Diaper Bag Essentials

When I chose our diaper bag, I knew that realistically I wouldn’t know what I wanted to put in there until I actually had to take the baby places and essentially learned the hard way. I have since learned a few very important lessons since Evvy has been here. Being someone who prefers to over prepare for everything, I figured I’d give you a look into our diaper bag to see our essentials in case you need some ideas. While you’re at it, grab my free diaper bag essentials checklist below!

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At first, I loaded up some basics and called it a day. But then something terrible happened. Twice. The first story goes like this:

Once upon a time I was pooped on. 

I was at my father’s house.  Sitting on the couch feeding Evvy. I was holding her with my hand kind of cradling her bottom. I could tell she was pooping and laughed at her “poop face”. Next thing you know, I’m holding a hand full of poop. I didn’t have a change of clothes, but luckily the poo only escaped my palm slightly enough to graze the top of my jeans. I scrubbed and scrubbed them clean. 

The other time, I was mostly just peed on. The diaper was so full of poop that when she peed as I was on my way to change her, there was no more room for absorption and it was as if there was no diaper on at all.  I was standing in my mom’s kitchen in literal shock, frozen, unsure of what the hell was actually happening as I felt instantly wet all over. I stared at my mom, confused, searching for an answer,

“What is going on right now?!”

My mom, equally as perplexed…

“It must be pee?”

Luckily, I brought a change of clothes for our plans later that evening so I just had to change into those sooner than later. 

Thank goodness I was at someone’s house when these instances occurred.  I thought the first time was a fluke. After the second, I kind of panicked.  Was this my life now? Did I need to be fearful of not only a poop-splosion, but a poop-splosion all over me?  Should I start packing a change of clothes for myself, too? 

Luckily, it never got to that point.  This did not become a frequent occurrence.  However, I was frightened enough that I added some rubber gloves to my bag and double checked that I had little plastic bags (similar to doggie bags) in case of emergency. 

The Bag

The diaper bag I chose pre-baby is a backpack style from Amazon. I knew I wanted a backpack because I hate to make anything more complicated than necessary. A backpack seems most practical. And it has been.

There are a slew of this style of inexpensive diaper bags on Amazon. From what I’ve learned recently, a lot of sellers on Amazon have fake reviews. So, first things first, I found several of this style of diaper bag that I thought were cute and then ran them through www.fakespot.com one by one to verify that the reviews were legit. I landed on a legit bag and ordered it. 

When it arrived, I first thought it looked dinky. I must have been expecting something very large.  It ends up being the perfect size. Once you pack it full of everything, it’s not too big, not too small. Just right.  We like it.

~Make sure you check out my Top 10 Must Have Baby Items~

The Essentials

The most obvious things you need to pack are diapers. Who’da thunk. Diapers in a diaper bag. Remember to put some wipes in there, too.  I started off with the little sample wipe packs I got in registry gift bags or for gifts, but those really only have like 5 wipes in them, so go ahead and throw a full size pack in there so it will last.

Along with the regular diaper bag essentials, I have a changing pad that folds up nicely and fits in the side pocket along with the diapers. I take this with me into public restrooms when I’m changing Evvy so she has a padded, and more sanitary place to lay while on the changing table. This works for me because it’s washable, so I just throw it in her hamper when I get home and unpack anything dirty from the diaper bag.

I sometimes worry that people will think I’m a silly first time mom for carrying around a technically unnecessary padded changing thing for my precious baby’s bum.  But then I remember I don’t actually care what people think, and I’m a serious germaphobe so I use it equally for that reason.

Oh, and make sure you add some of those non-doggy-plastic waste bags I talked about earlier. Those are diaper bag essentials! And some rubber gloves if you’re feeling nervous.

The Extras

I always keep a few toys in the bag. It seems like Evan really enjoys these toys when we’re out because they’re new and exciting since she doesn’t play with them at home. 

Arm & Hammer pacifier wipes. These are awesome! Binky or plastic toy touched the disgusting restaurant table? No problem! 

It’s always a good idea to keep a couple fresh onesies in there- just make sure to change sizes as the baby grows. I just stick some of my least favorite of her outfits in there. 

Always bring a blanket in case it’s cold. 

The Enfamil formula packs stay in the bag. That’s not what we feed Evvy, but the off brand we get is a dupe of this.  I got them as samples and figured we could use them in a pinch if necessary since they have the same main ingredients. Though, as I type this I realize I no longer have a bottle in there, so the formula is useless. Haha. I’ll add a bottle. It’s nice to know you have one, should you ever need it for any reason. 

Pepe the Penguin (the wubbanub pacifier) is the dedicated carseat/ diaper bag pacifier. I like it because if she’s screaming and I’m driving, I can blindly find the stuffed animal by feeling around vs searching for a tiny binky.

Aveeno Baby Eczema lotion is great. Honestly, I rarely put it on Evan. But it does make for a great hand lotion for mama. Honest Co. Diaper Rash Cream.  We’ve never used this and I could probably take it out, but, I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Hand Sanitizer. I kind of have two of these- Branch Basics all-purpose cleaner and Hello Bello hand sanitizer.  Originally, I threw the Branch Basics in there with the notion that I’d thoughtfully spray it and wipe off each public changing table prior to placing the baby on it, then I realized I only have two hands so that’s never happened. Also I forgot it was even in here until I purchased the Hello Bello hand-sani. I’m seriously loving Hello Bello everything so I figured I’d give it a try.

Hello Bello Bugspray and Babyganics Sunscreen, because it’s Summer. Well, technically it’s Fall now, but the sunscreen will probably live here forever…

The Mom Stuff

And last but certainly not least, mama’s clutch and an umbrella. Because I refuse to go anywhere without an umbrella if it just might maybe rain.

There you have it.  That’s everything that lives in our diaper bag at all times. I’ve never wished for anything more or less. Except when I forget to put the blanket in the bag.

Make sure you grab my FREE Diaper Bag Checklist!

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Did I forget anything?

Later,

Abby

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