I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, crafter, and blogger living in rural New England. As seen in Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, and more! | Tutorials, DIY, crafts, parenting tips, recipes, money saving tips, product reviews, local product features, New England living, intentional living, and more! |
You know that potty training is getting serious when you start driving around with a tiny toilet in your trunk! Thought I’d hop on here real quick and share some of our potty training “on-the-go” hacks. | This post contains affiliate links |
First, while we may be doing undies in the house - we still use pull-ups at night and when we leave the house… why? Because Mama don’t like having to change wet or poopy clothes in Target or get a carseat full on a drive. That is not fun for anyone and doesn’t set your kid up for success. Also, cleaning carseats is the worst.
For us we potty train our kids 100% at home and let them be flexible (by using a pull-up) whenever we’re out and about until they are VERY good at it, before transitioning them to undies all the time. During this transitionary time, we always keep a small potty in our trunk in case they need to go. It’s a lot easier and more comfortable for them to use a little potty that they’re used to, rather than having you dangle them over a public toilet at Starbucks.
The biggest helpful trick to the trunk potty? Line it with a clean diaper to absorb waste - that way you’re not driving around with a cup full of pee sloshing around in your trunk. It also makes for much easier cleanup!
And it goes without saying to keep wipes, clean pull-ups, a change of clothes, and a towel within reach in the trunk as well too… just in case.
Whew, this post was a long time coming! The end of our pregnancy really knocked me for a loop as did the reality check of having a newborn again (how you forget these things!). So the past couple of weeks really has been a whirlwind. Thankfully L.L. Bean had been kind enough to send me their new diaper tote insert to try along with their large boat tote bag and it's been so helpful to carry around our gear as a new family of four. | This post contains affiliate links as well as an honest review of products provided by L.L. Bean |
Since we got home from the hospital after the birth of our little one, we've kept our outings pretty minimal - grocery store, doctor appointments, school, that sort of thing. But now that momma is feeling better and baby has been doing well it's high time we get back outside and enjoy this beautiful weather before the snow flies.
So much room and so easily organized!
Packing a diaper bag is always a little tricky - and even more-so when you have both a newborn and a toddler! After all, you don't want to be caught without a necessity, but you don't want to overpack either. Thankfully using the Diaper Tote Insert has made packing so much easier. In the insert I am able to pack all the necessities like a changing mat (which is included!), diapers, wipes, a change of clothes for the newborn, small first aid kit, nursing cover, bottles, etc - all in handy pockets and zippered compartments.
After the Insert is packed it's easily interchangeable between a Medium or Large Boat Tote Bag, depending on what fits your needs best. We've found that putting the insert in the Medium Tote works perfectly for grocery trips, school drop-offs, errands etc. The insert fits snuggly inside with all your necessities.
For longer outings we've really loved putting the insert in the Large Tote (with long handles), which allows for extra room along each side of the insert as well as at the bottom of the bag. This additional room gives plenty of space for extra changes of clothes, blankets, toys, etc and the long handles make it a breeze to carry, even if you're juggling two kids.
By using the Boat Tote Bags as diaper bags, they really pull double duty! Their classic looks never go out of style and by going with a simple last initial monogram for the large bag, it becomes something that will grow with us and can be repurposed by anyone in our family. By picking something classic like this you won't be stuck with a diaper-specific bag that you'll never use again, and that's so important.
This past weekend we finally got out of the house as a family of four and headed to do something fun - and what better way to take advantage of this beautiful day than spending time down by the lake and hitting up the playground before visiting family.
Since we were going to be out for the full day, I made sure to pack the insert in the Large Boat Tote so I could pack extra supplies for everyone - and it's a good thing I did! Right before we left our toddler got her pants all dirty playing in the wet sand at the edge of the water so it was great to have clean clothes packed for her for the rest of the day.
We had a lot of fun exploring around this brick boathouse from the 1900's!
Diaper Bag Must-Haves
changing pad
diapers
wipes
baggies for dirty diapers and soiled clothes
nursing cover
change of clothes for baby
small first aid kit
hand sanitizer
wrap carrier
pacifier (and a backup one!)
snacks and water for mom and older siblings
bottles
formula
a small receiving blanket or swaddle blanket
small toy or book
Overall, having the versatility of this diaper tote organizer has been so helpful! And I especially love that I can easily switch it between bags on the way out the door to best fit our needs for the day.
- I received the Large Boat Tote and Diaper Tote Insert from L.L. Bean but all opinions expressed are my own. Please see our full Disclosure Policy for more information. Thank you to L.L. Bean for providing these items to me for review. -
If you're not familiar with Pampers Rewards, you can check my previous post here for all the details - but essentially it's a program to earn free gifts for buying Pampers diapers! Our little girl has been really into "helping" Daddy build things lately, so we decided to get a tool kit just for her. | This post contains affiliate links |
The tool kit is by Melissa and Doug and we were pleased with how sturdy it is. Our daughter really put it to the test, whacking the whole thing all over with the wooden hammer but it still survived.
The kit contains a wooden wrench, screw driver, hammer, bolts/screws, nuts, "nails", and some pieces of wood with holes in it that you can screw or nail together or attach to the side of the tool box.
Miss M and Daddy have really been enjoying building with this set and we've even caught her "working" on her trains with the wrench - this Reward has definitely been a big hit!
Want to see what else we got from Pampers Rewards? Check out our other posts:
If you're not familiar with Pampers Rewards, you can check my previous post here for all the details - but essentially it's a program to earn free gifts for buying Pampers diapers! I've been saving up our points for awhile now and decided to turn them in for this great Little Tikes Shopping Cart. | This post contains affiliate links |
This rugged little shopping cart has been a huge hit with our little one. She's been pushing around her baby dolls and filling the cart up with anything and everything she can find, including blocks, shoes, and stuffed animals. It's been a great way to keep her busy and she's really enjoying "shopping" around the house.
And, of course the best part about it was it was free! I didn't even have to pay shipping, which was amazing (note: some items you do have to pay shipping for). I'm looking forward to ordering more free gifts.. just have to remember to keep entering my codes!
We purchased this great Baby Stella Doll from Amazon, but Pampers has a similar one as a Reward as well!
Want to see what else we got from Pampers Rewards? Check out my other posts:
