What to pack, how to stay entertained, and how to actually enjoy the day!
To me there’s nothing quite like a day spent at the ballpark. My husband plays a ton of baseball, so even pre-baby I spent a lot of time at the field. Making the adjustment to momming while also trying to enjoy the season was definitely a tough one. Luckily for you, I compiled all of my best tips into this guide in hopes to better prepare you for a day at the ballpark! All of the links in this post are purely to benefit you, I am not an affiliate and do not make any profit from any of these links! 🙂
Alexandra has been going to baseball tournaments and weekly games since she was a month old. While I wouldn’t go as far to say I’m an expert in how to successfully entertain a baby and still enjoy the season, I do think that I’ve created a good system.
For some background, my husband Dax runs his own adult league baseball team which means during the season (which is year around where we live) I go to A LOT of baseball games. I’ve always been one to enjoy watching the game, or at the very least I enjoy reading a book outside in the nice weather with some snacks.
While having a baby at a baseball game definitely changed how I’m able to enjoy the game, I’ve still made it a priority to find enjoyment in the things that I like. Which means figuring out how to keep a baby occupied when we are spending all day at a field.
In truth, although it might seem daunting trying to pack for an all day event like a tournament, parenting really is easier outside and you don’t even need to pack the whole house. What I’m going to do in this post is break it down into two equally important parts (necessities and entertainment) to keep your packing simple and hopefully allow you to still enjoy a day full of baseball.
Depending on what kind of weather you’re expecting for your upcoming game, your necessities will shift slightly, but I’ll cover both cold and warm seasons since we’ve been stuck in both.
First things first, your diaper bag.
You’re already used to packing a diaper bag, so this one seems like a no-brainer, but you’re going to want to stock it good for this. I don’t think I’ve ever been on my way home after a long day at the field and thought “man I wish I packed less diapers.” So that goes without saying, just pack a couple extra.
On that same note, make sure your wipes are full. Baseball fields are dirty! No matter what age your baby is, you’ll be using extra wipes to get rid of all that grime.
Pack a change of clothes. Trust me on this one, it’s no fun arriving at the field at 8AM and realizing the baby had a blowout on the drive over and soiled her only outfit and you have to wash the poop off in the bathroom sink and hope there’s hand dryers in there to dry her pants (not that I’m speaking from personal experience of course). Just pack the extra outfit. Of course if it’s warm enough out I’m pretty sure a baby has never been mad to be hanging out in just their diaper.
On the topic of clothes, make sure you’re dressing your baby appropriately for the weather and bringing the proper extras. You can follow this guide when figuring out how to dress a baby for the right temperature.
During the spring and summer months you should also be packing a good mineral sunscreen (safe to use after 6 months, but always consult with your pediatrician first), a sun hat to keep baby’s face out of the sun and a fan. Here’s a fan and mister combo that has been working great for us and these long days!
During the winter and colder months make sure you’re bringing an extra blanket and dressing warm enough. My go to for the winter season was having Alexandra in a fleece suit. They usually have hand covers and a hat and make it so she could still crawl around and be warm.
Another necessity that is a no brainer is ample food. Right now I’m just talking formula/breastmilk and water because I’ll get into snacks more in the entertainment section. But if you know you’re having a long day at the park, pack a cooler and lots of water and feeding supplies!
Lastly when it comes to necessities you need to think about the space you’re going to set up. Whether you know the field you’re going to has grass, or just a bunch of concrete and bleachers, you’ll want to bring a picnic blanket to lay out. This can act as your home base, and is especially nice for pre-mobile babies to lay them down and give them a place to stretch out (even once your baby’s crawling it’s nice to have a dedicated home base area to keep all your stuff).
I always try not to pack too much when it comes to baseball days, mostly because I don’t want to carry it all in. However, when we’re going somewhere where I know there’s little to no shade I’ll usually bring along a popup shade tent.
Back when Alexandra was just rolling around I brought our wagon that acted a bit like a playpen on wheels which I LOVED! This is the wagon we have. It’s never been something that I’ve brought (because I like to pack at light as possible), but I’ve also seen people bring an outdoor playpen to set up. I’m sure it’s an absolute game changer!
I totally recommend bringing your wagon if you have one, not only can it be a playpen or nap area, but it also gives you lots of storage for all of the other things you’re packing for the day! Due to space in our car I usually just bring our travel stroller which does the job just fine! The nice part about this stroller is that it lays almost completely flat which gives Alexandra a perfect nap spot!
