Leading the Double Life: diaper bags

What's In That Diaper Bag?

Back in the day, my girlfriends and I would dig through piles of glittery purses to find the perfect clutch to match our peep-toes and strut down Washington Street in Hoboken, searching for the perfect place to sip our cosmos.

Now that Jane and Emma are toddlers, I no longer carry a purse, and what I carry around in my diaper bag has changed quite drastically since they were newborns. When the girls were little, we needed a LOT of stuff, and my diaper bag weighed a ton! It was so freeing to unload some of that crap, and replace it with lighter, more friendly items. Here’s what my diaper bag looks like today:

3:01 PM
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You Mean I Have to Carry All of This Sh*t Around?

babies

It's been a while since I've written. I've been busy the last two weeks taming the ~~animals~~ kids at the zoo -- both the zoo at home AND the zoo at work. That's right, I went back to work full time this week, teaching freshmen and sophomore English, as well as a digital journalism class at New Milford High School. It's been quite the whirlwind.

Jane and Emma have been busy keeping Mama and Daddy busy. They are sleeping longer at night, but still eating about every 3 hours during the day. They hold their heads up and want to be held and entertained every moment that they are awake (which is much more frequently now!). Emma came off of her apnea monitor this week, and yesterday the girls turned four months old! I feel like it was just yesterday that they were born (read their birth story here). Time flies!

In honor of back to school and all of the kids who are packing their backpacks and heading off to school, I thought I would write all about what I pack in my diaper bag every time I head out the door with my twincesses. Here's my complete diaper bag inventory.

My diaper bag, by JJ Cole

Diapers and Wipes. I get ours off of Amazon Subscribe & Save (I talk about my love affair with Amazon Mom in this post). We use Huggies wipes and diapers, and if you sign up for an Amazon Mom account, you automatically are signed up for Amazon Prime (which means free 2 day shipping on ANYTHING you buy on the site that qualifies for it, including Subscribe & Save orders). Diapers and wipes shipped to your door for free. I can't think of anything better!

Diaper Rash Cream. We use Balmex every diaper change, but it's your choice. This is just what they used in the NICU. When the girls have diaper rash, we use either Triple Paste (crazy expensive) or Anti-Monkey Butt (I know, I know).

Saline Drops and a Nose Sucker. Don't knock the Nose Frieda til you've tried it. I thought it was gross, too, until someone told me to cut open a bulb nasal aspirator and look at all of the mold and boogers inside. Ew. (Disclaimer: I draw the line at the Windi.)

Stocking Hats. One for each kid.

Change of Clothes (including socks). One set of clothes for each kid. I just pack a onesie and some socks to save room, since I'm packing for 2.

Bibs. One for each kid.

Blankie. Just one, no matter how many kids you have. Put a blanket on each kid in the car seat over the buckle, and bring one extra in case of colossal pukage. We like these Aden + Anais blankies because they are light for a warm day, or you can fold them up and they keep the little ones quite warm.

Burp Cloths. Nice ones. One for each kid.

Wash Cloths. One for each kid.

A peek inside.

A view from the top.

Face and Choopie wipes.

Extra Choopies. We keep one extra for each kid in little choopie pods.

Hand Sanitizer. Bug Spray. Sunscreen.

A Reusable Bag and a few Ziplocs. One for dirty clothes and one for extremely shitty diapers.

Books/Toys. Anything to keep the little one busy at a moment's notice.

Sophie. First of all, she's damn adorable. Second, the kiddies love to nom nom on all of her parts when their teefies are hurting.

Sleep Sheep On the Go. This adorbs little noise machine goes EVERYWHERE with us. Good to drown out noise when you are trying to have a fun night (for both you AND the babes).