My Baby Bag's Blown Up

Hi S.. So my husband is messy and I'm the opposite. So I'm on my own when it comes to this subject! What I do is when I get the kids out of the car from a long day or weekend I simply take everything out of it! Normally I put their dirty clothes in a plastic bag so I know that I need to wash those and then the diaper bag is already in the house so I know that it needs to be refilled. I did try to keep a basket in the car for the toys but I found that just became a storage for toys and they got disinterested in them because they were always there. So just keep it simple, take everything out when you get home!! This has been the best solution for me.. good luck!!

I have always put the clothes and food in seperate large ziplock bags. I also always have an empty ziplock bag in the outside pocket of my diaper bags for dirty diapers. As far as bottles or sippy cups, I either put it in a seperate cup holder outside the bag (that came with the bag - attaches to outside with clip) or use the plastic pieces that come with some bottles that prevent leakage (you take out and replace with nipple).
Hope this helps.

My car is always dirty and my house is cluttered, but I do keep my "outing" bags organized. I have several - a small "emergency" bag in each of our cars that almost never gets used, an outing bag that I take with that has only the basics, a park bag, a swimming bag, and various items that I put in ziplocs in a "grab n go" drawer. I keep each of my son's outfits in the diaper bag in one ziploc bag: shirt, pants, diaper/underwear and I have at least one always ready in my "grab n go" drawer. In my "grab n go" drawer I also have 3 diapers in a ziploc, and a stack of wipes in a ziploc. I also have portable snacks and bottles of water in my "grab n go" drawer. Each of my outing bags has "dirty clothes" bags. When I come home from an outing, the outing bag is the first thing I take care of, and if I forget, next time I'm leaving, I go to my "grab n go" drawer and replenish my bag as I head out the door. Also, I've heard of moms keeping a laminated list in their bags to help them remember what to take.

Hello S.,
I don't know a lot about the 3 year old, but I have a 1 year old (Sunday) and what I have settled into it this. I have one large diaper bag in the back of my car with everything I could/would need. Including diapers, wipes, sunscreen, a change of clothes, extra socks, a receiving blanket that works as a blanket if it's cold or a burp cloth at a feeding, an empty bottle, sample sizes of diaper cream, shampoo, etc. That always stays in my car and I rarely use it. I have another I take with me if I know I'm gone for the day. That one is much smaller and just has the basics. A couple diapers, wipes, bottles with 6 oz of water and a small can of formula that I refill every 3 weeks. That one stays in her closet and is refilled after each use and taken with us when we go somewhere. I use to have a bag with toys in it, but that became too much. Now I have a toy that holds other toys. hers is a stuffed elephant and it holds about 5 little toys. I also have a free diaper bag that holds all her swim stuff. I use to carry a plastic bag for dirty clothes, but I know if they are in her temporary bag they need to be washed. Oh yeah, I also have a Costco package of wipes floating around the car. I like those because it has the bag type packaging but the flip lid. I just recycled a refillable container because it got smashed and is bent up.
I hope that helps!
C.

I have extra bags as well. I have never bought the "expensive" diaper bags as they get wrecked so fast! When I was pregnant with my 3rd child, I took the free diaper bags at the dr's office everytime I went (the ones with the formula). when they got wrecked, I threw them away with no guilt! I use whatever bags we have around the house- backpacks, canvas bags with handles etc. okay onto what is in them. I keep one in the car packed with everything that the other mom's have mentioned. I keep the extra clothes and didies in the large ziploc bags to keep everything clean and separated. when I used formula I kept extra supplies in there as well.this bag stayed in the car. I found that taking it in and out all the time was not neccessary. Now that it is summer, I also keep
a couple bags of stuff for the older kids (9 and 6). I have a swim bag- w/ extra swimsuits, towels, clothes and sunblock in case of a impromptu trip to the pool or beach, and one with jammies and extra clothes in case of a spontaneous overnight trip. How many times I have had to tell one of them we couldn't stay over at auntie's or at a friend's house because we didn't have their stuff!! I know this might take up room, but the convienence for me outweighs the space that is gone. I keep another snack bag in the car, as well as extra jackets and shoes (yes shoes!)for each of us. I use extra plastic garbage bags for trash and dirties and shoes. There is a great book out there called "Mrs Cleanjean's Housekeeping with Kids" where I got most of my ideas. There is an entire chapter devoted to the car! also alot of trial and error. save some of last year's clothes to keep in there...they will only have to wear them for a little while and you won't have to drive yourself crazy looking for the one jacket they own!

I had two bags. One for the car and one for day trips. Same items in both. Car bag had clothes that were always the next stage size (if 3-6 mo, I put in 6-12 mo.). It was my back-up bag.

