After my last post on diaper bags I discovered the world of the truly diaper-bag-obsessed. I took the plunge off the deep end and wandered into fantastic message boards filled with like-minded organizational lunatics. First of all, there’s the Babybags Yahoo! Group. This place, a buy-sell-swap-discuss mecca of all things diaper bag, actually has a database of photos of different bags. Please do not hold it against me when I say that I actually spent several hours perusing the photos just to see the interior shots of all the bags. Because how often do you have to buy a bag without seeing the inside first? Too often, in my opinion. Even more helpful were the comparison shots: Skip Hop Dash next to Fleurville Sling Tote. Front view. Side view. Observe.
Also helpful were the Baby Bargains message boards; their diaper bag forum is teeming with diaper bag addicts eager to discuss the differences between the Land’s End Triple Compartment Diaper Backpack and the DadGear Diaper Backpack. At this very moment someone is cataloging the differences in measurement between all available diaper bag packs. YES.
Then there are the lovely folks over at the Ju-Ju-Be message boards, kvelling happily over their latest JJB acquisitions. This is, dare I say it, Diaper Bag Fandom. The innovative and super-nice head honchos at JJB read these boards and actually take their users’ feedback into consideration when designing or modifying these bags. I was pretty darn impressed with the obsessiveness of everyone involved, and sent away for a JJB bag to see if they had managed to achieve diaper bag nirvana.
Based on photos and message board reviews, I also sent away for a Lexie Barnes Superstar (on SALE!), a mega-sized messenger style diaper bag that was rumored to be both lightweight and pretty darn big. I have been thrilled with my Fleurville Sling Tote as a small bag, but if I’m going somewhere and need to carry a packed lunch for both girls and extra sweaters for everyone, it just doesn’t cut it. So I thought I’d compare the Ju-Ju-Be Packabe and the Superstar, both of which got raves — one of them would have to be my perfect Big Bag.
Well, apologies to the lovely folks at JJB, but for me, the Superstar came out on top. Although the Packabe was rumored to carry a huge amount of stuff, it lacked the interior organization to make the stuff easy to find. And although it was cute as hell (especially in brown & robin’s egg blue), it was HEAVY. All those special teflon thinsulate space age materials really weighed it down. And although it was billed as the biggest JJB bag, I found it to be roughly equivalent to the Sling Tote in size, and I needed still bigger.
The Superstar, on the other hand, weighed less than the Packabe, but fit all my stuff with tons of room to spare. It’s not as easy to carry, since it’s not a backpack, but since it’s lightweight I don’t think it will be too awkward. It also has magnetic closures, a wipeable exterior, a brightly colored interior, and enough pockets to make angels sing. The only big disappointment with the Superstar is that it lacks rings or straps to attach it to a stroller. It also doesn’t have the cushy cellphone-specific mom gear pockets of the Sling Tote. If it had those things, it might actually achieve nirvana status.
So I’m keeping the Superstar (yeah, I know, another bag), which will leave me with two bags in regular rotation (Sling Tote, for little outings, and Superstar for big ones), plus my old DadGear backpack for airplane travel. Even more satisfying than sampling new diaper bags was organizing my stuff to easily switch from one bag to the other.
So now I’m on to my next obsession for now: finding new recipes to work into our regular rotation. More about that very soon.
April 8th, 2007
As promised, here’s a list of what usually lurks in my diaper bag.
Essentials:
- Diapers, 3-6, depending on how long you’ll be out of the house. We use Huggies Ultratrim.
- Disposable package of wipes
- Diaper cream (Balmex)
- Plastic bags for disposing of dirty diapers. (I’m actually a big fan of the small packages of HandySacks sold at Target in the travel section - 10 plastic bags in a tiny little package.)
- Changing pad (disposable or otherwise)
- Purell hand sanitizer
- Small ziplock bag containing infant tylenol, baby thermometer, Neosporin, and a couple of Band-Aids
- Baby sunscreen, usually in stick form
- One complete change of clothes for baby, stored in a clear gallon-sized Hefty ziplock bag. (In case of mess, you can seal up the dirty clothes in this very same plastic bag)
- Sun hat
- At least one toy or book
- Bib and plastic baby spoon
Bonus items:
- Balance bar and bottle of water for mom/dad
- Ziplock bag of Cheerios
- Burp cloth
- Baby blanket
- Extra sweater or sweatshirt for both kids
- Reading material for 4-year-old
- Snacks for both kids, depending on where we’re going
- Nifty doodad that converts anything into a bib
(…so what’s in YOUR bag? I am obsessed about these things, and I’d love to know.)
April 3rd, 2007
Almost every mom I know has been through at least three diaper bags, if not four or five. I thought this was a ridiculous statistic until I allowed myself to buy a second diaper bag after realizing that the first one was deteriorating quickly. The second one was an improvement on the first one in many ways, thus planting an idea in my head: was it possible to achieve diaper bag nirvana? Could I continue to improve on each successive new bag? Would angels sing when at last I opened up that final perfect tote?
