camping and cloth... a love story

It's hard to believe that just over a year ago I was excitedly and anxiously opening a package of brand-new cloth diapers.  I had no idea what to expect: Would I have the will power to dunk my hands into a toilet bowl to pre-wash a soiled diaper?

Now here we are, camping with cloth diapers.  Yes.  It can be done.

I will admit, I was hesitant; in fact, last year on our annual, week-long, family camping trip we took along disposables.  This year, money concerns pushed us into the budget zone we were all afraid of and yet, serendipitously, now found ourselves in.  Convincing my husband was the easy part - figuring out what our process would be was another story.

I spent the days leading up to our big adventure doing as much research as I could.  Googling "cloth diaper camping", "camping with cloth diapers", "boiling and line-drying cloth diapers", etc.  After a few helpful tidbits from fellow nature-enthusiasts, I began the trip with an apprehensive confidence (that is, apprehensive on the inside, confident on the outside).

1. Bring on the flats.  We already use flat cloth diapers, but our reusable wipes are double-layered.  It was near impossible to get the wipes completely clean and stain-free because you can't scrub the inside layer.  The flats, however, have never had it so good.

2. Soaking tub, folded tarp, prepping tub, boiling tub.  Yes, we needed all four for the process to work seemlessly.  After removing the soiled diaper we removed any solids, as usual, then put the flat in a wet pail (soaking tub) with just water.  The next morning, once there were enough to wash, I emptied the soaking tub and put the flats into the prepping tub to wash.  Cool water, flats, and a little bit of Earth-friendly-water-soluble detergent.  Scrub like the old days (pretend you're the barefoot old lady in a black-and-white picture with a washboard and a song... song optional). Rinse, wring-out and toss on the tarp.  Once they've all been washed and rinsed, put them in the boiling tub with (obviously) boiling water for around 15 minutes.  Wring-out and line-dry.

3. Enjoy.  There is nothing I've found as meditative as hand-washing and line-drying, especially out in the sunshine with a cup of coffee.  Perhaps the only match is taking them off, pin by pin, and folding them into tightly-bundled rectangles of love.

The process does take almost two hours and then a wait while they dry, but, hey, you're camping so what else do you have to do?  It seemed to always work out that my wash-rinse-boil-hang time landed right in Neila's morning nap so I was free to take my time and relax.  I also noticed the last day that there was a particularly strange (and aggressive) flying insect (about two inches in length) that really loved to land on the dry diapers when they were warm on the line so I'm going to remember to remove them promptly next time... it creeped me out.

Thank you: Google research, Jila and Joel's boiling pot, and my amazingly easy-going and supportive husband.  I like to think that much more than Mother Earth was saved this camping trip... I also saved twenty bucks in disposable diapers.

camp champ

Every year my extended family gets together for some wilderness adventure for a week(ish) in August. Throughout my childhood we would go to a family cabin in Twin Lakes, but the "family" is so far extended that we eventually found ourselves in need of a new spot. Last year we went out to China Flat campground; Jordan and I announced our pregnancy there so that trip was really special for us. This year is even more exciting because we were bringing our new little lovey to share with everyone.

This year we all decided to try a new spot called Wolf Creek. It's a cute little campground with lots of trees, a bike trail, and a lake (well, technically, a reservoir). Neila took the drive well and was so excited when we got there! She spent the first day just looking around at all the trees and loving all the new sounds. I was so excited that she was sooooo content in nature; a girl after my own heart, I decided. Day one, amazing, day two, great, day three, good, but by day four we had one whiny, sad baby. Her dry skin got all kinds of little rashes and started peeling; also, she couldn't nap more than 20 minutes in a busy and bustling campground. At night the temperature would drop super low so breastfeeding was torture! (sigh) It was rough.

On day five we decided we would leave (one day early) and it was feeling like a smart decision because she was just so out of character. This is our baby who hardly ever cries or fusses - it felt like she cried more on that camping trip than in her whole five months prior! So we packed it up and got in the car to come home and I saw something I've never seen from her before: a happy baby in a car seat! Seriously, this is the kid who hates her car seat and complains for hours in there, but here she was happy as can be. She was asleep before we left the campground and was passed out for about half of the drive. She woke up and complained for the last 20 minutes until we arrived home, but then something wonderful happened: we walked in the door, she sighed, and gave us a smile :) I didn't think a baby could be homesick, but Jordan called it right -- sometimes people just want to be home. (even baby people)


Lessons learned:
1. Bringing books from home was a great idea. She would go from crying to relaxing as soon as we cuddled in the tent and busted out the familiar stories we'd read a million times.
2. Bringing crappy blankets was super smart. She didn't spend too much time out of our arms because of her mood, but when she did I was glad I had those gross-feeling, cheap, fleece blankets great aunt so-and-so got us to toss over the dirt for her to play.
3. Three onesies and three jammies are not enough clothing for five days. Sure, she can wear the same outfit two days in a row at home, but camping is a whole other story. Two outfits per day is a closer estimate than two days per outfit!
4. Don't try new foods when you're not at home. I made the mistake of chowing on my dad's famous clam dip on day one... not realizing that I had never eaten shell fish while pregnant or breastfeeding Neila. She (and her digestive system) did not approve. And kept reminding us of that fact - for several days, thus, adding to our clothing-shortage problem.
5. Listen to your baby. If there is one thing Jordan and I always try to remember, it's to listen to our dear Neila. She has it harder than any of us because she needs the most and can do the least. After we started seeing her melt down we began discussing whether or not it was best to cut our trip back a few days, even though we didn't want to. As people, we wanted to stay, but as parents, we knew we had to go home early to respond to her feelings. I'm glad we did; after all, we're most importantly a family of three before we are a group of individuals.

Overall, the camping trip was great. I love our family cabin/camping tradition and am so glad that Neila will grow up like I did with it. Even if it does take a little extra convincing :)