I kept large and small Ziplocks in the bags for dirty clothes and diapers. The Ziplocks kept everything else in the bag clean, even if I forgot to empty it that day, which happens.

Leave bag by the door and make it a priority to check it before bed. If leaving it on your pillow helps, do that. I just left it on the kitchen table, so I wouldn't forget to empty and fill.

Stephanie

Well, you've been given lots of advice. As for us...

We keep extra plastic grocery bags in the car, in our side luggage compartments, in the diaper bag, etc. all the time. We use these for garbage, dirty clothes, whatever. When my oldest son went to outdoor ed - he knew to place the dirty clothes in the plastic bag because it's been that way his whole life.

Every car always has baby wipes, sunblock, napkins, straws, sweatshirts and extra shoes (especially in summer). This is in an organized container. Each car has a small cooler of bottled water. We keep hand towels under the seats and a few bath sized work towels in the back of the van for those impromptu moments or accidents. Our "packing" for the beach or a park trip is minor - pants, undies, undershirt.

Kids and parents empty "their" contents every time we exit the car (tired or not).

When we come home from a trip or vacation with the dirty laundry bag(s) - we bring them directly to the washing machine upon entering the house.

A lot of these tips came from my HUSBAND! (He vacuums the cars every couple of weeks and these habits have prevented the crazy search/find routine of the beginning years...)

Parents of 4: 18yr girl, 11yr boy, 6 yr boy, baby due 10/1.

I hear you on the baby bag thing! And as they get older, it just gets harder to keep it all to a controllable level!

We have a separate bag of toys just for traveling, which makes it easier to load into the car since it's always packed! Plus our son always looks forward to playing with the toys since he doesn't play with these ones on a daily basis. We also keep a book next to his carseat. At 8 months, it was a cloth or squishy book, now that he's older, it's a board book.

I don't use a diaper bag anymore; instead I use the recyclable canvas bags, and always keep extras in my car for dirty clothes or shopping. For garbage, I keep a small roll of kitchen size trash bags. If you make a habit of putting everything into the appropriate bag as you go, clean up will be much easier!

For food on the go, we found these great snack bags at Costco. They're called "Crisps", and they are just dried fruit without preservatives or sweeteners. Our son loves them! And as long as they're sealed, they don't go bad.

I'm not sure if your daughter is formula-fed or breastfed. If she's formula-fed, the best thing we ever figured out was to put the formula in the bottles, pre-measured, and take a couple of bottles of water with us to mix on the go. Then we would use a little bit of the water to rinse out whatever was leftover in the bottle, so it wouldn't be too disgusting when we got home. And, if you have a bag specifically for dirty items, just throw it in there when you're done, and unpack when you get home!

Good luck getting organized! Lots of people have put great advice on here; you just need to figure out what works best for you!

Hi. I used to take an empty plastic shopping bag along in the diaper bag. Just slip the dirty clothes into that and set it in the trunk of the car. It keeps the extras separate and is easy to carry into the laundry room. The car . . . My oldest is 14 and our car still doesn't stay clean! :-)

Hi S.!

Yea, this will last you for about 4 more years, at least! I have a large van and have found a few "tricks" to make MY LIFE easier, so my kids' life is eaiser and they have everything they need.I write this with the assumption that you have a van, but if not, maybe I do something that can help you anyway :o)

I have an "under-the-bed" storage container in the back of my van. The lid broke, so I use it as a "drawer". Then I used leftover clear plastic bags that zip, like from curtains, or bedding. Each kid has a clear bag with "hot clothes" and "cold clothes". Also, I had a "water bag" with swim diapers, swim suits, water shoes,extra towels, and empty grocery bags for wet items later. Then I had a "snack bag" which contained things like Peanut butter pkg crackers, rice krispy treats, mini cereal cups, cups of fruit, spoons wipeey's, clean bottle with 3 Formula "to go packs", Then another one for extra medicine like Motrin, teething pills, mylanta, etc...These are all extra and always stay in there when I need them. Silly....now that I think about it, I only use these clothes about twice a year. But you KNOW if I take them out, then I will need them tomorrow!

Anyway, inside my van, I purchased a mini cooler that plugs in when I need it to. But I found I never really have to plug it in because things stay pretty cool anyway. I keep mini water bottles & juices in there always. And I have a small basket of easy to reach snacks similar to the one's I have in the back of my van.

I found that if I always have these "extras" everywhere, then my packing got less and less for traveling to visits family or whatever.

My kids are now 11 and 5, and I still travel with extras, especially now that it's summer!

