Should I take my cloth nappies on holiday?

A question that often comes up at this time of year is “should I take my cloth nappies with me on holiday?” As with many questions in the cloth nappy world, there is no one right answer for everyone, and I have to confess that most of the time when my kids were small, I took disposables as we were camping. However, here are some points to consider:

What accommodation are you staying in? If you are in a self-catering cottage with washing machine and all the mod-cons, then it will be much easier to take cloth nappies than if you are staying in an hotel with no laundry. You need to ask yourself how you plan to wash your nappies. Not having wash facilities is not necessarily a barrier to using nappies, but you will need enough to last the time you are away and the means to transport damp, dirty nappies home with you. If you plan on bringing dirty nappies home, I recommend given them a good rinse out (bidets are good for this!) and dry them, then do a good long wash when you get home.

Do you have room to transport your nappies? This will depend on 2 things – how you are getting there, and which nappies you are using. If you are driving, you have plenty of space to take nappies. If you are flying 20 all in ones will take up a sizeable chunk of your luggage allowance.

Will you have the time to deal with your nappies? Selfishly, the reason I rarely took cloth nappies on holiday with me, was that I didn’t want to spend chunks of my precious holiday in the campsite laundry, or, as I saw on one camping holiday, washing nappies in the sink. I know that this was part laziness on my behalf!

If you’d REALLY like to take something more sustainable than disposables on holiday, but don’t think you can with your existing cloth nappies, here are some low cost options:

Take terry squares or prefolds.  These nappies are super versatile, quick drying and can handle being soaked. They are easier to hand wash than an all in one too.

,p>Take a hybrid nappy like a Flip or Grovia with disposable inserts. Because the plastic is in the reusable wrap, the disposable inserts are completely biodegradable

Whatever you decide, to cloth, hybrid or disposable, remember it’s your family, and your choice!