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

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Never EVER be complacent.. the amount of times I popped out for 30 mins and had a poo explosion.. you'd think I'd have learnt! Always! I repeat ALWAYS take the change bag with you!

Don’t put yourself under any pressure. It takes time. Have a prepared nappy bag ready to go.

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation. And keep emergency supplies in the car already.

Get everything ready the night before. Leave plenty time but just get baby dressed or ready just before you leave the house.

We keep a spare bag in the boot with a couple of sleepsuits, nappies, wipes and snacks plus a towel and some of those puppy pads... after twin sleep deprivation I’ve packed a nappy bag and then walked out without it more times than I can count.

My main advice is - go out while they’re small! In the first few months, they’ll happily lie in their buggy, be calmed by feeding and will often sleep. If I’d realised how much harder it was to take them out when they’re older, I’d have pushed myself a lot more!

I have always just had a couple of nappies, wipes and a spare sleepsuit in my bag. Luckily I still breastfeed so no need for milk. I use food pouches to feed out and about.

Allow an extra 30 mins for an additional feed/poonami/general meltdown (from anyone!) before you can actually get out of the foor.. Lowering expectations helps immensely!

There's a general hatrid for changing bags on MN, but they are so useful for not having to think before you leave the house.

Keep the change bag stocked with nappies, wipes, nappy sacks, mussies and a change of clothes for baby. (something simple like a sleep suit, it doesn't need to be thought about each time!). Re stock after you get back in after using it, so you can just pick up and go.

Have a separate cross body bag that just fits your purse, phone, keys in it. Wear separately so if you end up wanting to pop in somewhere you can't take the buggy in, you can just pick baby up without having to lug the change bag or leave your purse.

Just go. Don’t worry about stuff. Leaving is the priority. The stuff comes secondary. The first handful of times I went out with a new baby I took precisely zero things out with us, no bag, no pushchair. Close to home, no stuff required.

Later on, a spare nappy, a muslin cloth. With a bottle fed baby, an empty bottle and a carton for later. Very, very minimal stuff.

Only needed to cut short the day and head home due to lack of stuff twice in ten years, and both times it was past the baby stage - once due to a vomiting child, once due to a child falling in a pond.

Just pack the baby and GO

I always check and repack my changing bag in the evening so that I can just grab it and go.
I try to look out everyone's clothes for the next day if we have to be somewhere in the morning (I have a toddler and a baby).
Generally the best advice is to think ahead and plan your day as much as possible- and expect things to take a bit longer than expected- both my kids have a knack for a poo explosion just as we are leaving the house

Have a prepacked changing bag ready to go- bottle, muslins, dummies, plenty of nappies, wipes and complete outfit.

Aim to leave the house 30 mins before you need to...you stand a better chance of getting out on time!!

I give myself plenty time before leaving so it’s not a mad rush say for the school run! I usually get up first to get things organised (yes even before the baby wakes) Always take nappies, wipes. Can never have to many and also maybe a change of clothes I case your out all day!

I kept a stash of nappies and wipes in the back of the car so that if I hadn't packed enough I could restock the changing bag easily. Saved my bacon a couple of times.

Always take nappies a wetwipes

Give yourself more time that you think you'll need, in case of last minute feeds/nappy changes/sick episodes!

Always take lots of muslins with you where you go!

And pack a bag in advance. Make sure you include nappies, wipes, nappy sacks, a toy and a snack and drink for yourself.

As long as you have the following things when leaving the house with a newborn you can do anything: baby, parent, breast pads, maternity pads and some money for a coffee. Everything else can wait. The first outing is normally a sanity check and to get some fresh air so you don't need much.

We always have had a bag for our DC's that initially contained 2 spare vests, sleepsuits, jumper, several nappies, wet wipes, clean dummies, 2 cartons of premade milk (as I had a few occasions during growth spurts where my milk wasn't enough, although now they'd advise to keep baby on the breast to stimulate the extra milk flow, there was no such support in my day) sterilised bottle, small gripe water, lavender oil, clean bibs, socks, scratch mits, small pot of sudocreme / bepanthen, calpolfren & calpol, Vaseline for chin rash, spare out fit & spare blanket with holes. In the summer suncream, spare hat, juice / water.

For toddlers up till adulthood

For days out / holidays, my cloth bag had bottles of water, sun cream, sick bags, mints, healthy sweets, calpolfren, wetwipes,

I pressed post too soon...

For toddlers to adulthood, for trips out / holidays, I have a cloth bag with wet wipes, bottles of water, suncream, small pot sudocreme, sick bags, calprofen, sucky sweets, sucky mints, emergency cash, flannels (small towels for drying hands after toilet visits/before eating, drying feet after splashing in the sea) Stuff to entertain although tablets can usually be charged in car, plus they can connect to your internet) Spare socks, pants/knickers, top, mac in a sack, umbrella, anti bac gel.

I'd even put a few staples in the car for emergencies.

I've likely missed something off the list, but it's pretty comprehensive. The bag is easily carried. If you're going to the beach, unless you want a bucket & spade collection, remember to pack them out of the shed.

Be warned my strange children on seeing sand as babies, thought, food, food everywhere, so had to stop them eating the beach. Luckily we always went to ones we knew. But we all know that sand isn't the cleanest & dog walkers, well I won't say any more.

Leave a lot earlier than you would have pre-baby so that any mishaps (sudden nappy-change, vomit-fest or leakage) can be dealt with without the cause to panic and the need to rush

Plan to be wherever you’re going about half an hour earlier than you actually need to.

Take a bottle of water and snacks for yourself if you’re breastfeeding.

Prepare for everything!!! Ha!!! And stock up on miniatures so they all fit in your changing bag. Nappy bags are also fantastic for dirty clothes, food etc.

Have two bags packed, then if one gets used/ messy you have a spare ready to go

Get yourself ready as soon as you wake up instead of slipping a robe on and thinking you’ll get the baby sorted first. That way you should have a few mins to shower and make yourself look nice too - maybe ;)
You definitely need more then just a nappy to leave the house (food/spare clothes/wipes) but definitely don’t overpack as the thought of remembering it all only adds to the stress.
Oh and don’t forget to bring the baby 🤣

Always take spare clothes. You’ll never need them, until the day you leave them at home. And then, one poonami later, you’ll find yourself carrying an angry baby dressed in nothing but a nappy through a town centre while you frantically search for somewhere to buy a babygrow.

I have two children and when they were little i made sure when i left the house i was self sufficient- extra clothes yes, but food was the key. I was alway amazed how much food i needed - my tip would be think of the snacks you need, then double it!