Last week I got schooled in the importance of the well-packed daycare bag. I dressed baby M in his super cute denim overalls with puppy paw print snaps and his gray and white striped onesie with the fuzzy bear on the front.

As Mr. S walked up the driveway holding baby M in his car seat after picking him up, I peeked at him and said, “uh-oh.” He was wearing an outfit I hadn’t seen in two months. Mr. S replied, “he had a pee like a waterfall. Or something like that. I think that’s what she said.” So what I gather from this cryptic account is that wee little M had a wee bit of an accident and wee’d all over his clothes as his diaper was getting changed.

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The peanut still fit into his extra outfit from two months ago, but as I unpacked his wetbag with his wet clothes, wet diaper and a couple of drool soaked bibs, I realized it’s probably fairly important to take stock of his daycare bag beyond just checking for fresh diapers and milk each day.

We want to have a well-packed bag, but not an overpacked bag since sometimes we’ll run with the jogging stroller to drop off or pick up baby M, and need his bag and milk cooler to fit in the stroller basket. So after an assessment of what was missing and what was unnecessary, this is what we have in baby M’s daycare bag:

Clockwise from left:

– Three wet bags, one large for clothing and two small for diapers
– Three cloth diapers – we use BumGenius 4.0 for daycare
– One Sleep Sheep – this is attached to the car seat and because white noise is like crack for our baby, we never leave home without it. Nor does his daycare momma.
– One muslin swaddle blanket – to be used on hot days to cover his stroller at the park, etc.
– One warm blanket – to be used on cool days at the park (we leave this home if the forecast is over 70)
– One sun hat
– One warm hat – we leave this home if it’s warmer than the low 60’s
– Two pacis with clips
– Three waterproof bibs
– One pair of pants or shorts
– One short sleeve onesie
– One pair of socks
– One favorite toy from the Easter Bunny
– One tube of lanolin for Mr. Drooly Pant’s chin rash

Weekly we send his laundered wipes. And separately, in his personalized Maddox cooler from L.L.Bean, we send one serving of milk, one fresh bottle and a few (overkill) ice packs.

We also send one fed and happy baby wearing one fresh diaper and one clean outfit strapped into one infant car seat.

What do you pack in your daycare bag?

Daycare part 7 of 8

1. The Pros and Cons of Nannies vs. Daycare by Mrs. Bee
2. The Financial Cost of a Nanny vs. Daycare by Mrs. Bee
3. Preparing for Daycare by Checklists
4. The Daycare Juggle: Five Tips for Getting into a Good Groove by Ms. Fairy Wings
5. the best back-to-school books by Mrs. Cowgirl
6. Best Toddler Backpacks by Guides
7. The Well-Packed Daycare Bag by Mrs. Stroller
8. Why We Decided to Send Charlie to Daycare at 18 Months by Mrs. Bee