How many bibs, burp cloths, and wash cloths do I need in the beginning?

[L'sMommy]

Looking for some advice on this. I have 6 bibs, 8 washcloths and 4 burp cloths. Is this enough for a newborn? I'm not sure how much to buy.

[AngelaS]

Sounds like plenty to me.

They don't need bibs at first-mine never used them until they ate solids. I used regular washcloths on my kids and I only ever had about 4 burp cloths. If I needed more I grabbed a hand towel or a washcloth.

[Melaine]

I would get more burp cloths and probably more bibs. I think the washclothes should be ok. You may be able to find them used on craigslist, a consignment shop, or even freecycle, but I think it's worth getting a few more of each. Someone else will probably chime in with a number.....not to scare you, but there was a time when I was going through 20 bibs a day with my girls (that's 20 each, so 40 total) because they spit up so much. I don't think that's typical but be prepared!

[wellyes]

I didn't use any bibs until mine started solids, 6 months. Don't worry about having them for a newborn.

I used washclothes for baths - maybe 2 baths a week? And the daily face and hand washing. You don't need many and you can use any washcloth.

The burp clothes I used on the changing table, right where the baby's bum goes - for leaks and spills when I was changing her. This saved me from having to wash the changing pad cover over and over again. There was an accident just about every day since breastfed babies poop constantly and it's really runny (and because I'm a klutz). I went through a LOT of burp clothes, I think I had about 20 in rotation that I kept washing. Since they're pretty cheap, I just threw them out / replaced them when they got stained.

What I used a ton of for the newborn was receiving blankets. I recommend getting a dozen or so. I always had my newborn in an outfit plus wrapped in a blanket. We also swaddled her pretty frequently. They're also useful as a changing-pad on the go, as a nursing cover, rolled up around the newborn's head to make the carseat fit better, another layer of warmth in the stroller, etc. Now that mine is crawling, I almost never use the blankets anymore, but they were great for me in those first few months.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Get a pack of a dozen cloth diapers to use as birth cloths. You sound good with the rest.

Beth

[JBaxter]

Few more burp cloths and bibs. You can also pick up more ( and you will get gifts) after the baby comes. Jack spits up ALOT I use about 3 bibs a day and have 2 dozen cloth diapers I use as burp cloths.

My oldest didnt wear a bib till he started solids. All are different.

[C99]

More burp cloths -- if your kid is a spitter, you might go through 4 in a day -- but everything else sounds fine. I only used bibs for drooling, which didn't begin until 3-4 months IME.

[caheinz]

We have way more burp cloths (1-2 dozen) -- but that's because they're staged around the house to be handy whenever one of the babies decides to spit up.

At 3.5 mos, we have yet to put a bib on either of them.

And washcloths... we have tons of baby ones that were gifts with DS1. But we really only use 6/week, and that's with 2 babies.

[srhs]

We used the soft and thin washcloths instead of wipes in the beginning, so we went through those like crazy. We probably had 2 dozen. We reserved the thicker washcloths for bathtime and as reserves when we ran out of the soft and thin ones.
A couple dozen burp cloths will come in handy if you have a stack in all the rooms you'll be in with baby.
We also put the small bibs on baby for drool/spit-up. The little ones that came as accessories on outfits we were given worked fine for this. We usually put a bib on baby if he was getting a bottle because it was easier for wiping the chin.
I'd register for a few more, esp the burp cloths. You just don't want to be stressing about laundry of all things those first weeks, IMHO.

[sanja973]

I used cloth diapers and recieving blankets as burp clothes. I think you are ok for first few weeks, I would wait to see how it works at the beggining and buy more of what you need.

[shawnandangel]

I have about 36 burp clothes. I use them all in a week. I wash all of dd's laundrey seperate from ours and I do 1-2 loads a week (not including diapers) So I guess it depends on whether you plan to seperate the laundrey and how often you want to do it. My burp clothes are homemade out of flannel. (gma made em) They are awesome!

wash clothes sound fine

I use 3-4 baby towels a week right now. She gets a bath every other day and I use one towel per washing. When she was new newborn I used 2 towels to warm/dry her up faster

dd does not use bibs yet.

[gatorsmom]

Have you decided if you will breastfeed or bottlefeed? Bottlefed babies can go through a lot of bibs and some tend to spit up more often. Some breastfed babies don't need bibs until they start solids (mine didn't). And then, you won't want the cutsy little infant bibs. You'll want the poly-backed, upper-torso-covering bibs.

[traumarn]

i'd say you are ok, to start with- that's the key- to start with- if your baby ends up being like mine- a vomiter- no real 'cause'- just throws up a lot- you'll go through 3-4 bibs and burp rags PER DAY.
you just gotta kinda see where it goes....

[elephantmeg]

traditional burp clothes are worthless if you have a refluxer or a spitter. CLoth diapers or thick washcloths are better. I have a dozen diaper burp clothes plus some of the prettier ones for the diaper bag. I hate bibs on babies for spit up so never used them. And 6 washclothes is plenty

[L'sMommy]

Thanks all. I do plan to breastfeed and have been hearing that breastfed babies don't really need bibs until they get on solids. However, if the baby has reflux and spits up all the time you need tons of bibs. I've signed up for a few more bibs, and the cloth diapers to use as burp cloths.

[HIU8]

I ended up with 15 bibs (DS was a HUGE drooler and we did at least 4 bibs a day). I had about 12ish burb clothes and 3 washclothes. I did not use nearly this amount for DD who wasn't a huge drooler or spitter (but at least I had them already).

[essnce629]

My son was excusively breastfed and never really spit up, BUT he did become a major drooler around 4 months and he'd wear a bib all day long to keep his clothes from getting soaked. We used cloth 2-3 bibs a day and I probably had about 15 of them. The drooling lasted till he was almost 1 year old. But who knows what kind of baby you'll have so you're probably fine with what you have now. I did have about 2 dozen cloth diapers to use as burp cloths and used those all the time-- especially to catch the drips of breastmilk that would spray all over the place when he'd first latch on (I had a fast letdown)! They were also good to put down on the changing table to catch any messes and not have to worry about washing the whole changing pad cover. With washcloths, I had a ton to start, but didn't really start using them all that much till he started solids at 6 months and I'd wipe his mouth and hands after every meal. I probably only did about 2 baths a week in the beginning so having a bunch of washcloths then wasn't necessary at all.

[kellyd]

DS is a reflux baby so there were / are days even as early as a few days old that I would go through several bibs in an hour. It was rediculous. If you do pick up more bibs then I would suggest getting the larger size bibs. They may be a bit big in the beginning... but he or she will grow into them so it won't be something you may only use in the beginning.