handwashing/vacationing with CD's

[jennlin]

any tips, advice?

i plan on going on a cruise with my family in january, when dd will be 11 months. we will be away from home a total of about 12 days. i don't want to pack that many diapers to support the entire trip.

would you handwash your diapers or get disposables? what's flying with detergent like? do any of the CD-safe detergents come in travel-packs? would i just be bringing a ziplock baggy of mysterious white powder?

thanks!

eta: we're going to the caribbean, so it will likely be warm enough to let dd go diaper-only, no pants, so i reeeeally want to use CD's

[Deleted]

I just use disposables.

I like my cloth diapers, but a pack of Huggies is the sane thing to do now and then.

[jennlin]

token, i just noticed your sig link, freezer to slow cooker menu. your link to your menu inside of it is broken. i want to try it!

[Ashley&Scott]

I think it could be done, but on a cruise ship where would you wash? In the bathroom sink or shower? Don't forget ship toilets are different so it would be hard to dunk & swish.

If you decide to go for it I would sample sizes of cd detergents, I'm sure they would be perfect for traveling. What detergent do you use now?

[jennlin]

Nov 9, 2012 16:34:13 GMT -5 Ashley&Scott said:

I think it could be done, but on a cruise ship where would you wash? In the bathroom sink or shower? Don't forget ship toilets are different so it would be hard to dunk & swish.

If you decide to go for it I would sample sizes of cd detergents, I'm sure they would be perfect for traveling. What detergent do you use now?

i imagine i'd hand wash in the shower and/or sink. we're getting a balcony, so that when dd naps, h and i can still enjoy the weather, so i can hang to dry outside (hopefully securely!) relatively quickly. i currently use home made (washing soda / borax / oxi clean) and have not had any problems with it.

i already have a box of size 4 disposables at home we bought and couldn't return...were saving it for a "just in case", and if we don't use it, we could gift it....so it won't cost us anything (other than buying a gift for someone when necessary) to use disposables.

[justthetip]

I usually use disposables when we're gone for more than 2-3 days, but I had a majorly epic poosplosion on a plane ride recently that made me rethink things. I plan on using Flips with disposable inserts next time we travel. Do you only have pockets? If you have some covers, I think washing the covers & using disposable inserts would be the easiest.

[jennlin]

yes, i only have pockets.

[bugandbibs]

Nov 12, 2012 12:51:17 GMT -5 jennlin said:

yes, i only have pockets.

Hmm. Too bad. The grovia AI2 covers hand wash really well and I like their disposable inserts. Is there a washing machine on board? I would find a way to take my CDs.

You could lay a disposable insert on top of the pocket. Then you wouldn't have to mess with trying to hand wash the inserts, only the shells when they get soiled.

[CloudBee]

Bathrooms on cruise ships are so small, and water pressure can be sub-par. I would use disposables.

I'm not sure how easily you would be able to hang them dry on the balcony. They purposely don't make it easy to hang a towel unless you throw it over the bannister. And what if you're side of the boat is in the chilly shade the day you decide to wash? Or for several days in a row?

Using the onboard laundry facilities to wash CDs wouldn't really be a nice thing to do, IMO.

Also - imagine if you only pack CDs and stumble across the problem above - not getting them to dry. You will be in such a bind.

I would test out disposables a few times between now and your trip and go that route for sure.

[jennlin]

thanks, we picked up some disposables to use on the ship. as for swim diapers, i have a cloth swim diaper as well.

if i just use regular soap and rinse it really really really really well after each use, does that work? since it's not made to be absorbent anyways, just contain solids? or do i need to buy disposable swim as well?

[CloudBee]

Jan 2, 2013 12:35:26 GMT -5 jennlin said:

if i just use regular soap and rinse it really really really really well after each use, does that work? since it's not made to be absorbent anyways, just contain solids? or do i need to buy disposable swim as well?

I've never seen a pool on a ship that allows babies in diapers.

But if you're using it at the beach, then yes, I would probably pack a wet bag and 2 cloth swim diapers. They would dry pretty quickly because yes, there's nothing absorbant.

Cloth and disposable swim diapers are pretty gross, yet unavoidable. Urine goes right through them. If you haven't used them before, I would advise that at the beach you do a quick switch into the swim diaper before going into the water. If your kiddo is merely going to be hanging out on the beach and not getting wet, just keep them in a regular diaper. If you have to pick him/her up, their bottom is going to be wet because urine literally leaks right out. You definitely won't want to pick them up and throw them on your hip unless you are walking into the water. I think most people have a love/hate relationship with swim diapers.

[jennlin]

oh hmm..i don't know anything about allowing the baby in the pool on the ship, but yeah, we will also be going to the beach. we've used swim diapers before, so i'm familiar with their wetness

[shevacc]

I wanted to add... you say you only have pockets, but I use unstuffed pockets all the time as "covers" for tri-folded pre-folds since I figured out I hate stuffing them (and like reusing the covers several times, just changing the prefold). So...if you still wanted to go the disposable liners route, you totally could with the stash you have. That said, though I've traveled several times with cloth diapers for up to 2 weeks, I've never been on a cruise.

Also, I bet you could easily wash just the covers and they dry quickly indoors. Plus you'd be using liners so if the soap doesn't get totally washed away it's not rubbing directly against your baby's sensitive bits.

[jennlin]

hmm, maybe i'll just bring some un-stuffed diapers as decoration over her ugly disposables

[shevacc]

:Y:

They're so ugly! We hadn't used any until at 6 months we ran out while at her check up.

When she started daycare, I was soooo concerned for this little boy who had a giant bandage across his entire back. You could see it over the top of his pants as he sat/crawled and played with toys. I couldn't imagine what might've happened to him. I almost asked the daycare teacher, but then decided it was none of my business. Good thing I didn't because yup, not a bandage, a diaper.