Using cotton diapers away from home
"When my husband and I travel or go out with our baby we tend to use disposables. How can you use cloth outside of the home short of taking a diaper pail with you?"
"I used small garbage bags or grocery bags, then bought some nylon drawstring bags that are waterproof. They are easy to wash compared to plastic bags. We've been away from home for a week, and made sure we had enough diapers, and bags to store them in. It's extra baggage, but much easier on the environment. We don't use disposables at all, no matter where we go."
"When I go to the grocery store, I make sure to grab some of those plastic bags with the handles and then I just put one or two in the diaper gab when I go out! You can re-use them and it's a lot less embarrassing than leaving a smelly disposable at a childless friend's house or a restaurant."
"A deodorant disc in a plastic bag works just fine. The conform to most any space you might have left in your car trunk after the luggage is in it. Double bag in case of tears."
"Large zip-loc bags can hold diapers, diaper covers, and clothes if necessary - and keep everything else moisture and odor free. The bags can also be reused."
"It's simple, just take a plastic bag with you. The longer you're gone, the bigger or more bags you'll need. My husband and I have taken clothe diapers camping and even on a 100 mile bike ride with our 10 month old daughter. It really isn't a problem, just something you need to get used to."
"I have also been known to use disposables on the road. However, due to my husband's disdain for plastic diapers, we now use cloth all the time. When traveling for more than a couple of days we take a diaper pail. For shorter outings we simply take a few plastic bags. We like to reuse the bags from our morning newspaper! They work well as a temporary storage spot for soiled diapers. Traveling with cloth diapers may not have the convenience of disposables but the good feeling you will have by using cloth diapers more than makes up for a little inconvenience."
"If you are traveling to one place like the grandparent's home for a week or two, see if you can use the diaper service in that community. Even my home town of 10,000 now has a diaper service. Otherwise, remember that disposables were originally developed for use in situations where cloth diaper use was difficult - not for day to day use that so many use it for."
"This summer we took a 12 month old baby on a 3 week trip using cloth diapers. Zip-loc bags worked great to put the diaper in after a change and we tossed them in a Rubbermaid box with tight fitting lid until we had a chance to wash a load at a coin laundry or relatives house."
"On weekend or longer trips, we pack the clean diapers into a small diaper pail to transport to our destination, then bring the dirty ones back in it. Easy!'
"I only use cloth and what I do is to put extra cloth diapers in our bag with wipes, etc. I also have little plastic baggies to put the soiled diapers and wipes into until I get back home. Then just empty the little baggies into your pail at home! Easy! (I also noticed that after one day in pampers my baby got diaper rash! Never again!)"
"We take a travel pack of wet wipes, a dry wash cloth, and several used plastic produce bags with twist ties - no problem!"
"When we first started using the diaper service I used disposables `on the road.' Then I realized how simple it was to travel with cloth by designating a washable cloth bag to drop diapers into (as first I used plastic but started feeling responsible for adding plastic to the equation while trying to avoid that very thing). I also carry wet one's to wipe baby's bottom rather than a wash cloth on the road. I still bring a disposable or two in case the baby soils her diaper cover/covers before I have a chance to wash."
"This has been a problem at our house too. For short trips or day-long outings we take along a waterproof `stuff-sack.' These waterproofed nylon bags have drawstrings and toggle's at the top to close tightly and come in different sizes. Empty, they take up less room than a pack of wipes, and as it fills can be carried separately (ours has never leaked). They can be found in camping or outdoor stores, and in mail order catalogues. Ours even has a little pocket for a deodorizer! When we get home we dump the diapers into the pail and wash the sack in the washing machine. No plastic bags to toss!"
"My husband and I have made a solid 100% commitment to cloth diapers. The very thought of using a disposable is abhorrent to us. So when we travel or go out we simply bring our diaper bag. I wouldn't dream of stuffing a disposable diaper in the waste basket of a friend."
"When our daughter was in diapers, we used a washable nylon bag with a drawstring for soiled diapers. It worked really well. We still bring it with for the occasional accident while she's still training."
"We order an extra bundle when on vacation and double bag the dirty diapers. We store the dirty diapers in the bathroom of our cabin or hotel room, or the trunk of our car."
