Cloth Diapers Travel to Grandma’s – WITHOUT MOMMY!

My parents watched both kids for us last week while the hubs and I escaped to Miami (for my day job).  I naturally sent along the cloth diapers as the only option – here’s my story!

My mom actually used old-fashioned cloth diapers (a cloth diaper service) with both me and my brother.  She tried to convince me to use them with my son but that was before I knew anything about the MODERN world of cloth diapers.  I’ve never once been afraid to let my mom use, change, or wash cloth diapers.  She’s actually been super supportive and offers to change the diapers all the time when she visits.  It was only natural that I didn’t even think much when I packed everything up and dropped the kids off at their house for the week. 

Grandma got almost ALL of our stash so she wouldn’t have to do laundry everyday – she had plenty to make it 2-4 days depending on how often she changed her.  I sent her a mix of Velcro, Aplix, and snaps – just for fun. I really wanted to see which diapers she loved and which ones she hated.  I also sent her special detergent and very specific washing instructions.  I left her all of my wet bags and the flushable liners.  She had everything I could imagine for the trip.  Then – I left!

She never asked me any questions while we were gone – no questions about inserts – no questions about washing – she was on autopilot.  So when we were all reunited it was fun to ask her about her experience.  Here are some things we shared:

1. Grandma LOVES Bum Genius 3.0 with Velcro!  After the first round of laundry I don’t think she used any other diaper.  That doesn’t surprise me though – daddy feels the same way – except he’s a little more brave and will experiment with the other brands too.

2. Grandma HATES anything with snaps!  Again, not a real surprise but let me explain why.  I had an assortment of snaps to choose from – and her first experience was with a side-snapping (Knickernappie) diaper.  If you’ve tried them they are really nice but you always feel like you are snapping them backwards.  After that she left most of those in the suitcase and never touched another snap. 

3. Grandma didn’t realize that there were different inserts.  She couldn’t figure out how to snap-in a GroBaby insert – she kept looking for the pocket – and finally gave up!  I also found Bum Essentials inserts in Bum Genius pockets, Thirsties inserts in Bum Genius pockets, and several she must didn’t know what to do with!

4. Grandma doesn’t like STUFFING pockets – although she stuffed the AIO BG with an extra insert because it had an opening! 

5.  Grandma washed diapers every other day because she refused to use anything but BG’s.

6. Grandma LOVES bright colors – she didn’t use many of the white diapers because she tried to coordinate them with the outfits I packed. 

7. Overall – Grandma didn’t have any problems and all diapers were returned in excellent condition.  There were no stains or cream residues anywhere to be found – only one unusual orange stain on the back of one diaper that I’m guessing was orange Kool-Aid or Popsicle!  It washed out. 

Since I’m talking a LOT about the BG 3.0 – did you hear it’s retiring soon?  http://clothdiapers.blogspot.com/2010/06/bumgenius-30.html  It was just announced that Cotton Babies will be introducing the replacement at the end of the month.  I know I’ll be anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next generation of Bum Genius cloth diapers.

Have you trusted your stash to someone else?  What did they think about the different brands and styles?  Which ones did they prefer? 

Disclosure: I’ve never been compensated by Cotton Babies or Bum Genius or provided any samples of their products – it’s the brand we started with initially and the one that Grandma prefers!  Me? That’s a story for another blog post!