Traveling using cloth diapers?

[KBailey87]

Since I'm fairly new to the cloth diapering world I've never had to worry about traveling and using cloth diapers. I'm taking a trip with my daughter at the end of this month and don't want to have to buy a pack of sposies just for this! How difficult is it to just continue with the cloth on the plane and during the trip? Any advice on what all to take with me as well? TIA!

[zandj]

we are going to New Zealand on Saturday for 2.5 weeks and will be using/taking cloth only (we also did this with our son who is now 5)

what I do is wash all diapers the day before we leave because in the past I was always waiting on them to dry when done the day of. On Saturday I plan to have her in prefolds that I can throw in the wash just before we leave for a quick wash and then pop in the dryer so there are no dirties sitting around, they will wash up nicely/properly when we get home. In the past I had just popped any DS had used that morning before we left in a wetbag in our suitcase and washed when we got to our destination.

Make sure to use your best poop containing diapers on the plane (though blowouts are so rare in any kind of cloth!) and bring a few more than you think you'll need. I usually try to get away with using only one though and making it overnight absorbency as the changing spots are so small on planes sposies or not. Each time we pick up our luggage, since we have a few transfers I just throw the dirties in the suitcase in the wetbag! (and hope nobody has to rifle through it! haha)

We generally take every diaper we own in her suitcase as well as 2 pail liners. I am probably not going to take ALL of them this time but I'm a lot more daring than I was with DS

[cryswilkins]

If you have washing facilities its not terrible. We dud a week in Disney with cloth and have done 3 (4?) camping trips and its been totally fine. I like to travel with a trim system like flips or flats and covers because they are easiest to wash and carry around.

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[KimA]

Not difficult at all! I did it several times. I would hand wash and line dry if a washer/dryer wasn't available. Bringing sample bags of detergent and plenty of wet bags was a big help too.

[NewMommy6111]

We always travel with cloth. Just take whatever you use the most at home. The # would depend on if you can wash while you're away/if you want to waste vacay time washing dipes. I'd take like 18 dipes, more for a younger baby. Look into airline regulations as far as taking detergent on the plane. Also, I'd have at least half my dipes in my carry-on. What if they get lost? That would be awful.

[Kissed by the Moon]

Super easy. Depending on how long, you want to have a small wet bag with extra diapers, etc. You might want to consider doing grovias or flips with disposable inserts, or even without, just to cut down on the number of diapers.

[Pixi6s]

What type of diapers do you use?

Personally we generally buy gFlushes (also could use the flip or grovia disposables) in covers. When my son was younger we were actually using gDiapers but when he was older we just used them in the bummis covers we were using at the time. If you use pockets you could also not stuff the pockets with anything and lay a gFlushies on top of the microfleece.

It's not as bad, in my opinion, as buying sposies but still less work overall. For Nighttime I would bring our hemp inserts and put them under the gFlushes. You also could use 2 gFlushies. When I would rinse the hemp well and set them out to dry, then pack them away dry to wash at home.

The last trip that I thought we'd be using diapers before PL I only brought the gFlushies I had left. I thought between them and prefolds I would have enough to get us through the week. I ended up panicking and decided to goto a laundry mat (I did bring some JIC detergent). Not only was it not fun hanging out for hours at a laundry mat, I had to worry about what kind of residues they might have picked up. It was expensive drying too.

It really wasn't worth it. I would say unless you are at a friend/family member house you know OR you have enough to get you through without washing, it's not worth it cloth 100% while traveling.

Since you are taking a plane, being able to dispose of most of the waste in the plane bathroom is helpful (there isn't a lot of room to have big wet bags and such). Also, if you decide to do full cloth make sure you bring a bag or be prepared to pack a wet bag full of dirty diapers home.

[kelly679]

Originally Posted by Pixi6s What type of diapers do you use? Personally we generally buy gFlushes (also could use the flip or grovia disposables) in covers. When my son was younger we were actually using gDiapers but when he was older we just used them in the bummis covers we were using at the time. If you use pockets you could also not stuff the pockets with anything and lay a gFlushies on top of the microfleece. It's not as bad, in my opinion, as buying sposies but still less work overall. For Nighttime I would bring our hemp inserts and put them under the gFlushes. You also could use 2 gFlushies. When I would rinse the hemp well and set them out to dry, then pack them away dry to wash at home. The last trip that I thought we'd be using diapers before PL I only brought the gFlushies I had left. I thought between them and prefolds I would have enough to get us through the week. I ended up panicking and decided to goto a laundry mat (I did bring some JIC detergent). Not only was it not fun hanging out for hours at a laundry mat, I had to worry about what kind of residues they might have picked up. It was expensive drying too. It really wasn't worth it. I would say unless you are at a friend/family member house you know OR you have enough to get you through without washing, it's not worth it cloth 100% while traveling. Since you are taking a plane, being able to dispose of most of the waste in the plane bathroom is helpful (there isn't a lot of room to have big wet bags and such). Also, if you decide to do full cloth make sure you back a bag or be prepared to pack a wet bag full of dirty diapers home.

Ive got to agree. We just got back from 2 weeks in Hawaii. It was stressful for me to make sure everything was clean before we left so everyone wore sposies the day before. Plane sposies with a cover over. The hotel only had 1 washer per floor. I had to spend hours just washing laundry for my family of 5. Washing diapers was a total pain. If i go to someone's house who will let me wash, or go away for a few days then i'll do cloth. But not a long vacation with paid laundry. Each load cost me $4 to do!

[KimA]

If you think that cloth would be a pain but don't want to use sposies, biodegradable inserts are a good option. Flip, Gdiaper and GroVia ones will fit in any cover. The GroVia are the best because they have gussets but good luck finding any right now. They have been out of stock for awhile with no ETA on when they will be available again. The Gdiaper ones are the next best. The Flip is really long.

[meljc]

We haven't use any disposable diapers since we switched to cloth ten months ago, and that includes six trips of varying types (weekend at relatives all the way to two weeks of running around Spain). Here's how I would break it down for trips that involve flying:

-if staying somewhere with laundry facilities more than 48 hours, full on cloth (whatever you most packable style is; bring flats if there is no dryer or combo washer/dryer)

-if staying somewhere without laundry or less than 48 hours, disposable inserts (we use and like Grovia) and two flats to padfold under inserts at night (hand wash, line dry; no risk of poop since they're under an insert with gussets)

I agree with the previous poster about using a night diaper on the flight. It revolutionized flying for my DH, the master of 30,000 ft diaper changes :-)

If driving, you have more flexibility. For a 4-day car trip with no laundry facilities we used Grovia Biosoakers the first day and then switched to Grovia cloth, which we washed as soon as we got home.

I would not plan to spend any time on vacation in a laundromat. We rent apartments when we travel now because it's cheaper, more spacious and we can wash clothing and diapers (allowing us to back lighter).

The night before a trip, DS sleeps in a pocket stuffed with a padfolded flat and a doubler. These all gets rinsed in the sink before we leave and hung up in the shower. Everything gets a real wash when we get home. I just make sure not to use anything I want for the trip!

ETA: I do not bring my whole stash. I bring about 1.5 days worth of diapers and just wash more frequently. This also allows me to get by with just bringing two medium wetbags (one stays at our lodging, the other comes out in the diaper bag but is basically emptied every time we're at "home").

Good luck and happy trails!