Tera Evelynne: Diaper Bag

One fact of life with a baby is a diaper bag. Honestly, I’m the type of person to leave the house without a purse or many accessories, but leave the house without a diaper bag? NEVER.

Actually, I usually don’t end up needing anything in the diaper bag…but the one time I left it at home, I’m sure I would suddenly need every.single.thing I have crammed into the bag!

So, first things first: the diaper bag.

We registered for it at Babies R Us, and it can be found here.

When we looked at diaper bags for our registry, we were so overwhelmed. Why in the world are there so many options? Don’t we just need a bag to carry our babies junk around in? So here is what we narrowed it down to:

something that would hold Tera’s stuff
something that included a changing pad with it
something that would not make Theo look stupid if he had to carry it around
something that we could potentially use for future children: boy or girl

I mean….I think he looks pretty handsome carrying it!

This one fit the criteria, so we went with it! Some wonderful ladies at our church purchased it for us and gave it to me at our shower. We happen to love it.

And here are the contents of her diaper bag:

I organize the things into 4 categories:

Mommy’s stuff

Tera’s stuff

Diaper change stuff

Nursing stuff

Mommy’s Stuff:

There is no way I’m going to carry a seperate bag just for my stuff, when I can just as easily put it into the diaper bag and only carry one bag (plus the baby!).

A spare shirt (You never know what you are going to get on that perfectly put-together outfit that you are leaving the house in! Spit up, poop, mud…it has all happened).
Sunglasses (for driving)
Gum (I’m unfortunately addicted to chewing this stuff…especially this Trident Tropical Twist)
Small change purse (more on that in a minute)
Water bottle ( This is a MUST! I will turn around and come back if I have left the house without it. I need to stay hydrated, but I also need it in order to use the nursing shield to nurse Tera)
Pen/notepad (the notepad is not pictured)

Usually when I am going to the store or somewhere that will take less than an hour, I leave the diaper bag in the car. I figure if I have to change Tera or feed her, I will most likely head back to the car to do that. So I always include this small change purse, which I always carry in with me wherever I go. Inside it I have the basic store/errand necessities:

my wallet
my keys
my phone
a pacifier

Tera’s Stuff:

An outfit change. I recommend at least one, but I have used up to 3 in one outing.
Outfit layers: a hat, socks, a jacket (not pictured). You never know when a store or church or home is going to be very hot or very cold. I always make sure to have layers on hand just in case. A diaper bag is ALL ABOUT ‘just in case’.
A blanket (not pictured). Same as above…you never know when the babe might get cold, or simply need it for comfort
A headband. I mean…this poor child gets called a boy all the time. I like to have a headband on hand to jam on her head, because I personally dislike the ‘he’s SO cute!’ comments. I know the people mean well, and they do it to everyone, but by having a headband on hand I can always clear up the confusion!
A toy- she isn’t quite there yet, but soon she will need a toy or two to keep her occupied while Mommy runs the errands. It never hurts to have something to jingle at her just to hold her over until I can get home and feed her.
Lotion. This one is kind of for both of us. Ha! Dry skin always seems to pop up whenever we are out and about.
Hand sanitizer. I especially loved having this on hand at the very beginning of Tera’s life. If people asked to hold her and we weren’t near a bathroom, I would smear some of this on their hands before letting them hold her. It’s also really nice to have after a car diaper change. I mean…i don’t have a sink and soap in my trunk!
Gripe water. Tera doesn’t usually get fussy while out and about, but some trips are just a little bit too long for her, and having some grip water on hand is always helpful! Again..’just in case!’

Diaper Stuff:

I have this handy little pouch that says ‘diapees and wipees’..and I happen to keep diapers and wipes in there! I always refill it before leaving the house, even if we didn’t use any diapers on the last outing. I have come very close to running out of diapers and that is not a fun thought!
Changing pad. I love this thing. I mean…you never know where you are going to have to change a baby (Our car was in the shop, so we were waiting outside to get it back)

Butt paste- I got all kinds of this sample packs of diaper rash cream from our registry, from the hospital, from buying diapers in bulk. I just throw one in the diaper bag just in case.
Wet Bag- this is particularly useful if I have left the house with Tera in a cloth diaper and she, um… fills it up. When I change the diaper, I just throw it in the wet bag, zip it up and throw it back in the diaper bag. When I get home, I put the diaper in the bucket with all the other cloth diapers. It prevents poop and stink from getting everywhere in the diaper bag or the car.
Mini trash bags. These are super helpful if I’m changing a disposable diaper and I’m not anywhere near a trash can. I just put the dirty diaper into one of these small trash bags, put it back in the diaper bag, and then throw it out when I get home. Again…it keeps poop and stink from getting all over the place.

Nursing Stuff:

Nursing cover: I’m perfectly fine with people breastfeeding in public, but it’s not for me. I always feel super uncomfortable. So I LOVE this handy dandy nursing cover. It’s so easy to use and I can still see the babe while I nurse her…but no one else can see anything.

Nursing shield. I keep a little tupperware container in the diaper bag. I leave the nursing shield in that so I don’t lose it. I also need to get the shield wet before nursing, or it will fall off and make life/nursing very frustrating, so I just pour some water into the container and then dump the water out when I’m done nursing. Perfect!
Nursing pads. Totally necessary. You never know when you are going to need some fresh ones….especially if you are trying to tide the baby over and don’t want to stop to feed her 10 minutes before getting home, but it’s really, really feeding time (if you know what I mean…).
Burp cloth. I use this all the time. I usually have more than one on hand. It’s handy for nursing when Tera opens her mouth and milk is pouring down my clean Sunday-best shirt and skirt. It’s helpful when Tera spits up…all over both of us in the store. It’s helpful when I’m changing her and there is a little breeze blowing across the parking lot. It’s just always helpful!!!

Now, just to keep it real (because you know I always do)….Here is the pile of stuff I pulled out of the diaper bag that didn’t really belong (at least not in the photo shoot)….