Thank you to Kelly and lovely Miss O. for this guest blog post.  For more great reading, head over to Kelly’s blog, the Accidental Pharmacist.

Recently, my husband and I took our infant daughter on her first trip to join my parents in Maui. Normally light packers, we had no idea what to bring now that there are three of us.  Though we use cloth diapers at home, we were leery of taking them on vacation. However, the alternative – using disposables – was no more attractive largely because we felt strongly about carrying out what we carry in.

Overall, the consensus among moms that I asked was that traveling with cloth diapers is manageable, and with a little planning, 1.5 days worth of diapers is plenty. In addition, some moms also suggested that we divide the cloth diaper stash between multiple bags in case one bag gets lost, that we bring our own laundry detergent and that we try to pack lightly.

With that in mind, here’s what we brought:

1. 16 prefolds (versatile, easy to pack, easy to wash)
2. 2 fitted cloth diapers (overnights)
3. 4 diaper covers
4. 10 cloth wipes
5. change pad
6. diaper cream
7. Nature’s Clean detergent in a ziplock freezer bag
8. waterproof diaper tote & 2 wet bags for day trips
9. infant bathing suit

What worked for us:

• Prefolds: We started off with a diaper service so we’re used to prefolds. The nice thing about prefolds is that they’re versatile, serving sometimes as a bare-bum playmat and other times as a diaper – this was perfect for the hot weather. Also, because prefolds are flat, they dried quickly (good in a humid climate) and didn’t take up too much room.
• Overnights: We packed a couple fitted diapers for overnights. The fitteds took up a little more room but they also came in handy on the flight home, saving us from an in-flight diaper change (ever tried to change a diaper on a plane?).
• Washing: Ahead of time, we changed our initial booking from a hotel to a cottage with a washer and dryer (and it was cheaper!). It turned out that the cottage, which also had 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a pool, was perfect for travelling with a baby. I should also mention that we don’t have an in-suite washer at home, so this alone was a treat (and another post for another time).
• Swimming: rather than buying the disposable swimming diapers, we took along an infant bathing suit that was purchased at our local pool. The prefolds fit nicely underneath so we didn’t have to worry about buying disposable diapers for swimming.
• Day trips: For the day trips we just did as we do at home and took along our wet bag.

What we’d do differently:

• Easier Diapers: We’d bring at least 5 all-in-ones or pockets for the grandparents. My mom has Parkinson’s Disease and sometimes the snappi/prefold/cover combination was a bit much. My dad didn’t even bother. Needless to say, after a little time on Google my mom is the new biggest fan of AMP’s all-in-one diaper (which we have but didn’t think to bring). “This is it? Made in Canada, you say? Fantastic!”
• In-Flight Diapers: We used disposables on the way to Hawaii thinking it would be easier. In the end, it was quite the opposite. For future trips I think we’ll just stick to a super absorbent cloth diaper to minimize the in-flight diaper changes.
• Back-up: Unsure of our system, we did bring along some disposables. However, following the advice of others, next time I think I’d bring along some Flip Disposable Inserts instead.
• Relax: I wouldn’t worry so much. Cloth diapering is surprisingly easy and it was just as easy on vacation.

Have you traveled with cloth diapers? Do you have any tips to add?

(Going swimming on holiday or at the pool – check out our contest here - runs until June 13)

This entry was posted on Monday, June 7th, 2010 at 7:00 am and is filed under Babies in Cloth, Chatter, Cloth Diaper Tips, New & Green Mamas, Real Life Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.