Top tips for leaving the house with a new baby. Share with ASDA Little Angels - £300 to be won! NOW CLOSED!

[AaronMumsnet]

With the responsibility of having a little person to clean, dress, feed and keep happy, getting out of the house with a new baby can prove an unexpected challenge. ASDA would love you to share your top tips for leaving the house with a new baby.

Here is what ASDA has to say: “There’s nothing worse than being caught short when you’re out and about, so we’d love to hear your stories about what being ‘fully prepared’ on the go means for you and your little angel!”

Did packing a bag the night before help you to get out and about without a hitch? Maybe eating breakfast on the go was the only way you were able to eat breakfast at all. Do you recommend recruiting your nearest and dearest to lend a hand on those first tricky trips? Or, perhaps, you finally realised that swapping the over-packed pram for a sling was the answer.

Whatever your top tips for leaving the house with a baby may be, please share them below and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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You can never have too many baby wipes!!

When I go with my 6 year old kid early in the morning I making sure to make my plans. Depending where we going take spare clothes ,food to as a snack and wipes books and toys,very important to preoccupy child and give enought attention. Take good juice and lots of fruits.

My second child is soon to be born and main thing for child to make sure they comftable . According to weather clothes and spare clothes in case of accident. Enough of nappys and wet wipes. Mother too should dress well according the weather as it will benefit the kid a lot .

I used to have to take lots of nappies, a few spare clothes, lots of snacks, a few toys to keep my son especially busy. Even now, with a four year old who is likely to be on the spectrum, has developmental delays and speech delay, I have to take spare clothes, toys, snacks and anything else to keep him occupied wherever we go. He takes his own dinosaur bag with him which is great as he does need quite a bit of stuff even now.

Have specific items that stay in your changing bag. so separate wipes for bag and for the house, nappies in the bag, nappies in the house, bibs in the bag, spare clothes in the bag....and top up as soon as you get home to ensure its always topped up.
That way you don't have to rush to pack the bag before leaving,

If you have an appointment, make sure you have everything ready the night before, clothes for you and baby, bags packed, hat, coat, blankets all out ready....

I found that in the early days, having a grab and go bag that was kept permanently stocked with nappies/wipes/changes of clothes (DH was very good about making sure it was refilled in the evening as he was keen for me to not feel like I was stuck in the house) was the key to getting out and about regularly. If it was always ready, then I had the freedom to go out rather than having to calculate my plans for the next day in the evening before. It always felt less daunting knowing that I just had to pick up the baby and the bag and I could be out of the door in seconds (or minutes, if there was a last minute nappy change required), rather than having to run around the house picking things up and worrying about forgetting something. Most of my early meltdowns came when I'd forgotten something that should have been in the bag (spare clothes/wipes) so having it always full was a life and sanity saver.

@BabiaMajora - that's genius; using that for the next one!

Have a small baby now so it's all fresh in my mind at the moment. Backpack style nappy bag makes things easier - essentials are wipes, a couple of nappies (at least, new babies like to poo in the fresh nappy, you change again, and then they decide it's time for another poo and before you know it you've been through five nappies and haven't even got their clothes back on yet) and a change of clothes in case of a blowout or copious amounts of baby vomit. Speaking of which, a spare shirt for yourself is a good idea too if you're going to be out for long because of the aforementioned baby vomit. A couple of muslin cloths for catching spit up when you feed baby, and a spare dummy in case it drops in a puddle or something like that. I always keep a battery pack for my phone in my nappy bag too, and some snacks and a water bottle as breastfeeding makes you very hungry and thirsty.

If you need to travel by taxi (like I often do as I don't drive and sometimes don't have the energy to walk) then take a sling/carrier/wrap with you as well as once you are out of the taxi it's much easier to carry the car seat without them in it and have them in the sling.

As others have said, keep the bag packed/stocked and allow extra time.

Invest in a baby changing bag and keep it stocked with nappies, sudocrem, baby wipes and nappy sacks.

My best new baby advice came from my mum who advised me to get myself ready as soon as I got up - so washed, dressed, make up, hair - she said if I didn’t do it first thing I’d never get round to it. Doesn’t matter how exhausted you feel - just looking human makes you feel more human. Keep baby bag packed a ready to go so you can leave the house in minutes - strap in (or on) the baby and off you go.

Have a well stocked changing bag - nappies, wipes, change of clothes. Plus a cheeky chocolate bar for emergency mummy moments when energy levels are low!

Stretchy wrap!

After packing all the baby stuff, remember the baby
Got 2 streets away and had left her with all the fussing 🙄

@youngerself - best answer ever.

Take more than you think you will need, you never know when spare nappies and clothing will come i handy.

My changing bag/Rucksack always has a handy pack of wet wipes for mouths sticky hands and nappy changes so that is number 1, number 2 is nappies - disposables, 3rd is bibs to try to keep clothing clean, and mouths wiped, and 4 is a change of clothing for when 3 has failed. Finally 5 is a 'fiver' for emergencies.

Just add lots of time spare - you will always need half an hour more than you actually think you do! And do your last wee, and last snack before you get the baby ready

Don't bother taking loads, just grab the basics (changing stuff, spare outfit perhaps, milk if needed), and go. Don't over think it!
Its just like leaving the house before, but with a bit more stuff. Don't let it build up to a big thing. It's fine.

Take more of everything than you think you need - nappies, food, clothes etc - if you don't have it, I can guarantee you'll need it. Also carry a plastic bag for putting in soiled items - so they don't run everything else in your bag.

If you don't want to carry it all round, keep basics in your bag and a box in the car with all the spares.

Leave yourself twice as much time as you actually need to get anywhere - to allow for the ridiculous amount of stops you will need to make, especially on longer journeys.

Repack your bag as soon as you get in and leave it in the hall ready for next time. Rinse, refill and put your waterbottle in the fridge.

Get yourself ready before you get the baby ready. Then you just need to feed and change the baby before you head out.

Take a spare of everything! Give yourself loads of extra time!

Always have the changing bag prepped and ready to go at a moments notice. Sometimes I just needed to get out of the house and knowing I could just pick it up and go saves so much time. Spending half an hour packing the bag is enough time for a poosplosion, baby to fall asleep, deciding you don’t want to go out after all or any number of other things that could delay you getting that much needed fresh air!

It depends on where am going but some of the following worked

• a jacket with roomy pockets and always a nappy in one of the pockets . I rarely took a fully packed changing bag anywhere unless out for a few hours. Often all I needed was a nappy and a wipe or two.
• fully packed changing bag always kept in one place for emergencies but rarely used as above
• two nappies , wipes and spare clothing in my handbag ( I used a roomy oilcloth handbag which I already had )
• always feed before you leave as nothing like a hungry baby . Sling half strapped on to me so would be ready to insert baby on arrival , if driving , and then just clip up and go

I put a muslin in on top of the blanket just in case

I take a puppy training pad with me to put on top of the public changing tables! And anti bac wipes to give the changing table a wipe down after.