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If you live somewhere where the temperatures stay above freezing all year-round, you've likely never encountered this unique problem.
The one where you're cruising down the highway with your twins in tow, keeping an eye on them in your rearview mirror.
They're smiling and having fun while you rock out to Raffi.
And, then, you see the grimacing face in your rearview that tells you it's time for a diaper change.
Depending on how far you are from home—or how minimal the diaper action smells—you can wait until you're back in the warmth of your home or your final destination.
But, sometimes, a diaper disaster is so horrendous, there's a blowout that needs to be dealt with immediately before THAT becomes your new car smell.
Or, if your twins suffer from severe acid reflux issues or motion sickness, like ours did, you might find yourself dealing with a dual spontaneous-vomit-all-over-the-car-seats scenario instead.
Hopefully, you're never facing both of these situations simultaneously.
As much as these situations suck, at least, in the summertime, you can pull over to a safe spot and deal with things in a relatively easy and timely manner.
But in the wintertime, the absolute last thing you want to be worried about when you have to make an emergency stop to clean things up is an impenetrable bag of wipes that are frozen into a frigid block from sitting in your car overnight (or all winter because, let's be serious, we all have packs of wipes sitting in our cars all-year-round for roadside messes).
And while, in theory, yes, you should have a pack of fresh and beautiful wipes ready to go in your diaper bag that you brought out from your cozy home, sometimes, those wipes get moved out of the bag for other emergency situations and don't get replenished immediately.
Or, sometimes, the entire bag gets completely forgotten in the rush to get out of the door on time (or as close to on-time as you can manage with your multiples).
That's when having your emergency car wipes comes in handy.
Except when it's wintertime and the mercury dips below the freezing point, leaving you with a mangled heap of...this.
Whatever got you to this fork in the road, you don't want to be worrying about trying to pry off a few wipes from a solid brick (they just shred apart from the sheer pulling force right as you start to separate one, which makes things feel even worse).
Plus, when it's -40° outside, you don't want to be using your bare hands for this "harvesting wipes" job, anyway, because they'll get so icy-cold as you try to peel things apart and warm up a handful of wipes with your own body heat that your hands will become almost useless in this thankless process.
Even if you do manage to thaw a couple of wipes enough to separate them from the ice pack, they're still going to be cold enough when they make contact that they'll make your twins want to climb back up inside the womb.
Hot tip for frozen wipes
Instead of fighting with icy, frozen wipes at the most inconvenient time, invest in a portable wipes warmer for your car and turn it on when you're going on a big outing with your little ones.
The Prince Lionheart Compact Wipes Warmer comes with two low-voltage adapters: one for the wall and one for the car.
It's made of silicone and has enough space to hold about 30 disposable wipes, keeping them warm for up to an hour after the device has been unplugged. Some of you may, rightfully, be concerned about the wipes being heated and the potential for mold to grow inside the warmer.
The good news is, this particular warmer is made with antimicrobial properties that have been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency to prevent mold growth while still keeping wipes warm, moist, and fresh.
As long as you remember to plug in the wipes warmer when you turn on your car—just make it part of your pre-trip check: babies buckled, mirrors adjusted, warmer powered on—you'll be ready to wipe away any disasters that come your way while you're on-the-go with your dynamic duo.
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Prince Lionheart Compact Wipes Warmer
Compact Portable Wipes Warmer
This is the Prince Lionheart Compact Wipes Warmer. It fits into a diaper bag or backpack and can also warm wipes in the car on the way to your destination. It comes with two adapters (one for the wall and one for the car) and can hold about 30 disposable wipes. Engineered with an EPA-approved antimicrobial to prevent mold growth, this device keeps wipes warm for up to an hour after it has been unplugged.
At 8.63 inches long, 5.63 inches wide, and 1.88 inches high, this warmer weighs only 0.4 kilograms (without the wipes) and is a great addition to any vehicle for active families to keep wipes moist, fresh, and, most importantly, NOT FROZEN when you need them the most.
Have you ever had a terrible mess while in the car and needed wipes, only to discover they were frozen and totally unusable? What did you do in that situation? Let us know in the Comments section below.
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