Experiences hiking with a baby: diapers
So, I recently posted a question on hiking with a baby - my wife and I used to hike a fair amount, and we would like to get cracking again soon, but with our 7-month daughter. I'm currently trying to get as much info and as many do's and don'ts as possible, so today's topic: we use disposable diapers currently, and it suddenly occurred to me that our little bundle of joy is a regular production line of soiled diapers, and we would obviously need to carry them out with us. But they can get quite heavy (by the way, I'm a small guy, so I care about weight. A lot.)
Many trails have proper waste bins at each hut, but we often hike trails without huts, by preference. So, any experience with this? Any suggestions? (I'm also very aware of the ecological impact of using the things at all, but that's a debate for another day...)
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We are planning on hiking with our baby this coming summer so I have been doing research, as she will be exactly 1 year old. There are biodegradable wipes and diapers available so as long as you go on trails with outhouses you are set. Cosco carry's an affordable brand. I am going to do some day hiking and the prevention work mentioned above, before we go on a big trip. Exciting!
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I've got experience with this.
The first trick is prevention: we would encourage our kid at any rest break to walk around bare-bottom and try to get them to go pee (there's tons of techniques, I'm a fan of making a hissing sound every time you go pee or take your kid to go pee, and having them regularly watch others go pee). We probably saved 1-2 diapers a day with that technique.
The second trick is how you pack them away:
- Use white plastic garbage bags.
- Put the used diaper (folded) in the corner of the plastic garbage bag.
- Tie a knot so that the diaper is the only thing in the space.
- Repeat. I find I can knot about 5 diapers per white plastic trash bag doing this.
I use a heavier black plastic bag to hold the used diaper chains.
It keeps smell down to a minimum, avoids mess and stops leaks, the only real disadvantage is weight.
You could let the diapers air dry, as the weight is mostly water, but with bears and flies that's a poor idea and it'll probably take longer due to the absorbent nature of the diapers.
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I've carried them out, and I've burned them in the nightly fires we were having anyway. This was canoe-camping rather than hiking, so weight was less of an issue - but a weeklong trip accumulating diapers from two toddlers: smell was a problem. We used a dedicated bag for them, and kept it well away from everything else at campsites. Bags within bags within bags helped a bit too. My preference would be to burn them (start the fire while dinner is being made on a stove; once it's going deal with the diapers you've accumulated that day; after the diapers are burned put on another log and declare the fire open for sitting around) but when you're camping during a burn ban you do what you have to.
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Have you considered making a "poop tube"? This is something I've heard of people using when in areas where your required to carry out all waste or big wall climbing etc. Essentially it's an air tight pack able tube for depositing waste into. You make one using plumbing supplies, so a length of pipe (choose your diameter and length as you see fit) and two screw on pipe caps (one for each end), something like this:
Unscrew one end, deposit nappy, screw back up. The whole lot is totally sealed and smell proof. It's also rinse clean once you empty it.
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