Dad Hack: The Weekend Diaper Bag

Volume 3, Issue 15

By the time I reached my late 30s, I had packing myself for a trip down to a science: neatly folded outfits in easy to combine color combos, and a dedicated pouch of toiletries that nestled beside my wares. That’s it.

Enter children.

As I’ve mentioned before, vacationing with kids doesn’t just require new techniques and stuff, it means forgetting everything you thought you knew about the process of travel, while embracing the unmoored chaos of traversing the globe with little goblins. How your children react to being confined to the seat of a car or plane is anyone’s guess: one time, my eldest slept peacefully for the entirety of a trans-Atlantic flight; another time, she vomited on the back of someone’s head during landing.

Within this new frame, packing is just about the only thing you can control. Packing for kids, though, can be mega stressful. In our family, we strive to edit out superfluous stuff; but kids do need more than can fit in your sleekly packed single-guy rolling suitcase. Enter the “weekender”:

Dad Hack #8: The Weekend Diaper Bag

Deciding what to pack in a regular diaper bag is complicated enough, but when you’re on a multi-day trip, there are just more contingencies. My answer to this is the “weekender,” a more elaborate version of our daily diaper bag. My weekender is an old trekking backpack, which I literally never use for hiking or camping anymore, because #kids.

Camping backpacks are great for kids’ stuff, because they’re roomier than regular packs, have lots of convenient pockets, and tend to be quite durable. Here’s how I pack ours for a weekend trip:

1. Diapers on the bottom: we have two kids under three, one of whom is still in diapers all the time, and another who uses pull-ups at night. For longer trips we buy a pack of diapers on arrival, but for a shorter trip, I shove as many as we need at the bottom of the bag.

2. Extra pack of wipes: because you’re gonna run out, it’s inevitable

3. Six Separate Gallon-Size Plastic Bags for Critical Accessories

   1. Baby bottles: we’ve found that three bottles is the magic number for infant travel

   2. Toiletries: baby shampoo/conditioner; kid toothbrush and toothpaste; hair accessories; infant Tylenol (just in case); diaper cream; lotion

   3. Sunscreen & Bug Spray

   4. Formula: we pack twice as much formula as we need, and bags are easier to maneuver than metal formula canisters¹

   5. Bibs & Towels

   6. Two changes of clothes per kid in case of accidents

4. Portable bottle washing kit: this one costs $15, it has lasted us years, worth every penny

5. Water bottles: in the outside pockets, one for the toddler to drink; one of room temp water to make formula in a pinch

6. Books and Toys: it’s easy to overdo this part, so just grab a few things that can act as filler during the most stressful moments

7. A Tablet: this might be controversial, but for our toddler, an iPad with some pre-loaded videos and age-appropriate games is extremely helpful for navigating longer stretches in the car or a plane

8. Hats: in an outer, easy to access pocket

(Note: I’m assuming you’re packing clothes in a separate bag, and I have no idea where you’re going or what the weather is there, so yeah.)

The bag I use is big enough that all of this fits, comfortably, with enough slack for me to sneak my laptop, keys, and wallet in some lesser-used compartments. It took some trial and error to arrive at this particular array, and while it’s not perfect, it works.

What about you? How do you pack for short trips? What did I miss?

1. We also carry a portable formula dispenser in the regular diaper bag, but it’s not enough for a longer trip.