With the holidays upon us, we've put together some tips and tricks for using cloth on holiday.
1. Be prepared to change in uncomfortable places (garage bathrooms, the car boot. airplane toilets and sandy beaches). Take a changing mat, towel or blanket with you and some liquid soap to clean the surfaces before changing.
2. For airplane trips: use your most reliable nappy so you don't need to change too often. For car rides, avoid microfibre as its prone to compression leaks and prolonged sitting is going to cause wet car chairs.
3. Do your research: will there be a washing machine or will you hand wash? Will there be a tumbledryer or are you relying on dry warm weather? The more humid and wet your destination, the slower they will dry. The slower they dry, the more nappies you will need.
4. Consider an all-in-2 system. Covers with inserts/prefolds/flats are most sensible as you need less covers and more inserts. Pockets can be effective as they dry quickly - however they will take up more space as you need more of them.
5. Consider quick-dry materials or single layer fabrics.
6. Take string to make a washing line. Although the balcony chairs or the shower rail work just as well, you want as much drying space as possible. We try to wash at night, hang up before bed and then allow them to dry all day the next day while we're on the beach or exploring the city. Of course, if you're going to Russia in the middle of winter or on a skiing holiday, you might need to take them to a laundry service to tumble dry them..
7. Take enough nappies
If there's a washing machine and tumble dryer available, it's as easy as washing at home. Just bear in mind that baby poop is gross to everyone except the mother, so make sure you rinse them well before tossing them in to someone else's machine.
A general guide is 6 covers and 24 inserts.
Your travelling style also affects how many nappies you need. If you're staying in one place the whole holiday, you have more time to wash and dry. However, if you're on the move, you can't dry nappies in a backpack.
Certain parts of the world, like Asia, have toilet sprayers (bidets) which are used instead of toilet paper. These make excellent diaper sprayers and can be used to spray off any non-floppable poop. Otherwise, use fleece liners which make plopping a little easier. Never flush liners down public toilets, even if they say they are flushable. It's just not fair to block someone else's system!
7. Be gentle on yourself
And lastly, a holiday is meant to be enjoyed. If you have to use disposables for a day or two because of bad weather or a long ride somewhere, just do it. You can still be a responsible disposable user: continue to dump solids into the toilet (as human waste is not intended for landfills) and dispose of them in proper dustbins. Better yet, use biodegradable!
♥ Enjoy your holiday!