Call me crazy...

Call me crazy but we went camping for close to a week with cloth diapers. Why? When my hubbie and I returned last year from a 3 week visit to his family/friends in Germany (using disposables) we decided NO MORE. We figured we were either committed to CD or not. So we'd have to find a way to make it work on vacations. Since then we go everywhere with our CDs. Yes, it takes a bit more luggage space and planning. But we feel the effort is worth it in the long run.

The key to CD while travelling is a great zippered wet bag (mine is from Good Mama). From my experience the tie bags just don't cut it on smell reduction. And I will admit on this trip to Alberta we did have to keep the wet bag outside the tent - as it got pretty hot and stuffy inside that tent.

We had been camping with our CDs before - but just a day or two so washing on site wasn't necessary. But when considering this trip I knew it would mean having to wash diapers in a public laundry facility. The campground we were staying at had a laundromat. I picked a time during the day, when most people were at the beach. And YES, I found it empty.

Now I wasn't able to follow my normal washing routine, so there were a few stains. But it was good enough a wash for a few days camping (and then everything got rewashed as soon as we got home). We also decided to use disposable liners and wipes for this trip to make getting rid of messes a little easier on the go.

The other key is remembering to bring a laundry line to hang between some trees (I forgot this, but thankfully my father-in-law helped out with some rope). Yes, I could have dried them at the laundromat, but that would have cost me more change that I didn't have. Plus I really love to sun dry my diapers. And in Alberta, with their nice dry heat, they were dry in a couple of hours.

I'll be honest I don't know how I would handle a situation where there was no laundry facilities either at the campground or in the local town. Hand washing CDs might just be the line I can't cross. But never say never!!!

Wet Bags

I had to blog about how much I continue to LOVE LOVE LOVE my Good Mama wet bags. I have a generic wet bag from Hip Baby for my home diaper bin - works great and washes well. But I wanted something nicer than a zip lock to use in my diaper bag/purse. I also wanted a larger bag that I could use when travelling so I wouldn't have to rely on disposable and that wouldn't create any smell at Grandma's house. There are a lot of draw string wet bags out there. Can I tell you that draw strings do NOT keep smells in. So I researched online - again diaperpin.com comes in very handy.

I usually prefer to find Canadian made brands where possible. But the only zippered Canadian one I could find was Jamtots and well it was rather boring looking. The reviews for Good Mama were excellent, and the patterns were very cute. If I have to carry something around in my diaper bag/purse it should at least be attractive. So I ordered a small and a large sized wet bag from Good Mama. The small ones fit one diaper, with a small pocket for wipes on the outside. The medium was good for a day trip. I LOVED them. I ordered more. I now own:

• 3 small ones - 2 in the rocket boy pattern and 1striped pattern for wipes or other accessories.
• 2 medium ones - one is exclusively our swim bag and the other often gets used for a spare outfit (I have a boy and the bag often arrives home full of wet/muddy clothing)
• 1 large one for travelling. I can say that on a recent trip I couldn't wash any diapers for 5 days and there was NO smell.

Plus did I mention how cute they look. Nobody ever suspects that they hold diapers - clean or dirty.

I just received my order of Good Mama fitted diapers (I couldn't believe my luck when they were not only in stock but on sale after Christmas). Only had them a few days. But so far so good.