Cloth diapering at the cottage

My (Pam C's) family has been spending some time at my parents' cottage this summer, and I thought I'd share with you about cloth diapering while away from home for a night or two.

The first weekend (which actually was only 1 night, due to bad weather) we went, I only brought along disposables since I thought it would be too much of a hassle to bring and use the cloth diapers. At the end of the weekend, while packing up a bag of smelly, used disposable diapers (we have to take all garbage out with us), I realized that I would be taking home the same bag of diapers, regardless of whether they were cloth or not (perhaps this should've occured to me earlier!).

The next weekend was a long weekend - 3 days and nights. I was determined to bring along my cloth diapers, but I wasn't sure I'd have enough for the whole time. At home, I usually wash diapers every 3 days or so. So I was prepared to bring some disposables and all my cloth diapers. However, with everything else I had to get ready to go, the diapers didn't all get washed in time, and I only ended up bringing along about a days worth of cloth. However, I found that using them at the lake was no different than using them at home (except the poop was dumped in the outhouse, instead of the toilet!). I put the dirty diapers in my AppleCheeks Size 2 storage sac, and it worked wonderfully for keeping the mess and smell in. We (my husband and I, and our daughter) were all sleeping in the same room, and I never noticed a smell from the diaper bag.

Last time we were out it was for a regular weekend. I planned a little better this time, and washed the cloth diapers the night before so they were all ready to go. However, I did put my daughter in disposables during the day we were planning to leave, so that all the cloth would be clean to take along. I guess unless you have an enormous stash, you may have to make compromises here and there. I packed all the cloth diapers in a reusable grocery bag, and the one extra bag didn't seem to make a lot of difference (at least when it seems like you're already bringing along everything but the kitchen sink!). Perhaps if you're flying somewhere for a vacation and have limited luggage space, it may be more difficult, but for our little outings it worked fine.

It may seem intimidating at first to use your cloth diapers away from home, but after a few tries, you may find that it's not so different from using them at home.
~ Pam C ~