Label your diaper bag with your name and phone number in case it gets lost or left behind. Parents with young children are easily distracted.
Five essentials for the minimalist
- Wallet
- Keys
- Cell phone
- Diapers/wipes (and a wet bag for cloth diapers)
- Bottle or sippy cup with formula, breast milk, or water
- *Epi-Pen, or an epinephrine auto-injector (for treatment of acute allergic reactions), if required.
Diaper bag
For daily use:
- Wallet
- Keys
- Cell phone
- Diapers/wipes (and a wet bag for cloth diapers)
- Bottle or sippy cup with formula, breast milk, or water
- Small bottle of hand sanitizer (limit your use of antibacterial products)
- Small bottle of sunscreen, if season requires
- Formula dispenser with pre-measured formula, if formula feeding
- Nursing cover, if breastfeeding
- Thin burp cloths (1-2)
- Changing pad (the travel pad that comes with most diaper bags)
- Change of clothes and socks (in a collapsible, reusable bag)
- Small plastic bags for dirty diapers (e.g., recycled fruit and veggie bags from the grocery store)
- Pacifiers (with a cover or in a container)
- If eating solids, baby food and a spoon or a baby food pouch
- A collapsible bib
- Finger-sized snacks (O’s cereal, wheat bread pieces, blueberries, puffs, etc.)
- Small toys
- Baby books (soft ones that crinkle and have sensory stimulation)
- Water and snacks for Mom and Dad
- *Epi-Pen, or an epinephrine auto-injector (for treatment of acute allergic reactions), if required.