Diaper Bag Essentials First 6 Months
A dear friend of mine bought me this beautiful Vera Bradley diaper bag just a few weeks after I found out we were having a little girl. (Thanks, Victoria!) I was so eager to start filling it when nesting set in, but I had no idea where to even begin! It really wasn’t even necessary to start filling it until after I brought the baby home from the hospital, but you just couldn’t tell me that! 😉
I put together a little list of 15 things that I ALWAYS kept in my diaper bag for the first 6 months after my daughter was born. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, but these are just a few of my top picks. Some are more age specific for newborns, and a few are more for babies closer to 4-6 months, but I thought this might be a helpful guide for other parents that are nesting and want to get a head start on packing their bags!
- Diapers & Wipes
- This one is pretty obvious. I won’t bore you with details on this one, but I will share that I try to keep 7-8 diapers in my bag at all times. That number can vary depending on how long we will be out of the house, but I’ve personally found 7-8 to be a comfortable number. I WILLÂ say this, though: Have you SEEN how cute the diaper prints are from The Honest company?! I am crazy about that Anchors and Stripes print! You don’t see prints that cute when you open up a box of Huggies, that’s for sure!
- Changing Pad
- Most diaper bags actually come with one of these. You may not get a TON of use out of this, but you’ll definitely want one. Who knows, you just may wind up having to change a baby on a dirty floor or in the grass. Trust me, stuff like that just happens! You’ll want to be able to lay your baby down on a clean and soft surface when changing. If you don’t want to carry around a changing pad, consider getting a few disposable ones like these: Munchkin Arm and Hammer Disposable Changing Pads
. They’re easy to use, and you just toss when you’re done with them!
- Most diaper bags actually come with one of these. You may not get a TON of use out of this, but you’ll definitely want one. Who knows, you just may wind up having to change a baby on a dirty floor or in the grass. Trust me, stuff like that just happens! You’ll want to be able to lay your baby down on a clean and soft surface when changing. If you don’t want to carry around a changing pad, consider getting a few disposable ones like these: Munchkin Arm and Hammer Disposable Changing Pads
- Change of clothing
- I don’t want to be too blunt here, but spit-up happens. Vomit happens. Spills happen, and blow outs happen. They just do. ESPECIALLY when you’re out and about. You’ll want to make sure you have a full change of clothing with you on hand for when those moments sneak up on you. Don’t forget the socks! Nothing is worse than when you’re changing your baby’s diaper and they plop their foot (WITH a sock on) right into their dirty diaper in a split second while you’re changing them. That happens, too. Best to be prepared! 🙂
- Burp Cloth
- Remember when I said spit happens? It definitely does. Especially in the first 4 months. It tends to taper off a little bit, but you still definitely need a burp cloth at 6 months. Really, you could probably use two of them. In my opinion, these Gerber Prefold Cloth Diapers
 work really well. They’re not the cutest, but they’re absorbent and nobody’s feelings will get hurt if they get ruined or if they get left somewhere. That also happens!
- Remember when I said spit happens? It definitely does. Especially in the first 4 months. It tends to taper off a little bit, but you still definitely need a burp cloth at 6 months. Really, you could probably use two of them. In my opinion, these Gerber Prefold Cloth Diapers
- Extra Bib
- You really won’t need these for the first month, but once the baby starts spitting up more frequently, it’s nice to have a bid to help protect their shirt. You’ll especially want to keep a bib when your baby begins teething (hellooooo, drool!) and when they start eating solids. Babies are NOT neat eaters!
- Medicine Bag
- I personally like to keep a little ziploc bag filled with a couple different things that my baby may need. I’ll share with you what I keep in mine, but I am not implying in any way that you should use these things. That’s totally your call on what you should give your child. You know your baby best! 🙂
- Diaper Rash Cream. We’ve used a few different brands, but we’re really liking Pinxav (Pronounced pink salve)
 right now! Thanks, big sis!
- Teething Tablets (We really like Hyland’s Natural Baby Teething Tablets
- Baby Orajel
- Baby Tylenol (for emergencies only)
- Suction bulb (aka: the snot sucker)
- Thermometer
- Diaper Rash Cream. We’ve used a few different brands, but we’re really liking Pinxav (Pronounced pink salve)
- I personally like to keep a little ziploc bag filled with a couple different things that my baby may need. I’ll share with you what I keep in mine, but I am not implying in any way that you should use these things. That’s totally your call on what you should give your child. You know your baby best! 🙂
- Pacifier & extra pacifier clip
- Your baby may or may not take a paci. (Do you call them pacis? I personally call them binks..short for binky!) However, you just might have one that is seemingly forever devoted to the bink. She’s brand loyal, too! We don’t leave the house without our MAM pacifiers
. I personally like to keep an extra one or two in my bag, because these have a tendency to get lost frequently. It’s also wise to have an extra pacifier clip
- Your baby may or may not take a paci. (Do you call them pacis? I personally call them binks..short for binky!) However, you just might have one that is seemingly forever devoted to the bink. She’s brand loyal, too! We don’t leave the house without our MAM pacifiers
- Pacifier/Toy Wipes
- I always keep a package of Pacifier Wipes
 on hand. They’re perfect for cleaning dirty pacifiers and toys that have been dropped on the floor, or even cleaning a dirty area that you may not want your baby to touch.
