Leaving the house with four under fives takes a little longer than you expect (even after six months practice) and I need to be prepared. I try to stock my changing bag the night before so that if I am running late I can grab it and go. I have a wonderful leather changing bag from What Daisy Did, a fairtrade company creating sustainable fashion and working closely with the artisans in India.
Using natural materials and offcuts, What Daisy Did designs unique bags that outlive the short trends and last well. They employ skilled workers, pay them a fair wage and offer flexible working hours as well as working with homeless charities to help tackle poverty. Every part of this bag's journey is sustainable and well thought out and the bag is beautifully made, strong enough to cope with everything we stuff it full with and perfect for using long after the babies are out of nappies.
And to show you what I keep inside my changing bag on an average day . . .
Enough nappies for two children - both are in birth to potty sized now, so I tend to take out 6 for a half day and 8/10 for a full day, along with my wet/dry bag to store them in and a pack of baby wipes. We mostly use TotsBots (pictured)
Two muslins which are used for a multitude of things including thin blanket, makeshift bib and something to mop up sick and dribbles.
A fabric bag to carry any shopping
Two fabric drawstring bags each with a set of spare clothes for the youngest two. The older two don't really need spares any more.
Pen and paper to jot things down.
Snacks for hungry children - usually raisins or snack bars as they are small. I have a packet of dairy free buttons in my bag too which can be useful for bribery!
A few little plastic toys for distracting overtired toddlers.
A pack of tissues and a hairband
A wipe clean bib (I need to add another one too now that Cora is weaning!)
My purse and keys
A roll up TotsBots fabric changing mat
And mostly that is it! I try to remember a sports top bottle of water and it won't be long until I need a little beaker for Cora too. If I have the bag packed with all these bits then I feel ready to go in the mornings.
I usually use the front pouch for some of my bits like the tissues, hairband, notebook and my phone and everything else goes in the main section. As this is not designed as a changing bag it isn't full of pockets but I find it easy to use as I have all the nappies in the TotsBots bag and I use drawstring bags from Smafolk at Funky Little People for spare clothes etc.
This is the perfect nappy bag for us and I love reading all the details about how it is made and who made it. This is the 'oak weekend bag' and there are lots of other great options including some beautifully colourful bags - check out What Daisy Did
Thank you to Ozric and Daisy for sending me this wonderful bag, we have been using it for a few months now and it is still as beautiful and strong as when we first got it.
