Nursery / diaper bag essentials

Totally random post, but I remember when I was about to become a mom, I sent an email to my two SiLs asking them "what do you put in your diaper bag?" It was probably a silly question to them but they responded kindly and told me. I thought I would write it out for all upcoming moms so you know what to put in your diaper bag (and some nursery arrangement essentials).

I am not a stuff person. My diaper bag for my twins is small, a singleton size in fact. It's by Skip Hop and I love it.

In it (some things are double because I have two babies):

--- two extra pairs of pants
--- two sets of baby socks (in case they get cold)
--- two extra onesies (long sleeved because if it's really that hot, they can either not wear pants or not wear a onesie at all)
--- travel diaper wipes (about 4 of the slim 10-piece packs)
--- about 6 diapers
--- diaper cream
--- a travel change pad
--- a burp cloth or two
--- a few random small toys they don't usually use but are there just in case
--- a small thing of hand sanitizer
--- (just added, now that they're older) ties that connect toys to high chairs so if dropped they aren't lost
--- two bibs
--- their medical insurance card (just in case)

For the nursery, I have only one suggestion:

Have anything and everything you might need in a diaper explosion emergency RIGHT AT YOUR CHANGE STATION. Most people have drawers under their change pad. In those drawers, you want things that you will need in an instant, things you don't want to have to walk across the room for if you have a diaper explosion and poop is literally everywhere and you need a full change of everything nearby. Such as:

--- diapers and wipes (I always have two extra packets of wipes in the drawer and restock immediately - this way, if I use the last wipe in a diaper explosion, I am guaranteed to find more in the drawer)
--- onesies
--- pants
--- pyjamas (in case your explosion happens at night!)
--- diaper rash cream (again, in case you run out)

On our change table, we have a big thing of hand sanitizer. We bought it in November and it's not even a quarter gone, so we don't use it very often. But when we have had poop explosions and have used a diaper wipe to clean the poop off our hands, it sure is nice to use the hand sanitizer before touching a baby!

We also have a couple of small toys on our change table. Our girls are 9 months old (almost) and are crawling and starting to stand up. They do not want to be on their backs, so they try to roll onto their tummies every. single. diaper. change. A toy handy keeps them distracted and on their backs for the few seconds we need to finish up putting a diaper back on!

And, PLEASE, get into the habit of one cardinal rule: never ever ever leave your baby on the change table for even a second. Start this on day 1 when they are just little blobs who just lie there (also, little blobs who just lie there sometimes startle and could fall off). But if you get into the habit of never EVER doing it for even a second, when your baby suddenly rolls for the first time, you won't have to retrain yourself. Seriously, institute it and demand it of anyone who ever ever changes your baby.