- I always keep a package of Pacifier Wipes
- Teething toy
- You really won’t need this for the first couple of months. Once baby starts teething, though, you’ll want to keep a few on hand. Teething is different for all babies. Some babies start super early, and others start a little late. We started right around 4 months. I have a detailed post on our favorite teething toys. You can read more about our top picks here.
- Breast pump + a few accessories
- If you are breastfeeding your little one, I highly recommend carrying a hand pump with you in case you are ever in a situation where you cannot feed your baby right away but you need to express your milk. I always kept the Medela Harmony Manual Breast Pump
 with an extra bottle in my diaper bag. It’s easy to use and doesn’t take up a ton of space, which is great!
- As a breast feeder, you’re very likely to leak a little. If you don’t leak, count your lucky stars! I always kept some extra nursing pads on hand to prevent any leakage from showing through. I really liked to use reusable nursing pads
, but disposable pads are also a great option. It might be a good idea to throw a little tube of lanolin
 in your bag to help soothe sore nipples.
- Clip-itz Nursing Cover Clips were super handy for me. I never wanted to purchase a whole nursing cover because they take up SO much room in a diaper bag and can be a pain to fold neatly. These little clips allow you to turn any blanket into a nursing cover so that you can nurse comfortable anywhere, plus they take up VERY little room.
- If you are breastfeeding your little one, I highly recommend carrying a hand pump with you in case you are ever in a situation where you cannot feed your baby right away but you need to express your milk. I always kept the Medela Harmony Manual Breast Pump
- Formula & Water Bottle
- If your baby takes formula, you’ll definitely want to have a Formula Dispenser
 on hand. These little contraptions perfectly portion out your formula so that you can easily pour them into a bottle for quick and easy feedings.
- Water bottle – You’ll need to have one or two of these on hand so that you can mix your formula. It’s best to use purified water or water that has been boiled.
- I love to keep these little Enfamil Single Serve Packets
 on hand in case we run out of formula in our dispenser, or if we ever need to do a small feeding in between normal feedings. These little Enfamil nursettes
 are also really nice to keep on hand. They’re already pre-mixed, so they can drink them straight from the bottle if we’re ever in a pinch.
- If your baby takes formula, you’ll definitely want to have a Formula Dispenser
- Germ-X
- Because germs. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
- Bio-hazard Bag
- I’m totally laughing as I type this. They’re not actually bio-hazard bags, but that’s what my husband and I call them. They’re really just disposable dirty diaper baggies
 to throw away dirty diapers in. They’re also really good for storing soiled clothing (remember when I said blow out’s happen?). They’re basically just a glorified plastic grocery store bag, but they’re super compact and come in a fancy little dispenser. All in all, they’re just nice to have.
- I’m totally laughing as I type this. They’re not actually bio-hazard bags, but that’s what my husband and I call them. They’re really just disposable dirty diaper baggies
- Snacks
- This is another item that you will not need until baby has started eating solids, which is usually around 5-6 months. We’re pretty conservative with the amount of snacks we let our little one munch on during the day, but they’re great when we’re out and about the the baby starts getting a little fussy. We really like Happy Baby Organic Greek Yogurt Bites
!
- This is another item that you will not need until baby has started eating solids, which is usually around 5-6 months. We’re pretty conservative with the amount of snacks we let our little one munch on during the day, but they’re great when we’re out and about the the baby starts getting a little fussy. We really like Happy Baby Organic Greek Yogurt Bites
- Bottle
- Whether your baby is drinking breast milk, water, juice or formula, you’ll want to have a bottle of some sort on hand. If your baby is exclusively breast fed, you may not find this necessary until they begin taking juice. We absolutely love these Philips Avent Bottles
. You’ll want to make sure you find a bottle that works well with your little one, and that you get a nipple with an appropriate flow level for their age.
- Whether your baby is drinking breast milk, water, juice or formula, you’ll want to have a bottle of some sort on hand. If your baby is exclusively breast fed, you may not find this necessary until they begin taking juice. We absolutely love these Philips Avent Bottles
I hope you find this list of diaper bag essentials for the first 6 months helpful when preparing for your baby! Do you have any other diaper bag essentials you couldn’t live without? I’d love for you to share about them below in the comments!