Diaper Bag Must Haves
Sunday, June 28, 2009
What's in Marin's diaper bag? Well, quite a bit to be honest. We've refined our bag packing technique over the past two months and seem to have it down pat. We have everything we need in his bag and then some, but nothing "useless" that just takes up space. Here are the must haves for a diaper bag for a newborn to 2 month old.
1) Diapers-For just going around town or if we'll be out for half a day or so, we take 8. That seems to be plenty. Always take more diapers than you think you'll need.
2) Wipes-The small travel wipes cases will not cut it if your baby has a massive blow out while out and about. There is only enough in there for 1 regular poop diaper or a few pee diapers. While it does make the bag heavier, we carry a regular sized box of wipes. There is no need to carry the hard sided box of wipes because most of the wipe companies are now making soft sided ones in the large sizes so you have plenty of wipes but not the extra weight of the box. If you get wipes in bulk, which we have started doing too, you can always put wipes in a big zipper bag.
3) Cloth diapers-You can use these as a burp cloth or spit up rag. We have also started putting a cloth diaper in the bottom of Marin's car seat in case he has a diaper leak. It is much easier than washing his entire car seat covering.
4) Nasal Aspirator-I hate the phrase, "Snotty Nosed Brat". ha.ha. If I see any baby boogers, the thing immediately comes out of the bag.
5) 2 Bibs for feedings out.
6) Ready Made Formula, Pre-Sterilized Nipple and Nipple Ring for each bottle. We use Enfamil Lipil Ready To Feed Formula. If you are formula feeding your baby, be sure to take one more bottle than you think you'll need in case you are out later than planned.
7) 3 Extra Outfits or more-I can't stress this one enough. Take way more outfits than you think you will need. On an 8 hour round trip to a jet rally, Marin used 3 outfits and was on his last outfit when we were driving home. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or elaborate. Just toss in 3 or 4 onesies if it is summer time. Nothing heavy to take up room in the bag, but it does the job. If it is winter, you can toss in a few footed one piece outfits or pajamas. Throw in a couple pairs of socks too. Go through your extra outfit stash quite often to make sure that when you need the extra outfit, baby hasn't outgrown it already. That is why it is nice to keep it simple and just throw in onesies. If you are going out somewhere "nice" you can always pack nicer outfits last minute, but always keep the onesies in there.
8) Diaper Rash Ointment-With it being hot out right now, a baby is more likely to get diaper rash.
9) Extra Pacifiers-Take at least 2 extras, not including the one your baby is currently using in the car. You don't want to run out of these, if this is something your child uses.
10) Zipper storage bags in Gallon Size-You will find 100's of uses for these, including transporting soiled outfits and dirty diapers. If you have to do a diaper change in the car and can't find a trash can, you'll be glad to not have to smell a dirty diaper.
11) Disposable Changing Table Mats-You've already read my rant on dirty changing tables. :)
12) Blankets-We have 2 thin receiving blankets in our bag. It is always cold in restaurants and you can crank the a.c. up higher in your car if you bring along a blanket.
13) Sunhat-With it being so sunny out these days and Marin not being old enough to wear sunblock, we bring along a little fisherman type hat for him to wear outdoors.
14) Your pediatrician's name and number. If you store these in your phone, great, but what if you lost your phone or your battery went dead? It is nice to have a back up paper copy.
15) Hand sanitizer and extra shirt for all adults in your party. You don't want to be wearing spit up all day if baby gets some on your shirt.
16) Digital Camera-You never know when you'll want to capture a "first" memory.
Note: If you have a newly "snipped" baby boy, be sure to bring along the gauze and Vaseline.
What you can do without for the first 2 months: Toys. Baby won't be interested in them and they will just take up space. Adults are way more entertaining at this stage than rattles and fake keys.
How do we keep from breaking our backs with all this crap in there? We have the attachments to hang the bag on his stroller. It is a little annoying to have to put it on and take it off every time you get in and out of the car, but it is worth it not to have to carry it on your shoulder. Yeah, there is a basket underneath his stroller, but it is nice to have it handy at arms reach. Plus, that leaves the basket open for all your shopping purchases. :) Marin has the Mr B Diaper Bag and it comes with attachments for your stroller if you are interested.
