I thought this might be a good board to ask this on. What do you have in your diaper bag? I bought my today and started to google a list of what I should include in it. But now I'm thinking I have to much stuff in it. It is huge and weighs 8 pounds! Eeek! Here is a link to my blog where I detail what is in it and pictures: https://quiltoflife2.blogspot.com/ (Not trying to promote the blog... just easier then writing it all again.)
Thanks.
Re: XP: What's in your diaper bag?
My thoughts...pack a less bulky blanket, babies under 6 months cannot wear sunscreen, make sure the extra outfit you pack isn't bulky (I usually just throw a one-piece in that's seasonally appropriate), and if it's a bulky-type of appointment book I'd leave that in the car. I also have never carried first aid stuff in my bag, that stays in the car (and I've never needed a band-aid for an infant while out and about anyway...). I'm a minimalist, though! I don't carry much "just in case" stuff in the actual bag, I have a separate storage box/cargo holder thing in my car where I keep things like that. I mean if I were at the zoo and my baby needed Tylenol, we'd be leaving anyway.
Since you asked, I take a burp cloth/bib, thin blanket, nursing cover, one-piece outfit, a few diapers, wipes, diaper cream, changing pad, a toy, a paci, a hat, and then my stuff all fits in one outside pocket (keys, phone, chapstick) and I slide my wallet in the main compartment. When they are a bit older I trade out nursing cover for a bottle and formula holder and a snack container. Helps to have lots of pockets in whatever bag you use!
I would say ditch a lot of that stuff. I cloth diaper even when I'm out and about and don't carry nearly that much stuff!
Here's what I have:
My stuff:
cellphone, pen, chapstick, keys, wallet
Baby Stuff:
- Blanket, hat, change of clothes (seasonally appropriate one piece outfit), bib, a couple of small toys
- 3 diapers and 1 cover
- wetbag
-sippy cup for the little one
I do have a first aid like bag with tylenol, diaper cream, etc in it but I only toss that in if we'll be gone for 3+ hours.
- Wipes
- Change of clothes and underwear w/ bag to put dirty clothes in
- Benadryl and EpiPen Jr.
- MediBuddy (bought it at Target, has bandages, sting relief pad, gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, burn relief cream, antibiotic ointment, stickers, and it comes in a cute little carrying case shaped like a bandage)
- Neosporin
- Wallet, keys, phone
- Snacks (dried fruit and crackers, with Boon snack ball to put it in)
- Sippy cup
- Bumkins SuperBib (love this, we have the cats and dogs pattern)
I carry sunblock (California Baby) and bug spray (Jason's Quit Bugging Me! spray) in the warmer months. I will also throw in a book or two and a travel MagnaDoodle if we are going to be out and about for a while.
I think your bag is just going to be heavier/bulkier with the cloth diapers, honestly. Mine always was. You also have bottles, so that takes up a lot of space, and it's always good to bring two extra outfits when they are super little.
I carry all of the first aid stuff with me every where because we don't own a car.
Here's what I have in ours:
4-5 diapers
wipes
disposable changing pads (they are thin and don't take up much room)
2 pacifiers
2 changes of clothes
sassy bags for dirty diapers or wet clothes
gas drops
small tube of diaper ointment
hand sanitizer
cloth diaper for burp rag
small washcloth i use during feedings
nursing cover
If I put a blanket in there it's usually a rolled up Aiden & Anais one since they don't take up much room. However, since it's winter I always have a blanket on him in the car seat, so I don't always bother bringing another in the diaper bag.
I probably forgot some things and am too lazy to get up and look in our diaper bag!
DD (5 years old) from IUI in 2012
TTC 3rd and final!: IUI #1 in progress!
haha, this was what used to be in my diaper bag:
https://www.spearmintbaby.com/2010/05/my-new-diaper-bag.html
I don't keep much in ours.
Diapers
Wipes in a small hard sided wipe case. I refill as needed.
One Pacifier
One small toy
Burp cloth
A+A blanket/doubles as nursing cover
Changing pad that came with the bag
I throw my wallet, phone and lipgloss in and that's it.
