can have anywhere between 30 to 50 wipes. Parents could also buy the larger packs meant to reload the individual packs, which can have anywhere between 200 and 350 wipes.

The second factor, which is how many wipes a baby needs per day, depends on how old the baby is. As mentioned above, newborns can require anywhere between 8 to 12 diaper changes per day. Older babies, say above six months old, require fewer diaper changes, possibly around 6 diaper changes per day, at the least. If the average number of wipes used per diaper change is two, parents would need between 24 to 12 wipes per day, depending on the baby’s age. Considering this, a pack of wipes would last around a day and a half with newborns and around two days with older babies.

How many baby wipes do you really need?

As seen above, there are many variables at play that will determine the exact number of wipes parents will need at a given time. A good rule of thumb that will hopefully give parents a sense of how many they will use per day is to assume 12 diaper changes a day minus the number of months the baby has, up to six months old, and either 2 wipes per change or 3 wipes per change, depending on how conservative the parents want to be in their assumption. After getting the number, parents can multiply either by 7 or 30 to get an approximate of how many wipes they would need every week or month, respectively. The formula looks like this:

(12 - months the baby has, up to 6) x (2 or 3)

How many wipes will a 5-month-old need in a week?

According to the formula, the daily number of diaper changes in this case would be 7. In the more conservative scenario, the parents of this 5-month-old baby would need 14 wipes per day. In the least conservative scenario, they would need 21. Both numbers multiplied by 7 give 98 wipes per week and 147 wipes per week, respectively.

How many wipes will a 7-month-old need in a month?

The daily number of diaper changes in this case would be 6 because that is the maximum number we can subtract from 12, according to the formula. In the least conservative scenario, a seven-month-old would need 18 wipes per day, and in the most conservative scenario, it would need 12 wipes a day. That totals 540 wipes per month and 360 wipes per month, respectively, for each of the scenarios.

How many wipes should I stockpile before the baby is born?

In general, it is advisable for parents to envision themselves going back to their normal household routine around two weeks after the birth of their baby. Of course, parents and their doctor should decide after the birth exactly how much rest mom and baby need. But the exercise of imagining themselves going out and about two weeks later after the birth of their first child will help parents keep the stress and nervousness at bay the days immediately before the due date. Keeping this in mind, it is not absolutely necessary to stockpile anything, really.

However, if parents do not want to think about having to go to the pharmacy for the first week, following the formula mentioned above, they should make sure to buy around 250 wipes (units). This amounts to around 10 of the individual packs if they bring 30 wipes or around 5 if they bring 50 wipes. Parents should keep in mind that babies have lots of needs that are met with lots of things, so wanting to avoid getting provisions for too long of a period of time will most likely turn into a space problem, needing to find room to put all those things.

What are other common uses for baby wipes?

Other common uses for baby wipes include cleaning almost every other baby item in the house, cleaning the baby’s face and hands, and cleaning mom and dad’s hands and clothes. As for cleaning other baby items, there is virtually nothing that cannot benefit from a baby wipe once a day until it is time for deep cleaning, like the baby’s high chair, toys, and stroller. The baby’s face and hands will get dirty from food or from other things, and until there is time to clean them with soap and water, baby wipes are a great way of making sure that dirtiness does not get around the house. Finally, the last example - Mom and Dad’s hands and clothes. Taking care of a baby is a messy and dirty business! Baby wipes offer a convenient and fast way for parents to clean themselves that will not go unappreciated.

What are other factors that determine how many baby wipes to buy?

Apart from the normal factors that determine the purchase of any baby item, like storage space and budget, there are three other factors that need to be considered by new parents when deciding how many baby wipes to buy:

1. Newborn’s skin: Newborns' skin is very sensitive and might react to certain components of regular baby wipes. Parents should consider buying water-based baby wipes for the first few weeks and only start introducing the normal ones after that initial period of time.
2. Sensitive skin in general: After the first few weeks, the baby’s skin starts maturing, even if it takes years to reach its final stage. Even after the skin matures beyond that initial newborn stage, some babies have skin that is just simply more sensitive than normal. Considering this, parents should wait until they have had time to confirm their baby’s skin agrees with normal wipes before stockpiling them.
3. The routine: Parents should consider leaving a chance for their routine to develop and understand exactly what their needs are. They might find that their baby benefits from constant diaper changes cleaned with water rather than wipes, for example, which might significantly reduce the number of wipes needed.

Baby wipes thoughts from new parents

Baby wipes are a fundamental item to take care of a baby. You should plan ahead but also let the baby get here to understand exactly what your needs as a family regarding baby wipes will be. Here is our Honest Checklist for you to get an idea of how many wipes you can buy when all of your future baby's needs are taken into consideration. We hope this is helpful!