Update on 7/23/09: Marin is nearly 3 months old now and we've thrown a couple toys in his diaper bag. He enjoys playing with them when he's bored in the backseat.
1) Diapers-For just going around town or if we'll be out for half a day or so, we take 8. That seems to be plenty. Always take more diapers than you think you'll need.
2) Wipes-The small travel wipes cases will not cut it if your baby has a massive blow out while out and about. There is only enough in there for 1 regular poop diaper or a few pee diapers. While it does make the bag heavier, we carry a regular sized box of wipes. There is no need to carry the hard sided box of wipes because most of the wipe companies are now making soft sided ones in the large sizes so you have plenty of wipes but not the extra weight of the box. If you get wipes in bulk, which we have started doing too, you can always put wipes in a big zipper bag.
3) Cloth diapers-You can use these as a burp cloth or spit up rag. We have also started putting a cloth diaper in the bottom of Marin's car seat in case he has a diaper leak. It is much easier than washing his entire car seat covering.
4) Nasal Aspirator-I hate the phrase, "Snotty Nosed Brat". ha.ha. If I see any baby boogers, the thing immediately comes out of the bag.
5) 2 Bibs for feedings out.
6) Ready Made Formula, Pre-Sterilized Nipple and Nipple Ring for each bottle. We use Enfamil Lipil Ready To Feed Formula. If you are formula feeding your baby, be sure to take one more bottle than you think you'll need in case you are out later than planned.
7) 3 Extra Outfits or more-I can't stress this one enough. Take way more outfits than you think you will need. On an 8 hour round trip to a jet rally, Marin used 3 outfits and was on his last outfit when we were driving home. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or elaborate. Just toss in 3 or 4 onesies if it is summer time. Nothing heavy to take up room in the bag, but it does the job. If it is winter, you can toss in a few footed one piece outfits or pajamas. Throw in a couple pairs of socks too. Go through your extra outfit stash quite often to make sure that when you need the extra outfit, baby hasn't outgrown it already. That is why it is nice to keep it simple and just throw in onesies. If you are going out somewhere "nice" you can always pack nicer outfits last minute, but always keep the onesies in there.
8) Diaper Rash Ointment-With it being hot out right now, a baby is more likely to get diaper rash.
9) Extra Pacifiers-Take at least 2 extras, not including the one your baby is currently using in the car. You don't want to run out of these, if this is something your child uses.
10) Zipper storage bags in Gallon Size-You will find 100's of uses for these, including transporting soiled outfits and dirty diapers. If you have to do a diaper change in the car and can't find a trash can, you'll be glad to not have to smell a dirty diaper.
11) Disposable Changing Table Mats-You've already read my rant on dirty changing tables. :)
12) Blankets-We have 2 thin receiving blankets in our bag. It is always cold in restaurants and you can crank the a.c. up higher in your car if you bring along a blanket.
13) Sunhat-With it being so sunny out these days and Marin not being old enough to wear sunblock, we bring along a little fisherman type hat for him to wear outdoors.
14) Your pediatrician's name and number. If you store these in your phone, great, but what if you lost your phone or your battery went dead? It is nice to have a back up paper copy.
15) Hand sanitizer and extra shirt for all adults in your party. You don't want to be wearing spit up all day if baby gets some on your shirt.
16) Digital Camera-You never know when you'll want to capture a "first" memory.
Note: If you have a newly "snipped" baby boy, be sure to bring along the gauze and Vaseline.
What you can do without for the first 2 months: Toys. Baby won't be interested in them and they will just take up space. Adults are way more entertaining at this stage than rattles and fake keys.
How do we keep from breaking our backs with all this crap in there? We have the attachments to hang the bag on his stroller. It is a little annoying to have to put it on and take it off every time you get in and out of the car, but it is worth it not to have to carry it on your shoulder. Yeah, there is a basket underneath his stroller, but it is nice to have it handy at arms reach. Plus, that leaves the basket open for all your shopping purchases. :) Marin has the Mr B Diaper Bag and it comes with attachments for your stroller if you are interested.
Update on 7/23/09: Marin is nearly 3 months old now and we've thrown a couple toys in his diaper bag. He enjoys playing with them when he's bored in the backseat.
