crunchy parenting

Let’s face it. Even as a first-time parent, I noticed that most diaper bags are impractical, overly bulky or just downright ugly. After doing a bit of online research on the topic, I came to the conclusion that you carry the most stuff around when they’re small: burp clothes, feeding equipment, swaddling blankets, carriers, several changes of clothes, etc. A friend suggested to me the brilliant idea of looking up the features that appealed to me to make your own diaper bag and fitting it out with baby gear. This turned out to be awesome advice. Here’s an idea of what you may need to carry for the first 6 months / 1 year:

• Diapers
• Wipes
• Changing pad
• Swaddling blanket
• Baby carrier (no Baby Bjorns, please!)
• Burp cloths
• Pacifiers / teethers
• 1-2 Baby toys
• Diaper cream
• Bottles, formula, etc., if you’re feeding formula
• Extra nursing pads, if you’re nursing
• Extra change of clothes or two

I opted for the Dakine Valet (via Zappos). It’s big, roomy and stands open on it’s own to find things easily. It has a padded laptop area that fits my 13″ Macbook for when I stopped by work with the baby, or to be used as my carry-on bag on long flights and brought my computer with me. (It has a slip-over panel on the back to attach over your rolling suitcase handle.) It would be perfect for a padded iPad/Kindle/eReader slot. There’s a slim external zip pocket that I used for phone/wallet and an external buckle pocket that I used for small, less valuable items like sanitizer, etc. I loved that this thing had plenty of room for cloth diapers, rolled up blankets, clothes, etc and often used it as the baby’s “weekend bag” when I went to visit my mother. The downsides were the straps and handles. The shoulder strap always felt uncomfortable to me, and the width of the bag on my small 5’2″ frame made carrying it over my shoulder rather clunky. I eventually just removed the shoulder strap and used the handles as both grab handles and over-the-shoulder straps.

I also love using Eagle Creek packing cubes for organizing stuff in bigger bags and will be using them to separate my two kids’ things in one diaper bag. They’re collapsible, zippered bags with a mesh top so you can see what’s inside. The Eagle Creek Double-Sided Half Packing Cubes were practically meant for kids; one side is breathable mesh for clean clothes, the other is waterproofed and sealed in for the soiled clothes!

Like with most things, the first few months are the most awkward. I suggest packing a full kit for everywhere you go for the first month and try scaling back on the things you don’t need as you go. For example, I had small changing pad, but quickly found it was easier to just change her on an extra receiving blanket instead; it rolled up smaller and could be washed and dried with regular laundry.