Top row: Tommee Tippee Travel Warmer, Zojirushi Food Jar, Munchkin Snack Catcher, Heinz container
Middle Row: Friso container, Avent Storage Jar, Pigeon Straw Bottle, Tommee Tippee 150ml bottle
Bottom Row: Tiny Bites Food Shears, Combi Spoon & Fork
Being a second time mom pretty much means that I am a lot more efficient in packing my diaper bag. With Ollie, I would pack so much snacks it (just so he would be happy in the stroller!) that I could easily be a walking mamak store. Cheerios, food pouches, yoghurt drops, rice crackers. You cannot imagine my happiness when I finally decided that he is ready to eat food purchased outside.
Anyhoos, these are my essentials for taking two kids out. They are what I won’t leave the house with.
Zojirushi Food Jar, S$65 for a 350ml jar from Takashima or Tangs.
Keeps food hot for up to 8 hours and cooks porridge in 3 hours! Nuff said. Best investment ever. You can read my review about it.
Munchkin Snack Catcher, S$7.90 at various baby speciality stores.
Promoting self-feeding! Was introduced to this by D, and it was awesome. I didn’t have to worry about much mess and so much easier to just give Ollie the container and let him go with it. Infantino sent me another Munchkin snack catcher last year for a review which you can read here.
Heinz Container, freebie bundled with their Biscotti, S$2.90 at various supermarkets. Just a freebie that came along with the Heinz biscottis. Perfect container for keeping those rice crackers and other snacks. The rice crackers used to break when I tossed them in the diaper bag. Now they stay safe in the container!
Friso Container, freebie that comes with a sample of their Stage 2 formula.
There were 6 containers. Omg. They are the best freebie EVER (please don’t ever stop giving out these containers!). I used them to freeze porridge portions. Used them for transporting frozen puree cubes. Used them for mixing QT’s cereal and bringing it out for breakfast. Used them for freezing soup for lunch! And they are bigger than the 150ml Avent storage jars, and yet still small enough.
Avent Breastmilk Storage Cup, S$31 for 10 cups with lids at various baby speciality store.
I got my first storage cup as a freebie from my KKH hospital goodie bag. I used them for freezing BM initially, but went on to just storing frozen porridge or using it for QT’s cereal. So so handy when we took Ollie for to Malaysia and had to give him a meal in the car. I had already prepped some cereal inside and all I had to do was to throw in some water and puree from food pouches. And tadaah! One meal. Cannot finish? Just cap it back and put it in the diaper bag.
Pigeon Step 3 Straw Cup, S$13.90. I was a huge fan of the range of sippy cups from Pigeon. So many stages! We bought the Japanese version from Takashimaya and only got the spout, training spout and straw tops for Ollie. And he is still using the straw bottle for the night, so we had to get QT one. This new range, also the Japanese version,..is a lot more fiddly than the previous version. Not such a big fan anymore. I should take a new picture of the one the boys use when we go out, the Camelbak Eddy for kids.
Tommee Tippee milk bottles.
It was the only bottle Ollie would take, so it was only natural that we would use it with QT too. He was okay with it considering it was the only bottle offered to him. But now that he has tried the Munchkin LATCH (review here), he is not going back to the TT bottles. *roll eyes* Why are kids so picky about what they use huh??
Tiny Bites Food Shears, S$16.99 from Toy R Us
They come in a pair, so I shared the pack with D and halved the cost! haha. It is really handy to have it around and a pair of dedicated scissors just for the kids’ food. Having a lid on it also makes sure it doesn’t dirty the rest of your diaper bag and keeps it safe from itchy fingers!
Combi Spoon & Fork with Case, S$8.90 from various baby speciality store
I am a sucker for utensils that come with a case. Nuff said. =P Okay, a little more on it. It is mad of plastic but is not hard plastic. I like that the kids can happily nom on the utensils without hurting their gums too much. The case is a bonus cos it also means I don’t have to clean the utensils and can chuck them in without the dirtying the rest of the bag.
As QT grew older, past the 8mth mark, we eliminated the travel food warmer, and milk bottles. The milk storage containers remained so we could pack frozen puree cubes inside it for the plain porridge in the Zojirushi jar. So items for a 3-year-old Ollie was basically 2 pcs of pants diaper (we swear by Merries!), some snacks & a water bottle. Everything else..basically was for QT including a swaddle for nursing! But hey, it wasn’t too bad especially when I was moving around with two kids! It was totally a different story when we started toilet training Ollie. -_-”
This was what it looked like when I took 10mth-old Ollie (circa 2012) out before I discovered nifty accessories.
This is what QT gets when I take him out alone (circa 2014) Good grief, what a world of difference 2 years makes!!
I know it looks similar, but hey, difference is the Munchkin snack catcher and this other nifty gadget for food pouches. Argh..seriously why I no discover it earlier!
Meet the ChooMee Sip’n (S$14.90 at 1010 Mother & Child Essentials & biglittleme.com). What is it about you ask? You can read my review about it.
BEFORE
AFTER
With the Sip’n pouch top..I seriously can hand the pouch over to a 10-month-old QT and NOT have him squeeze and spill everything out. Plus point? He still gets to enjoy the pouch.
nomnom whilst out and about
So that’s my list of essentials and convenience items. What’s yours?