My husband just asked me last week, "Are you going to get the van 'ready' for the summer for the kids?" Which made me feel like......HELLO! Do you know how much work it is? But, instead, I chose to take it as a compliment that he "see's" how much easier it is when our van is always packed and ready :o)

I hope something I do can work for you, as it works for us. This is such a never-ending thing for a mom and any trick can help sometimes.

Happy Traveling!

Love, N.

I can offer two thoughts. We now have a place for everything in our dipaer bag and it must be returned to it's place. For example a pair of socks for each of my 4 children is in the front left pocket, so when I repack I look for socks there and only there. Sunscreen is always on one end and diaper cream on the other. For the clothes we have transferred our coth diaper strategy. I have cute wet bags that I got from Happy Tushies for dirty diapers and dirty clothes. I then have a bag for clean diapers and two bags for clean clothes one for the girls who are 9 months and 5 and one for the boys who are 2 and 7. This way I can easily find what I need take out what is dirty and replenish what is needed. This didn't come about until the fourth child and we were tired of finiding clothes that had been stained beyond cleaning and being somewhere without the necessary items. That said I just pulled out of the car an outfit of my nine month old daughters that she dumped a drink on at church 3 weeks ago. So our system doesn't always work but usually does. Oh and all my bags have different patterns so I can ealily tell what's what. When I used grocery bags it was too confusing.

What I would do to keep the dirty clothes from mixing with clean clothes is to keep ziploc bags in my diaper bag and stick the dirty clothes in them to keep them separate.

not sure if this would help: when my twins were infant through about early preschool age, we kept one of the hospital freebie bags with bare necessities in the trunk of the car at all times (ziplock of diapers, travel pack of wipes, waterproof lap pad for changing surface if needed, change of clothes, large adult t-shirt in case mom or dad got spit up on. as the kids got older we added things like take'n'toss dishes/flatware, applesauce cups, cereal bars) so that if we forgot the regular bag we'd have backup supplies. maybe you could also keep a folded up reusable bag (like the 99-cent Trader Joe's reusable grocery bags) and designate it the "dirty laundry bag" that gets pulled out of the car when you get home?

I keep a bunch of plastic grocery bags in the bottom of the diaper bag for wet/ dirty clothes & trash. We stuff the full bags in the top of the diaper bag before we head home & they get dealt with as soon as we step in the door. I only allow my 3yr. old to bring 2-3 toys and they have to come back in the house if he wants a different thing on the next trip. Eventually, he chose toys that live in the car and looks forward to playing with on trips - they live in the pockets on the back of the seats.
The bags are free, weigh nothing and smash down really small in the bag. Also, I got rid of the traditional diaper bag - macho hubby refused to carry a "purse". I let my son choose a backpack - his has Spiderman on it. It holds a ton of stuff, has lots of pockets & it's comfy to carry & you can't miss it in the jumble of bags at daycare.
Hope this helps!

I try to throw out the garbage (including used diapers) as soon as we pull into the driveway and before I unbuckle the kids from their seats; that seems to keep the mystery smells from developing in my car as they used to!! I keep some plastic grocery bags in the glove box (fold them like you would fold a flag and they are pretty compact and easy to stow; I also have a few in the diaper bag). I got myself a small make-up type bag that holds 4 diapers and the travel wipes, and I keep a spare outfit for each kid in the trunk. We keep a small stack of books in the backseat and change them out about every three weeks, and I let my kids pick two toys for the car if we are taking a longer trip (one toy for each hand so I don't have to carry them).

Seems you have received a lot of advice and I didn't get to read through them all so this may be a repeat. It is also my job to pack the diaper bag. I have a little bag that always stays in the diaper bag and it has baby powder, lotion, baby nail clippers, motrin, tylenol, desitin, hand sanitizer just about all the little things you may or may not need on a trip out of your house. Usually I carry more than enough diapers on a daily basis and at least 2 pairs of extra clothing. So the diaper bag is always at least half packed. So depending on the weather for the day I grab 1 more outfit. I always have a clean bottle, sippy cup and sunscreen that stays in the bag too.
As far as the car I keep extra plastic bags to separate the dirty stuff. I also keep a small plastic tub in my trunk with a sweater for each child and a change of clothes for my other daughter so I don't carry clothes for her in my diaper bag. I also keep a few extra diapers and wipes in there too. When my youngest one was on formula I kept bottled water and formula packets in my tub as well. Hope this helps and good luck!

i only carry the bare essentials on a day to day basis. 1 extra diaper per kid, wipes, 1 juice bottle or milk bottle per kid and 1 toy per kid. now that it's summer i also carry a spf 50 stick. and that's it. if they get dirty while we are out, tough. and if i get spit up on while we are out, tough! i have baby wipes and most public restrooms have soap and water. in the trunk we always have reuseable grocery sacks if clothes really need to be taken off for stinky reasons. and in that case we come home. and we also clean out the car as soon as we get home, that way the mess doesn't get out of hand.

if we are going away for a weekend it's different. but we still clean out the car asap when we get home. usually after the babies are in bed.

it is not easy to keep things tidy when your kids out number you. but a few minutes here and there, is easier than being overwhelmed once a month buy it.

hth. good luck!

