Lost in the land of backpacks, lunch boxes and nap blankies

[kristenk]

I got an email from DD's preschool yesterday. It mentioned that she would need a backpack big enough to hold a lunch box/bag, change of clothes, take home folder, and towel or blanket for quiet time. Aack!

My questions:
1. Anyone know of any backpacks that would fit all of that stuff and still be wearable for a 3yo?
2. I really don't know what quiet time will be like and whether the kids will be resting on floor mats or what. I *DO* know that I need to get something that will fit in her backpack and that quiet time is only 20 minutes. Does anyone have any blankie recommendations?

DD will be attending two days per week. One day, she'll just be there from 9-12, so she won't need to carry a lunch and blankie. It doesn't sound like they want you to leave nap stuff at the school.

Thanks for any advice or recommendations!
Kristen

[new_mommy25]

Lands End just came out with a preschool pack specifically for children 3-5 years old. That might work. Their Ergo Jr. bag is recommended for children 4-7 and that also looks like a good choice.

[punkrockmama]

Girl, me too. P.'s starting preschool in the fall and the list of things he needs kinda freaked me out.

Here's what I'm doing:


LL Bean Jr. backpack. http://tinyurl.com/z7lpx


LL Bean lunch bag. http://tinyurl.com/2nu75n I need one on the bigger side since he's taking lunch and snacks.


Mr. Bobbles blankets. www.mrbobblesblankets.com I found them on a search here and it looks good. They make a pillow/blanket combo that is supposed to great for nap @ school.

Hope some of this helps. :)

[annasmom]

Yikes, that IS a lot of stuff for one little person to carry! Can they store some of the items at the school for your dd??

Anyway, I just got the new little backpack from Lands End (made for 3-5, that Angie mentioned). It is really cute. It would probably hold everything from your list, except maybe the towel. If you want, I can try packing it later on today to see if everything would fit??

By the way, I was actually thinking about posting a backpack reminder. Order NOW if you think you will be needing a particular color. I waited too long last year and was running around like a mad woman trying to find a non-character pink backpack. This year's *must have* color is orange. I ordered mine from Sears on Sunday, and got it on Wednesday! Yeah!

[kristenk]

Eileen,

That would be awesome if you could pack the LE little backpack to see if stuff would fit.

I'm going to check out the mr.bobbles blankie option. I have a pillowcase from them that I like, but I didn't check there for a blankie. I'm also thinking that I might see if I could clip the lunch box to the outside of the backpack if necessary. Aaarrggghh!

Oh, and I don't think they want you to leave stuff at school. They have such a mix of days that kids can come (T/Th, M/W/F, T/W/Th/Fr, M-F) that they don't have a lot of extra storage space for all of the kids.

There must be some sort of super-packable blankie out there!

[Jen841]

Check out JcPenny's. We got our cot mats there, and I saw nap sets there last night for cheap. Could easily fit in a back pack.

We have child back packs from Old Navy I bought on sale for $1.00 and the things I think will last FOREVER. The things are so durable. I bought about 20 and gave them as gifts a few years ago.

[annasmom]

O.k., here is what I did - I had to improvise a bit. I packed the backpack with the thermal pack that comes with the Medela PIS (to resemble a small thermal lunch bag), a change of clothes, a clip board & file folder to resemble height & stiffness of folder, and a beach towel. It all fits, but it is tight.

I would doubt a 3-4 year old would be able to open the bag, take everything out, find what she needed, pack everything back up again - you know what I mean. At my dd's school last year, the teachers packed the kids bags for them so this was not an issue.

This is the backpack I have:

http://www.landsend.com/pp/BoysPreschoolBackpack-53408_172815_-1.html?CM_MERCH=SRCH

Here is the girl version:

http://www.landsend.com/pp/PreschoolBackpack-61318_172795_-1.html?CM_MERCH=SRCH

The girls' version does look a bit different, most noticeably it is missing the fron pocket.

HTH!!

[lovin2shop]

We had the same issue last year at school. The backpack was supposed to hold a full change of clothes, nap gear, sunscreen and lunch. We got the LL Bean Jr. backpack and lunch box. The lunch box does not fit with all the other stuff, so we just carry that separately. My DS wants a small blanket (crib sized) and toddler pillow for naptime. He sometimes even manages to sneak in a small stuffed animal. I gave up on making it all fit well, and he (and the other kids for that matter) loves to bring as much stuff as he can possibly get by me. I just shove as much in at the beginning of the day and then repeat at end of day. It is so overstuffed that I usually carry it for him. Some of the other moms gave up and bought full sized backpacks, but the kids really can't carry those either.

Having said all that, I do love the quality of the LL Bean backpack and lunch box. It received a ton of wear and tear this last year, but really still looks like new.

[hellokitty]

I was at the mall today and I noticed that children's place has a jr backpack. I thought I'd check it out, b/c I remembered reading your thread. I really liked it. I notice that most jr backpacks from B&M stores do not have a nice side pocket for a sippy cup or water bottle. Well, the CP one did, and it had lots of other pockets too. I thought it was really well made and did not look babyish looking like some jr backpacks do. Plus, it was only $12.50!!! If you have a CP nearby, you might want to check it out. I *think* that it would fit everything the backpack and probably get a matching lunchpack that you can velcro onto the outside of the backpack. That will free up a lot of room for other items, but in general I felt that the CP jr backpack was much roomier than ones I had seen at other stores. I liked the price too. :)

[vdrake71]

I just wanted to mention that I was looking for a plain yellow backpack for my DS who started school in January and the only place I could find one was at ebags. Ebags almost aways has sales and specials. I think the backpack we bought was "east..". I just can't remember the exact name of the backpack.