Having a baby is one of the most rewarding experiences people can go through. It can be stressful and frustrating at times, but it’s worth it for the joy they can bring to your life.
However, having a baby can be expensive. There are so many things you need to buy in order to keep your baby happy and healthy. Things like food, clothes, and toys like doll prams & dolls pushchairs, are all important for your baby’s development.
That’s why we wanted to find out the cheapest places to buy the essentials for those newborn nappy changes. We’ve looked at the cost of nappies, baby wipes, and nappy ointment to figure out which countries are paying the most and least for their newborn essentials.
The Cheapest Country to Change Nappies In
We’ve looked at the cost of nappies, baby wipes and nappy rash cream to find out which country has the cheapest newborn essentials. The average newborn baby goes through roughly 10 nappies a day, and over 1,200 baby wipes per month. We’ve multiplied the cost per essential by these figures to get a monthly cost.
- Japan – £90.70 to change nappies in the first month of a baby’s life
The lowest cost of changing nappies in the first month can be found in Japan, costing just over £90 during the first month of a newborn’s life. It costs just 18p per nappy in Japan and 2p per baby wipe, the cheapest price in both categories. This equals a little over £54 in nappies, and just under £25 in baby wipes. However, Bepanthen baby cream is on the more expensive side, costing just over £12.
- Canada – £106.68 to change nappies in the first month of a baby’s life
Canada’s monthly cost to change newborns’ nappies is the second cheapest on our list, at almost £107. Canada shares the cheapest nappy cost with Japan, with both countries paying just 18p per nappy. However, Canada’s baby wipes cost is twice as expensive as Japan’s.
- Poland – £120.47 to change nappies in the first month of a baby’s life
Poland’s monthly cost to change newborns’ nappies is the third cheapest on our list, at just over £120. The cost of baby wipes is joint cheapest with Japan, at 2p per wipe. However, Poland’s nappy cost and Bepanthen costs are more expensive.
The Most Expensive Country to Change Nappies In
Using the same data, we’ve discovered the countries that pay the most to change their newborns’ nappies.
- Mexico – £495.96 to change nappies in the first month of a baby’s life
The most expensive country to change nappies in is Mexico, and by some distance too. Mexico’s cost during the first month is over £200 more expensive than any other country. It’s more than five times more expensive than Japan which had the cheapest monthly cost. Baby wipes are what drives Mexico’s price so high, with it costing 30p per wipe.
- United States – £289.92 to change nappies in the first month of a baby’s life
In second place is the United States, where it costs just under £290 to change nappies during the first month of a newborn’s life. The cost per nappy in the US is the most expensive out of all the countries, at 47p per nappy, which comes to a monthly cost of approximately £140.
- Italy – £289.59 to change nappies in the first month of a baby’s life
Italy is the third most expensive country to change nappies, with just 33p separating second and third place. Nappies in Italy are the second most expensive compared to any other country, costing 42p per nappy, and over £127 across a month.
Methodology
To get our list of countries, we used those that are part of the OECD.
From those countries, we found the ones that had an Amazon domain and used their Amazon website to find out the prices of these newborn essentials.
- Pampers Harmonie Size 1
- Pampers sensitive baby wipes
- Benpanthen baby cream
We used the local Amazon domain for each country to find out the price.
We then calculated the cost per item (or 100g/ml) to work out the countries with the cheapest prices.
We used data from the NHS to find out the number of nappies a newborn goes through per day. This was used to get a monthly cost. This suggested that for a newborn, there could be 10 nappy changes a day, so we assigned four wipes per change and multiplied these numbers by 30 to give us a monthly total for each item.
For Bepanthen and baby wipes, the Amazon prices were retrieved on the 23rd of December 2022.
For nappies, the amazon prices were retrieved on the 17th of January 2023.
Currencies for Bepanthen and baby wipes were converted to GBP (£) on the 3rd of January 2023.
For nappies, currencies were converted to GBP (£) on the 17th of January.
It is possible that items could have been removed and/or prices could have changed since the data was collected.
Costs per nappy and baby wipe, and monthly costs were rounded to two decimal places. This means the monthly cost may be different despite the prices per item being the same.