Cloth diapering during our vacation- tips/suggestions?

[Mouse House Mama]

Who cares what is washed in the machines? If you can wash underwear then diapers are not any worse. If staying at a home and it grosses people out a cycle can always be run empty with soap to sanitize the machine. I have never done dipes at a laundromat but if I had to I would do a second wash with water only or water with a cup of vinegar to be sure to rinse out all the soap.

I forgot about fleece liners, that is a good idea, I woke up this morning and thought about flannel and it will fray even if the edges are pinked. Just trying to offer some cheap solutions to the need for liners.

Nothing personal but I would not want a stranger's dirty diapers being washed in my machine. I am not against CD but you have to be realistic in that others may see it as a big deal.

 

[mjantz]

Have you looked to see if there's a diaper service in the Orlando area you can use for that week? It might be a bit of an expense but if it keeps you from having to transport & wash cloth diapers during your trip it might be worth it.

 

[princessmom29]

We've tried every sposie diaper out there, including 7th gen., Earth's Best, etc. and none of them work for us. We tried them because my husband wasn't a fan of nighttime cloth diapering because he is/was sleep deprived and couldn't figure out the snaps for our fitteds, then would forget to put wool or fleece over them, and well, that didn't work out too well.

Our decision to cloth diaper is because she has such sensitive skin/allergies, we had made the decision to cloth from birth. However, upon trying sposie for a nighttime solution, we've found that they do not work for her and cause the nastiest irritation (to the point of bleeding). So even if she were to outgrow this allergy, we'd still be using cloth. I'm not interested in using sposie diapers, not even on vacation. We love our CDs.

As for the diaper sprayer, I do feel it gets them cleaner than just using toilet paper to remove the solid matter. When I'm done spraying, there isn't a single speck of solid matter left on the diaper, therefore nothing solid goes into the washer. When I've used toilet paper before, I couldn't get it all. Sorry for the TMI poop talk LOL

Anyway, I made my original post to see if others took a week worth of diapers with them, if they had experience with the washers/dryers, etc. I'm thinking I'll try to take a weeks worth of diapers with us (yes, we have a ton of diapers LOL), and do one big load before we leave. And maybe I'll use pockets, instead of AIOs... they dry a million times faster.

And there is no reason for people to freak out, if a child has an accident in their underwear during potty learning, doesn't the parent clean out the accident and wash the underwear? Same concept here.

Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions this far, I believe I've figured out what my plan will be!

I got attacked on the other thread and as such didn't respond, but i would like to be allowed to do so now without being trashed by others. I am a biochemist so I was speaking from a purely scientific perspective when I said i would not use a washer after someone with CD's. I am not ignorant and yes, yes, yes you CAN spread a communicable disease by washing cloth diapers in a public washer unless you use large amounts of bleach which most CD users I know will not do b/c it degrades the diapers much faster. You may know that your child is not sick, but I can't be assured of that and nither can anyone else who uses that washer. It is also something you need to be aware of in your own home. If a child who is CD'ed gets a virus it is important that those diapers be washed in bleach or thrown out b/c they can make that child sick agian or infect others trough the washer. I know I will probably get a million die hard cd people who will say otherwise, but the science is solid with this. You must use an antibacterial/ viral agent to kill the contamination. Sorry if that fact upsets anyone, but I just had to clarify after being called ignorant and stupid. And yes I typically throw pooped on clothing away rather than risk getiing someone sick from it. When DD was potty training I used white undies so that I could bleach them in my own washer.

 

[Liltx]

I would just take them back home with you to wash after the trip.

And yes I did throw away all undies etc. that were pooped on when my kiddos were potty training. I just didn't want to deal with it or have it in my washer.

I was cloth diapered but most babies were back then and my mom used a diaper service. Do they still have these around, maybe in orlando?

Monica

 

[taitai]

Wouldn't the hot water and soap in the washer and the heat from the dryer (or the sun for that matter) kill a virus. I know with most communicable diseases, the big issue is to wash your hands constantly. No one says to dip them in bleach to kill the swine flu virus or whatever else. Plus, cloth diaper get several extra rinses, presumably that would get most pathogens away.

If those who use laundromats are concerned about unknown pathogens in the washers, do you run empty bleach cycles in the machine first?

taitai

 

[princessmom29]

Wouldn't the hot water and soap in the washer and the heat from the dryer (or the sun for that matter) kill a virus. I know with most communicable diseases, the big issue is to wash your hands constantly. No one says to dip them in bleach to kill the swine flu virus or whatever else. Plus, cloth diaper get several extra rinses, presumably that would get most pathogens away.

If those who use laundromats are concerned about unknown pathogens in the washers, do you run empty bleach cycles in the machine first?

taitai

The dyrer heat might kill some virusesbut not all, and laundry detergent is NOT sufficient to kill them. Wse use a peice of equipment in the lab called an autoclave to sterilize liquids b/c heat alone is not enough. You cannot completely sterilize water just by boiling it. It gets most of the common stuff, but not everything. The autoclave uses pressure to superheat the water and kill viruses. Hospitals use them on medical equipment too b/c just washing it is not enough. I had already planned to do it, but hen DD had rotovirus the doc told me to bleach everything that had been contaminated if i wanted to keep it and then run the washer empty with a half gallon of bleach in the drum with the water. When you wash something contaminated at least some of the grems can be redeposited on the clothes as the water is pumped out and those wet germy clothes them touch the drum and deposit germs on it. You are leaving those germs that were on your clothes on the side of the drum to contaminate the next person's wash. I know some of my things cannot go in the dryer, so they would definitely stay contaminated.

 

[princessmom29]

Sure, we had to do this all the time before disposables. I would stay somewhere with a W/D so I could wash and hang dry everyday. The vacation home we stay in provides a drying rack for clothes in addition to the dryer.

