What's in My Pool Bag

No one tells you this when you become a parent but after almost 9 years at the job, I’ve learned a large part of it is actually the packing and unpacking of bags – diaper bags, lunch bags, bags for school, bags for camp, bags for sports, and as the summer season kicks off, pool bags!

Our family just got off the waitlist for a local community pool right in time for pool season. Neko and Bowie have already joined their swim team, so we pretty much have one kid at practice almost every afternoon. Charlie will not be joining the swim team as she is still mastering her not drowning skills but could easily spend all day at the pool if we let her. 

We’ve been members of this pool for less than 3 weeks, and we’ve gone almost every single day, so today I’m sharing all the things I’m packing in our pool bag to make sure we’ve got everything we need for long days at the pool.

Note: All Amazon links are affiliate links so I (or rather Cook Smarts) might earn like 10 cents if you buy something. No recs are sponsored – just truly what I love and recommend.

First, the pool bag(s) itself!

Instead of stuffing everything into one bag, I find that it’s easier to divide items up into two mesh bags. It’s easier to find stuff and you don’t need to take everything out to do so. I love that this bag is huge and has lots of compartments on the outside to tuck smaller items into, like sunscreen, sunglasses, flip flops, etc. I also bring along this bag, which has a bit more structure but is slightly smaller (though still very roomy). I usually stuff towels into the larger one and keep swimsuits and post-swimming clothes in the smaller one. Both were under $20 on Amazon and have held up incredibly well to lots of pool and beach trips over the last 2 years. The mesh is great to keep air circulating for all the wet items and to not bring home a collection of sand from the beach.

Towels

While we do have a few beach towels, they are heavy and take up so much room. I much prefer thinner Turkish towels, similar to the ones here, which are light and quicker to dry.

So many tubes of sunscreen

Rather than have kids impatiently wait their turn for the sunscreen and then do a bad job of putting it on because they are in a rush to get into the pool, I simply carry a ridiculous number of sunscreens in our bag.

Now the tough question: mineral vs. chemical? I am still trying to understand how worried we should be about the chemicals in many sunscreens* so our family mostly uses mineral sunscreens just to be on the safe side. My preferred one is Baby Bum’s SPF 50 mineral sunscreen; of all the mineral sunscreens we’ve tried (and we’ve tried a lot but clearly not all), it rubs in the most easily. I do have a chemical sunscreen that I love and use it just for faces. It’s Supergoop’s Unseen Sunscreen and it’s a gel that has the smoothest texture. It rubs in so easily, which is why we’ve continued to use it even though it is a chemical one. It is expensive but I’ve heard that e.l.f.’s Invisible Sunscreen is a great dupe and much less expensive. 

*Who knew that what type of sunscreen to wear is a complicated question? This is another area where I cannot tell if we’re being too alarmist or if the FDA is seriously behind in regulating sunscreen (and skincare) ingredients but if you want to read more, this Time article is a good place to start. Recently, I am also learning about why European and Asian sunscreens are better than the ones found in America.

Lots more sun protection

As a teen, I barely wore any sunscreen and instead slathered tanning oil all over my body so that I could better absorb the sun’s rays (though I’m not sure the oil really had any effect on that – it was really just the sheer absence of any sun protection that probably made the difference). I have fairly dark skin so I rarely got sunburned but it doesn’t mean that I probably don’t have some level of skin damage from all those years of unprotected sunning. But now I am old, just a little wiser, and very concerned about my aging skin and want to cover everything. 

Regardless of what type of sunscreen you use, the best way to protect skin is just clothing so rash guards for everyone! Charlie in the past insisted on just wearing just a tiny little bikini bottom but after the smallest patch of sunburn a few weeks ago, she is on Team Coverage (also at 5 years old, we are trying to introduce the concept of just a little modesty). I just picked up this Title Nine rash guard in the blue and love that it has some pockets for I guess all the sunscreen I’ll be chasing my kids around with? I also pack an oversized white cotton button-up to wear over my bathing suit outside of the pool.

My favorite bathing suits

I much prefer a two piece to a one, mainly because it’s so much easier to go to the bathroom in but after 3 babies, I like a high-waisted bottom. I do not understand why bathing suits often cost as much as they do – seriously how can so little fabric cost so much? – but I have splurged on the two pieces from Left on Friday, and I never want to buy a different bathing suit. The fabric is buttery with just the right amount of stretch and the bottoms are perfect for whatever tummy you have. I have the Sunday Top and the Hi Tide bottom and wish I could have them in every color, and even though they’re often covered by a rash guard, they just feel so good on, which is something you rarely hear anyone say about a bathing suit.

All the other random items in my gigantic pool bags

• Dry bags (yes, I have bags within bags) for storing wet bathing suits. (Left on Friday suits do come with their own dry bag!)

• Packing cubes to organize everyone’s bathing suits and post-pool clothes (yes, even more bags within bags)

• Snacks kept cold in this 2 in 1 cooler / lunch bag (geez, even more bags)

• Kids swimsuits and their favorite goggles - these new straps are so much easier for kids to adjust on their own than the usual silicone ones

• An assortment of pool toys

• Lotion for after showering because the chlorine really dries your skin

• Mini first aid kit because kids are always scraping or stubbing their toes on the hard pool surfaces 

• Flip flops, sunglasses and a hat (for me)

• A fun-to-read book in a Ziploc bag so it doesn’t get wet (yet even more bags!)

So yes, this summer will definitely include a lot of packing and unpacking of bags, but it’ll also include a lot of fun at our new favorite place!

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