Traveling with cloth diapers can be intimidating, but with a little preparation in advance, you can still save money and the environment even when you’re far from home.
Why travel with your cloth diapers?
Traveling with cloth diapers isn’t for everyone. If the idea of traveling with dirty diapers or finding somewhere to wash them is super stressful for you, know that it isn’t all or nothing. You can always use disposables during your trip and transition back to cloth when you’re back home.
But if you’re like me and you can’t imagine taking a break from your cloth and using disposables, it can be done. I spent a lot of money on my diaper stash knowing that the upfront investment would pay off. I have no interest in buying disposables because I bought my cloth diapers with the intention of never having to use disposable diapers. Our family is also environmentally conscious. Did you know that it takes 500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose in a landfill? We want to do our part to not contribute to the environmental impacts of disposable diapers, even when we’re on vacation.
Our Experience
My husband and I have always traveled a lot. When our son was 8 months old we moved cross country to be closer to my family. We spent 2 weeks living in a hotel room while house hunting and another month staying with my family while we closed on our new home. Our kiddo is now almost 2 years old and he’s traveled all over the US, both by plane and on road trips. We used cloth diapers on every trip he’s been on. I’m going to take you through what we packed for a one week cross country trip via plane.
Organizing Your Cloth Diapers for Packing
We flew cross country for a one week trip when my son was 18 months old. At this time he was going through around 8 diapers per day. If you’re traveling with a newborn you may need to pack up to 12 diapers per day.
We used diaper pods to organize his diapers. You can buy these from most cloth diaper companies. Amazon has pods made by companies like Mama Koala and Nora’s Nursery if you need packing solutions that will ship quickly. If you prefer to support small businesses, we love our pods from Sweet Cheeks Diaper Co and Cutie Caboose.
Luckily, all of these pods have room for 8 stuffed cloth diapers. Since we were going to be gone for a week, we packed 7 pods with 8 diapers each.
What do you do with dirty cloth diapers while traveling?
In addition to the 8 stuffed diapers, we also included 1 standard sized wet bag in each of the pods. This meant that each day we were able to throw one pod in our diaper bag and know that we had all of our cloth diapering basics. We used these standard sized wet bags to store dirty diapers when we were out in public to bring back to the Airbnb. You can find cloth diaper wet bags on Amazon from brands like Alvababy. If you prefer to shop small and have a bit more time to wait for shipping, we love our wet bags from Texas Tushies and Stout House.
Back at our Airbnb we hung up a couple of extra large wet bags. We used these to store dirty diapers that were changed in our Airbnb and I also threw the standard sized wet bags in these when we returned from a day out. This allowed me to keep all of my dirty diapers in one place to ensure that none of them got misplaced on the trip, which is never a fun surprise to find later. You can find extra large wet bags from Wegreeco on Amazon for quick shipping. My favorite small business large hanging wet bags come from Suga Bums. These hold about a week’s worth of dirty cloth diapers and inserts.
What to do about messy diapers while traveling.
The most difficult part about traveling with cloth diapers is how to handle poop diapers. I have a Spray Pal with a spray shield on my toilet at home, which makes clean up a breeze, but I can’t exactly install a bidet at an Airbnb or in a hotel room.
While traveling I always use Sposies disposable diaper liners. I place these between my baby and the cloth diaper so that my diapers don’t get as badly soiled. They come in two sizes, newborn-28 pounds and 22 pounds+.
For times when the Sposies liners don’t catch everything, I use a peri bottle as a portable diaper sprayer.
How we packed our checked bags for traveling with cloth diapers
For this trip, my little was less than 2 years old so he traveled as a lap infant with my husband and I. We flew Delta which allows 1 free carry on and 1 free personal item per adult plus a free complimentary diaper bag as an additional carry on when traveling with a lap infant. We also checked 2 suitcases.
In one suitcase we packed all of mine and my husband’s clothes and toiletries. In the second suitcase we were able to fit a 7 pods filled with 8 stuffed cloth diapers and a standard sized wet bag each, 2 large hanging wet bags, a week’s worth of Sposies diaper liners, the peri bottle, and all of the baby’s clothes and pajamas for the week.
What we packed in our diaper bag for the plane ride
For the airport, we packed enough stuffed cloth diapers for 24 hours, a standard sized wet bag, and a pack of wipes in our diaper bag. Even though it was only a 2 hour flight we made sure to have enough for 24 hours in case of emergency, such as flight delays or lost baggage. Because our cloth diaper bag takes up so much space, we stored this in the overhead. We used the diaper bag for diaper changes at the airport.
Because our diaper bag was in the overhead and not easily accessible, I made sure to also bring a small bag that would fit under the seat as a personal item. In this bag I kept toys, snacks, and a small emergency changing kit in case we needed to change a diaper mid-flight. The emergency changing kit included one stuffed cloth diaper, a Sposies disposable liner, and wipes in a Stout House wet bag.
How to wash cloth diapers while on vacation
While traveling I have washed my cloth diapers at my mom’s house, my in-law’s house, at friends’ houses, and in Airbnbs. I always bring along water test kits to test the water hardness levels where I’ll be staying. If I’m able to, I’ll ask friends or family in advance to take photos of their washing machines to send me with the make and model. I then build a wash routine using their machine model and their water hardness levels on the Facebook group Cloth Diaper Wash and Care. If I’m staying at an Airbnb I will look up the washing machine upon arrival.
A note on laundry mats
I will not use a laundry mat to wash my cloth diapers, even while on vacation. Most folks use way too much detergent when washing at laundry mats and their machines often have large amounts of detergent build up which can transfer to your diapers.
I don’t worry about detergent build up in the machine when washing at friends’ houses. One load of laundry in a new place isn’t going to ruin your diapers, and most people don’t use the same overly-zealous, copious amounts of detergent at home that they might use at a laundry mat. If I’m worried about it, a run an extra rinse cycle or two.
What if I can’t do diaper laundry while traveling with cloth diapers?
Depending on how long I’m staying, sometimes it just isn’t feasible to do diaper laundry while traveling. In these instances I will pack all of my dirty diapers in one suitcase, sometimes with some dirty clothes, and any clean clothes and toiletries in another suitcase. I’ll then do diaper laundry when I get home.
Have you traveled with cloth diapers? Let us know how your experience went and any tips or tricks in the comments below!
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