I remember the first few times I prepared a diaper bag checklist for my newborn. It was so heavy and so full – felt like I was carrying half of our baby supplies!
It had a lot of extra items – extra diapers, extra bottles, extra clothes and so on. I wasn’t sure what to bring so I just carried everything.
I eventually wisened up, got the hang of it and found some ways to pack easily and lightly.
So if you want to carry a lightweight, minimalist backpack diaper bag everytime you leave the house with your baby, here are your must-haves newborn diaper bag essentials:
13 Diaper Bag Checklist Essentials for Your Newborn
Milk bottles with milk formula inside OR milk bottles and milk powder dispensers
If you’re a breastfeeding mom then you’re just one lucky bitch (kidding), cause you don’t need to pack anything milk-related so skip this.
But if you’re formula feeding, just place the milk powder in travel milk dispensers then carry some milk bottles.
Although, for me at least, I find it easier to just place the formula milk INSIDE the milk bottle, especially when you’re out alone with your baby. So I don’t need to carry a travel milk dispenser and I can easily mix everything in the bottle! Just make sure that your bottles are dry inside.
Keep in mind how many times and how much milk your baby usually drinks and consider the number of hours you’re going to be out with your baby.
When I was out with my baby, I’d usually just carry 2 bottles with 90ml of formula milk inside.
I knew already that my baby doesn’t really drink more than that and usually, we’d only be out for 2-3 hours so bringing 2 bottles was enough.
If you think you’d forget how much milk powder is inside the milk bottles, then just place them in the milk powder dispensers then mark them.
When I visit my in-laws, I’d usually bring 4-5 bottles as we usually stay there from lunchtime until 8pm. I put the formula milk in milk powder dispensers then label them accordingly.
Insulated water bottle
Just a regular one will do.
Sometimes, some diaper changing stations will have a hot water dispenser so if you know that in advance then you don’t really need this.
Mineral bottle
You can opt not to bring one, especially if you know you can easily buy it anywhere. But if you don’t want to look around for clean water to make your baby’s milk then just bring one.
Pacifier
I only brought this out a couple of times as I didn’t really made my daughter get used to this, but if your baby needs one, then bring at least 2.
Put them in a small container or use a ziplock bag.
Diapers
Consider the number of times you had to change your baby’s diaper inside the house and bring that many diapers plus an extra one, just in case they do a diaper blowout.
I’d usually just bring 3 diapers for 3 hours. Then if I knew I’d be out for half a day, I’d bring 6-8 diapers. Check out also some tips and tricks here on changing diapers here, especially for boys!
Related Article: What To Do When You Run Out of Diapers [Outdoors or At Home!]
Diaper cream
A must of course. My daughter never had a diaper rash as one of the ways to prevent it was applying diaper cream after every diaper change. So always bring one!
Related Article: Is Diaper Free Time Necessary? (And How To Do It Mess-Free)
Wet wipes
Bring a whole new pack because you never know when you will need so much, to either clean a surface or to clean your baby’s poonami.
Related Article: Best Non Toxic Baby Wipes for Sensitive and Eczema-Prone Newborns
Extra clothes
Just one pair for your little one will do. Or if you have a very poopy baby or they just get a lot of leakages, carry 2 to 3 extra baby clothes.
Wet bag
Organize and put all the diapers, diaper cream, wet wipes and extra clothes right here. You can also have a separate one for putting dirty clothes, dirty towels and just dirty anything!
Diaper changing pad
A must, especially if you don’t know if there will be an available diaper changing station in the place you’re going to.
2 Small plastic bags
For throwing your baby’s diaper, especially those that are filled with poop.
2 Small towels or burp cloth
For cleaning your baby, when they puke or vomit. Just use the antibacterial wipes for cleaning yourself and well, some puke-filled areas.
1 medium sized, lightweight towel or muslin wrap
Just bring one, in case there’s no available diaper changing station and you need to change diapers out in public. You can use the towel or muslin wrap under the diaper changing pad or as a makeshift cover, when changing diapers in a semi-crowded area.
For You Mama!
You can have a separate pouch and place some of these inside your newborn’s diaper bag.
- Small umbrella
- Tissues
- Antibacterial wipes
- Hand sanitizer
- Extra face mask in a ziploc bag (pandemic-related)
- Small pouch for items 15 to 18 – so they’re all organized and quick to find in your bag
- Nursing cover, nursing pads, nursing cover – for breastfeeding
- Small purse – put all your important items here like wallet, keys, so you don’t need to rummage through the diaper bag to find any of it.
- Extra shirt – if you have a reflux baby and you know they vomit a lot on you, better just bring one.
Related Article: Does Babywearing Help With Reflux?
Takeaway on Diaper Bag Checklist Essentials
Now, this is just for a newborn’s diaper bag. When your baby starts eating solid food around 6 months, you’d need to pack more.
For now, these essentials are all that you need for your baby’s diaper bag.
If you like this article, check out my 27 Best Diaper Blowout Hacks, Diapers vs Pull Ups and The Best Diapers to Prevent Blowouts.
