A parent’s diaper bag is a vital accessory once baby arrives. When Jia was pretty new to us, I would get a little bit anxious leaving the house because I really didn’t know what I needed to stuff inside of it and if there was enough of it all. Sometimes I’d go out and realize I left my nursing cover at home, or I would have an abundance of burp cloths but forgot to replenish the stock of bibs in the diaper bag. While preparing to leave the house by changing a diaper, feeding, or getting Jia strapped into her carseat, I needed my husband to make sure the diaper bag was ready.

We cloth diaper at home with Cloth-eez pre fold diapers with Thirsties Duo Wraps (with snaps) or Bummis Simply Lite diaper covers, and use The Honest Company‘s eco-friendly/baby-friendly disposables when we’re “on-the-go” for an extended period of time or for overnight. But, if we are going on a short afternoon trip, we tend to keep Jia in cloth. That being said, our diaper bag is usually pretty stuffed to the brim.

Here’s what we always have in our bag: 

• At least 4 Honest disposable diapers
• Honest Company travel wipes
• Honest Soothing Bottom Wash and disposable wash cloths
• Nasal aspirator
• 1 change of clothes
• 1 pair of socks
• Baby leggings
• 2 Cloth-eez prefolds
• Nursing cover
• Planet Wise Wet Bag – Medium (waterproof, so much that it can be filled with water and won’t leak, used for spitty clothes/bibs/soiled cloth diapers)
• Aden & Anais swaddle blanket (for shielding the sun if Jia’s in the stroller or as a nursing drape)
• Umbrella
• Miniature Manicure set (Earth Therapeutics, from TJ Maxx, has teeny tiny nail clippers, scissors, tweezers, and larger nail clippers)
• Sun hat
• Baby Shades
• California Baby Super Sensitive Broad Spectrum sunscreen
• JJ Cole Agility Wrap baby carrier (it’s easy to fold/shove into a bag)
• Extra Avent Soothie Pacifier
• Extra bibs (Jia is a spitter, so I keep at least 3 on hand)
• Extra burp cloths (at least 2), we use the cloth-eez prefolds that Jia has outgrown since they are super absorbent
• Package of Unscented Boogie Wipes

(wow I’m realizing how much stuff that is, and wondering how in the world I am able to put it all into one bag!)

A few things about what’s inside:

Honest Diapers – When Jia was a newborn, her bottom was protected with Huggies Pure & Natural, which we actually needed since Jia was so tiny. She was full-term, but I felt the Honest Newborn diapers were just too wide for her (I had her nursery stocked with newborn Honest Diapers way before she was born). But, after 1.5 weeks in Huggies, she had so many poop blowouts that I had to switch her to the Honest diapers – luckily by then she was able to fit them. I was tired of doing so much poo laundry, especially when she was so young! I was sleep-deprived and trying to survive as a first-time mom with a newborn for goodness sakes! The last thing I wanted to do was spend time with what little energy I had, to do laundry. The performance of the Honest Diapers has been unbelievable. With Huggies Pure & Natural, I was dealing with at least three poo-exploded onesies each day… Once I switched to Honest diapers, I only did the laundry because we were running out of outfits! I had MAYBE one soiled onesie after 3 or 4 weeks. I really love what the company stands for and between cloth diapering and Honest products, I don’t ever have to worry about chemicals next to her tushie.

Cloth-eez Prefold Diapers – These are 100% cotton pre fold diapers that you fold yourself and secure with pins or a Snappi and use a diaper cover on top. You re-use the cover as long as it’s not soiled, just wiping polyurethane lining if it gets a little wet and secure a fresh with a new cloth-eez pre fold inside. We tried the microfiber/bamboo inserts from Alva Baby (wrapped with a Thirsties Duo Wrap), but not more than 2 diaper changes would go by where we didn’t end up with a soiled diaper cover, too. Cloth diapering support groups recommended me doubling up on inserts, and that only helped half of the time. A friend of mine from nursing school raved about Cloth-eez and since we made the switch, we’ve been very happy!

Avent Soothie Pacifiers – I held off for 2.5 months before giving Jia a pacifier for fear of nipple confusion. After working at WIC and promoting practices that supported breastfeeding, I was hard-wired to avoid the pacifier (recommended until baby’s latch is adequate and breastfeeding is well-established) and so I avoided them altogether. As a result, Jia did not take well to pacifiers initially. Once she got old enough, I wanted to find a way to quickly soothe her if I couldn’t swaddle and rock/hold her (like in the car seat or falling asleep in the crib), so I tried The First Years Gumdrop pacifiers that we got free from the hospital. She did OK with them, but of course, they kept falling out and really wasn’t interested in them. Then, a friend with a newborn recommended Wubbanubbs and they have been LIFESAVERS! They are Avent Soothie Pacifiers with a tiny baby-safe stuffed animal sewn to it. It helps prevent pacifiers from falling off baby’s face/chest and can be placed in a swaddle to stay close to baby. These pacifiers have worked wonders and are the best texture and fits comfortably around her lips. Jia has a cow, giraffe, and froggie (A nearly 3 month old Jia photographed on day 1 with her Wubbanubb).

Overall, I have found that the sunhat, nursing cover, and blanket have been so important to have in the diaper bag. Jia doesn’t like her baby sunglasses much, but she is happy in her sunhat. The blanket is useful for chilly legs, shading from the sun, a modesty drape for nursing, or a swaddle. 

What must-have items do you have in your diaper bag?