The Diaper Bag

The Diaper Bag

Travelling with a baby in the first few months.

In the first few months, when my baby was exclusively brestfeeding, I carried a diaper bag as given below:

So this diaper bag is quite large, a little larger than the tote i used to carry to work. The main features here would be the 2 front pockets and a pocket on each side. This bag was purchased from design touch, a fabulously resourceful shop on Hill Road, Bandra west. It came with a tinier version of this exact same bag and a bottle shaped bag that could be clipped onto any of the handles. Another important point was the an attached elastic band on either side of the bag- inside,which will come in handy when i have to store bottle or containers upright. It also contains an attached plastic pouch to hold wet clothes or soiled diapers.

However, my description of the diaper bag is such that you can manage to travel with the little diaper world in any bag- literally any tote or handbag or air- bag. I have carried the same stuff in a very fancy Baggit tote- and it didn't even look like a diaper bag!

 Although I carry the diaper bag around quite proudly, I enjoy using my totes sometimes too. So being a new mommy does not mean you have to carry a huge diaper bag wherever you go. It depends on you. For example- when we travel over the weekends to my in laws home, I carry this bag- it's easier to access things from this bag due to its pockets and because by now my saasuma, and even saasu-pa know how things are arranged in it- so anyone can pick up and use things from it without me having to go around collecting my baby's things before we leave!

But when there is some shopping or picnic or a small outing planned, where I want to look a little more glamorous than usual, (its not just Kareena Kapoor who can look fab after having a baby!), I carry the same stuff in any bag I want to use.

An important finding I noticed was that whichever bag I use, lighter colors, especially in the interior, are preferred (my poor black bags are not much in use- its just so dark when i have to look for my little one's things in there- like hunting for things in a cave without light).

Choose your diaper bag carefully. Pockets. Light colors. A few handles to keep containers upright. Anything extra you'd like. No harm in buying more than one, especially when you travel frequently. I have just this one diaper bag. But that's because I have a huge collection of totes (I absolutely love totes). Also, I got a smaller bag with this one along with the bottle bag. If I remember correctly, this set of diaper bags was 750 rupees. And its great in quality and is quite tough. Also, easy to clean.

Coming to the front pockets- in one of them I store these-

•  A hairbrush (Part of the Safety first kit my darling nand gifted my baby)
• A squeaky toy (My baby's first toy, gifted by my sister, coincidentally our first toy and my baby's first toy both are named- Leo)
• Salin nasal drops + nasal aspirator (For that untimely googa that blocks my baby's nose, lending a nasal tone to her cries and essential to stop said cries)
• Baby powder (the small bottle which I can refill whenever I require- This came as a gift from a visiting friend of my mother- do not throw away these small containers which you will receive as gifts or will buy as a pack, these come in super handy when you have to travel and stay somewhere other than your home, or simply to carry in the diaper bag)
• Baby cream- for those dry Gujarat winters when my poor baby's cheeks are chapped :(
• Klinoderm/ diaper rash cream- to use at every diaper change
• Medicines- I usually keep only the Colicaid and allergy drops for one day travels, and others like paracetamol when we need to stay overnight or when the little madam has vaccination days

Coming to the other front pocket-

This pocket I don't fill up too much because I need some extra space to stuff my mobile, receipts,  a spare handkerchief for the baby etc

• In my humble opinion, it is safest to carry a small hand sanitizer with you at all times- you never know when you might need it. 
• A bunch of tissues-  for myself, for the baby, even for hubby dearest!
• Adult wipes- okay that sounds wrong- see once you have a baby, wipes is going to mean baby wipes, hence the term adult wipes- which should not be used for babies- as they are scented and not as chemical free as baby wipes- again, these are for the parents only- after all you need some place to store the contents of your purse as well- so why not integrate it into the one bag you need to carry!
• A rattle- for when my baby cries in the car- lucky me I usually don't need it, my baby sleeps in the car, I hope yours does too:) 

The side pocket just contains spare plastic bags/ paper bags/ newspapers for me to dispose of diapers, or to store soiled clothes. I leave the other side pocket empty to store soiled clothes or anything extra i might need to store.

 Now, for the interior of the bag-

 As you can see, it does not have any partitions. Initially I was skeptical about a diaper bag without partitions, but I realized, this gives me the freedom to store my things as I wish- Partitions would make stuffing things difficult.

This section contains:

• A stack of diapers (I usually keep 6-8 for weekend visits- for they might turn to overnight stays, otherwise, for trips shorter than 8 hours i keep 4-6 diapers)
• Accordingly, I keep a new pack of wipes for longer stays and a pack that is more than half full for other trips - you never know when babies will poop so much that you will need many wipes to clean them, yourself, etc.
• A cap with 2 pairs of mittens and socks- especially in the winters
• A minimum of 3 cloth changes (Again, poop, diarrhoea, vomiting anything can warrant a change of clothes). I keep 2 footsies (bodysuit), and a pair of button up shirt and bottoms. Sometimes I carry cloth nappies too, when the baby has diaper rash.
• The diaper changing mat with the cloth inside
• 6 hankeys for the baby- little towels actually 
• A blanket (to keep my baby cosy in the car and for when she sleeps)
• A baby pillow (to support her head while feeding, instead of carrying my feeding pillow everywhere, I just use a bunch of pillows)
• For those weekend trips I also keep a pair of extra clothes for myself (for when my darling doll pukes or poops on me)
• I also carry a shawl with me to shield from the sun or to just use as a cover while feeding. The sun shades which stick to the cars window are great in giving you much needed privacy if you feed in the car.

My advice to you, dear new mum, would be to go from what you think you'll need and even though your bag seems heavy and large at first, you can keep sorting it out with each progressing trip. 

Don't stop traveling, don't stop living as you want once you have a baby. Just take your baby with you! You just need to plan better. And I hope my experiences help you achieve just that.

Most of the time, this gets me through! However, I haven't yet experienced a time when I needed stuff beyond what I mentioned. I will write another blog about the diaper bag, once I am confident about a diaper bag that is used when the baby starts taking bottle feed and solids.