You’re Taking Reusable Nappies Abroad With You??!!!

Since we started using reusable nappies last June, I haven’t used a single disposable one. Not when we went away for a weekend to Cornwall, not when William was in hospital with hand, foot and mouth and not even for swimming. We are fully on the reusable train here now.

So, when somebody asked me if I was taking disposables to Florida with us I said no, of course not, yet they looked surprised

and they asked how it would work. In short, it is going to work exactly the same as at home. Just because we will be overseas, does not mean that I need to change that part of what we do.

Taking reusable nappies abroad with you is doable and this is how…

On The Plane

When we went to Crete last year William wasn’t yet in reusable nappies. I took a big batch of disposables out with us and had plenty to see us through on the plane. However, the toilets do not offer a nappy bin to dispose of them. You cannot ask the flight attendants as it would involve handling soiled items which isn’t allowed when they are handling food so often so, you either wrap it up and pop it in the normal bin in one of the tiny toilets (not nice for others) or you keep it on you (in your change bag) until landing. Therefore, using a reusable nappy on a plane isn’t going to be much different. I can change him as normal, tip any poo waste down the toilet (which will remove most of the smell) and then pop them into my wet bag which keeps any remaining odours at bay. Reusable nappies are more absorbent than a disposable one so will last longer which means I will be changing him less often and will, therefore, have fewer nappies in my wet bag.

At The Villa

We will be staying at villas in both locations during our holiday and both will provide washing facilities. This will mean that I will be able to keep on top of the nappy washing and with the warmer climate, they should dry very quickly. I don’t find the regular washing a hassle which I have previously mentioned to you. The nappies and wipes require a quick rinse cycle and then a good 40° wash which can be popped on before you go out to enjoy your day. I don’t ever hang around and wait for the wash to finish, I just hang them up once I return. Now, I know some of you will be thinking, ‘yeah but it would be different in you were staying in a hotel’ and this is certainly true and something each hotel would probably have different views on. If they have on-site facilities and are happy for you to use these then this is ideal, if not the other options would be to try handwashing or to find a local launderette. I’d probably opt for handwashing myself but I couldn’t comment on how this would go until experiencing it so that’s definitely an aspect I can’t cover just yet.

Out And About

Again, this will be no different to home. When we go out for the day I just take extra nappies and wipes (more than I’ll ever use) plus my wet bag to place them all into. When I return, this all goes into my nappy bin. Once you get your head around taking a nappy off and not binning it, it is honestly really simple and becomes your new norm. It needn’t be any different taking and using reusable nappies abroad.

Swimming

When I made the switch to reusable nappies I discovered the brilliance of reusable swim nappies too! Basically, those disposable nappies are there to do one thing, hold a poo. They DO NOT hold urine. None of them do. I wish I had known about this sooner (I think we all think a swim nappy is a like a normal nappy at first, don’t we? Until one day you put a swim nappy on your child then hold them and wonder why you are wet!) I could have saved myself a fortune with the amount we went through with Jake! We would go swimming once a week and when we went abroad to Zante we went through more than I can count. Yes, I know some people dry them out and re-use them but quite often they would rip when we took them off so they were only worn for a short time and had to be binned. Just think of the waste, urgh.

A reusable swim nappy does the same job as a disposable one but is far more comfortable and can be rinsed out after each use and washed every now and then to bring it back to being good as new.

And that’s it really. I am happy to do a bit of washing on my holiday if it means I can continue to be sustainable and continue to produce less waste.

What are your thoughts? Would you consider taking reusable nappies abroad too?

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