WHAT TO PACK IN YOUR CHILDS NURSERY BAG

Packing my sons nursery bags is one of those things that always stirs up some kind of mum guilt. What if it rains today? Is he going to look silly if he puts this spare top on with the shorts he's wearing today? Is there enough in there? It never stops. Every week I top up their bags with new things, weather appropriate and usually a whole host of other crap they'll never use. But, it eases my soul. As a nursery nurse myself you think I'd probably have a little understanding of what to pack wouldn't you? So, I'm going to share exactly what goes into the boys bags, and why.

Now I'll try to generalise as I'm more than aware that my readers come from around the world and it wouldn't really be useful if I just catered for what we use right here and right now. Again, it also depends on the age of your children, Patrick has just turned one so of course he needs changing items for his stinky bottom whereas Noah has been potty trained for almost two years so would probably think I'd gone off the deep end if I whacked a nappy in his nursery bag. For that reason I'll separate this post into the over two's and under two's, so you can skip right to the relevant part.

2+ years.
I'm going to start with the over two's as for me I always find Noahs bag a little trickier to pack than Patricks. The first point I would say is to try as best as you can to ensure your child can access the bag themselves, if they need to grab their sunhat or gloves, do they have to undo 6 buttons and a zip? Is it really manageable for them? Noah has a beautiful personalised bag from the fabulous Becky and Lolo and he can open it within seconds, as it has a simple magnetic clasp. It means he doesn't get frustrated if all his friends are running outside but he's trying to scramble around for his sun cream. It also helps their teacher out too, if your small is of school age and perhaps has an accident, they're able to attend to it largely themselves which is a great step to becoming more independent. As for the items within the bag, I try to cover as much ground as I can, I always dress my boys for the weather that's predicted that day and then I add;

• Spare socks
• 2 x Underpants
• 2 x Plain t-shirts (usually white or grey)
• 1 x Pair of shorts
• 1 x Pair of trousers
• A sun hat
• A plastic bag.

The plastic bag might seem odd, but if he has an accident, which is very rare, it means all the soiled clothes are contained inside that and not meaning I have to re-wash the clean clothes inside of his bag. Of course, when the seasons change I would be adjusting and adding in gloves and a hat. No matter how warm it is outside I always send Noah with a coat or jacket - even if it remains on his peg all day as for my peace of mind knowing how unreliable the weather is, it helps.

Under 2.

Under two is a little different, though they are smaller they tend to need more things. Though, I find the clothing situation is a lot easier, given during mealtimes Patrick will wear a bib etc so rarely does get messy. For his nursery bag we actually use the one nursery gave us on his settling in visits, it's a velcro bag but it's not too important as I don't think he'll be getting anything out quite soon. I did used to use a changing bag when Noah was this age, but as a nursery nurse myself I know how hard it can be looking through 30 different compartments for a pot of sudocrem or dummy when you need one. So inside of Patricks I pack;

• 2 vests
• 1 spare change of clothes
• A baby gro / sleepsuit.
• Sunhat 
• Plastic bag
• Nappies, wipes and cream.

Before you think the worst, I definitely don't expect his keyworkers to change him into a sleepsuit for naps, but if he is ever poorly and I'm on my way to pick him up, it's always nice to know he can have that on and be in his comfies so to speak. It's also helpful if you're ever going anywhere after picking your children up, get stuck in traffic or run late, you can ensure they're ready for bed by the time you get home.

*I was sent this product but all thoughts are my own.