Why You Shouldn’t Buy a Fancy Diaper Bag When You Find Out You’re Pregnant
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Here’s a fun question for you guys: what would you tell new moms NOT to buy? What did you buy that was a waste of money or a mistake for your family? For me, the big answer to this question is a fancy diaper bag — I now advise all of my friends to NOT buy a fancy diaper bag when they find out they’re pregnant.
(Pictured: a lovely $1400 Burberry diaper bag to consider if you don’t want to listen to this advice!)
All of my friends and I made this mistake: the second we found out we were pregnant we started looking for fancy diaper bags. Resist the urge to do this! At least until after the kiddo is born and you’ve been using a diaper bag for a little bit of time and have a better sense of your needs (and the level of grossness that often comes with babies).
For example, the one that I bought (a very nice Rebecca Minkoff one that’s still available) I ended up hating, because I didn’t want a two-handled tote bag — one handle would fall off my shoulders, and I felt like the whole thing threw my balance off further, particularly if I was babywearing. It also didn’t fit neatly over the stroller handles (or underneath in the basket) — in short, I used it about three times.
The truth of the matter is, you may not NEED a diaper bag, at least at first — I wound up just using an old Le SportSac Everyday bag (formerly my office gym bag!) for the first several months of my son’s life; other women just use backpacks or totes (or keep supplies in your stroller or car). If you’re breastfeeding, you don’t need to cart any food or snacks for the first six months. When they’re very little you don’t need many toys, either.
So the main things that you need to bring with you are 1-2 outfit changes and your diapering supplies. If you’re traveling with a breast pump (which is a whole other ball of wax), odds are good you’ll just want to shove the diapering supplies and outfits into the same tote. I don’t think I used an actual diaper bag until my son was about a year old, honestly.
(If you DO want to make a purchase, these are some of our favorite diaper bags for working moms:)
Our latest favorite diaper bags for working moms include classics from SkipHop and Petunia Pickle Bottom, as well as some options from brands we love for work bags, including Dagne Dover. For affordable options, check LAND or Amazon seller RUVALINO.
(Here’s what I eventually saw as the best way to stock a diaper bag; the pics were taken when I had two kids under 4, both in diapers!)
Furthermore, your diaper bag isn’t really going to be “yours,” at least not in the sense of your other bags — your partner is (hopefully) going to carry it occasionally and will likely take it on outings. Your nann(ies) will probably do the same.
So, for my $.02, hold off on buying the diaper bag — at least until the kiddo is born, and just prep a regular tote bag, backpack, or messenger tote until you have a better idea of your needs.
Ladies, are you with me in being against fancy diaper bags? How much did you spend on the diaper bag you eventually loved? What else do you recommend newly pregnant mamas NOT buy?
Social media image credit: Pixabay.
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- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- Zappos – 26,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
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- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
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I was gifted a gorgeous Kate Spade diaper bag/tote that I used as my purse/diaper bag for the first 9 months. The only reason I stopped using it was because the handles ripped (I probably overloaded it but, still, for the money I expected it to last longer). At that point I bought a JJ Cole bag that can convert to a back pack.
I culled my baby list pretty thoroughly (including sending it to my friend with three kids to review) and there were only a few items I bought and didn’t use. The big one was a carseat cover (it was too complicated to use so I just threw blankets over the carseat). The best purchases were two RnPs (one for each floor) and two baby carriers (one wrap and one structured).
Diaper bags are just not a thing for me. I found one with a pattern I liked and called it a day. It’s not perfect, and not what I’d carry day to day, but as A Place To Hold Baby Things When Out With Baby? It’s fine. I could have easily used one of my larger bags or a tote. To me it’s just a bag – I suspect that’s part of my suburban lifestyle, since I toss it in the car and go. I imagine I would have much stronger feelings if I regularly used public transportation/ walked with it and baby. Right now we use it for overnight trips or if we’re gone more than a few hours, mainly to hold sippies and snacks. We keep a diaper clutch in the car, and both cars are stocked with current size diapers and outfits in case of emergency.
Here’s a kind of funny story – at Baby HSAL’s first doctor appointment at 2 days, before the cars were filled with supplies, my husband had to be the one to tell me that we needed to take a diaper bag with us. So we had to scramble to throw stuff in it (Me: why do we need a burp cloth? HAHAHAHAHA) on our way out the door. Thanks for saving the day, Mr. HSAL.
I concur with this – and would even extend the advice into when you have second children. When I had my second child I really wanted to up the quality factor on what I used for a diaper bag, since what I had previously (Skip Hop – actually two of them) shredded pretty quickly. I got totally sucked in by the Instagram account of a diaper bag company and bought a $300 bag — and it’s been horrible on quality and doesn’t live up to its claims on how well it holds things. I’m actually really quite embarrassed by the experience, since I normally think of myself as a savvy shopper!
I had a simple, but pretty, diaper bag on my registry – I don’t remember what kind, but I believe it was insulated for the sake of carrying expressed milk – a feature I liked. As it was floral, my husband asked that we find one he was comfortable carrying (he’s a freelancer who is mostly home with our son so he would use it more frequently than I would). We picked up an Eddie Bauer diaper bag – barely used – at a garage sale for about $4. It because our go-to bag and I don’t even know what happened to the other. I need to replace it after 2 years of hard use – but of course the model is no longer made.
