Musings From a Cloth Diaper Addict: Traveling with Cloth Diapers

My family and I recently took a trip to Austin, TX for a week.  The only other week-long trip we have taken since Scarlett joined the family was to Syracuse, NY when she was only 3 months old.  I had just started cloth diapering at that point, and the thought of traveling across country with cloth diapers was still a little too overwhelming. 

Scarlett is now 10 months old, and I am a much more seasoned fluff user.  Taking our cloth diapers on this trip wasn’t even a question, what else would I do? Since I see a lot of questions about traveling with cloth on my favorite cloth diaper Facebook pages, I thought this would make an interesting challenge to chronicle. 

Now, I have to admit right off the bat how lucky I am.  We stayed with my extremely maternal and environmentally friendly aunt, who happens to have the nicest washer and dryer I have ever used.  One time, I even came back from an outing to discover she had stuffed my diapers for me! Certainly, not everyone traveling with cloth will have these amenities, but hopefully you will still find some tips helpful.

Part 1: How much fluff will a fluff addict stuff, when she stuffs her fluff in packing cubes?

My first plan of action was deciding how to pack them.  Its harder packing something that you have to use the entire trip.  This was an 11 hour car ride and, even though we were driving at night, I couldn’t be sure of how many diapers I would use.  I don’t have that many diapers to begin with, so I brought my entire stash, minus a few doublers and prefolds - 17 pocket diapers, 28 wipes, two prefolds, and a couple extra bamboo inserts. 

I keep all my diapers in a rather small 25 quart storage bin.  I could have just snapped the lid on and taken that, but it would have needed much more space in the car and would not fit in my suitcase (a suitcase that would hold all my two daughters’ and my belongings).  Since I have a ginormous suitcase, I like to take advantage of it and fit everything for three people into one bag.  This is where my wonderful Ebag packing cubes come into play.  Ebag packing cubes are an OCD packer’s wet dream and they made packing my cloth diapers a breeze.  No, I am not getting paid to endorse this product, I just love it that much!

I use the travel size all the time to store my stuff for the diaper bag.  I like having it all in its separate bag, since my diaper bag is pretty big.  My husband will usually just take the packing cube when he takes the baby out.  In it, I keep two cloth diapers, two cloth wipes, wipes solution spray, a plastic bag for dirty diapers, and a reusable changing pad.

My everyday cloth diaper travel bag.

So I packed this as usual and then put all my other diapers and wipes in a large-sized packing cube. I didn't want to leave any dirty diapers at home for a week, so I just brought along my In and Out - No Mess Diaper Bag by FuzziBunz to keep in the car.  Now, I'm not getting paid for this either, but may I just add that I friggin' love this wetbag.  It hangs on the door, stays closed yet gets airflow, has a zipper at the bottom for easy washer loading, has a little thingy on the inside to put some essential oils on to keep it smelling yummy, and I can wash it right with my diapers.  It rocks.  Why bother with a travel wetbag, when this way, I had it when I was there, and I could use it to store dirty diapers on the road.  The handy-dandy thing even attached to my suitcase, which meant one less thing to carry and less risk of dirty diapers spilling out in the car.

My entire stash ready to go, including wet bag with a few dirty diapers.

Here is what it looked like all ready to go.  Notice that the packing cubes even have convenient handles on them? I also love that I can see what is inside without opening them up, which is essential when you use a bunch of them for everyone's clothes.

This bitch is ready to do some cloth diaper traveling!

The large bag fit perfectly into my suitcase.  The travel bag went into the diaper bag, which was put at arm's reach in the car, and the wetbag was connected to the outside of my suitcase.  I could have kept it separate, but I liked having everything fit into one bag - when you're carrying an infant and wrangling a 5-year-old, the fewer bags the better!

Shablam!

Do you need fancy-dancy packing cubes? Of course not, but keeping the diapers in any kind of separate bag (instead of just in my suitcase with the rest of my belongings) has many advantages.  On the road, once we used the two diapers in the diaper bag, we just took the big bag out of the suitcase and kept it at arms reach.  At my aunt's house, the four of us shared two rooms, which happened to be on opposite sides of the house.  So we never quite knew where we would be changing a diaper.  Luckily, it was all very easy to transport from room to room.  It was also easy to take it with us on all-day outings; whenever I only take one or two diapers with me, Scarlett decides to take 4 or 5 poops.





