Moving across the country: diaper edition

When we found out we would be moving from Kansas to California, we had about two weeks notice. There were a lot of things running around my head; moving check lists, address changes, settling our lease terms, finding a new place to live, how to physically get to California with a baby... but I never even blinked when it came to diapering. We'd obviously continue our cloth diapering.

A year ago, I would have been scared to even think about moving with cloth diapers; but our experiences in cloth have brought us to a point where we trust them and prefer them over disposables. (I do hate to say that I did briefly blame cloth diapers for G's night-wakings about 2 weeks ago). I used to fear traveling with cloth because of the smell and hassle of changing--not to mention trying to find a place to wash them. Thankfully both of G's grandparents used cloth and are okay with me doing laundry at their houses. We've never stayed in a hotel longer than 2 days, so we've been able to skate by on our good size stash. The smell is contained in our awesome travel wet bags (one planet wise and one itti bitti). The 'hassle' of changing a cloth diaper versus a disposable is just something I've gotten used to, and pocket diapers that are pre-stuffed make changing G pretty comparable to using a 'sposie.

I wanted to share how moving across the country in cloth worked for us, incase you ever find yourself in a similar predicament.

First things first, we had a moving company pack/ship our stuff and we stayed at my in-laws for a few days prior to flying to California. I brought our entire stash with us (there goes one checked bag), including wet bags, liners, Booty Love, covers, etc... We had traveled without our precious diaper sprayer before, so that hurdle had been cleared prior to this move.

I did laundry at my in-laws twice, including right before we left so that we were flying with minimal dirty diapers. (We did have one night in between my in-laws and flying). Since we were spending a night at my husband's cousin's house (right next to the airport), I had to plan which diapers were to be used there, on the plane, and once we got to our new house. The dirty diapers would go in a wet bag and into a checked bag. We stocked the diaper bag with a clean wet bag, pre-flight diapers, on-flight diapers, and post-flight (but before we got to our house) diapers (a few were stored in a carry on bag). We had our new washer and dryer ready to be installed once we got to the new house--although my husband did have to make 2 trips to Lowes our first day so that I could do diaper laundry that night.

I had certain diapers that were stuffed for plane usage (added absorbency with hemp / stay-dry feeling) and we changed G on the 4 hour plane ride twice, on our laps. Thankfully there were only two seats in our side of the row, and we occupied them both. Thankfully again, she did not poop while on the plane. I think that would have complicated things a bit.

I have to say that having a diverse stash aided our cloth diapering during the move. Prefolds were great for after we got to the new place but wouldn't have really worked for flying because they aren't as easy to change. Thirsties duo diaper (pocket style) have gussets, which offer super leak protection. I used our Rump-a-rooz as a precaution in the event of a blow-out airplane poop. I love the stay dry feeling of the Bum Genius we have. The trim fit of an Oh Katy! diaper worked well for the car ride between the airport and our new house.

I know that if we chose to drive across the country, using cloth diapers would not have been nearly as easy, so I'm not saying that we had it all that hard...but it did take some planning and preparing.

If you haven't decided to use cloth diapers, I really hope you'll consider, as it keeps hundreds of disposable diapers out of landfills and is better for your baby's bottom.

If you use cloth but not when you travel, please check out my posts on that topic as well.

Have you moved with cloth diapers? What was your experience?