How much do nappies cost a year?

A newborn might use 8 to 10 nappies a day, dropping as they grow. At a few dozen cents each, disposables often cost $800 to $1,500 a year. Over the years until toilet training, that adds up to a significant sum.

Are cloth nappies cheaper?

Cloth nappies have a higher upfront cost for the set, plus washing costs, but are reused for years and across siblings, so they usually work out cheaper overall than disposables. This calculator compares the two.

What about washing costs for cloth?

Cloth nappies add power, water and detergent for washing, which this calculator includes as a weekly cost. Even with washing, cloth is typically cheaper than disposables over the full nappy years.

Nappy Cost Calculator

This New Zealand calculator works out the yearly cost of nappies and compares disposable against cloth over the full nappy years. Disposables are cheap each but add up fast; cloth costs more upfront but is reused for years and across siblings. You enter the changes a day and the prices, and the tool shows the cost per week and per year for each, and the likely saving from cloth.

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Nappy changes per day

Disposable price each

Cloth nappy set (one-off)

Cloth washing per week

Years in nappies

likely saving from cloth over the nappy years

Disposable, per year$0

Disposable total$0

Cloth total$0

Cloth total includes the one-off set plus washing across the years; reusing the set for a second child increases the saving. Disposables are convenient, which has its own value. Estimate only.

How it works

The calculator costs disposables as changes a day times the price, per week and per year, and across the nappy years. For cloth it adds the one-off set to the washing cost across the years. The difference is the likely saving from choosing cloth. Reusing a cloth set for a second child roughly doubles the saving, since the big upfront cost is already paid.

Worked example

At 7 changes a day and 40 cents each, disposables cost about $1,022 a year, or roughly $2,550 over 2.5 years. A $700 cloth set plus $8 a week washing is about $1,740 over the same period, saving around $810, more if reused for another baby.

Related calculators

Cost of a Baby Calculator: first-year baby cost.
Baby Number Two Calculator: a second child.
Childcare Cost Calculator: childcare.
Grocery Budget Calculator: family groceries.

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