We travel. A lot. Not very far usually, but long enough that it takes some planning. This Labor day weekend we traveled home to visit family. I almost brought a package of 7th generation disposables, but DD has been on antibiotics for a double ear infection and subsequently had some gastro issues we were dealing with which meant 2 things.1. She was pooping a LOT more than usual and
2. It was of the even runnier than normal variety. This led me to choose cloth diapers instead. They hold SO much better and I REALLY didn't want to be 5 hours from home and have to wash the car seat cover.
Cloth on vacation isn't any harder than disposables, but it takes a little bit more thought. Not much though.First, assemble your supplies. Make sure to have enough diapers to get you through until you can wash again. For this trip, I wasn't planning to wash until we got home, but because we didn't have enough room for 70 diapers (she's going though about 15 a day right now with the gastro problems), I took enough that I'd wash half way through (Saturday night)
I took BumGenius FLIPs with Grovia Biosoakers as backup. Both functioned beautifully, although with the runny poos we did end up handwashing the covers several times.Small wetbags hold the diapers during the day and then when we returned to "home base" (either my mom's or the in-laws) I'd empty them out into the pail liner. I washed Saturday night in my mom's machine (not like my machine at home). Any time I needed to hand wash the covers, I did so at night and they were dry by morning. It literally took me 5 minutes a night.
As far as the diaper bag goes, I used my regular one stuffed full. All the extras are in a large reusable shopping tote, but any duffel oe small suitcase would work too.A few tips:
- Always pack a few more than you think you'll need.
- Keep diapers accessible in the car on the ride over. You don't want to be digging through luggage trying to find a diaper and wipes.
- If possible, set up a small changing area in the car. Changing on a sloped vehicle seat is a challenge with any baby. I prefer to change DD in the back of my small SUV. This is possible because I set up a small Fuzzibunz changing pad in the back with 3 diapers and a package of wipes and a small wetbag. If anything is packed in that spot (thanks to well-meaning children or helpful husband) I move that particular bag somewhere else (even under a child's feet) so that I have my changing area. It's a lot easier. For wet diapers though, I change her in my lap if needed. (Never change your baby in a moving vehicle).
By Shanee W.
15 comments:
What an awesome post- I really thought you were going to say the opposite after mentioned the ear infections. I was nervous about traveling and cloth before I really became a fluff addict, but now it's no big deal. Granted we haven't had any longer trips but using cloth while out for the day is so easy! Plus someone else may see your fluff and who knows- you may convert someone!!
I find traveling with cloth easy too! My really question though is, what kind of carseat is that? I have never seen one that looks like that before!
I wish I had enough diapers to completely cloth on a trip to Seattle!But I don't think I am there yet.I plan to pick up 2 packs of the Ikea flats and I am waiting til the 10th to purchase 6 FB mediums so they won't be here in time.I have a bunch of gerber flats but they really suck for diapers.I wish I could come up with a way but I think this trip will have to be sposies since I don't have money to buy more diapers.
We just did five days at Disney with Flips and their disposable inserts for days, and BabyKicks stuffable fitteds and wool for overnights. We have traveled several times with cloth. There is simply no point to disposable with my son, he has a talent for peeing through everything. We had him 9 hours from home and had disposables with us for the first week and a whole suitcase of baby clothes because we did not have a washer. We arrived home with not one clean outfit he was wearing one that we had let dry, yuck. We tried a few more times for outings and it's always the same thing, use cloth or change the whole outfit, every single time he urinates. So We have a three week adventure coming up in December and won't have access to a washer or dryer for half of that. I am going to have to do some creative thinking here, any ideas?
When we flew to Maine to visit my folks this summer I just brought along some covers and wool and then bought a package of Gerber flats when we got there. We use them at home, so I already knew how to use them and they are super cheap. That way I didn't worry about packing a lot of diapers to take and I could just leave them there when I left. :)
BTW, love the "carrot cake" Combi Cocorro, it's the same carseat DD has. :)
We have travelled twice already with our cloth and lover it! Taking that many pockets is a bit of a challenge though...so I'm trying out Flip and GroVia to see what works best!
PS is that a Combi Coccoro carseat??
we traveled with cloth this weekend!
we used FLIPs with disopable incerts for the drive and BG3.0 for days and nights. It was great. We washed once over the weekend and still have diapers for day care this morning. :)
thanks for the info! expecting our first in november and those that aren't on board with our excited-ness to use cloth (ahem, grandparents) keep trying to use the travel excuse to convince us not to.
what kind of travel wetbag do you use? there seem to be a million out there.
The bath tub in a hotel does wonders for washing...makes me wonder why I don't wash my diapers this way at home! HMM :)
What's up with that car seat? It's like nothing I've ever seen. What is it. And traveling with cloth is easy though I do have the grovia disposable inserts as a backup, also I always forget my wet bag!
I'm with Mom of Five: that carseat looks amazing!
We recently took a week-long trip to Wisconsin, which is a nine hour drive from where we live in Kansas. I actually found that my 18-month-old had FEWER wet diapers on the trip, and didn't have an poo until we stopped driving.
(Plus. I got to use my mom's washer, which was like magic on my diapers. <3)
Thank you for the wonderful post! I'm planning on CDing when I have my 3rd baby in January, and this is very helpful since we will be taking a lot of day trips. I just wanted to mention that if you find that your LO has a lot of gastro issues when on antibiotics, you should try giving her lactobacillus acidophilus a few times a day, starting as soon as you are starting the antibiotics. I get it from the pharmacist at my local CVS (it's kept in the refrigerator behind the counter, but does not require a prescription). It's a probiotic that helps keep everything regulated so that kids do not have that toxic poo. My son would get awful diarrhea that would blister and burn his little bum until I started giving his this - what a huge help. Just wanted to mention it, since I find it so helpful!
Thanks everyone! The car seat is a combi coccoro w/out the infant insert. DD was too chunky at 14 pounds for it to look right, and after a quick call to Combi, they let me know that as long as the straps fit correctly that it was ok to take the insert out. It's an awesome, tiny car seat that takes up very little room front to back in our car, and has made it possible for me to sit in the back next to her and still be able to move the seat to let DS in the very back row.
Traveling with cloth is EASY, don't be afraid. I have lots of small wetbags, anything will do just fine. I love the ones I have from smjae on hyenacart, or the fuzzibunz ones.
I was going to ask about the car seat as well - very cool looking!
Just completed my first trip with cloth!! I intended on using flip sposie inserts while in the car (10 hour ride both ways), but only used ONE! It was not as difficult as I imagined. The only thing I would probably change was to have a medium sized wet/dry bag on hand. We spent most of our time out and about and night time at our 'home base.' I just had to keep the large wet/dry bag in the back of the car.
I was able to use my grandmother's washer which is like circa 1980's...and it did a better job than the 2000's model we have!! I was a little bummed I didn't have the opportunity to line dry, but oh well.
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