My answer is ALWAYS the same: "It's easy, take your wet bag and your clean diapers with you and while you change the baby simply place the dirty diapers in your wet bag and at the end of your vacation bring them home with you. The only thing you are changing in your day to day life while cloth diapering is the fact that you are putting the used diapers in your wet bag and not in the trash can. If you are using our service diapers while you are on vacation just set them out for pick up on the next delivery day after you get home. If you are using your own diapers, I recommend that the first thing you do when you walk in the front door is put the diapers in the washing machine and start your normal cloth diaper wash routine. Simple!!!"
In my family we travel A LOT...at any given time all three of us or just one of us is gone traveling for up to 2 weeks at a time on a family vacation or for work. We always try to travel together whenever possible, which means no matter where we are going I have to take our cloth diapers, wipes, and our wet bag. I have flown with our diapers, dirty and clean, taken week long driving trips in southern California and been gone for work for up to a week and a half, all while travel with my son and his diapers. It is possible to go ANYWHERE at ANYTIME with your cloth diapers. I will admit that traveling with service diapers (you are using a diaper service) is easier just because you are able to just set the diapers out for pick up after you return and not even have to worry about cleaning them. Personally it doesn't bother me to wash my son's diapers after a trip as long as I remember to put them in the washer as soon as I get home.
During on of our recent trips to San Diego I took some pictures of how I travel with our diapers.
For a 2 and a half day trip I took 13 diapers, 1 medium Planet Wise wet bag and a Happy Tushies wet bag. We only live about 3 and a half hours from San Diego so I put my son in one of the diapers right before leaving and changed him once we got to our hotel. I have been blessed with a child that falls asleep very quickly in the car and sleeps until I open the door at our final destination. I then changed him once more before bed (we got to our hotel at 6pm and after settling in and getting dinner we were all ready for bed around 10-10:30pm). So by the next morning we were down to 11 diapers. He got a diaper change first thing that morning when he woke up at 9am. My son will sleep through a wet diaper but I usually make sure that we cut off liquids 2 hours before bed time so that when he sleeps for his normal 8-11 hours at night, he isn't sleeping in a soaking wet diaper. With the Kawaii, Thirsties, Oh Katy and AppleCheeks diapers that I brought with us, I can usually get away with changing him every 4 hours as long as he has not gone number 2! If he is pushing the liquids like crazy I usually change him every 2-3 hours. So he got a diaper change at 12pm, 2pm, 6pm and again at 10pm before bed. When we travel, I always have a hard time sticking to a "normal" bed time...lol...oh well, we are on vacation right!??! So by the next morning we were down to 6 diapers. We went out and about that day and left in the afternoon to come home. When we had left town we were down to 2 diapers left. We usually stop in Palmdale on our way home, especially on a Sunday when we have to do deliveries and grocery shopping. So when we got to Palmdale he got a diaper change. When we got back in the car to go home (45 minutes away) he got his last diaper change.
This is a picture of all of the diapers in the Happy Tushies wet bag, with the Planet Wise wet bag on top.
I always hang the wet bag on the hook that is on the INSIDE of the bathroom door. The reason I do this is so that at night I can turn the fan on in the bathroom and continue to let the air circulate inside the bag so that the diapers don't stink on our drive home. Anytime we are in a hotel room I do this. I always tell our diaper service customers not to leave their wet bag in a bathroom or a laundry room, where there can be a lot of moisture, but when I do this, I only close the door at night and never while the shower of bath tub is in use.
Not only is it easy to cloth diaper, it is easy to travel with cloth diapers! I wouldn't have it any other way! Not only am I doing the best diapering option for my child, but I am saving money, helping to save our environment, limiting my carbon footprint and helping to spread my love for cloth diapers! I encourage everyone to at least try cloth diapers, and if you are brave enough, TRAVEL WITH CLOTH DIAPERS!!! Hopefully soon I will be able to post some more tricks and tips on traveling with cloth! Until then, happy travels with your cloth and I am always here for any advice or questions you might have!!!
~Rachelle