I have four boys and can't imagine leaving the house without extra clothes, toys, snacks, and drinks. When I leave I never know when I'm coming back. I always seem to make extra stops no matter what the original plan was.
My strategy? Two bags. One in the car with extra clothes for each of them. This one stays and gets checked every couple of days to make sure I still have a full outfit for each child. In my "diaper" bag I keep a package of "diaper disposal bags". You can buy a pack of 100 of these at the dollar store. They are great for dirty clothes, shoes, or diapers. (who hasn't had to change a poopy diaper in the backseat of the car and wondered what to do with the smelly thing?) Any dirty stuff gets wrapped up in this little bags and put in the back of the car, not back into the diaper bag. That way when we get home we take these out separately and they don't get left in the diaper bag for days.
In my diaper bag I pack lots of wipes, diapers, drinks, and snacks (non perishable). I also keep a hidden stash of lolly pops for those emergencies when I just need my two year old to be quiet and content for minute (doctor's office, haircuts, places I can't get up to tend to him every minute)
Make it a routine to look through the diaper bag every time you get ready to leave the house. Never assume that those 5 diapers you left in there yesterday will still be there today. :-)

Gallon size ziplock baggies! Smaller ones too.

I put the items in baggies and then they are all protected and organized. Dirty outfits go in the bag protecting clean ones and vice versa. It makes it easy to pull out an outfit, bag of snacks (even if they come witht their own bag now you can reseal them) even diapers. I keep a soft sided bin for toys in the car have used totes to but like the bin best. When we stop toys go back in the bin. If the bin gets too full it come in and we start over with it cleaned out with only a few toys. This give the kids responsibility and even my 18mo old can help pick up his toys. Also when you get home a rule is evey one carries something in. Then you are not pulling everything out and cleaning it up.

Hi S.,
I know what you are talking about with the baby bag thing and the only thing I can suggest is always carry a plastic bag for dirty clothes that can be taken out of the diaper bag and car when you get home. Pack your bag with everything you may need if you are going out (except food) and keep it by the door, that way you are always ready at a moments notice. (grab the bottles and go). For your older child get a lunch pail or back pack for snacks. My friends used to tease me but I was always ready to go and the kids had what they needed. I hope this helps.
W.

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Boy can I relate to you! My husband and I have the same work schedule and for the most part, it works out well. My daughter is almost 3 and I have one due in 4 weeks! I will be starting the diaper bag bit all over again.
My suggestion is to pack two backs. One bag with the basic essential that you will need for a quick trip - ie: diapers, wipes, one set of clothes. The second bag to keep permanently in the car with a supply of diapers, wipes, several changes of clothes, blanket, etc. That way, if you accidentally leave something at home, you always have it handy in the car.
I suggest you keep a supply of plastic ziplock bags handy (the large gallon size work the best). Use these to carry the soiled clothes, so that they don't get mixed with the clean. Keep those in both bags, just in case. You'll never have to re-wash clean clothes again. As for the toys, try using a canvas box with a lid to store them in the car. Use what you need, replace it everytime you get back into the car and/or switch them out periodically so that your child doesn't get bored with the same toys.
Hope this helps!
~S.

S.,
I know the feeling! What seems to help me are Ziploc bags. I always have an extra outfit (esp. onsies) in the diaper bag. I throw a slightly used baggie in for dirty clothes. As a matter of fact, I use Ziploc's for the diapers also to make sure they are clean. The great thing about Ziplock is that you can squeeze them to take the air out to save room in your bag. My girlfriend uses a BIG purse as her diaper bag since she has two kids that need the same things. I hope this helps you!

Hi S., What I do is have a bag ready by the door with 2 tops/bottoms for each child and 5-6 diapers, wipes etc for changings. I also have a couple of plastic grocery store bags packed for dirty clothes/shoes etc. When we get home from an outing, the bag goes in with us and gets set up for the next outing so that it's always ready to go and all the dirty clothes, etc are placed in the laundry hamper. The good thing is that because the dirty clothes are separated from all the clean clothes, etc that are in the bag, you only need to replace what you have used, making the set up for the next outing less 'painful'. Hope this helps!