The other day I was having a conversation with a friend about cloth diapering - they are expecting and were hoping to use cloth diapers but don't know how it will fit in with their adventurous lifestyle.. I gave a small chuckle and said it fits in great!
Then I realized there isn't any information on cloth diapers in the outdoors and that's just not right! So here is a blog post with some simple tips/pointers to give those adventurous couples the little nudge towards cloth diapers they need!
Brand doesn't matter, fit does - do your research on proper cloth diaper fit, don't be afraid to tighten the diaper up a little bit! Here's a YouTube video to help you visual leaners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bakcDdQnpaY
Change baby before you start your hike! We generally have to drive to our hiking trail, we spend a few extra minutes in the parking lot to change Walter's diaper, feed him and then place him in the carrier! Doing this assures that he is comfortable for longer and we can complete our hike without having to stop to change a diaper on trail.
When camping plan for laundry, as I always say "a great plan can save the day!" Plan to do laundry every 2-3 days. While camping for longer than a weekend we always assure our campground has a washing machine. We bring a cheap garbage can from the dollarstore and rinse the poopy diapers in the bucket with one of the water hoses or taps on the campground, then we dump the bucket into a vault toilet. We also bring a foldable drying rack and hang our diapers to dry after washing!
Cloth diapers need to be changed more frequently than disposables. If going on a hike longer than 3 hours make sure you plan for a diaper change on trail, we have a wet bag like this one: https://www.amazon.ca/ALVABABY-Waterproof-Reusable-Washable-Swimsuits/dp/B075L8H57Z/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=wet%2Bbag&qid=1637672485&sr=8-6&th=1 which we toss the soiled diaper in until we get home. The entire bag can go into the washing machine with your load of diapers and comes out good as new!
Plan for 6-10 diapers in a day. We rarely go through this many however it is better to have too many diapers when you are out exploring than not enough of them! Make sure you account for wipes too, when Walter was smaller we just had a pack of disposable wipes in the diaper bag. We have since switched to using our cloth wipes and water pump, this works for us and is just simpler than trying to find a garbage can or bag for poopy wipes, we just rinse our cloth wipes as soon as we get home along with the diaper.
Invest in two swim diapers. Reason being sometimes we go to the beach twice in one day and even if Wally didn't pee or poop in his swim diaper no one likes the feeling of a wet swim suit!
That's it! It really is quite simple, if you are already cloth diapering it just takes a few additional steps to convert your routine to match your adventurous lifestyle! My advice for beginners is if you've made it this far into the blog, are even considering cloth diapering then do it! It has saved us thousands of dollars as well as helping the planet!
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