A while back, someone wrote me to ask how I pack a bag for a day out in the city for Hudson. I can’t say it’s down to a science–and ask me again next week and you might get a different answer–but here’s what I would currently pack for a day around Manhattan or, frankly, a day traveling just about anywhere.

In my “diaper bag” (actually just a large purse):

Sun Hat
Warm Hat
A few favorite toys (one is usually strapped onto the seatbuckle if we’re using a stroller)
IPhone (aka camera)
Wallet (now filled with coffee and frozen yogurt punch cards)
Carabiner

(useful for anything from attaching an umbrella to my bag to securing that toy to Hudson’s stroller buckles)
Diaper changing kit (with 3 diapers, wipes, and a few of these diaper sacks)
Pouch with lipstick, hair tie, and keys
Glasses
Baggu shopping bag (incredibly strong for toting groceries, but also handy for covering another bag on rainy days)
“Go-Bag”

The “Go-bag” is key. I bought a rather utilitarian “Go-bag” from by Eagle Creek

, made to house toilettries (so it wipes clean easily in case of spills). This is really where the essential baby stuff is kept, and every night or morning I make sure anything I’ve used has been replaced so that I can move it from my bag to Aron’s or wherever else without rethinking the packing every time we leave the house. Most of the time this just means grabbing more cheerios and a new spoon.

Inside the “Go-bag”:
Bib

Spoon
placemats (for finger-foods directly off the table)
Tupperware of cheerios or puffs
Food packs (usually one fruit or veggie squeeze and one chunkier main)
Bottle (with extra nipple for water)
Some formula to-go packets just in case
Sunscreen
Hand Sanitizer
Infant Acetomeniphen and Ibuprofen
Teething biscuits

This seems to work for us at ten months. (Ten months today!) When he was an infant, I would have had less food and more diapers. I would have also had a change of clothes along. As he gets older, I have a feeling the snacks will increase. Aron is eagerly anticipating the increased-snack portage stage, he tells me.

P.S. I’ve had a few stroller hooks

and these are my favorite. Also, we have used this Polarn O. Pyret suit non-stop for the past five or six months. It was often better for us than the bundle bag because we could move Hudson between stroller and carrier and onto a playground without changing jackets (e.g. off to go in the bundle bag, then on again to go out or in the carrier). And it was so easy to get him in and out of it quickly to dash out of the house. Here’s my original list of baby essentials.

Oh, and also, since I’ve taken these photos, we’ve missplaced his PO.P sunhat and his cute little wooden car toy! So my word on being organized should be taken with some serious grains of salt.

 

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