Our first guest post for “Cloth in Daycare” month is from Joedee. She is a self described “bag-lady” and gives us a look at how she packs a diaper bag for daycare.

I’m a bag lady. I pack bags inside of bags. On Tuesdays, I carry five bags. Seven if you count the bags inside of bags. Packing bags is what I do, five days a week.

Diaper bag packing for daycare is fairly simple. I have a big bag with lots of pockets. My diaper bag holds 6 diapers, a wet bag, 3 changes of clothes, 3 bottles, 1 sippy cup and small baby food containers. It has a pouch on the back where I slide the care sheet that I get when I pick up my son.

My son started daycare when he was 12 weeks old. He is now 8 months old. Six diapers have always been adequate for an 8-hour stay. Oftentimes, I’m still left with one. I highly recommend a wet bag with a hanging strap. The caregivers hang it on hooks attached to the changing table, so they can drop his dirties right in. I use a Planet Wise wet/dry bag. If my son’s clothes get dirty, the caregivers put the clothing in the dry pocket. (No plastic bags!)

When I started cloth diapering my daughter at 9 months, I purchased pocket diapers with hook and loop closures specifically with daycare use in mind. I was blazing trails being the only cloth diaper user there, so I didn’t want it to be perceived as a nuisance. Now there are TWO cloth diapered children at the facility, so I’ve become a little more versatile. Plus I have a new-found hate for hook and loop. So, I send pocket and AIO snap diapers. I get no complaints. My daycare stash consists of bumgenius, GroVia, Kawaii, Rocky Mountain, Knickernappies and Fuzzibunz. (And soon to be a Swaddlebees Simplex in the super cute dinos print!)

The main compartment of my diaper bag holds 6 diapers and the wet bag folded. I just put the baby food containers on top of the diapers. There is a zipper pocket on the front where I put the extra clothes. There are four outside pockets where the 3 bottles and sippy cup go.  The end.

I send disposable wipes that are kept at the Center, so those don’t go back and forth. Some parents send jar baby food in bulk so that’s not a daily item to pack. I make my son’s food, so I thaw it overnight and send to daycare every day. I have a tube of diaper cream that is kept there also. My biggest caution regarding cloth diapers in daycare is diaper cream usage. I have had a diaper ruined with Desitin even though I provided safe cream. So, make it very clear that they are to only use the cream you provided because certain creams can ruin the diapers. Pull it out of the bag and show them the cream.

At the end of the day, I just take the wet bag of dirties and shove it into the main compartment. It’s a little bulkier than the trip there, but it still fits.

In case you’re wondering about all my bags, I have an almost 4-year-old daughter that goes to daycare Tuesday – Friday. She has a backpack and a nap mat. There’s my son’s diaper bag. I go to the gym during my lunch hour, so I have a gym bag. Then I carry a backpack to work that has my pump, small cooler for the milk bottles, pumping bra, wallet, and a bag with food for the day. Bag. Lady.

Joedee Robinson is a full-time working mom of two children, a 3-year-old daughter and 8-month-old son.  A self-proclaimed “natural mom,” she is passionate about childbirth and breastfeeding. Besides her two children and wonderful husband, her greatest accomplishments include running a half marathon and having a med-free VBAC. When she gets free time (ha), Joedee enjoys gardening, painting, reading, exercising and Bravo TV.