Ok, so here's a confession: I've never brought my cloth diapers on a trip. By a trip, I mean a trip involving a plane. Do I have a good
excuse? I like to think that the fees for bags that airlines now charge is a good one, or the fact that I usually have to pack for three children in addition to myself. But the truth is, I always feel pretty guilty about not bringing them and I cringe with every disposable I toss in trash cans on our trips. Now in my own defense, I do use cloth whenever we leave the house on local trips and when we go to outdoor music festivals. I bring them to the gym daycare--basically anywhere it won't be a problem to have a wet bag with a couple dirty diapers waiting in it. But I know that there probably many of you who are better persons than me--so dedicated to cloth diapering and being green that you've packed an extra suitcase for them or managed to stuff enough of them into any remaining crevices in an already full suitcase. In fact, I don't doubt there are a few of you who have even brought your cloth diapers on multiple-leg flights, on boats, or on trains! So go ahead and shame me and tell me how you do it. Here is what I want to know:
- How many cloth diapers would you pack for a long weekend trip--like from Friday to Monday?
- How many cloth diapers would you pack for a full week trip?
- Do you pack cloth wipes?
- Do you pack your own detergent? How do you pack detergent?? Or do you buy whatever detergent is available where you are going?
- Do you bring your diapers on the plane?
- If you do bring your diapers on the plane, how on the world do you fit them into the small and precious space in your diaper bag that also needs to be reserved for snacks, books and toys--especially if you have older siblings to entertain.
We don’t usually fly so I’ve never used cloth while traveling but we have taken them on trips! I usually go the hybrid route though using disposable liners! :-)
For short Friday – Sunday trips, we bring cloth and wash when we get home. For longer trips, we only bring cloth if we’re staying with family or friends with easy access to a washing machine. For hotel stays, we don’t bring cloth because i’m not spending my time or money on washing at a hotel or laundromat. We always use disposables in the airport and long car rides, it’s just easier and takes up less space. But traveling with cloth does require extra space in your suitcase! They do take up a ton of space.
We have taken cloth for trips that are driveable up through 4 days/ 3 nights without washing ( though dunk and swishing poops). I wouldn’t recommend going that long without washing but it was ok. We frequently take weekend trips with cloth and just bring a large wet bag.
Trips by plane we take cloth if we are checking a bag and have access to laundry. Otherwise hybrids and occasionally disposables.
We use lulus glamour wash for travel because the sample sizes are small but cover several washes.
I took a four-day trip and just brought my entire stash. I don’t know if ‘sposies were in the budget, but I wouldn’t wash them again while away- my host had hard well water so I had to do a double cycle when I got home anyway to make sure they were clean.
I have done it – once, and I wouldn’t do it again. The space they took up was ridiculous. The amount of time I spent in front of a washing machine was dumb, and I had to strip them all when I got home because I changed up my wash routine while there to save time, and didn’t get all the detergent/stink out. I might use disposable inserts, but I won’t go cloth all the way for a trip like that. I will say that I do use them while camping because the space issue doesn’t matter and I just wash them when we get home because our trips are 3 days or less.
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