Summer is here! The sun, the sand, swimming, splash pads, playgrounds, ice pops, and more are upon us. The problem I was running into recently is that it took quadruple the amount of time to get out of the house with all the extra bags, clothes, food, etc. Through trial and error, I have figured out a system to be prepared for a full day of summer fun out of the house, without leaving a single item behind.
Prep and Pack the Night before
Nothing is worse that swimming with your family when one baby has a blowout in their swim diaper and you don’t have any extra swim diapers, swim clothes or god forbid… diapers!
I now pack the diaper bag, snack bag, lunchbox, swim gear and clothes every night before going to bed to avoid such disaster! It took too much time in the morning while trying to get everyone fed, clothed, sunscreened, shoes on, etc. This way, you can just focus on getting the kids fed, dressed, and ready to go and know you have everything you need prepared!
Diaper Bag:
The extra things I make sure my bag has during the summer are:
- a bottle of sunscreen
- bug spray
- baby powder (rub that on your babies and the sand just falls off!)
- 3 hats (one for each child attached to the handle of my bag)
I have 2 children in diapers and one potty trained so I need lots of wipes and 2 different size diapers. I make sure I pack double the amount of snacks because all the running around and swimming makes them hungry!
Don’t forget a lot of water and a cooler if your youngest needs milk!
Swim Bags:
Again, every night I pack up the swim bags just in case we decide to go swimming at our gym, stop by a splash pad, or go to our community pool.
I bought a $5 beach bag that is large enough to fit:
- 3 towels rolled up (one for each child)
- 2 puddle jumpers
- baby swim float
- two bags of clothes
- bag of water clothes
- bag of dry clothes
- include a grocery plastic bag AND a diaper for each child
- water bag filled with extra items
One bag has the water clothes, water diapers, and water shoes for each child. The second bag has dry clothes to change into, two diapers (one for each kid), AND a plastic bag to put the wet clothes into so all the other stuff doesn’t get soaked.
The diapers are key as you are trying to quickly get everyone dressed! This way you don’t need to juggle different bags trying to dig new diapers out as they are getting changed out of their swim diapers.
The water bag, which is that adorable little octopus pictured above that a friend gave Lincoln for his birthday, has extra swim diapers, goggles, and some small water toys.
Summer is such a fun times with kids so make sure you leave the house fully prepared for all the fun!
Please leave other advice or necessities you pack for all your little ones during the summer months.
XOXO