One other item that I found really helped me when Alexandra was littler was a baby carrier. She was the type of baby that I could get anything done as long as she was in the carrier. The one that I always brought to baseball games was this Baby Bjorn and I loved it because it was breathable, lightweight and super comfy!
I know you’re probably thinking “but Abby, you said this wasn’t going to be complicated and then you just listed a million things that I need to bring and you haven’t even covered what’s going to keep my baby entertained.” I know it seems like a lot, but almost all of these are things that you bring with you on a regular day to day outing, just a little modified.
So, necessities to bring when bringing a baby to the baseball field:
- Your diaper bag
- With extra diapers & wipes
- An extra change of clothes
- Sunscreen & sunhat OR fleece suit/hat & mittens
- Food source (i.e lots of formula or breastmilk) and extra water
- Stroller
- Bonus Items
- Shade canopy
- Outdoor playpen
- Wagon
- Baby Carrier
Now let’s talk about the few things that are going to keep that baby entertained so you can still enjoy America’s favorite pastime.
There are two categories for entertainment: snacks and toys.
Never underestimate the power of snacks! My purse pretty much always has 2 different types of baby snacks to keep Alexandra occupied when we go anywhere. When it comes to a baseball game I love my snacks, which means miss girl needs hers too. Some of our favorites are:
Similarly to what I said about diapers, I’ve never been upset that I packed too many snacks!
Now, bringing toys isn’t considered a necessity, because after all anything in your bag can entertain that baby, but if you want to keep your sanity and also enjoy the game, here are some that have kept Alexandra entertained throughout her different stages.
2 – 4 months
- Tummy time mirror
- Crinkle book
4 – 6 months
- Egg sorter
- Tummy time mirror
- Crinkle book
6 – 9 months
- Egg sorter
- Pull back car
- Baby radio
10+ months
- Walker
- Baseball
When Alexandra was little and just doing tummy time I found the best thing was setting up her tummy time mirror on her blanket and giving her some crinkle toys. I would occasionally bring my Boppy pillow to set her up on and she liked that, but in those early days she was still napping frequently.
Once she started rolling over and sitting up on her own, she was still super interested in the tummy time mirror and crinkle toys, but her new favorite was the shape sorter and eggs. I bought that whole set that I linked from Amazon and stuffed all of the eggs into that sorter and she would go nuts for it! I swear this thing kept her entertained for a long time.
By the time she started to get a bit more mobile and started crawling, she was still playing with her eggs a bunch, but also got super interested in the pull back cars. She would follow those around a ton. This is also the stage where she stopped staying on her blanket the whole time (and we left baseball games much dirtier than before).
Now that she’s super mobile I’ve found the best thing to bring with us when we’re at the field for a while is her walker. This keeps her entertained (and tires her out) forever! We just walk all around the park and she has a blast! Throw in a little time playing with an extra baseball laying around and we’re golden. Once she’s walking on her own I’ll end up switching the walker out for a balance bike, but the idea is still the same. An item that they can be active with!
When you’re spending multiple hours at the baseball field, keep in mind that your baby is going to take a nap (or two or three depending on their age) so don’t forget to bring something for you too. I always pack my Kindle with me on baseball days so that when she does fall asleep I can do something that I enjoy (if I don’t feel like watching the actual baseball game that day).
So to recap, here is a list of everything I recommend in order to make your day at the baseball field go as smooth as possible when you’re adding that baby in the mix:
- Your diaper bag
- With extra diapers & wipes
- An extra change of clothes
- Sunscreen & sunhat OR fleece suit/hat & mittens
- Food source (i.e lots of formula or breastmilk) and extra water
- Stroller
- Bonus Items
- Shade canopy
- Outdoor playpen
- Wagon
- Baby carrier
- Snacks
- Like a bunch of them. 2-3 different kinds
- Toys/activities
- Something for you
One more note from me to you is to just embrace the mess. Babies seem to have the most fun when they’re making the biggest mess so just let it happen, besides that’s why you’re going to pack the extra baby wipes anyway!
The bottom line of all of this is to just take everything in stride and figure out what works best for you and your baby. All of these tips are just a place to get you started! Our first couple games and tournaments were a whirlwind, so if I can help just one other mom have an easier time then I’ll be happy! Have so much fun, watch a bunch of baseball, and if I forgot anything leave a comment and let me know!!
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xoxo abby
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