We will cover all the ins-and-outs, including what to do with dirty diapers while traveling; the best cloth diapers for vacation; and even disposable cloth diaper inserts.<\/p>\n
Instead of sharing only my individual experience with cloth diapering away from home, I wanted to make this a comprehensive Guide to Cloth Diapering While Traveling<\/strong>. So I asked for input from others who have cloth diapered while on vacation. I gathered tons of insight and advice!<\/p>\n I realize that we all have unique preferences when it comes to cloth diapering. And our trips vary greatly in length and destination. So rather than presenting a single “best way to cloth diaper while traveling,” I will walk you through the considerations to think about when deciding what method of cloth diapering will work for your family while you are on the road.<\/p>\n I love hearing from you, so feel free to share your experience with cloth diapering while traveling in the comments!<\/p>\n This blog post organizes all the tips, tricks, hacks, and how-to advice to answer your Frequently Asked Questions about cloth diapering while traveling. You can read the entire post or use this index to skip ahead to your burning question:<\/p>\n When deciding whether to use cloth diapers on vacation, it’s helpful to first think of the reasons that you cloth diaper at home. Do those reasons still apply while you are away from home? For me, I cloth diaper for my baby’s comfort and to reduce our environmental impact. Both of those still apply while we are traveling.<\/p>\n Another reason to use cloth diapers while traveling is that they are better at containing poop than disposable diapers. Who wants to deal with a poop-splosion on vacation, or on an airplane? Even if you do decide to use disposables on vacation, you may want to use a cloth diaper cover over the disposable for better containment.<\/p>\n Whether you are just considering using cloth diapers while traveling or set on sticking with cloth, let’s jump into the logistics of how to cloth diaper on vacation.<\/p>\n Whether you will bring enough cloth diapers to last your whole trip or you will wash and reuse them along the way, you will need a method for storing wet and dirty cloth diapers while traveling.<\/p>\n I like to bring a wet bag that zips shut and is big enough to hold all the wet cloth diapers at once. I use this large wet bag as a diaper pail wherever we are staying.<\/p>\n You could also use one wet bag for pee diapers and another wet bag for rinsed poop diapers. That’s a great idea if you will wait until you return home to wash the diapers.<\/p>\n I also bring smaller wet bags and wet\/dry clutches to use in my diaper bag during the day. Then at the end of the day I empty those smaller wet bags into the large wet bag.<\/p>\n Here are some options of wet bags to use for storing dirty cloth diapers while traveling:<\/p>\n\t If you are going on a short trip, like a weekend get-away, you may be able to bring enough cloth diapers for the entire trip and not need to wash them while away from home. If that’s the case, yippy, just bring the wet diapers home and wash them as usual!<\/p>\n One or a combination of these methods might be available to you:<\/p>\n There are multiple options of how to deal with poopy cloth diapers on vacation. You can try to avoid the poop getting on the cloth diaper in the first place by using disposable diaper liners. Or you could bring tools for cleaning the poopy diapers in your preferred manner. Here are some possibilities:<\/p>\n Our family practices elimination communication, which is a gentle method of allowing a baby opportunities to pee or poop in the toilet or potty. Many families who practice elimination communication with babies who are around 6-months-old quickly get to the point where they are catching most of the poops in the potty. This helps avoid poopy cloth diapers and makes cloth diapering while traveling much easier.<\/p>\n With our first baby we were consistently catching poops in the toilet from 6-months-old, with a bit of a pause around 12-months-old. With our second baby we were consistently catching poops in the potty from 3 to 6-months-old, but stopped catching them once she became mobile. So despite practicing EC, we still have poopy cloth diapers to deal with.<\/p>\n If you are curious about trying EC, read our tips on starting elimination communication<\/a>. We also have an article all about practicing elimination communication while traveling<\/a>.<\/p>\n Luckily, in our six months of travel we’ve only experienced one poop-splosion. Normally, my babies poop while at home (whether that is a hotel room or apartment rental). It’s rare for them to poop while out and about.<\/p>\n On this particular occasion we had been taking multiple trains north through Japan<\/a> and only staying a short time per town. I hadn’t given my baby much “down time” at the Airbnb rental before rushing off for a full day of sightseeing. We were waiting for our designated tour time at Mei and Satsuki’s house, from the movie My Friend Totoro. We had been wandering around the grounds to pass the time, and when I picked up my daughter I noticed from the smell that she may have pooped. I took her to the bathroom, which was luckily a well equipped Japanese public bathroom.