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Kids & Family

Diaper Bag Essentials

What are the things you'd never leave home without? Here's our list.

Any parent knows that the younger a child is, the more stuff they seem to have. Some of it is absolutely necessary while other things are just nice to have.

But what do they really need when you’re out and about?

Bethany:

I have a 3-year-old and a 9-month-old, so my bag is pretty diverse at the moment. Sometimes, depending on where we are going, I will add or take out items. But this is our standard on most days:

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  1. Diapers and wipes.
  2. Sippy cup of water.
  3. Baby bottle with the formula powder in it, no water yet. (That way I can mix the bottle if and when he needs it without it going bad in the meantime.)
  4. Bottle of water and bottle of Pediasure. (It doesn’t need to be refrigerated and my daughter loves it. Plus she is small and a picky eater, so every little bit helps.)
  5. Resealable bag with spoons, yogurt (I like the Gerber ones because you don’t have to refrigerate them), a snack-size of applesauce, and a small container of what I like to call “toddler trail mix.” (Which is a mix of whatever snackie things we have on hand. Right now it’s goldfish, ritz, puffs, cheerios, and vanilla wafer cookies.)
  6. Change of clothes for each kid inside a resealable bag.
  7. Crayons and a coloring book.
  8. Two small toys. (I tend to rotate these so they won’t get bored with them.)
  9. In the zip-up pocket I have Tylenol, band-aids, and hand sanitizer.

, I also like to pre-pack our bag. It just makes it so much easier when you are getting ready to leave the house.

Nicole:

I have always been an extremely organized person. I have a backpack that is generally always packed for a quick getaway! I also always clean it out right when I get home just so I don’t find any surprises (and there have been times where I have not done this and found some “fun” surprises). I have a multi-pocketed backpack that comes in super handy because each pocket has a function.

The biggest pocket, which has a laptop sleeve in it, is used for diapers, wipes, extra clothes (especially undies and pants for my daughter who is in the midst of potty training), and the (which is our portable potty seat, I don’t leave home without it!).

The next pocket is for snacks, water, and Milo’s bottles. I usually use the time when my kids are eating breakfast to pack their snacks or lunch for the day depending on how long we’ll be out.

The next pocket is for all the random little stuff. I always have diaper rash cream, tylenol, hand sanitizer, sunscreen and a bag of toys for when we’re at restaurants or somewhere we’ll be waiting for a while. Bethany was actually the one that introduced me to these great party packs that they sell in the $1 section at Target, which include stickers, crayons, and a coloring book. I also have a few little cars, pens and a little notebook. The $1 store is also a great place to find little toys.

The last pocket is what I call my “purse pocket”. This has all my essentials in it such as my wallet, phone, sunglasses, keys, etc. I’ve found it too difficult to carry a purse and a diaper bag so having a bag with a pocket for all the “mommy junk” is really helpful.

This seems like so much stuff now that I look back on my list but I honestly use all of it on a daily basis. And having the right bag for you is so important. I don’t know what I would do without my backpack and all the seemingly endless junk in it!

Being prepared is the first step to not TOTALLY losing it when you’re out and about with the kids. But every mommy and child have different needs. We just have to make sure we have what we need in our bag to make our lives easier! What’s in your bag?

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