Cloth Diapering on a vacation

Cloth Diapering On a Vacation

Sunset !!

Kabini, One of my favorite destinations. The calm serene back waters of Kabini dam , a resort on the river bank! It is one of the awesome place to relax ! All set for vacation and to cloth diaper my bub as always!

My kids enjoying the sunset

 I try my best to cloth diaper my son on our travel.  I have been able to cloth diaper fully in most of our travels. This time, I used much lesser diapers may be because he is ‘almost ‘potty trained. This is the story for last 6 months. I’m enjoying this too, as I can use CD’s till I can. (Happy Grin)

What do you need?

Usually, I take lot of pocket diapers and few AIO’s for my son when we are travelling. Pockets are stuffed with CB inserts or bamboo cotton and I will have few flats for standby, wet bags. He is a light wetter and any insert will work for him. This time, I packed FAP’s, few pockets, Training pants and pant styled diapers.

 

That's my lil monkey helping me ;)!

How many do you need?

It depends on how many days you travel, how often you plan to wash and how big is your stash? If you are planning for 3 day vacation, you may need around 15- 20 diapers assuming you will be able to wash them in between. On an average, 1 year old baby needs 8 diapers a day!  Smaller babies need even more.

I carried around 5 (training pants/pant style pockets), 2 FAP’s,  5 pockets stuffed with flats.

For the training pants, I had put a small hemp insert. The small insert that comes with fitted diapers.  They could hold more and very trim!

As I carried pant styled diapers, I took my son to the rest room as when possible,  so he didnt soil his diapers much.  I changed them every 4 hours even if isn’t wet.  I used FAP’s for the nights! He is usually dry at night.  He was unwell and I couldn’t take a chance!

Washing:

Hand washing them in a wash basin

I hand wash the diapers as when possible and line dry them. I had forgotten my detergent and I ended up using the soap which was available in the resort. I don’t have any problem with the diapers till now!! Thank God... That doesn’t mean, you use some random soap and you wouldn’t have problems with the diapers.  I didn’t have an option . At the end of the week, I counted my blessings as everything had gone wonderfully well and my cloth diapers had all come clean on vacation.

A small video clip; how I washed my diapers in the wash basin.

Poopy diapers:

He did poop once in his diapers. I managed to clean the same way which I normally do at home. I used the health faucet that is attached the toilet and clean the poop. 

Drying:

The biggest hurdle is the drying time of the diapers. In my few vacations, rain god was so merciful showered his blessings and I ended up using spoises :(.

Dried Diapers kept aside to capture a pic  :)

This time we had a towel rod which is kept near the swimming pool.   Yay!!  I could use them to dry all my diapers!!! Even otherwise, I usually carry a nylon rope and manage to tie them between some rods or pillars and use them to dry my diapers! We had a nice sunshine every day, diapers were dry quickly and we enjoyed rain every night! I could reuse a pocket, CB insert and flats! Flats (receiving blanket turned to a flat) was dry in less than hour.    

Flats were the quickest to dry

Finally, it’s OK if you decide to just use disposables while travelling. You don’t have to feel bad about it. A few days of using disposables to save your sanity is totally worth it. You might just be downright excited to get your little one back in fluff as soon as you get home but don’t stress a few days of not using cloth. Even part-time cloth diapering helps to save space in our landfills.

We’d love to hear your story if you have successfully used cloth diapers while travelling! Lots of our readers are scared of it and always ask what everyone else is doing!

Note :

If you wish to contribute your article on cloth diapering, you are welcome.  Your story can be a motivation to lot of parents who wish to switch to cloth!! It can be on night time diapering, cloth diapering on travel, cloth diapering on budget or how you switched to cloth, anything! Please send an email to clothdiapershopindia@gmail.com to send your story! You will be featured on our blog. 

Hand washing Cloth Diapers Made Simple

I get a lot of questions on how to hand wash the cloth diapers ? Hope this hand out is useful and handy. Take a print of this and place it in your bathroom or your washing area.

Anybody can refer it and Hand washing is Simple !!!
Refer to detergents,instructions here 

Washing Cloth Diapers as simple as 1, 2, 3

In India, most of us use cloth nappies and we maintain it so well. It is same with cloth diaper too. Cloth diaper needs to be absorbent, so we need to take little extra care, that’s it!

Before using diaper, Wash it!  :) You must wash ALL diapers & covers prior to first use 1-5 times: 

This must be done so your diaper can be at their full absorbency. Washing will remove the natural oils and waxes that will hinder your diaper absorbency.  Ideally it must be washed 5 times for efficient absorbency.  Just for getting that  10 -15 ml of extra absorbency why should we waste 100 L of water. As we use and wash absorbency will increase.

* Use your health facet to spray the poop in the toilet. Use a lidded bin to store all the soiled diaper until next wash
* “Sunning” would actually work on stains. Simply place stained diaper in the sun for drying them and you twill be amazed at how the stains will virtually disappear within hours.

Hand wash routine:  
Step 1- No detergent cold rinse  once or twice
Step 2-Use a tiny bit of cloth diaper safe laundry detergent in warm water (30 C ) and soak it  for 15 – 20 mins and wash it.
Caution : Don’t use Brush that’s used for washing clothes, Don’t beat the clothes to the floor or the washing stone (in case you have it in your house ;) )  Don’t use washing soap bars on the diaper.
Step 3-Extra rinse to ensure no soap residue

Machine wash routine:
Step 1- No detergent cold rinse 
Step 2-Use a ¼  amount of   cloth diaper safe laundry detergent in warm water in delicate/gentle mode. (1/4 for front-loading machines and ½ for top loading machine)
In case washing machine doesn’t have hot water option, add one-bucket hot water while washing
Step 3-Extra rinse cycles to ensure no soap residue

*In case if you use Dryers tumble-dry Low. 

