Pack the caddy

List builder

Six of these go in every caddy there has ever been. The rest depend on where yours lives and how the day is going.

Tick what your day looks likeIt lives on the changing tableIt moves between rooms or floorsIt goes in the carNights are still brokenWe are in the first six weeksThere is a toddler in the house too

17things worth consideringEverything we would put in one. Tick your day and it narrows to yours.

Diapers, about eight, in the size you are on nowEight is a day at the front end and two days later on.
Wipes, in the packetDecanting them into something prettier dries them out.
Cream, the small tubeLid on tight, and the small one so it does not roll.
Two muslinsOne to go under, one for afterwards.
Diaper sacks, a few, folded flat down the side
A change of clothes: one bodysuit, one sleeper
A folding changing matThe moment the caddy leaves the table you need your own surface.
A plastic bag for what you cannot throw out yet
Hand gel, because the faucet is a hopeful assumption
A dim light you can work byThe overhead light wakes everyone, including you.
A second sleeper, already unbuttoned
A spare top for you, not the babyThis is the one nobody puts on the list before the first child.
Cotton wool and a small bowl, if you are not on wipes yet
One small toy that lives in the caddy and nowhere elseIt stays interesting only while it stays in there.
A sticker sheet, for the stretch where lying still is negotiable
A penNobody expects this one and everybody ends up wanting it.
A handle you can hook a finger throughNot a thing to pack, a thing to check before you buy.

Why it lives packed

The thing that makes a caddy worth having is that it stays packed. A caddy you unload and tidy after every change is a box. Build the list once, restock it on a Sunday, and stop thinking about it.

Size follows from the list rather than the other way round. That set of items fits a caddy of roughly eleven by seven inches with a divider. Buying bigger is not free: the extra space fills with things you never reach for, and then nothing is findable one-handed.