Newbie Goes on Vacation

I’m not sure if other people do this, but I made a couple of deals with myself when I started cloth diapering. What if they don’t work? What if they leak overnight? What about when I’m out running errands? In order to convince myself to even try cloth, I negotiated deals. You can still use a disposable overnight; you can use disposables while out during the day. On vacations, I planned on using only disposables so I wouldn’t ruin my trip with extra packing, laundry or other inconveniences.

I didn’t even have a month of cloth diapering under my belt when our vacation came upon us, but in that limited time, I was HOOKED! The thought of having to put a disposable on my daughter made me so sad. I used cloth out and about all day and overnight with no need for my preconceived “deals” so, without question they were coming to Cape Cod with us! Before you start calling me brave, I have to confess: we were staying in a rented house with a washer and dryer so it was the ideal situation for the Newbie. Knowing this, I only brought 10 diapers and 5 cloth wipes. I also brought a small stash of disposable diapers and wipes, just in case.

We had a 4 hour car ride ahead of us, but I knew we would be stopping for food and potty breaks for my 4 year old so I’d be able to change the baby on the road. I opted to stick with cloth. We stopped a little more than half way there and did a quick, and comical, change. The car was packed to the gills so I actually changed my daughter on my lap in the front seat after feeding her. In the Olympic sport of “Maneuvers Moms Somehow Swing” I would only give this a difficulty rating of 6.7 on a scale of 10. I’ve been known to attempt much more difficult feats, of which some I’m proud, some a bit embarrassed. Perhaps I’ll disclose the intimate details once we are a bit more comfortable with each other! The car trip was a breeze with both mommy and 5 month old very happily using cloth.

The rest of the trip couldn’t have gone any smoother. I ended up using maybe 3-4 disposables, between laundry cycles. My always-obliging second born timed her poops perfectly so they ended up in the disposables each time she had one on, leaving me with only 1 or 2 poopy cloth diapers. But my absolute favorite, most wonderful part of vacationing with cloth diapers: the house had a clothesline, complete with the warm sun and beautiful, ocean breezes. Can I just tell you, I woke up early, giddy with anticipation, the first morning that I got to hang my adorable cloth diapers on the clothesline! Only my fellow cloth diaper obsessed moms can appreciate this scene: pretending to be a lot sadder than I was (and I was a little sad) to be missing out on my 4 year old’s fishing expedition with her dad when, in all honesty, I was so excited to do laundry! I had it perfectly planned, kiss the other half of my family good-bye, tuck the baby in for a nap and tiptoe away to my secret pleasure of hanging my laundry out to dry!

All-in-all we had a wonderful family vacation that only reinforced how easy and wonderful my new world of cloth diapering is. I realize that it could have been much harder if I didn’t have such easy access to a washer and my new favorite cloth diapering accessory, the clothesline, but with a little planning, I won’t hesitate to take cloth diapers with me on future trips. Even if I have to do the hybrid of cloth and disposables, it’s well worth it.

Oh, and check out the picture of my new set-up at home. I ordered my clothesline the night we got back. When it arrived I couldn’t wait for the hole to be dug so (cue my husband’s eye-rolling) I stuck it in the umbrella stand of my patio table!

-By Jennifer G.