I would use cloth liners. You can cut up old t-shirts for these and just toss them as you use them. Re-use the ones that are only wet but if you get a messy poopy then you can throw it out. Alternately you can buy terry washclothes and use them as liners folded as a tri-fold liner. Often Wal-mart will have these cheap like $5 a dozen. You can also buy a few yards of diaper flannel and cut with pinking sheers to the size you need. I make my own wipes too. Soap and water is much nicer to the skin than baby wipes. Disposable baby wipes leave bacteria behind on the skin that can lead to rashes.

Now you can buy nice wetbags to keep things in for the day but we used to just recycle empty bread bags before those were invented. You can just throw them away at the end of the day.

ok, I am sorry but I have to address the disposable wipes thing. They are actually MUCH more sanitary than making your own and carry MUCH less bacteria. The only real bacteria danger with disposable wipes is wipe warmers. The solution on disposable wipes actually inhibits bacterial growth at room temp. You are much likely to deposit bacteria with a home made wipe that is washed and reused. The source of the rashes often caused by disposable wipes is not bacteria, but the solution they are soaked in. My DD could only use fragrance free wipes. The others caused a rash.

 

[taitai]

I guess I take a slightly more relaxed approach to this stuff. Obviously, if my kid has an illness, I exercise more caution in terms of everything I clean...throw out the tooth brush, wash all the sheets, towels, etc. However, on a day to day basis I just don't. I mean the guys stocking the cherries at the fruit stand might have rotovirus and pass it along by touching the fruit. Yes, I wash the fruit but I don't boil it or dip it in bleach to get out every germ. I am more of a risk taker. I eat sushi. I have eaten raw cookie dough. Perhaps a tiny bit of a germ might stay in the washer and get on my kids socks but I guess I am not too worried about them getting rotovirus from germy socks.

Is it common for people to get rotovirus from touching clothing with the virus on it? I mean it could just as easily be on a door handle or remote control.

Where do you draw the anti-viral line?

I recognize other people exercise more caution. I just don't.

 

[katyjeka]

For your convenience, I like the above posters idea. Find a company near WDW and deal with them for the week. Babiestravellite is a website that delivers the supplies right to your hotel door. I personally have no problem with you laundering them, however, I'm sure I'm in the minority. People do put a lot worse in a public washer, vomit comes to mind!!!! Have a great trip.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Again- have you tired 7th generation disposables? They have no chemicals in them.

 

[taitai]

7th Generation are notorious for leaks and they have a kind of hard/slightly cardboarding feel. Yes, they are better than conventional disposables but for a vacation, I think I would try something a bit more bulletproof.

 

[Erica09M]

Again- have you tired 7th generation disposables? They have no chemicals in them.

Again, yes I have. Read post #15 on the first page.

 

[Erica09M]

7th Generation are notorious for leaks and they have a kind of hard/slightly cardboarding feel. Yes, they are better than conventional disposables but for a vacation, I think I would try something a bit more bulletproof.

I definitely agree.

I don't wear paper underwear, my child doesn't wear paper diapers.

We'll CD at Disney, wash in the resort laundry facility, and have a fantastic time!!!!!!!! Can't wait

I'm done with this thread

 

[kstgelais4]

I know you said you already have your plan, so this post is more for support. I have CD my last 3 kids EXCLUSIVELY. What I mean by that is that a sposie never touched their bums. We go on vacation/trips at least once a year, so that means that we have taken our diapers with us. This is my routine:
~We bring 3 wet bags. One for the diaper bag, one for swimsuits, one for the dirties.
~We bring our sprayer. Not really "messing with the plumbing" it screws into the toilet.
~We stay in a condo, so we have a washer and dryer. I wash every 2-3 days
hot soak/wash/hot soak/dry.
~I make sure all diapers are clean before we head home.

So in conclusion really, I do nothing different from home.lol. Have a great trip!!!!

 

[LauraAnn630]

I would use a service. Its your vacation why not pamper yourself? lol

 

[koima]

I love the idea of a service while on vacation!! We CD our DD who will be 13 mo at our trip and I was concerned about the time and effort involved with washing them on vacation. A diaper service may be just the thing to keep CDing and not have to worry about the washing!

 

[Shleedogg]

We CD, the old prefolds and covers. Like you, disposables are not an option for me. DD hasn't been in a disposable since she was born so I really don't know how her skin would react.

We took her to WDW in Jan when she was 2 mos old. She was going through so many diapers that I really wasn't looking forward to spending that much time on my vacation doing diaper laundry (we do 2 washes plus extra rinse). I don't know if you've ever heard of these, but we used gdiapers.

They don't contain any of the nasty chemicals in normal disposables and the insert is flushable. The little g pant is just like a diaper cover and washable, along with the liners. We were at the stage (sorry, tmi) when DD was pooping multiple times a day, but 4 covers sufficed. Usually 3 had to be washed. I just hand washed the covers and the liners in the sink.

Now that DD is on solids, sink washing won't be an option, but the laundry task isn't as daunting. With only 4 covers and 8 liners, I should be able to do the load quickly and probably every other day. They're expensive, but for only a week it isn't bad, especially considering all the money we saved doing cds.

www.gdiapers.com

I don't think they would mind you hooking up a sprayer. Just keep it behind the toilet, they probably won't notice it.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Again, yes I have. Read post #15 on the first page.

Sorry, I did not see that when I read the responses.

 

[longstangetrip]

Thank so much to those of you who are rinsing your diapers completely before putting them into a washing machine someone else has to use. I may never use public laundries again! And at home, just throwing them in the washer? No way. Yes, I used cloth diapers for two of my kids and hated every minute of it!
op: have a great trip!