Summertime is here (finally)! That means more time spent at splash parks, at the beach, playgrounds, and parks.
With all of this extra summertime fun, your regular diaper bag is not going to cut it!
Below, let’s talk about what to pack inside a summertime nanny bag. We have some great tips to ensure that you are prepared for any summertime scenario.
We hope you find this useful. See you at the playground 🙂
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Summertime is here, and that means lots of extra time playing at splash parks, at the beach, outdoors in warm weather, and water play.
With all of this extra summertime fun, your regular diaper bag is not going to cut it.
The summertime nanny bag is the bag that you grab and load up for anything you may need for those summertime adventures, whether that’s just extra time outside in the sun or maybe at the beach, water parks, out at the park—you name it.
Here are the items we recommend putting inside your summertime nanny bag.
First, let’s talk about the bag
For the bag, we recommend using a larger backpack, because when you’re out having those summertime adventures, you want to have your hands free for either carrying a child, holding hands, or pushing a stroller.
A great option is a backpack beach tote with a mesh bottom from Clevermade, and also a waterproof, sandproof bag from Odyseaco.
Essentials
It doesn’t make sense to carry a diaper bag and an extra summertime nanny bag.
For this reason, we recommend having a smaller baggie inside of the backpack that contains the essentials, including diapers, diaper baggies, diaper wipes, and diaper cream.
It’s also a good idea to include extra clothes, Band-Aids for small scrapes, and hand sanitizer.
A large Ziploc bag or a grocery bag will be a great option for keeping those essentials inside of your summertime nanny bag.
Swim Diapers
Having a few extras on hand are great in case you need to change one pair out for another.
Disposable swim diapers are a great convenient option, of course.
There are also some good reusable cloth swim diaper options out there, including those from iPlay and Charlie Banana.
While those are some favorites, there are tons of great options out there.
Sun Hats
Look for lightweight, breathable sun hat options that have SPF built into the fabric.
And importantly, for any active children or windy conditions, it’s really nice if they have a fastener under the chin to keep those sun hats in place.
Swim Shirts
These will typically have SPF built into them, which is really great for keeping sensitive skin safe in the sun.
Sunscreen
Children ages 6 months and up require a sunscreen with at least SPF 30.
Pediatricians recommend a mineral-based sunscreen for babies, and it’s great if your sunscreen is also a water-resistant formula because chances are you’re going to be doing some water play during the summertime.
Some top sunscreen picks for babies include La Roche-Posay, Anthelios, Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50, and Blue Lizard Baby Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50+.
Sunscreen sticks are also a really convenient thing to have handy, especially for reapplying sunscreen to faces.
And if you have any toddlers out there who are interested in doing some things for themselves, they really like to be able to put that on with a little help from you, of course, to make sure that they’ve gotten all of the areas covered.
Sunglasses
Not all babies and toddlers are going to be open to wearing sunglasses, so it might take a little practice to allow them to get used to wearing them.
Sunglasses with straps help keep things in place for babies who might try to grab them a little bit or toddlers who are really active.
It will help keep those sunglasses in place.
Smaller Hooded Towels
Lightweight poncho-style towels for kids that have the hood are great so you can just put them on and the kids don’t have to wrap up and hold them in place. The towels simply stay in place by themselves.
Also, they’re not as gigantic as typical-sized beach towels, so they’re nice and portable and easy to pack.
Water Shoes
These are great to protect delicate feet and still have all of the summertime fun.
There are so many inexpensive water shoes available on Amazon in the $10 to $20 range.
Collapsible Bucket, Sand Shovel, and Cups for Water Play
A collapsible bucket and shovel set, such as the one from Joian on Amazon, is a great pick.
Because the buckets are collapsible, they’re very portable, and the bucket set comes with a mesh bag that makes bringing along your toys (but not the sand) really convenient.
Colored measuring cups are fantastic for water play.
A set on Amazon by Farberware for $4 works well because they’re small, very portable, they stack together, and kids love the bright colors.
Small Insulated Cooler Bag
The insulated bag will keep things like yogurt, cheese, fruit, and sandwiches nice and cool for those types of outings.
There are some great options on Amazon starting at around $10.
Water Bottles
The Thermoflask brand of water bottles is a great choice because they’re really sturdy, they keep kids’ drinks cool for hours, and they’re easy to clean.
And sometimes that extra summertime fun will require some extra equipment.
Here are some of the things that are really helpful whenever you need to bring a few extra things along:
Folding Wagon for Carrying Extra Supplies or the Kids
These range anywhere from $60 to $130 on Amazon, and you can also often find them for sale in the local neighborhood sale groups.
Life Jacket for Any Open Water or Pool Play
Make sure that the life jacket weight limits are within the range of your child’s weight and that it’s the right size according to the child’s weight.
Inflatable Floatie Toys
Great if you can pump these up beforehand, or if you don’t have the space to bring them along inflated, make sure you bring a hand pump along so that you can inflate those quickly when you arrive.
Umbrella or Sunshade
There are some great options available on Amazon starting at around $35.
And there you have it—those are the things to pack inside a summertime nanny bag.
We hope you found this helpful!