"Last May I took my 5 month old son to New York and Connecticut for a long weekend, and I used only diaper service diapers. Each day I collected dirty diapers in a small (loaf of bread size) plastic bag. At the end of the day I put that bag inside the large diaper pail sized bag. To be safe, I brought along a deodorizer which I opened, but kept in its wrapper inside the large bag. I have been using a diaper service for about 9 years and have never used disposables except when I have found myself unprepared and someone has given me one. I've never had a complaint from a church nursery volunteer. Instead they usually complement me for not using disposables. New baby sitters I ask to come early enough so I can demonstrate a diaper change. They are usually `all eyes' as I teach them a skill they can use for a lifetime. By the way, when I returned from New York I emptied each small plastic bag into the diaper pail and added the deodorizer to the lid. Perhaps it's not as easy as leaving a trail of dirty diapers wherever I go, but I'm satisfied knowing I'm putting human excrement where it belongs - in the sewage system, not the landfill."
"Bring some Tidies along for bad smelling diapers. They are a deodorized bag and can be washed and reused. Sprinkle some talcum powder in them after you've washed them for reuse. This gives them back their deodorizing quality after they've been washed."
"My 2 month old is child number 4 and I have used a diaper service since day one of my 1st born. I can count on one hand the number of bags of disposables purchased. For day trips, a zip-loc bag is all that is needed to store dirty cloth diapers. When visiting family or friends for a week or so, I stop my diaper service and get it for a week where we are visiting. If visiting on who is also using a service, I have them add on extras and pay them. The only time I use paper is for long camping trips or visiting a city where there is no diaper service. I even cart my diapers along for weekend and just store dirty one in a doubled plastic bag!"
"If you're on a traveling type trip, maybe make one lunch stop at a laundromat every couple of days to do a load of diaper. You'd stop to eat anyway. Eat while the laundry is going and use this time to play games with the kids."
"Just take along a plastic bag that your groceries sometimes come packed in (the one's with handles). Before using, dust the bag (inside) with baking powder. When my sister had the diaper service 15 years ago, she turned plastic bread wrappers inside-out - the hold enough diapers for one day at the sitters!"
"For short trips we pack ix diapers and a couple plastic bags. On longer trips we take several small bags and one larger bag. We leave the larger bag in the car or hotel room. When we return to the car or room, the small bags with soiled diapers go into the larger bag. This has worked well for us since the beginning of diapers."
"As a shower gift my sister got me disposable diaper sack. They are found with other baby related supplies, at a very affordable price. Now I use them all the time. When you change your baby away from home, throw the wet or soiled diaper in the bag (they will hold two to three diapers). Dispose of your wipe separately. When you get home, throw the used diapers in the pail. The bags can even be reused if the diapers weren't soiled or completely soaked. Best of all is that some of these tiny plastic blue bags are much better than millions of disposable diaper as far as waste in the environment is concerned. Think about why you are using cloth in the first place. It reaffirms your beliefs. Once I had an in-law complain about the hassle of cloth vs disposable's. I told them I made an intelligent choice and I didn't care for disposable's and why. As I was providing cloth when they babysat, if they wanted to use disposable's they could keep some on hand. I have never had any further complaints and they use the cloth. Now they too can feel good about the choice they made, and respect me for making an intelligent decision and standing behind it. My baby is eight weeks old and ha not experienced the fretful diaper rashes that make everyone, including baby feel badly. It makes it all worth while."
"Our twins are almost a year old, and we've used cloth diapers almost exclusively! Whenever we go away, whether it's for a few hours or several days, we just take plastic bags with us to put the dirty diapers in. As long as the bags are closed tightly, we never even know we're carrying dirty diapers along. It's just a matter of being prepared."
"We solved that problem in two ways. We reuse the plastic bag our daily newspaper comes in. I read the paper and send the plastic bag with clean cloth diapers to our day-care provider. She puts the soiled diaper in the plastic bag and sends them home with us that way. They work great on trips too."
"The co-op near us sells paper liners that we have used with wrap-ups. These liners cut down on the use of plastic bags. It's really not any more difficult than using disposable's."
"When we go out for the day, I bring `Nappy Sacks' with me. These are scented disposal bags for diapers. Each will hold 2 or three diapers and they can be tied shut and will not `smell up' the diaper bag. When we get home, they just have to be dumped into the diaper pail and then we wash the bags and use them again with a little talcum powder to renew the freshness to the bag."
"When we go away for 8 days by car each year, I take 2 or 3 big diaper service bags and many smaller plastic bags I have saved throughout the year from my grocery store. In 2 doubled big bags I put all the wet only diapers. In the other I put each soiled diaper separately bagged and knotted. This virtually eliminates odor."
"We use a product called `Diaper Sacks' made by Barna Limited (we buy them at Wal-Mart) and use them to keep wet and/or dirty diapers in. They are `specially fragranced to neutralize odors,' so the diapers really don't smell. They also have handle ties and say they are `degradable'...even after landfill burial."
( What advice would you most like to give about experiencing life with a new baby?"
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