I’ve only carried around my diaper bag for a few weeks but I know that it needs some serious downsizing. It’s really hard to handle a 12-pound baby in a car seat AND a loaded pound packed diaper bag.

Before I had the baby, I was eager to pack my diaper bag because I knew we needed to bring it to the hospital. (Note: we did not need to bring it to the hospital- they gave us all the stuff we needed for the baby.) I searched Pinterest for lists of what to pack in the baby’s bag. None of them were very helpful and I ended up carrying around all sorts of things I don’t use.

Here are the things I’ve learned you really need in your diaper bag:

• diapers (duh)
• wipes (another duh)
• blanket (can be used as both a changing mat, burp cloth and to keep baby warm)
• pacifier, especially if you’re driving in a car and he needs something to soothe his sucking needs

That’s it! It’s a short list. So why does my bag weigh ten pounds? In addition to the things above, I also have the following in my diaper bag:

• multiple burp cloths
• changing pad
• four or five outfits in case of leaks
• tube of diaper rash cream
• lotion for my hands
• lotion for my baby
• breastfeeding scarf to cover up in public
• back up pacifiers and pouch
• fully loaded 20-ounce water bottle
• toys (I don’t understand this one since my newborn doesn’t play with them yet)

I know we need a few of these things, but I don’t need to carry them around with me everywhere. So I usually take the big diaper bag and stick it in the car for back up. I throw a couple diapers and wipes in my purse and place a blanket over the baby in the car seat with his pacifier. This is so much more manageable than carrying all that extra stuff in and out of every store, in addition to the 20-pound car seat and baby. I’m using my Vera Bradley bag (see it on the table in the background?) because I saw another mom looking good with hers in the grocery store the other day and it inspired me. It feels like a maternal purse if there is such a thing.

When I have the stroller, it’s easy to throw the diaper bag underneath. I love using the stroller because I can throw everything in it! Coats, shopping bags, drinks! But walking around with a stroller and grocery cart is not feasible. I’ve only got two hands.

This is just one of the lessons that I’ve learned in the last few weeks. On another note: it only took seven weeks for me to realize that using an app to track every time I changed his diaper, fed him or he slept was not worth my time. It actually made me more stressed out. Now, I just go with the flow.

NOTE: My Skip Hop diaper bag was a wonderful gift from my Drakert family. We selected this bag sold exclusively from Babies R Us because I loved the grey and it came with two packing cubes to hold extra outfits.