HELP! Friend going overseas needs diaper recommendation!

[danmicfred]

Hi,
I have a friend who is pregnant and will be going to live in Africa before her baby is born. She knows she will have to use cloth diapers while there - I believe where they are going will be very remote.

They may not return to the US for a few years so will need a diaper that lasts long. They are also very limited in the amount of luggage they will be able to take so these diapers will probably need to be one size fits all type.

I do not know what kind of laundry facilities they will have - machine or by hand. What do you ladies suggest? Thanks!

[american_mama]

Wow, that sounds like a challenge in many ways. An additional consideration may be finding a diaper that is comfortable for baby in a very hot or humid environment, if that's the weather she'll be experiencing.

bumGenius is a very good one-size pocket diaper. A pocket diaper means she'd stuff it with an absorbent fabric insert. I think the latest bumGenius diapers come with two different inserts, a small one for infants and a larger one for older kids.

Haute Pockets is another good one-size pocket diaper, although I've never tried them.

She could also bring prefolds and covers. Prefolds are thick absorbent rectangles of white cotton worn with a waterproof cover over it. Pros: they fit for a long time, wash easily, could be worn without a cover if the weather was really hot, are classics which have been used forever. They can be folded in thirds and worn with a cover that holds it in place, or they can be wrapped around baby and held in place with pins or a Y shaped fastener called a Snappi (which I believe was invented in South Africa). She could also use a wool cover, which some people think is the best for hot weather becuase of the breathability.

Cons: prefolds are bulky in luggage, you would probably need multiple sizes of covers (but covers don't take up much room at all, and you only need 4-6 in each size). If she gets prefolds, I'd get unbleached or Indian prefolds, both of which are not pure white, and thus hide stains better.

I suggest you or your friend ask people for recommendations who may have some relevant experience (lived in Africa or similar remote areas, live in extremely hot or humid places and use cloth, contacts they have there in Africa). Diaperswappers.com and Mothering.com are good places to find cloth diaper forums. I have an acquaintance who cloth diapered for a few months in Cuba, and I'll try to ask her.

[KrisM]

Hmmm. If they don't have laundry easily available, I might try flats. They're a big square(I think) of fabric that you need to fold to fit. They're more flexible in sizing and fitting than a prefold and they are much thinner since they require folding so they'd air-dry much more quickly.

You can get some here: http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/diapers.htm. Scroll down a bit and there is also a link for folding them. You can double them for more absorbancy, too.

[katydid1971]

Are they missionaries? If so they should contact cottonbabies.com they have grants for missionaries and would be able to recomend diapers based on experience of working with these situations.

[danmicfred]

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
You guys have been SO helpful! I really appreciate it! And yes, they are missionaries so I will check into the cotton babies website! :)