I've been using cloth diapers since my son was born, so naturally when we planned our trip across the province to visit my family in early December, I didn't question whether or not I'd be taking cloth with us. We were flying, and it's only 1.5 hours the air. We were staying at my Mom's house. I just didn't see how there would be a problem. But yet I still had people asking if I was using disposables for our trip. My mother-in-law even told me she'd pick me up a pack [of disposables] the week before our trip. I politely said no thank you. She said, "oh, the cloth diapers will be too much work."
I knew it would be just as easy as always, and it was. I made sure I washed diapers late the evening before we were leaving. Then, I took the dirty diaper from the next morning with us, packed in a wet bag. This was so that no dirty diapers were sitting in a wet bag at home for five days. We drove to the airport, and I changed Noah's diaper before we got on the plane (and zipped it into the same wet bag). The flight was short enough that he didn't need to be changed on the plane, but if I had needed to, I would have changed him in the washroom and zipped the dirty diaper in the extra wet bag that I keep in the diaper bag. By the time we got to my Mom's house (she picked us up from the airport and only lives five minutes away), I changed him again. He didn't have to go any longer than usual without being changed and the dirty diapers were safely tucked away in wet bags in our luggage.
Of course we stayed at my Mom's house so washing diapers wasn't an issue either. I asked her to buy a bottle of my cloth detergent, Nature Clean, in advance. She has a top loader machine (I have a front loader) so I had to figure out a routine, but it still worked well. I only brought a day's worth of diaper (plus the one from that morning and the one he wore when we left the house), so I had to wash them every evening, which I'm not used to. But still, not enough of an annoyance to bother me.
I did get the dreaded question from my sister, who lives with my Mom. "Doesn't that leave poop in the washing machine? That's gross, I wash my clothes in there." She even tried to convince my Mom to not let me wash them in the machine. Did she want me to hand wash them? I had to tell her, with a laugh, that no, it won't leave poop behind. The cold rinse gets rid of the yucky stuff, and the hot wash definitely sanitizes the machine as well as the diapers. She still rolled her eyes and said she didn't "get" why I cloth diaper my baby. I guess there's always going to be people who disagree with my parenting decisions.
We were only gone five days, but I'd say my first experience traveling with cloth diapers was easy. I got to show them to lots of people who'd never seen modern cloth diapers. My Aunts who came to meet Noah were amazed - they had cloth diapered their children (my older cousins) the "old fashioned" way. They used flats and diaper pins and plastic pants, just as my Mom did with us. It was fun to show them the different kinds of how they work.
To be honest, cloth diapering is just a way of life for me, so traveling with them was just my "normal". We are planning a week-long trip to a beach town a few hours away, in July. Noah will be one (holy crap!) and we will be staying in a cottage with no washing machine. I'll figure out exactly my plan as it gets closer, but I think I'll probably bring a couple days worth, wash them at the laundromat once and also buy and bring a box of disposable liners for my Grovias.
Anyone want to share your stories about traveling with cloth?
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