Road Trip Packing List

My previous post “First Road Trip” was all about our first family road trip to visit my grandparents.  The trip went well and with everything I packed I don’t feel like my daughter missed anything with the exception of her own crib.  We were gone for three (3) nights and 4 days.  This is my list of things that I did pack for my little one:

• Diapers – I packed 10 per day and 2 per night, I actually kept track of the amount diapers that my daughter goes through per day for about five (5) days prior the trip to know how many I might need.  Average six (6) per day and 1 per night, extra’s for the just in case, if I did run out I know I could’ve easily picked up another package at the store.
• 1 Package of wipes
• Bum Rash Cream
• 1 Bath Wash – I packed a head-to-toe wash so I wouldn’t have to pack Shampoo and a separate wash
• 1 small tube of Lotion
• 2 face clothes, 1 towel
• 6 Bibs, 6 clothes – I did a quick hand wash of these
• 3 pre-measured containers of baby mixed cereal, 1 package baby rice cereal – Breakfast is packed
• Enough pre-made fruit for 4 days – we usually feed our daughter what we eat as per her doctor, this has helped to make this trip a bit lighter to pack for
• 1 tin of formula – I packed a brand new tin and again if I ran out I could easily pick up another tin (I did only one (1) and had plenty leftover)
• 1 8oz bottle, 1 4oz bottle, 1 sippy cup – I washed each bottle after each use and the sippy cup was used for water
• 1 container (about a cup) of Cheerios – my daughter loves these and are the best snack for her
• 4 sleepers, 5 outfits – I packed an extra of each because you never know, the extra outfit came in handy.  Also I mostly packed more sweat suit type outfits for her to be as comfortable as possible and out cute dress because we did plan to go out for dinner one night.
• 3 Blankets – 2 thinner receiving blankets and 1 thicker blanket for night time
• a few toys – just a couple of small toys to keep her occupied and also for chewing because she has been teething a lot more lately.
• Booster seat – her seat easily clips onto any chair
• Play Pen
• Stroller and car seat
• Tylenol, oral gel – all for teething and I am happy we did, what I forgot to mention in my previous post was that my girl was teething really badly on the way home, we had to find a safe place to pull over so I could give her some Tylenol and numbing gel to help keep her as comfortable as possible until we reached home. 

One thing that we needed was an SUV or a Van for packing all her stuff plus ours, thankfully my parents were coming and they had lots of extra room in their car.  We had everything we needed and like I mentioned my daughter didn’t seem to miss anything with the exception of her crib.

How was packing for your vacation with your little one (s) at hand? did you forget anything or over-pack? 

Diaper Bag Essentials

Have you ever packed your babies diaper bag and left the house than realized there’s something else you should have packed?  Over time I’ve realized that there are certain things that become essential to have with you while away from home.  Yes, I figured this out by trail and error!
So other than the obvious diapers and feed here’s a list of the little extra’s that I found to come in handy:

• Feed – So besides formula or breast milk some little ones need an extra snack, I started doing this now that my daughter is eating solids and loves Cheerio’s so I pack a small handful of them. 
• Soother – my daughter no longer likes them, so no need for them but when I did I used a small container to keep it free from most germs also helped to keep it handy when she was still using them.
• Paper Towel – My daughter is now able to sit in the shopping carts AND weather can sometimes be unpredictable (and sometimes predictable).  Wet weather, rain or snow, means wet shopping carts, so I started packing a few paper towel sheets so give my little one a dry seat to sit on.
• Blanket/Receiving Blanket – I always pack an extra one in case it gets a little cold as well as now to add a little padding to the shopping cart seat.
• Chew Toy – My daughter started teething around three (3) or so months and now she chews on everything, also she’s at the stage where she puts just about everything in her mouth. I throw in a chew toy like Plastic Links I found they have helped to keep her mouth off of the shopping carts also helps to keep her a bit more occupied while we try to get the errands completed. 
• Sleeper – I pack an extra sleeper for the just in case, diapers do leak and I’ve got a few at home and thankfully it hasn’t happened while we’ve been out.  But you never know…

What else do you pack in your diaper bag as one of your essentials?