Oh crap car kit, diaper bags, caddies.. Oh my! : Baby Prep Part 2
Though a bit of a pivot, matching where I am in my own prep, I wanted to quickly touch upon considerations related to accessing necessities. This includes: considerations of what you want readily available around you or when traveling the first couple weeks.
Let's start with travel logistics. I typically consider what things a newborn or young infant may need or what mishaps may occur that would impact my travels. I consider anyone getting hangry or thirsty, messes in clothes (postpartum leaks or blowouts or accidents from others), forgetting the diaper bag stuff (diapers, wipes, feeding tools), something to put gross blowout items in, car messes, cuts/basic injuries and illnesses, and entertainment for bored children.
To mitigate these challenges, I do two things consistently: have a large diaper bag and an “oh crap” car kit. You can see what is in my diaper bag and oh crap car kit in a YouTube video coming soon which I will link here when done and images on my instagram found here (https://www.instagram.com/parenting_after_trauma/) . You may add or take away based on your own family considerations. For example, perhaps you have unique medical needs, is it winter and extra mittens may help if needing a quick park pivot after a long grocery shopping day, etc.
For our family, the diaper bag is essentially what we take everywhere we are spending a good chunk of time or where we are likely to have mishaps (messy park play, doctors who may have long waits in need of snacks and entertainment, etc). If we are spending a short time somewhere, I often pack a smaller bag to stick a diaper, a pack of wipes, a pad if postpartum, and a snack or two. This is usually in my car and is convenient for short visits where I have access to the diaper bag in the car, such as a library.
The oh crap car kit is essentially a bin that stays in the car with extras of items that help in a pinch. Diaper bags are great, but sometimes I forget to refill an item, forget the bag altogether, or miscalculate how long a wait is going to be and the kids get hangry. I have learned the hard way many times what items to add to this kit, like when I went on my first friend day and forgot my pump. A hand pump was immediately bought and added to the car kit. This kit has saved us from good days turning bad very quickly.
I'd love to hear what you do or are considering and what I am missing for travel!
Around the house the first couple of weeks, I consider the following questions: What is going to make it hard to access items when I am in need or make me want to access an item quickly? What will I want access to within seconds? What will I not want to dig around for? What is my place of stay (home, apartment, etc.) set up and our sleeping/napping arrangements? How does that impact me?
For my family, I have a few things to think about. I will share only a couple to help explain how the process turns into decisions. Our master bedroom is on a different floor than the children's rooms. We elect to have our newborns in our room for months, but we do not have extra closet space or much storage on the main floor. I need to address access to baby’s clothes because the first two weeks I do not want to go up and down stairs and spit-up leaks can happen at any time day and night. In the past, having a vaginal birth, I have found the drawers of our bathroom vanity are too far to reach for the gunk that's exiting my body the first few weeks, and I always forget to grab before sitting on the potty. I also find that for our home, the changing table and other items to handle diapers and spit-up just do not fit well in our main area. I need to address my wanting access immediately to cleaning cloths and ensure I can change a diaper without having to go all the way to our room if I don't want to. I tend to breastfeed my babies, so I always want access to water and snacks even if I can't move (nap-trapped).
To address these considerations, I make a few kits. First, I make a postpartum kit that I put on the back of the toilets with items I prefer, so no reaching is involved. I make a newborn necessities caddy for the living room to address having to go into the master or upstairs. I have a travel changing pad, diapers, wipes, muslin cloths, and a change of clothes. The top of the caddy is left open for my water, chapstick, tissues, and any snack I may want. To address our master being on a different floor, I put a changing table in our master that has bins with clothes organized by type, diapers and wipes, and cloths. I refill the living room caddy with diapers, outfits, etc. from this changing table. To address me getting nap-trapped or being in different rooms, I make an extra basket with diapers, wipes, muslin cloths that I can carry to any part of the house. This basket has room for a water bottle and snack for me. There are other kits I make for breastfeeding and nighttime in our room, all of which will eventually be in a YouTube video, which I will link once made.
To mitigate costs, I often find many of these items extremely cheap, second-hand, thrifted, or borrowed. I have learned to not be nervous about sending a list to friends and family to see what they have on hand, look at Buy Nothing or mom groups on social sites, look at local second-hand stores, etc. I also find setting a price range on store websites helps immensely. The changing pads I got are amazing and were only $4, versus stores charging $20. Lastly, I go as simply as I can because I just dont find the time or cost worth it in the end for my family when I can invest that money and time elsewhere!
What are some of your considerations, and what can you do to address these?