Without further ado, here’s the rundown of all the diaper bags I’ve tried. I’ll post my list of diaper bag essentials in another post, so you’ll know what I was trying to fit into all of these bags.
My first diaper bag was an old version of the Petunia Pickle Bottom boxy backpack, which I got as a shower gift from my sister. It was GORGEOUS. I used this for six months or so before tragedy struck: the velcro used to fasten it closed wore out, thus leaving me with a bag that hung open most of the time.
Pros: SO CUTE. Nice size for a newborn. Did I mention CUTE?
Cons: Closed with velcro, which wore out very quickly, at which point the bag refused to stay shut. Backpack and shoulder straps were too slippery to stay adjusted to the right spot. 6′5″ husband could not carry comfortably.
After that we got a Land’s End Diaper Backpack, which we used for a very long time with great success. It was fantastic for a few reasons: first and foremost, it was a backpack. I’ve found that it is so much easier to carry a backpack than a shoulder bag when you are carrying a baby with one arm. Also, for airport travel, a backpack can’t be beat.
Pros: Backpack. Very inexpensive ($40). Came with huge changing pad. Two insulated cupholders on the outside of the bag. (May have changed since our model.) Light blue wipe-off interior which avoids the black hole syndrome (losing everything in a dark bag interior). Stayed upright during a diaper change.
Cons: Too small for major outings or airport travel. Diaper compartment was the wrong size and tended to squash diapers. A little too small for tall husband. Also, not cute at all. Looked like I should be carrying books to junior high.
We then tried out a Skip Hop Canvas Duo. These seemed to be outrageously popular and I liked the attach-to-stroller feature. I used this one for about three minutes before discovering that I just couldn’t fit all of our stuff into it, and I don’t even carry that much. I am not sure how other parents manage with this one, because it was way too small for me, dawg.
Pros: Cute. Attaches to stroller in nifty way. Slim and streamlined.
Cons: How the hell do you fit your stuff in this thing?
When Frances got older and needed slightly fewer supplies, I looked for a diaper bag that could double as my purse. I figured it would save me the trouble of bringing both a purse and a diaper bag with me everywhere. Enter Fleurville’s Sling Tote.
Pros: Looks fantastic. Love the conversion from tote to sling bag. Hooks onto stroller in nifty way. Separate compartment for wallet/keys/glasses, so works nicely as a purse.
Cons: Again, small. Can be used for one child for minor outings, but as soon as you start packing changes of clothes and baby blankets and jackets and bottles of water, it’s not really workable.
Enter Gloria, Baby #2, and suddenly our diaper bag needs changed once more. I wanted a backpack again, but it had to be BIG. I finally discovered DadGear, which manufactures big dad-sized backpacks that are a much more reasonable size for two kids. With two girls, I had to have a pink one. We’ve used this for a while now, and it’s pretty great, although still not perfect.
Pros: BIG backpack! Comfortable for dad. Easily adjustable straps. Diapers are kept separately in a top compartment. Tons of pockets everywhere. Great for airport travel. Light, wipe-off interior.
Cons: Separate compartment for wipes is at the bottom of the backpack. Why, I ask you, why? The compartment is a great idea, but the wipes get squished at the bottom of the bag, and then when you set the backpack upright to change the baby, the weight of the bag compresses the wipes and they’re impossible to pull out. Nice idea, poor execution. Would have been perfect at the top of the bag instead. We nixed the wipes compartment and we squish them in with the diapers.
Currently I am experimenting with a smallish LeSportsac tote that is not a diaper bag at all. I have a Ziploc bag of diapers and wipes in there, and it’s so small that the whole bag scrunches up to nothing. I can then throw this bag into another HUGE canvas L.L.Bean bag for park outings and the like, since we need a picnic blanket and hats and elephants and other large items for the park. I keep the huge bag sort of permanently in the car and then I jettison the LeSportsac like an escape pod. It’s working out pretty well so far, but the LeSportsac is not a backpack, so I need to keep the DadGear bag in rotation for the airport and trips to the zoo and other places we need to carry kids.
For future diaper bag experiments, I am fascinated by DadGear’s Messenger Bag. Also the Sherpani bags. But I must draw the line somewhere, although I am always enticed by that next perfect bag lurking around the corner…
March 23rd, 2007
I am a little bit insane. I just ordered Frances’ birthday party favors almost two months ahead of time.
In my former, pre-child life I was not so crazy, but now that I have kids I get some sort of absurd pleasure from accomplishing a task in advance. It’s like, yes, I only got two hours of sleep last night, and my baby’s nose is dripping everywhere, and I got pizza for dinner, but! I HAVE PARTY FAVORS! Those kids will take home little plastic baggies with stickers and crayons and I will have assembled those baggies in a — dare I say it — leisurely amount of time. Ah, the thrill of doing anything in a relaxed manner. Small victories are sweet.
Incidentally, my small victory was due mostly to Orientaltrading.com, home of every small plastic item you ever wanted to fish out from under your couch. For the truly interested, the loot bags will include:
Heart shaped notepads
Rainbow crayons
Ice cream erasers
Iridescent stickers
March 8th, 2007
