What's in your diaper bag?

Only the good Lord knows how women fit so many things in such a small place… in their purse, in their suitcases, in their glove compartments in the car… and all these little pockets inside of little pouches that you keep inside of the compartments, it’s amazing we ever know where anything is.

I am a master of not only fitting a thousand items into compact compartments, but having it all organized and labeled and sometimes marked with instructions. (Don’t judge, I told you I’m a little OCD!)

So as I was packing for our first long trip with a baby, I figured I would log everything that I was packing for our trip and how I fit it all into our luggage.

I have a Skip Hop diaper bag which I L.O.V.E! It’s not huge and the material is quite stiff. These may sound like negative qualities, but they are two of the reasons I love this bag. The bag is not bulky, but it has a ton of room to put everything you can imagine for a day trip. The strap is adjustable and fits perfectly around the handle of our stroller, making it one less thing we have to carry around. The material is stiff, but I like this because I hate a droopy bag. When I set it on the floor, it stays put in an upright position… meaning whatever I put in my bag stays exactly where I put it and not strewn all over the floor from the bag tipping over. Also, they come in great prints and solids that don't look cheesy or ridiculous or embarrassing for my husband to carry around sometimes. I didn't want a bag that really looked like a diaper bag, but I didn't want one that looked like a humongous purse that Paris Hilton would be carrying around (although they do offer more girly, purse looking diaper bag options as well)! Even bigger brownie point for this brand, they are so reasonably priced. Sure, they have some fancier bag options that are kind of up there on the cost chart, but I wouldn't mind paying that for the quality you get.

So here is a list of everything that is in my diaper bag on a normal day (as seen in the picture below starting at the bottom right):

-          2 cloth diapers (stuffed with microfiber inserts and lined)

-          1 small wet bag

-          To-go pack of 40 pacifier wipes (to clean off bottle nipples and his Gerry)

-          4 x 4 oz. formula packets

-          Formula dispenser  (filled with 4 x 5 oz. formula servings)

-          Honest Healing Balm (travel size; my fave product... I could do a whole blog post on this product alone)

-          Gerry the Giraffe Wubbanub

-          Arm and Hammer disposable diaper bags (for dirty wet wipes, boogie wipes, disposable liners, etc.)

-          Basal thermometer

-          Sandals (that I always forget to put on him, he’s a barefoot kinda kid)

-          4’ x 4’ Seersucker blanket (Sesame Street, rolled up)

-          2 extra onesies, pair of socks and baby soap (folded in a gallon sized ziplock)

-          CJ’s Butter Stick in Pixie Pie (in case he gets a chapped booty, and it smells very nice)

-          Coconut oil (in a travel size bottle, for diaper and skin rashes and dry skin)

-          4 oz. Gerber Pear Juice

-          Aveeno Baby Sunblock Stick

-          16 oz bottle of water

-          Burp cloth

-          Gas drops

-          1 x 2 pack of pacifiers (that he never uses, but just in case)

-          Honest Hand Soap (travel size; again, one of my fave product lines - I hate public bathroom soap)

-          Bac-Out spray (in a travel size spray bottle)

-          3 folded Target grocery bags (thousands of uses)

-          3 extra disposable liners (folded and in a zip-lock snack bag)

-          3 Honest disposable diapers (for emergencies; have I told you I really love The Honest Company yet? They are the only disposables I would use, and no, this is not a paid review!)

-          1 x 80 pack of Honest wet wipes (I swear, I'm not reviewing them for free stuff... but that would be nice!)

-          1 x 12 oz. bottle of sterile foam hand sanitizer

-          Lite-On Shoulder Ring Sling

-          Folding diaper changing pad (not pictured; came with the bag)

-          2 x 8 oz. bottles with 5 oz. of distilled water in each (not pictured; for formula feedings)

-          1 x 5 oz. bottle with 2 oz. of distilled water (not pictured; to mix with 1 oz. of juice)

-          My wallet (not pictured; big enough to hold my checkbook, cash, credit cards and license)

-          My adult, lady essentials (not pictured; small lip gloss, Chapstick, 2 panty liners, 1 tampon, mascara, eye drops… hey, it’s all you need to look and feel a little fresher when on the run)

 

I fit all of this in the bag, and still had plenty of room in the top. Once I finally packed this in the car, I added a couple more things that I thought we might need easy access to on our 5+ hour car ride to Houston (but didn’t want scattered all over the back seats). Everything has its own little pocket and is easy to reach, remove and put back in place… which means it’s not just stuffed in there. This tote really was a pleasant surprise. I read all the reviews online about how compact and sleek it was, yet could hold a massive amount of baby gear. I went ahead and bought it because it wasn’t so expensive that I would regret the purchase. I figured if it was too small, I would just put it away until Tuff got a little older and we didn’t need to lug around so much stuff. When I opened the box, I was very skeptical about how much or what I could fit in it. I was still pregnant and had no idea what you would put in a baby bag besides a couple diapers and some wet wipes. Now I know a little better, but I still don’t think you need a huge suitcase to haul all this baby stuff around.

It’s like a form of therapy. Listing all of these items out like this is kind of like logging your food for the day, you see how much you have and most of it is probably not necessary (but I’d rather be safe than sorry - about the items in the diaper bag, not the food log). I go through my diaper bag at least once a week to make sure everything is stocked and clean and all up to date. At the beginning of the month, I take everything out and lay it on the floor so I can evaluate if we are still using/needing certain things.

So I’m curious, what do you have in your diaper bag right now? Do you over-pack, or do you just pack the essentials for that day? When was the last time you did an inventory check on your diaper bag?

Leave me a message below or, if you have a long list like mine, leave a comment on my Facebook page with your diaper bag stock. Trust me, it’s therapeutic to write it all down and get a good look at what all you carry around with you every day.