Monday, October 22, 2012

Top Must-Have Baby Items for Your Car

When you have a baby or a toddler, you end up carrying around a lot of extra loot. You have to be prepared for the unexpected while on the road. Sometimes a little advance preparation can really come to the rescue on the days when your brain is in a fog resulting from too many things to do and too little sleep.

I discovered this one day when my oldest was a toddler and I was racing to get her to daycare and myself to school. I quickly grabbed our bags and my daughter and headed to the car, strapping her into her seat. When we arrived at daycare and I went to get her out of the car, I noticed I had failed to put shoes on the poor kid! I had no time to return home to retrieve them as I would surely be late for a staff meeting. Thankfully, a kind neighbor, who was a stay-at-home mom, agreed to run up some shoes to my girl. From that point on I tried to remember to keep an extra pair of shoes in my car (appropriate to the season at hand).

To make it a little easier during the time I had little ones, I made sure to keep some tried and true items in my car.

Baby Must-Have Car Items:
  1. Car seat (I know, duh)
  2. Toy bar that clips onto the car seat (My son was very entertained by his Tiny Love 00688 Musical Nature Stroll Stroller and Car Seat Toy)
  3. Cup holder
  4. Grocery cart /High chair cover
  5. Diaper changing kit (includes wipes, diaper and mat)
  6. Mirror (to see them when they are rear-facing)
  7. Seasonal hats
  8. Favorite blanket
  9. Small cooler with bottle, juice, bottled water and light snacks
  10. Extra baby wipes
  11. An extra onesie or outfit
  12. Socks and shoes (they are always taking these off!)
  13. Spare bottle or sippy cup with lid
  14. Crayons and a coloring book 
  15. A TV with great DVDs like Baby Signs
What do you NOT need? Those bottle heater things. They don't work and if you really want to feed a warm bottle get a large cup of water from a drive-thru filled 1/3 of the way up with hot water and dunk the bottle in for a minute or two.

What can you not live without in your car for your baby?
 
Here is my full list of Must-Have Car Items.

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