Baby Changing Bag Mistakes New Parents Make

One of the major mistakes new parents make is to pack the baby changing bag with everything they can think of including the kitchen sink!

As a parent to 2 children who incidentally are now 14 and 17 respectively I can safely say that I and my partner also made exactly the same mistakes when packing our changing bag for the first few weeks.  Yes, we packed numerous packs of nappies, numerous packs of wipes, loads of muslins, loads of spare clothes and plenty of toys.  Did we need all this stuff?  The simple answer is NO.

Yes, it is very daunting going out with your child for the first few weeks as yes, you want to make sure you have everything you need should an accident occur in the suppermarket or if it is just a simple nappy change which is required?

My advice to new parents is to carry 'just' enough 'stuff' to last you for the day so that 1. your baby changing bag does not weight 20Kg and 2. you can actually get to the items you need without chucking everything out of the changing bag (We will addrss this point later!).

So... what should I include in the first few weeks?  Here is the list I used on a day out:

1. 6-8 x Nappies
2. 1 x Pack of Wipes
3. 1 x Tube of Nappy Cream (We used Sudocrem that was brilliant creating a barrier between baby's bum and the nappy.  The cream also doubles up as an antiseptic barrier too.)
4. 3 x Muslins
5. 3 x Spare Change of Clothing
6. 1 x Comfort Toy
7. 1 x Pack of Nappy Bags
8. 2 x Bottles of Milk
9. 1 x Small container containing powdered milk (This also depends on your own feeding choice)

The above list you can use when preparing for a day out with your child and I guarantee your baby changing bag will not weigh the 20Kg as stated earlier in this blog and that you can carry the bag with comfort.

Now that we have gone through what is required for a full day out with your baby and what should be included in your changing bag, the next topics of discussion relates to common mistakes first time parents make when packing their changing bag for a full day out.  By referring to these mistakes, you will now hopefully avoid such mistakes by referring to this blog.

Going back to the start of this blog, it is common new first time parents pack everything into their changing bags for the first few weeks. There is nothing wrong with this, however this does not need to be done, as firstly by packing everything in your changing bag will not only add uneccesary weight to your changing bag, it will also restrict in viewing items when needing to see these at hand when changing your baby. Yes, your will need more items in your changing abg for the first few weeks, however if you refer to the list I compiled above will see you through without any problems.  

As an experienced parent, you do not need to pack for every possible disaster as the list compiled in this blog will assist you 100%

This is a common problem, and yes, myself and my partner made exactly the same mistake.  Baby changing bags today are designed specifically with internal pockets to help parents organise their changing bags effectively. The common mistake first time parents make is to simply chuck the nappies along with everything else in the changing bag on the proviso that 'hopefully' when the changing bag is opened because baby has decided to have a poo explosion, you cannot find anything including the nappies!

My advice is simply to purchase a good baby changing bag that has good strong internal pockets that allows you to store the nappies within the pockets.  This will provide you visually where to access the nappies easily without rummaging around in the bag.

This is one of the most common mistakes parents make when packing their changing bag, and yes, I also made the same mistake. Thoughts and processes are already in place packing the changing bag and remembering the spare change of clothing is easily missed.  My advice here is to pack 3 spares of change of clothing just in case baby has a terrible poo explosion and requires a full change.  The change of clothing does not really take up a lot of room within the changing bag as this can be placed in the main section of the changing bag.  The main form of change of clothing involves baby grows as these are lightweight and can be easily packed away in nappy bags should this be required (I will expand further on this later on in this blog).

Many new parents do not have a system for dirty clothes when packing their changing bag.  This is common as many new parents solely focus on essential items such as; nappies, wipes, creams etc.  However, the question remains "what do you do when baby has a poo explosion and requires a full chage and what do you do about the dirty clothing"?

This is where good baby changing bags assist parents by providing an area where dirrty clothing can be stored.  Many changing bags have separate pockets where dirty clothes can be put so that they do not "contaminate" the main section where food, milk etc is located.  It is important to note especially coming from an experienced parent NOT to place dirty clothing within the bag on their own otherwise when you get home you will be cleaning poo from your changing bag for hours!  This is where the nappy bags double up as not just nappy bags but also for storing dirty clothing and thus maintaining a clean changing bag should a change of clothing for baby is required!

When packing a baby changing bag, another common mistake is to also forget what you need as a parent!  Both myself and my partner rarely packed anything other than the house keys which we located in the parent pocket within the main section of the changing bag. This ensured that personal items are safe and secure within the main section of the changing bag, but can also be readily accessible without rummaging around inside the bag which no doubt is a bug bear for every parent!

That said, every new parent is different and it is important to ensure whilst packing the changing bag for your baby, you also pack what YOU need too.

In all honesty when baby is only a few weeks old, you do not need to pack your changing bag with 100's of toys!  You will only require to pack at most 2 toys as baby really requires 'comfort blankets' as at that age babies rarely understand what toys they like. This will definitely help the amount of items that are packed within the changing bag in order to ensure the bag is not overpacked or weighs 20Kg.

In short, you do not require to pack loads of toys for a full day out with your baby, but ensure you pack a couple of comfort blankets or even 'comfort toys' that are common with new parents.

The amount of times myself and my partner arrived home with our babies (at the time!) after a full day out and not once did we 'restock' the changing bag!  Let's be honest, you get home after a full day out, you, your partner and your baby are absolutely tired and ready for bed and no doubt you all go to bed? One common mistake here is that new parents forget to repack or restock the changing bag ready to go for the next day. It is important that the changing bag is restocked and repacked as this will ensure when you are ready to go again for a day out, the changing bag is the last thing on your mind (especially if you have a crying baby to take care of!)

The restocking and/or repacking of the changing bag will not take long (approx. 10 minutes) and it is well worth it in order to ensure you have everything for baby.

This is common mistake that really does need to be addressed.

As soon as you take your baby home from the hospital and you are ready to go out with your baby, yes, your changing bag is going to be heavilly packed based on the items addressed in this blog.  However, as your baby gets older and bigger you can then start to reduce the number of items required.  The amount of nappies can be reduced, along with the number of change of clothing.  I know this does sound strange but it will be your parenting intuition that will tell you that the number of items can be reduced as your baby gets older.  Both myself and my partner quickly adopted this approach and not once we were caught short of what baby required when out and about (i..e food and/or changing items).

Bababing have been developing baby changing bags for over 20 years with real life parenting at our core. Every changing bag we design and develop has been extensively tested by parents with feedback gained on where to improve so that parents can be rest assured when they purchase a bababing baby changing bag, it has been extensively tested in order to ensure every bit of detail from dedicated nappy and wipe pockets to parent pockets have been ticked.

Please visit our baby changing bag collection page below:

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