<\/p>\n The poop had escaped from her fitted cloth diaper and a bit had gotten on the inside of the wool skirtie she was wearing. Luckily, this bathroom had not only a toilet, changing table, and sink, but also a flushing bidet sink. I was able to remove the diaper and set it aside. Wash my toddler in the bidet sink and dry her with the cloth wipes I had. Then I was able to dunk and swish the poop covered fitted cloth diaper in the toilet, followed by a bit more rinsing in the sink. It wasn’t completely clean, but clean enough to put into a wet diaper bag that I then hung from the outside of my travel diaper bag<\/a>. I wiped some poop dots off the wool skirtie with a wet paper towel.<\/p>\n I dressed my daughter with a clean cloth diaper and we returned to the line in time to make the tour! It wasn’t something I’d want to do again, but it also wasn’t impossible to deal with a massively poopy cloth diaper while sightseeing.<\/p>\n If you will wash and dry cloth diapers on vacation, it’s important to bring along some supplies. Here are some items to considering bringing:<\/p>\n When traveling in the USA I like to bring a roll or two of quarters with me for coin operated washing machines. That way I’m not spending my vacation time hunting for coins.<\/p>\n Since laundry detergent can be quite heavy I sometimes bring Eco Nuts<\/a> to have on hand for the first wash and then buy laundry detergent once I arrive. When staying with relatives, I have also ordered laundry detergent online, to have it arrive the day I arrive.<\/p>\n For more cloth diapering supplies, see our section above about dealing with poop!<\/p>\n I like to wash our cloth diapers or training pants every other day<\/strong>. On one short trip I washed cloth training pants every evening, but you need to balance how much free time you will have. I don’t like to leave wet cloth diapers in a wet bag long enough that they might mold or develop an ammonia smell. At most, I would go three days before washing.<\/p>\n For any poopy cloth diapers, I remove the poop and rinse them with water before putting them in a wet bag.<\/p>\n It’s not a big deal if your wash routine was less than perfect for one or two washes. If you are worried about build-up after multiple times washing the cloth diapers away from home, you can try using Grovia Mighty Bubbles<\/a> to strip any urine and mineral build up.<\/p>\n As I mentioned in the intro, I have been cloth diapering while traveling internationally for the past six months. My biggest obstacle has been maintaining a good wash routine while using washing machines that only have cold water. All but one of the Airbnb apartment rentals that we stayed in while traveling in Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia only had cold water.<\/p>\n I figured out some hacks for cold water only washing machines, like pre-rinsing the diapers and training pants in hot water in the bathroom sink or shower. I also sometimes carry a pan or two of hot water from the bathroom sink and pour it into the cold water in the washing machine. It’s still not ideal, but it’s better than a completely cold wash!<\/p>\n\t Thin training pants vs thick fitted diapers<\/p><\/div>\n If you are still planning your stash or want to invest in cloth diapers to use on vacation, here are some things to consider:<\/p>\n You may also want to take a mixture of different types of cloth diapers to use in different scenarios. Think about which types of cloth diapers will work best:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/em>\n\tWhy Use Cloth Diapers on Vacation?<\/h2>\n
And remember, it’s not all-or-nothing! You can use a mix of cloth diapers and disposables on vacation.<\/h5>\n\t
How to Store Dirty Cloth Diapers While Traveling<\/h2>\n\n
Kanga Care Wet Bag<\/h4>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShop\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t
Planet Wise Hanging Wet\/Dry Bag<\/h4>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShop\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t
Planet Wise Wet\/Dry Bag<\/h4>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShop\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t
Logan + Lenora Portfolio<\/h4>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShop\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t
How to Wash and Dry Cloth Diapers While Traveling<\/h2>\n\n
For longer trips, the first step in preparing to cloth diaper while traveling is to think about how you will wash the diapers while on the road.<\/h5>\n
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How to Deal with Poopy Cloth Diapers on Vacation<\/h3>\n
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What’s the Worst that Could Happen? – Poop-sploshion!<\/h3>\n
Supplies for Washing Cloth Diapers While Traveling<\/h3>\n
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How Often to Wash Cloth Diapers While Traveling<\/h3>\n
What to do if Your Wash Routine Wasn’t Quite Perfect While Traveling<\/h3>\n
Difficulties I’ve Faced Cloth Diapering While Traveling Long Term<\/h3>\n
Which Style of Cloth Diapers to Bring on Vacation<\/h2>\n
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If you have a favorite type of cloth diaper that is working well at home, you might want to bring that on vacation.<\/h5>\n
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