Diapers Q&A - Cloth Diapering: What do you do with dirty diapers when you're away from home?

Cloth Diapering: What do you do with dirty diapers when you're away from home?

I am hoping to use cloth diapers with #1 (Fuzzi Bunz or the like) but I'm not sure how exactly that works when you're out & about (shopping, visiting grandma, Dr. appointments, etc.) and the baby needs to be changed. Do you just carry a smelly diaper in the diaper bag until you get home? Cuz...ew. Advice please, from moms who have done cloth diapering? "Use Disposables" does not answer my question. I want to know what you might do with the CLOTH ones. I know how to use disposable diapers, lol!

Public Comments

My mother had to use cloth diapers on both my sister and me (disposable diapers weren't invented yet) and she said that she carried an extra bag that she left in the car to store them. If she needed to change a diaper, she would go to the nearest bathroom to do it and then rinse out the diaper in the toilet. Then she would carefully wrap it up and take it out to the bag in the car.
Wow honey you sure are brave and down for some hard work. Not sure as I havent used cloth nappies but maybe you could think about buying disposables just for outtings? And use cloth as much as possible at home. Good Luck :o) OK SO SUE ME GRUMPY BUTT...LOL!. I KNEW OTHERS WITH THE RIGHT EXPERIENCE WOULD ANSWER YOUR QUESTION...VERY PICKY. WILL LET YOU OFF...OBVIOUSLY PREGGY SYMPTOMS..LOL.
i suggest you buy flushable liners they are a bit more expensive then just your regular ones, but that way if you are near toilets and what not you can jus take them out and flush the loo, and with your nappy just buy those scented nappy bags i think they like 3-4 bucks for 100 thy not that much really and they smell like baby powder, and then just take a bigger bag to store all them in.... hope that helps
Yes - but of course you use a bag that seals reasonably well. The easiest sealable bag is one of thin plastic so that rolling the closed top makes a seal but get the air out first. The bag may be emptied into a washing machine and the whole load rinsed before washing. Disposing of the bag may be a problem but turned inside-out may be included in the wash and possibly reused provided that there are no holes in it.
The answer given by "RoVale" is a good one.. That's about all you can do. another option might be a small diaper bucket (pail) with a plastic bag for the liner and a secure lid that you can tote around with you in your vehicle. placing your dirty diapers in a plastic bag or a large zip lock in your diaper bag - then moving to pail if needed - some swear cloth is best - best wishes to you and yours..
For the dirty diapers, I would double-wrap them in plastic with the idea of dealing with it when I get home. I'd try to stash them in the car rather than carry them in the diaper bag any longer than necessary. -- Yes, that can become a problem on hot sunny days. -- But you open-up the car and air it out. So glad to hear you're using cloth diapers. If you're ever bothered by the stains, simply hang them out in the sun to dry after washing. With my youngest child I calculated the cost of diapering, 3 or 4 dozen cloth diapers and plastic pants, washing with detergent and drying, a portion of the water and gas bills too... estimating the diminishing number of diapers per day over a 2 1/2 year period. .....now.....It was a few years back, but my figure was 31/2 cents per diaper......almost paid me to stay home with my babies.
Buy the disposable nappy liners that you can flush, that way most of the waste goes down the toilet. You may need to just rinse the nappy (diaper) itself a little bit in the toilet, and use one of those scented nappy bags to wrap the nappy in. Then you can just store it in a spare bag that you can carry with you. Good luck!
ziploc. always bring some so if you have to change diapers you can put it in.
Buy some disposible liners to put inside the cloth nappy. That way you can still use the cloth nappies but sometimes you'll only have to flush the liner down the toilet and when you do need to change the nappy, it won't be as dirty. I know that bambino mio do a 200 pack of biodegradable liners for $19.95. I'm sure there's other brands out there as well.
You can use plastic bags to store your soiled cloth diapers while you are out. I would suggest getting a wet bag however. I have one from Happy Heiny's and quite like it. It is made out of the same waterproof material that is on the outside of pocket and AIO diapers (PUL) and it has a velcro closure. I wash it regularly with my diapers to keep it clean and smell-free. http://www.happyheinys.com/wet_bags.php I recently came across this bag from Happy Tushies and I am really considering getting it now that my baby is older and I am not interested in carrying around a diaper bag anymore. It has two separate compartments, one side for your clean diapers and wipes and the other side for the dirty ones. I think it's great! http://www.happytushies.com/category_s/49.htm If you are using Fuzzi Bunz or another pocket diaper I would suggest that you remove the insert before you put the diapers in the wet bag. It can be gross to have to fish them out after the diapers have been traveling around ... When you get home you can just open the bag and dump it in your diaper pail and they are ready to be washed. When your baby is breast fed only their poop won't smell at all. So it's no big deal. Once they start solids their poop is, well, more solid, so it is easy to shake it into the toilet and be done with it! If your diapers are lined with fleece, like Fuzzi Bunz, or microsuede or minkee or velour, the poop will just fall off of the diapers with no effort. If you are using diapers that are cotton, flannel, hemp or some other natural fibre against the baby then it is harder to get the poop off and I would suggest using the flushable liner sheets to aid in clean up or fleece liners. Once the poop is down the toilet after a diaper change the diapers don't really smell anymore and it is no big deal to carry them around in your bag for the rest of the day. http://www.jamtots.com/Diaper-Liners-C86.aspx
You can also buy some small laundry bags/diaper bags that you can just throw in the wash with your diapers. I know Bummis makes their own brand, but you can buy others. They make the big size that you can use as a diaper pail liner, but they also make the little travel bags in lots of colors that will tuck inside your diaper bag.