15 Toddler Essentials To Always Carry In Your Mom Purse
Most women are great at fitting a bunch of stuff in their small purses. But things aren’t as easy anymore after you have kids. Here are the top 15 life-saving essentials every toddler mom should carry in her mom purse at all times.
Gone are the days when you had a bunch of beauty products, a novel, and 3 pairs of your favorite sunglasses in your purse.
Now diapers, snacks, toys, dirty socks, and random things found in nature took over. But come on, it’s kind of cute.
Once my baby started walking I seemed to find dirty lost socks everywhere. One cold, early morning I was waiting at the bus stop to go to work, I put my hand in the pocket of my coat, and what did I find? A single, dirty, tiny sock. And it made my day. Obviously, since then, there have been socks in my “mom purse” multiple times.
Anyway, I wanted to share my favorite essentials I always try to carry in my mom purse. Those are the things that have been the most useful in the past two years.
15 Toddler Essentials To Always Carry In Your Mom Purse
#1 Water Bottle
You should always have a water bottle for your toddler at hand. They talk and run all day, so help them stay fresh and hydrated.
My favorite water bottle for toddlers is the Munchkin Miracle 360° Trainer Cup (or I guess any other non-spill toddler cup will do). I actually never used it as a “trainer cup” for my child, yet we used it since the start at nap and nighttime, for car rides and outings in general. I recommended this cup to a bunch of friends and it’s my go-to present for friends and family-members who are either pregnant, have a newborn, or a toddler, cause I know sooner and later they will use it and they will love it.
#2 Snacks
You can prevent a lot of drama by having a snack at hand at all times. Whether an appointment takes longer than expected and your toddler actually gets hungry or they just ate a full meal yet insist they need more food (now!), it’s good to be ready. Don’t get me wrong, a child should learn to be patient, but preventing unnecessary drama by offering a (healthy-ish) snack won’t spoil your kiddo.
Yes, it’s great to cut up some fresh fruit before leaving the house, but in this post I’m focussing on mom purse essentials you can actually carry in your bag at all times. So depending on your child’s age you could pack for instance a granola bar or a food pouch. They’re small, have rather long expiration dates, and your child won’t get too messy eating them.
#3 Wet Wipes
I don’t know how many times there were (if any at all) where I didn’t need wet wipes. Whether it’s during a diaper change, to clean a toddlers hands, face, nose, wipe something for them in a pubic area, and, and, and. I usually use some universal, 90 sth % water baby wipes as they can be literally used for anything.
#4 Extra Diaper (or pair of underwear)
This one goes without saying. Yet if you’re used to carrying an extra, larger baby bag with you, where you always had an extra stack of diapers, you might need a reminder to actually now put one or two extra diapers in your purse.
#5 Toddler-Safe Hand Sanitizer
It’s ok to let your toddler get messy most of the time, but obviously since they touch literally everything you want to keep a kid-friendly hand sanitizer in your mom purse to keep your little one clean and safe. Alternatively you can use antibacterial baby wipes.
#6 Plastic Zipper Bag
This is such a life-saving mom hack. There will be so many instances where a plastic zipper bag will come in handy. Whether it’s for wet underwear, dirty socks, open container of some drink or snack your child insist on packing up for later, or to store some treasure they find aka wet leaves or sandy sea shells.
#7 A “Boo Boo” Cream
Your toddler will be running, jumping, doing lots of things, which can and at some point will result in bumpes, bruises, scraped skin, splinters and whatnot. So it’s good to always have something at hand to help them soothe and heal their boo boos.
Even for the times where there is no real boo boo, yet your child might be a little dramatic, applying a bit of cream can have a great, healing, placebo effect on your child’s over the top reaction.
#8 Band-Aids
Band-aids are essential for the same reasons as mentioned in #7, both for real injuries and the bit more made-up ones. Even better if you can keep some band-aids in your mom purse with fun patterns or your child’s favorite characters on them.
#9 Sunscreen
Protect your child’s sensitive skin by applying toddler-friendly sunscreen. Let them have fun in the sun without painful consequences. That goes for all seasons.
#10 Tissues
Similar to wet wipes, there is no shortage of situations where tissues will be needed while you’re out and about with your toddler.
#11 Extra Pair Of Socks
Unless you live somewhere where it’s warm all the time and your toddler doesn’t wear socks, it’s great to have an extra pair of socks in your mom purse. Whether they get dirty, wet, sandy, or cold, you will be ready to change your toddler’s socks, keeping them happy, comfortable, and warm.
#12 Saline Solution Ampoules
I carry saline solution ampoules with me since my baby was born. They’re obviously small and will easily fit in any mom purse. They can be used for so many things and provide instant relives for your kiddo. Whether to clean your toddler’s nose, rinse their eyes if necessary or to help clean a wound.
#13 Toy/Activity as in something for entertainment and distraction purposes
Most of the time your toddler with choose a toy, stuffy, or book and insist on taking it with them while leaving the house. Yet besides that, I recommend always carrying a little extra toy/activity in your mom purse. This could be a little car, a small book, a tiny stuffed animal, a notepad and some crayons. Just a little something to keep your toddler entertained or distracted when needed.
In the summer:
#14 Sun Hat
#15 Sunglasses
It’s good to have your toddlers sun hat and sunglasses iny our mom purse to make sure you won’t forget them while leaving the house and to ensure your little one can keep playing in the sun for hours or simply just be able to enjoy a walk without squinting their eyes.
