If you’re new to cloth diapering, this is probably the first question you’ve googled. And honestly, it’s the right one to ask before you spend a single dollar. Buy too few and you’ll be doing laundry every day. Buy too many and you’ve spent a fortune on diapers your baby will outgrow before you’ve used them all.
The good news? The answer is simpler than most people make it sound.
The short answer: 10–12 covers
For most families, 10 to 12 diaper covers is the sweet spot. This gives you enough to rotate through the day, enough flexibility to do laundry every two to three days, and enough variety to keep things fun.
If you’re using a cover-and-insert system like Babian’s Blends, you don’t need to wash the cover every single time — just wipe it down between changes and swap the insert. This means your covers go a lot further than you’d expect.
How often does a baby need changing?
Here’s a rough guide by age:
- Newborns: 10–12 changes per day
- 2–6 months: 8–10 changes per day
- 6 months and up: 6–8 changes per day
With a cover-and-insert system, one cover can typically be reused 2–3 times before it needs a full wash (unless there’s a blowout — then it goes straight in the pail). So even with a newborn changing 10 times a day, you’re looking at needing around 4–6 covers per day, not 10.
How often will you do laundry?
This is really what determines how many you need. Most cloth diapering families wash every 2–3 days. If that sounds like you:
- Washing every day: 6–8 covers is plenty
- Washing every 2 days: 10–12 covers is the sweet spot
- Washing every 3 days: 14–16 covers gives you a comfortable buffer
Most people land on every 2–3 days, which is why 10–12 is the number you’ll see recommended most often.
What about inserts?
Inserts are a different story — those get changed every single time. Plan on having at least 20–24 inserts in your stash. This sounds like a lot, but inserts are much less expensive than covers, and having plenty means you’re never scrambling.
With Babian’s Blends snap-in inserts, you can also double up for nighttime or heavy wetters — so a few extra inserts go a long way.
Do I need different sizes?
Not with a one-size cover system. Babian’s Blends covers are designed to fit from newborn all the way through potty training using adjustable snaps — so the same 10–12 covers you buy today will still be in use two or three years from now. That’s a big part of what makes cloth diapering so cost-effective compared to disposables.
So what does a starter stash actually look like?
A solid beginner setup looks something like this:
- 10–12 covers in a mix of prints you love
- 20–24 organic inserts
- A wet bag for on the go
- A larger pail liner for home
That’s genuinely everything you need to get started. No fancy accessories, no complicated systems.
The bottom line
Start with 10–12 covers, see how your laundry routine develops, and add more if you feel like you need them. Most parents find they don’t need to add a single cover — and many end up building a bigger stash simply because the prints are too beautiful to resist.
Ready to build yours? Our starter set takes the guesswork out completely — we’ve put together everything a new cloth diapering family needs in one place.