Which changing bag should I buy and what should I put in it?

To be honest an official changing bag isn’t essential. What is essential is a large bag with lots of compartments.

When you have a newborn and they are spending a lot of time in the pram then a changing bag is quite a good option as it can hang off of the pram and means everything is to hand.

What makes a good changing bag?

Well if you are going down this route then there are a few things to bear in mind. It should be made from oil cloth (that’s the plastic tablecloth material) so that it is waterproof. Otherwise whatever is in your bag will get wet if you are out in the rain. Trust me, there is nothing worse than going to get another bib out for baby and it’s wetter than the one they are wearing!

It needs a zip that goes right down the sides of the bag and not just straight across the top. If the zip extends down the side of the bag then you can easily see into the bag and therefore find things quickly and easily. A small zip across the top of a bag is so annoying when you are trying to rake for things, especially if baby is crying.

There should be lots of compartments/pockets to help you to organise your bag and be able to find things quickly. Even if there are lots of pockets you may still want to think about little clear zip bags like the ones you see in the summer designed for taking toiletries away on holiday. In these little bags you can group things such as the nappy sacks, cream and nappies in one and a full set of spare clothes in another one etc.

What if I don’t want to buy an official changing bag?

Good news, you do not need an actual baby bag. You will want to find a bag that is big and has a long strap so that it can be hung over the back of the buggy and has a zip that goes down the side as mentioned above. If the bag has compartments inside brilliant but if not then you can either use the clear zip toiletry bags as mentioned above or get one of those bag organisers which looks like a bag that goes inside your bag. Primark now do these so you don’t have to spend a fortune to organise your bag.

What should you put into your bag?

Personally, I always had two baby bag essentials lists, depending on where I was going and what I was doing. If I was popping out and knew that I was only going to be an hour or so then I packed a bag with the essential items and if I was going out all day then I would pack the kitchen sink items.

Essential items list

Recommended for short outings or if you are going to a shopping centre or someone with amenities for the day and could buy anything that you needed.

Nappies x 4 Bearing in mind that they will need their nappy changed every two hours on average. The chances of you ever needing 4 nappies while out on a short visit are extremely rare but they don’t take up much space and there is nothing worse than either running out of nappies or panicking that you may run out.

One full change of clothes – This would include a minimum of either a vest and sleep suit or a vest, trousers and socks. Depending on the weather/season or how fussy you are about how baby looks you may also want to include a top or jumper.

For me I always worked on the premise of if you are under 6 months and we are only popping out I’ve put you in clothes to go out and if you do a poonami then a vest and sleep suit will suffice until we get home. For 6 months and over I went for a vest and trousers.

An extra vest is also a good idea as this doesn’t take up much room and in the unlikely event that they had 2 blow outs while you were out then at least you can put a clean vest on them. Chances are they will have a coat/ blanket/cosy toes on if it is winter and if it’s summer then a short bit of time spent in a vest isn’t the end of the world.

Bibs x 2 - This is working on the assumption that you will feed baby while out and the bib they wear to feed in will be covered in milk/dribble/sick and you will want a new one. The bib they left the house in will be soaked through/ very wet by now. This then allows you an extra bib for if they are sick or just get too wet.

Muslin – Good to have when feeding baby while out of just to wipe if baby is dribbling lots.

If bottle feeding – One feed made up or a ready made bottle of formula.

Changing mat, wipes, nappy sack, cream. I always kept a few nappy sacks in my bag and used to keep a travel sized pot of Sudocrem in my changing bag. You may want one of the mats that have the zipped compartments attached to store all of the related nappy changing items.

How do I pack my bag?

This comes down to personal preference and the style of bag you have as to where things make sense to you. When I had a pack a pod I stored things differently to when I had a standard baby changing bag and differently to when I used an ordinary large bag and when I had a rucksack.

One thing I did do that I found made my life much easier was to put all of the nappy changing things in one zip bag. I had nappies, nappy sacks, and sudocreme in there. The changing mat was separate and the wipes were separate. This meant if I didn’t want to take the whole bag or if I was snatching out the things quickly I knew exactly what I needed and where it was. In case you are wondering the changing mat didn’t fit into the zip bag and the wipes were needed way too often to keep having to retrieve them from inside a zipped bag, they were always right at the top of my changing bag.

If I was having a baby now I would buy one of those changing mats with the zip pockets attached so that you can store the wipes and nappies etc in the changing mat. They have really come down in price now and although they were around when my two were small I didn't think they were worth the money.

The kitchen sink list.

This was the kind of thing I would take if we were going out for a day trip or a long afternoon spent at a park etc.

All of the things above but more nappies, bibs and another whole outfit.

Calpol sachets – These are more expensive than buying a bottle but really handy. Each sachet has the required amount of Calpol measured out so all you need to do is rip off the top and squeeze into baby’s mouth.

Bite pen – This is especially useful once baby is walking. Both of my children had a skill for finding and falling into stinging nettles when they had learnt to walk.

Mini suncream – If we were caught out or our plans changed and were unexpectedly in the sun or if we were out longer than planned and baby needed a top up it was useful to have.

Milton wipes – Especially good for cleaning dummies or toys or spoons once weaned.

Anti-septic wipes – Again these come in little sachets and are good for cleaning a grazed knee while out.

Plasters – A few plasters don’t take up much room and are useful to keep just in case.

Ella’s kitchen dinner and fruit pouch – Due to the long life of these I would keep one in my bag. If we were planning on eating in a café etc and there wasn’t anything appropriate or there was a long wait at a café/restaurant etc I liked to have my pouches handy. They don’t need to be kept in a cool bag and as they have a nozzle on top if need be they can be squeezed straight into baby’s mouth.

Vaseline – Good for sore lips or sore feet where your shoes are rubbing. Also good for taming all of those new baby hairs that grow after your lush pregnancy locks fall out.

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