swiss army backpack

Last week, someone asked me for a demonstration of how I packed my diaper bag. It resulted in me sitting on the floor pulling everything out of my bag. It took me under thirty seconds to repack the entire thing, because my diaper bag is actually full of smaller bags.

Also, my diaper bag isn't a diaper bag. It's a backpack.

A family I grew up with used L.L. Bean backpacks for their kids. Each baby got a backpack with their name on it, and when they'd outgrow a diaper bag, the bag became their regular use backpack. In high school, I remember thinking, "I'm going to do that. I love backpacks." We adapted, however, and got one backpack with our surname slapped across the front. If you have a bag you already love, or want to use a backpack you already have, that's cool. The rest of this tool still works.

Here's everything I had in my bag last night:

That's it. That's all of it. Confession: I did throw away two receipts wadded in the bottom and take out one pair of overlooked socks, but that's honestly not much mess to deal with for tipping my bag upside down and shaking it out (figuratively). I use wet bags I've collected but honestly you could use ziploc bags and the effect would be the same. I'll walk you through mine, but I've only got interior pictures for two because the rest didn't seem to need them:

1. The snack bag.

This is my go-to emergency snack bag. If we're on the road, or at an appointment, or just running errands and a kid is suddenly starving, this is what I pull out. I don't buy special stuff for the bag. It's usually a pouch food of some kind for the baby, and then an assortment of other stuff. Right now, it's really well-stocked because of our day plans, but it varies in how full it is. Most of the time, it's what I do with the "leftovers" of boxes-- one granola bar left at home, five kids? The spare goes in the bag. Plus, I have a spoon for the baby just for eating on the go. I'll throw a jar or yogurt in the bag if I know he'll need to eat soon.

2. The toy bag.

I'm like a walking toy store. It might be that I love toys. It might be that a tiny form of entertainment can be the line between a meltdown and a complete diversion. I even pull these out for other kids. Last week, I had half a nursery class playing one of the games. This is a mix for us right now of baby-safe toys and small games and sensory-manipulatives for kids who need to fidget or destress on the go.

3. Clothes.

Simple, right? Backup clothes for the baby plus backup pants and underwear for the two older kids most prone to accidents. The best part of this bag is what isn't in the picture. I can dump all the dry unused clothes loose into the backpack or use my little red spare bag and this yellow one is waterproof and washable. It becomes the sack to take the dirty stuff home. Ziploc bags also work. If you own wet bags, this is probably the most familiar or standard use outside of dirty cloth diapers.

4. Diapers and wipes.

Right now, we're on a mental health hiatus from cloth diapers but we'll be switching back soon (that's the plan, anyway). This smaller sack has wipes and a stack of diapers. Depending on how many diapers I'll need, sometimes this bag and the spare clothes back switch roles.

5. First aid kit.

Bought it on amazon, added my junior epi-pens, done. Bandaids and antibiotic ointment and emergency stuff.

6. Medicine kit.

Ibuprofen and emergency inhaler for me, children's tylenol, allergy meds, gum, chapstick, sunscreen stick. It's basically first aid kit but the "lite emergency" edition.

7. Various.

This stuff changes. I don't keep many lose items in my bag when I pack it (sometimes stuff ends up tossed in while out and it's removed or sorted later). Right now, it's the iPad mini, a spare grocery sack, my pen (in a case so it's easier to keep track of), and my emergency candy. Listen, sometimes I need to eat PEZ out of a Hello Kitty head. It's survival.

8. Replay Snack Stack Cup.

That I do not use for snacks, go figure. This is my backup pacifier storage. Stays clean, doesn't get grimy, easy to find.

9. Wallet.

Money! Insurance cards! ID! What things a wallet has! This one has a nifty strap.

So in conclusion, my backpack is full of smaller bags. If you're thinking it's a lot to lug around, then you're right. It is. Which is why I don't take it everywhere. If we're running into a store, my van becomes my command center. I grab my wallet and the diaper sack out. If we're going into church, I'll just grab diapers and toys. If I do need to take the whole thing, I can wear it, or even offload some bags I won't need into the car so I can keep the backpack with me but it's not as loaded down. When I get back to the van, there are two to four bags sitting on the seat instead of a bunch of loose items.

This tool for packing has helped me so much, I wish I'd started doing it sooner. It entered the game late for us, around child number four. Plenty of time for me to experience a forgotten banana smooshed into the bottom of my bag. I think that's a mandatory life experience anyway, so maybe there's no way of avoiding it, short of never eating bananas.

What do you do to keep your bag organized? Feel free to share in comments!