So, over the weekend we went on a quick road trip for Alex’s early birthday! Quick trip ended out being 11 hours in the car…one way! Traveling with kids is nothing like the road trips I used to take when gas was 1.25 per gallon… I decided that for this trip we would exclusively use flats and covers. That is the topic of this blog, not how relatively cheap gas was, or how I miss spur of the moment road trips to go to a concert, but I digress!
So, we set out for this adventure with our planetwise wetdry bag, a box of cloth wipes, a breathing washer, a bag of Eco Nuts, 3 wool covers, 2 Rumparooz covers, 2 hemp inserts (Babykicks premium), a bamboo velour prefold (Panda Tushies), and 14 flats! We were prepared for anything Benny’s butt had to offer! (and man, does it offer!)
I know what you’re thinking! That isn’t just flats! You are right. It isn’t. Long story short Benny pees like his brother…who is nearly 4. The hemp inserts help us keep going when Benny falls asleep in the truck for a (wonderful) long nap. The prefold is Flat Daddy’s favorite night time solution…and I packed it to humor him.
I wanted to do this trip this way for 2 reasons. First, to provide fodder for this blog. I really wanted to show everyone that traveling with cloth is totally possible without a huge stash. Second, I really really did not want to be trapped in the truck for 11 hours back with a wet bag or two of soiled diapers. The planetwise wet bags are good, but that is just pushing my luck!
So, we all loaded in the truck, and drove. And stopped. And drove. And stopped…When we stopped Alex had to pee…so, Benny got a butt change in the back hatch of the truck. It was nice. No worrying if the bathroom was clean, just pop the liftgate on the Escape and change away. I had a whole changing area setup! One side there was a tote with all of Alex’s gifts, on top I put my basket with flats and wipes. The other side had a blanket and sleeping bag with a changing pad laid on top. Where is the wet bag you ask? Hanging from Benny’s mirror strap! Flats Daddy is a genius sometimes…
We started with the wool cover. Wool is my absolute favorite cover. You can quote me. Wool breathes like nothing else, and when correctly lanolized doesn’t leak! We changed Benny 6 times on the drive out to TN. Not because he was soaked, but because that is how much we stopped. Happy Benny bits! Sadly one of my woolies didnt get some poop on it, and I forgot my lanolin…
So, we finally make it to my parents’ house, but not without a quick stop at Butzie Covers! What can I say…I love my diaper store! The next morning after some much needed coffee, while the boys are playing, I started my flats laundry. Dad’s laundry room has a big double utility sink, so I filled it with warm water and left the pee diapers to soak while I did the old dunk and swish. That fun completed, I tossed the now poop-free flats in with the rest. I plunged them with the breathing washer for about 5 minutes. Drained the water. Squeezed out each flat. Added my bag of Eco Nuts, and covered the diapers with HOT water! Boy, was it hot…I think Dad turned up the water heater! Plunged for about 10 minutes while talking to my sister. Note: It usually doesn’t take that long, but I was explaining how the breathing washer works… So, I finally drain the wash water, removed the Eco Nuts bag, and refilled with cold water plunging for 5 minutes. Squeezed them out, and laid them on the porch! Done drying in 20 minutes!
Grand total of time we spent on diaper laundry? Active time? 25 minutes including the swishing. Not so shabby! It turned out really well. Way better than lugging around 3 day worth of dirty diapers! Obviously better than disposables, but we all ready knew that!