Cloth Diapering During (International) Travel

Well, we are home now. Have been for about two weeks and I finally have enough time to write about cloth diapers during international travel, etc. If you remember, I used the new Flip Diapers from the makers of Bum Genius (for anyone who forgot, head on over here and find out how it all began). Regardless, we used the Flip System and here is how it went:

You already know that my first impressions of the Flip were overall favorable. Right off the bat, I found that they worked as well, if not better, than any other diapers. They do get mixed reviews from my family though, because Hubby was not thrilled with them, complaining that they were not easy to use. He said that they lacked the ease of the diapers we have at home. And I suppose they do - we use mostly Pockets or All-In-Ones (AIO) at home, so they are always ready to go. The Flips are an All-In-Two system and, therefore, are not just ready to go at all times.

Alright, let's start at the beginning. The first thing you have to think about when you are going anywhere is how much room are you going to have and how much room will you need. For international travel, MOST airlines allow you two 50lbs suitcases per person - including your children who have their own seats. So, for my family that meant I could take 4 suitcases (remember, Hubby did not come with me and Big Sister sat on my lap). But, of course, being allowed them on the plane does not necessarily mean I would be able to carry them all. I wound up taking two suitcases (plus carry-ons) and Hubby brought another two, though he really could not bring the diapers - I needed those the whole time. :)

The thing that is really nice about the Flip Diapers is that all three types of inserts take up very little space. They are extremely compact and you can get an awful lot of them in a very small space. The disposable and the stay dry insert take up the smallest amount of space, but even the organic (which is the largest of the three) is quite easy to pack. I brought 12 covers and 30 cloth inserts as well as 36 disposable inserts. They easily fit into the suitcase with our clothes. If I had brought 30 Pocket or AIO diapers and 36 Disposable Diapers, they would have needed their own suitcase. So, in terms of space, they were definitely a win!!

Now we are packed - all the diapers except for 18 disposable inserts and 6 covers in the suitcase, the rest in the diaper bag. I figured using the disposable inserts on the plane would be the most convenient. Plus, some of you had suggested that customs might have issues with the cloth diapers and I figured that having them clean and in the suitcase would not be a problem. The disposable inserts worked very well - even held for the ten hours she was (more or less) sleeping. The only down side to the disposable inserts is that they are more narrow than the covers and, so, whenever Big Sister had a poopy diaper, it got all over the cover. Fortunately though, the covers were PUL and, so, in a pinch I was able to rinse them off and reuse (yes, that is a little gross but what was I supposed to do 30 minutes before we landed from a 17-hour flight). The issue with the disposable inserts (aside from the environmental issue - because even though they are compostable I was certainly not trying to figure out how to compost them while in Ethiopia) is that they are not something you can get while traveling internationally. You would need to bring as many as you will need for the entire trip. Now, the inserts are tiny and maybe it would be doable to bring enough, but if you underestimate how many you need, you are out of luck.

Once we were actually overseas and started using the diapers, I fell into a pretty good routine with them. I pretty much exclusively used the organic inserts for nighttime. I could use them on either girl and they lasted all night long - without even doubling it. During the day, I mostly used the stay dry insert on Little Sister, while I mostly used the organic one on Big Sister. The organic one is rather large and, therefore, did feel very big on Little Sister and so I only used it on her overnight and prefered the stay dry inserts on her during the day. For Big Sister, I actually did not care which insert we used, but since I wanted the stay dry ones for Little Sister, I usually used the organic on Big Sister.

Of the two cloth inserts, I pretty much found them to be a wash. They both work very well - I actually had no issues with either one. As I said before, I found the organic one a little large for Little Sister. However, I liked the organic one a lot because it worked best overnight and it dried faster than the stay dry one. The stay dry one I liked a lot because it is trim and takes up very little space. But they did take ALL day to dry (we had no access to a dryer so everything had to dry in the sun). So, I think I would take both kinds with me again if I were doing it over. If I were going to pick just one, I would probably go with the organic insert. This is because if I used the stay dry one overnight, I needed two of them to prevent leaks and that would mean needing to bring extras. Plus, if I ONLY had the stay dry insert, it would have been difficult to deal with how long they took to dry. So, I suppose (now that I have written it all out) I would say I liked the organic one best, the only issue being that it is a little on the big side but you get used to it. :)

When all is said and done, I really did like the Flip diapers. We used them A LOT- 30 diapers, two kids, for a month - and they cleaned well, they did not leak, they held plenty, etc. As I said before, Hubby prefers the easier options, but I feel like the easier options would have made the actual travel part more difficult. Plus, these cleaned really well - and they were hand washed, so cleaning easily and well is a big deal. If you are going to be traveling - especially in an area where people commonly use cloth diapers - I strongly encourage you to try cloth diapering during travel. And if you are trying to decide what will be the easiest diapers to use, I say consider using the Flip Diapers while you are there. I think they may be the perfect diaper for travel. They are small, they clean easily, they even work overnight. What more can a traveling mom ask for?