*ONLY use cloth diaper safe detergents. Detergent can affect many aspects of your diaper: absorbency, odour, and how long your diaper will last.

Amway SA8 delicate, Surf Excel Gentle, Soap nut , Pigeon baby detergent are the best bet. Surf / Ariel / Tide has enzymes in it. Use 1/5 of the recommended detergent in case of Surf , Ariel ,tide etc  ( Not ideal to use, in case you still want to use

*Wash cloth diaper regularly. I suggest daily or  every 2-3 days. This will keep stains from setting in and will discourage mold growth.

*No fabric softeners, no optical whiteners or brighteners, & no enzymes. These will reduce the absorbency of the diaper

*Never use chlorine bleach on cloth diaper.

Sources:
http://www.surfexcel.in/how-to-do-laundry/the-right-detergent-formula/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11523933/Enzymes-in-Detergents

In India, a few premium detergent brands presently available in the market like Ariel,Surf Ultra, Rin, Biolites, Revel Plus , Zymo contain enzymes in their formulations.
http://www.amway.in/Shopping/Products.aspx?pid=116513ID&ctg=SA8

All you need to know on Inserts and How to use it ?

Inserts are the absorbent material. Diapers alone are not absorbent. You need these soakers (inserts) for absorbency. These are applicable to the diaper range available with us in our online shop. Currently, We have Pocket diapers and two types of insert.

                      

Micro fiber Insert (MF) :

Micro Fiber Insert are known for quicker absorbency. They wick the moisture quickly.  This is very good in terms of absorbency. On the other hand , if it placed next to baby’s skin, it would wick away moisture from babys skin and cause dryness in the skin. NEVER use microfiber insert next to baby’s skin. Always use MF insert stuffed INSIDE the pocket.

Bamboo Insert: 

Bamboo is a natural fabric. Their absorption is good. It can be placed safely next to baby’s skin.  Bamboo diapers can be used both inside and outside the pocket.

Bamboo inserts can hold more wetness.

Lets take the scenario with one pocket diaper, MF insert and bamboo insert. 

When fresh diaper is chosen the change, bamboo insert can be laid on top of the pocket . After 2 -3 hours, I put Bamboo insert for wash. This time, I stuff MF insert inside the pocket and use. So now we can use the same shell 2 times up to 4  - 6 hours (provided baby hasn’t pooped ;) ) 

Alternatively, you can stuff 2 MF inserts , 2 bamboo or any 2 inserts in the pocket . They become your good night time diapers! 

Double Gussets is good option for  night diapering. It has a wide pocket opening both in the front and back, stuffing 2 inserts inside the pocket is super easy. They come with  colorful buttons so its  easy to remember the setting  that fit the best. Especially, it’s easy to tell  your hubby, MIL  or the maid on which colour setting you get the correct

fit, when they are changing the diaper. 

After some trail runs, You'll pick up the method which suits your  baby better!

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How much you save on Cloth Diaper?

Do you know that a full diapering baby consumes about Rs.43800 in disposable diaper for 2 years time? With the cloth diaper solution, you will be able to save as much as Rs,31800

Instead of spending these money into the disposable diaper, should you save the money for your baby and use it for other purpose like nutrition, education, talent development etc?

CozyBaby prepared a projected calculation on the disposable diaper expenses for you. In the calculation, we assume that you are using a middle range disposable diaper, which is about Rs.10 per piece. (The calculated figure subjected to different ways of usage for each individual)

For a full time disposable diapering baby, he/she will probably utilised

6 diapers a day:

Day time usage,  6:00AM - 8:00PM = 14 Hours.

Changing of diaper for every 3 hours: 14 Hours/ 3 = 4.6 , round up to 5 diapers.

Night time usage, 8:00PM - 6:00AM = 10 Hours

Assume your baby only use 1 diaper in night time.

Total: 5 Diapers + 1 Diaper = 6 Diapers per day.

You spend:   6 Diapers x 10 rs = Rs 60 per day

In 2 years time you spend: 2 years x 365 days x Rs.60 =Rs 43800

If you go for cloth diaper solution, and assuming you purchase 10 cloth diaper in 1st year, and each one is about Rs.800, you will spend Rs.8000.00 on you baby diapering.

In the second year, you purchase 5 more new cloth diapers for Rs4000.00.

Totally in 2 years time, you spend Rs. 8000 + Rs. 4000.00   = Rs.12000

Comparing to Disposable Diaper, your will save  43800- 12000= Rs 31800

If you take good care of the cloth diapers, you will have 20 cloth diapers for your next baby, and this will get the money saving in double. 

Water  cost :

In case you are hand washing, water consumption is very less may be 2 buckets , if you are washing daily. 

Electricity cost :

If you are using washing machine, it would be wise to was 2 -3 days once and it would consume  3 units of power per load. (Depending on the washing machine). Assuming, 10 loads ,10*3 = 30 unit power. 

Bill would be 30*5 Rs = 150Rs  per month. 

In any case, I find cloth diapers to be cheaper than disposable.