I have a 3m old FF baby and this is what's I've got:
3-4 diapers
wipes (I always start a new pack at home when the one I'm using is 2/3 empty so I can put that on the diaper bag, it makes me save a lot of space!)
extra paci
burp cloth
changing pad
2 or 3 sterilizing wipes (for my hands or in case I drop both pacis)
1 or 2 bottles (DS only eats 4 times a day)
formula dispenser
an extra toy (rattle or teething toy)
a one piece pj or something like that
besides that I throw in my wallet, chapstick, cell and keys; other stuff i just keep it in the car
kelbrian, is the EpiPen Jr for you or the baby?
SallyAnne, I haven't put my diaper bag together yet, but I wouldn't put "my stuff" in there... I am a bit OCD and would keep it all baby. I use a backpack style purse for myself, so it's the first thing I put on, it's out of the way and I have my stuff. I expect to pile everything else on top of it.
The EpiPen Jr. is for my daughter - she is allergic to shellfish.
This is what's in mine:
changing pad, diapers and wipes
2 bibs, 2 burp rags
aden & anais blanket if we'll be gone long enough for a nap
pacifier, pacifier wipes
bottle if we'll be gone for a feeding (I ebf but prefer to avoid public bfing)
change of clothes for LO
disposable diaper baggies (come in a roll and are quite compact)
a rattle (now that he's old enough to be interested)
hand sanitizier
for me: wallet (which I need to downsize), chapstick, keys, cell phone, and small lotion bottle
My suggestions: consider how long you'lle actually be out. Yes, newborns eat unpredictably so the bottle arrangement may not be negotiable. But they also don't eat very much. You will not be going out with the baby for 4+ hours right away. Same thing with the diaper arrangement. Baby will be too little to need toys right away. You don't need diaper rash cream unless baby has a rash. You don't need sunblock unless baby will be in sun unprotected by clothing, hats, shades (like on the stroller or car seat). I've never needed tyleno or bandaids for LO. I keep my tylenol in the car. To be honest, you'll just have to try it out and see.
I'm not even going to look at your blog. Here's what our Diaper Dude diaper bag has in it (and I changed it quite a bit after over-packing before DD was born):
-no more than 5 diapers (we do disposables)
-a pack of wipes (we use the Costco ones - and they are handy, although heavy)
-at least 5 ziploc bags for diaper disposal
-a tiny bottle of hand santizer
-a changing pad (but it came with it and has a special compartment)
-2 wet bags for messy outfit carrying
-diaper cream in travel size (haven't needed it yet in the almost 6 months)
-2 burp rags
-a onesie or sleeper as a backup outfit (nothing bulky)
-backup pacifiers
When DD was a newborn we also kept a hat and no-scratch gloves in the bag.
Now we keep at least one toy in there, but when she was a newborn, we had NONE because she did nothing with them.
We don't keep a blanket in the diaper bag, since it's usually ON DD when she is in her carseat, or we keep one in the car and rotate it out. We'd also grab a paci and clip before we left.
We FF, so we add bottle(s) as needed, along with our formula dispenser.
DH & I share the bag, so I don't put anything else in the bag. I just carry my purse, too. I'm a working mom, so I don't keep the bag with me at all times.
To further complicate things, I have 2 diaper bags. One is really small and I use it if I only plan to be gone for a very short time. I keep diapers, wipes, an extra outift and my nursing cover in there. For longer outings (eating out, church, visiting friends) I pack a little more: diapers, wipes, 2 outfits (mine typically aren't one piece in this bag only because If we're out and about I want her to be in an actual outfit) a few toys, baggies for accidents, diaper cream, nursing cover. I only kept a blanket in the diaper bag when it was fall and could sometimes be a little cool. Now she has her bundle me thing on her carseat. If she needs to take a nap somewhere I make sure I have her blankets for swaddling, but often I find that I repack my diaper bag for each bigger occasion (ie. church, spending the day with my mom, a birthday party...)
If she took a binkie I would pack that too. Sometimes I will bring a backup bottle of BM if we're gone for a while.