***This post was originally written under my previous blog name, Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance.***

Musings from a Cloth Diaper Addict: Might As Well Face It, You're Addicted To Fluff

Scarlett in Rumparooz

Cloth diapers are made to catch poop.  We can dress them up all we want.  We can use snaps, aplix, and snappis.  We can employ an entire array of colors and prints.  We can create different diapers for different specialties.  But when it comes down to it, diapers have only one purpose: to catch poop.

So what in the world would possess me to select poop catchers as my addiction of choice? Did I mention the adorable snaps, colors, and prints? How about the opportunity to save thousands of dollars and the environment at the same time? Or maybe it had more to do with feeling a connection to my recently deceased momma – she cloth diapered me as a child.  I actually still use those same prefolds as dust cloths. 

No matter what started the addiction, it is safe to say that the cloth diaper has been my gateway drug to a whole new outlook on holistic living.  I always considered myself a hippie; I’m a proponent of alternative medicine, I went to massage therapy school, and I had a home birth.  But it took a poop catcher to get me skipping happily down the green brick road.  

I have become so immersed in the - ehem - poop culture, I forget many people are where I was a year ago -- completely clueless that over the past couple of decades, the cloth diaper has undergone an awesome transformation.  Because I have the feeling I’m going to be talking about my fluff addiction quite regularly, I want to make sure everyone knows exactly what I’m talking about.  These definitely aren’t your grandma’s diapers.


 Prefolds and Flats

Ok, these are your grandma’s diapers.  But there are very good reasons why they are still popular: they are cheap, easy, and effective.  A flat diaper resembles a receiving blanket.  It is folded many times and pinned onto baby.  A prefold diaper is a flat diaper that has been pre-folded and sewn together; it usually has about six layers.  It requires much less folding before it is pinned on baby.  Modern touches have, of course, snuck their way onto grandma’s changing table.  Snappis have replaced pins as a poke-free guarantee.  Both flats and prefolds require covers in order to become waterproof.  Popular cover fabrics include wool, fleece, and polyurethane laminate (PUL).  Just look how cute covers are! Examples include Thirsties, Bummis, and ImseVimse.


Fitted Diapers


The simplest way to describe a fitted diaper is to call it a fancy-dancy prefold or flat.  Fitted diapers are sewn with elastic in the back and legs to help get a better fit.  Many fitted diapers have extra padding (sometimes called a soaker) in the middle for extra absorbancy.  Just like flats and prefolds they require a cover to become completely waterproof.   Look at these adorable examples of fitted diapers: Little Beetle, Kissaluvs.

Pocket Diapers

Scarlett in her FuzziBunz

These dipes are what made me fall in love with cloth diapering.  A piece of moisture repelling material - usually fleece or microsuede - is sewn directly onto the waterproof cover - usually PUL, creating a pocket.  A moisture absorbing insert, sometimes called a soaker, is inserted into the pocket.  These can be made of a number of materials including microfiber, hemp, and bamboo.  The resulting creation is an extremely absorbent diaper that wicks moisture away leaving baby’s bottom nice and dry.  I could go on talking about these diapers forever, and probably will in future posts.  Examples of pocket diapers include FuzziBunz, Kawaii, and BumGenius. 

All-In-One (AIO)


An all-in-one diaper is basically just like a disposable diaper that you wash.  The waterproof cover, wicking liner, and absorbent soaker are all sewn together.  No stuffing, no pinning, no throwing away tons of crap.  Literally.  These diapers are on the high end of the pricing scale and the convenience scale. Examples of AIO diapers include Ragababe, Blueberry, and BumGenius.

All-In-Two (AI2)

An all-in-two diaper is sort of an all-in-one/pocket hybrid.  The soaker is not sewn into the diaper but is not stuffed into a pocket either.  Instead, it is snapped, velcroed, or simply laid in the diaper.  The inner layer of the diaper will usually be a soft, yet easily washable material that will dry quickly.  In some all-in-two diapers, you can reuse the covers with a new insert, saving money and time. Examples of AI2 diapers include Ragababe, Bottombumbers, and SoftBums.


This is just the tip of the iceberg! There are even more styles (hybrids, contours), dozens more accessories (liners, doublers, sprayers), and a very surprising number of brands.  There are even more Work At Home Moms (WAHM's) making and selling their handmade creations, but they deserve their own post!


So yes, they are still just poop catchers.  But they are damn cute poop catchers to match those damn cute tushies! Maybe now I won't seem quite so crazy...


Maybe not... 




***This post was originally written under my previous blog name, Zen and the Art of Cloth Diaper Maintenance.***