I wanted to keep things super simple and mostly managed it. I ended up not using my flat swaddles much and relied very heavily on the SwaddleMes and Halo sleep sacks. I wish I would have had more of those and fewer of the flat swaddles.
I got this one and still use it all the time (and so does my husband). It’s particularly great for longer days out and on airplanes— stands up solidly so no worries about spills inside. Lots of pockets, which I like for keeping snacks & toys/ books separate from diapers & creams etc. But it’s not huge and weighs nothing when empty.
It has held up great for 2-plus years.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R5KTFCC/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_12_w?th=1
For just running around I throw a small diaper clutch into whatever back I’m using. Fits 2 diapers, a travel pack of wipes, and unfolds into a pad. It fits nicely into all my totes & med/large purses, plus his swim-lesson bag, our backpack, or a small stroller pocket.
Hear me out, gang. A lot of people will probably disagree, but if I had it to do over again I wouldn’t buy a crib. I know it sounds crazy but…
I had a crib with an attached changing table. I never once changed my child on a changing table. That, in and of itself was a waste. My son ended up in the room with us in a pack n play for the first 8 months or so. By the time he was 15 months, he was crawling out of the crib and I could find him perched like a gargoyle on the attached changing table, even if the crib was on the lowest setting. So I converted it to a toddler bed (thinking I was soooo smart for getting the convertible one) but he ultimately crawled out of the toddler bed and into the full-sized bed in his room (which was just a mattress on a boxspring at the time, no frame). We ended up tossing the crib when we moved.
If I had it to do again, I would invest in a really nice playard sleeper (maybe nicer than the graco one I had, which really worked just fine), and once that is outgrown buy either a toddler bed (SO much cheaper than a crip) or go straight to a floor bed of some sort. I bought into wanting to have the nursery all perfect and set up, but by the time he used it my tastes had changed! Especially with the new “keep them in your room for a year” recs, I think a crib is a waste.
I used to tell people a changing table is a waste, but a tall friend pointed out to me how much it was necessary for tall folks, so I guess this is a “know your physical needs” thing.
Speaking of diaper bags, I need to pick one out soon. I want something that is durable, not hideous, and less than $150. Any suggestions?
My husband sews and made us a diaper bag with a matching changing pad. Naturally I was contractually obligated to adore it. It was pretty good, although a bit big, and I never liked the changing pad (too hard to fold/unfold 1 handed). I received the Skip Hop changing pad clutch thing as a gift, which is great and I recommend. But I liked having a bag ready to go with diapers, wipes, cream, nursing cover, at least 1 change of clothes, toys, etc. at all times. When my son got a little older I started using an old backpack more with the Skip Hop clutch inside and more stuff we would want at the playground – toy cars/diggers, sidewalk chalk, small ball, nonperishable snacks, sunscreen, insect repellent, water bottle, extra clothes, Potette during potty training – I think of it as my playground go bag. We live in the city, and the playground/park is our yard, so it really makes it easier to get out of the house relatively fast. I also have a separate bag of sand/water toys I can grab in the summer.
For baby number 2 (now 10 months old,) we bought a Kanken backpack to use as a diaper bag. I organize it with a see-through mesh pouches that hold the necessities. I can fit my phone and wallet in the front pocket. Its helpful for my hands to be free and my husband doesn’t mind carrying it. Interestingly, a few years ago I splurged on a leather Minkoff knocked-up bag to use for work. I love the size, the pockets, and the durable lining. However, its quite heavy–even if I don’t have it loaded with a laptop and papers so I haven’t used it as much as I thought I might.
I love my storksak noa bag because it also works as a purse for me (I was a longchamps le pliage person pre-baby but I like the storksak bottle pocket). My husband has his own diaper duffel bag. I also have a stroller diaper bag pre-packed for shorter walks, that I can throw into a backpack for baby wearing. This means that I have 3 travel wipes containers (one in each bag), plus an extra change of clothes and diapers in each bag, but I also don’t stress about having baby stuff handy.
When my LO was a newborn/infant I carried around a diaper bag with all sorts of stuff – extra changes of clothes, diapers, some toys, etc. It was a Skip Hop and completely fine but I never loved it. Now I loathe carrying around anything beyond basically a diaper pouch that someone gave us. It fits diapers, wipes, cream, and can fit in my large purse or I can throw it under the stroller. Also, I don’t baby wear all the time, but do so a lot more in the winter (since we take more subway rides instead of walking everywhere) and I hate carrying a bag on my shoulder when I wear my kiddo.
Basically, my point is: don’t spend a lot of money on a diaper bag and get a backpack if you plan to baby wear at all.
I’ll be the voice of dissent here. I bought a gorgeous black nylon Burberry diaper bag when I was pregnant with my first, and a full 5 years later, it is still going strong. I spent about $750 on it at the time, but it is basically the only bag I carry outside of work or special events, so I wanted it to feel sufficiently purse-like that I wouldn’t mind hauling it around with me all the time. Since it is nylon, it’s lightweight and wipes down easily, and has worn like iron. We’re getting ready to have our third, and I full expect that even once we finish our baby/toddler years, I’ll still be using it as a weekender. In this case, the cost-per-wear works out to pennies, so I have no regrets.
I’ve had a few diaper bags — first one didn’t have a zip closure, so stuff was always falling out, second one was pretty good, but then started feeling too big & heavy once I didn’t need all the extra clothes/burp clothes/bibs. I switched over to a small kid-sized backpack, which typically holds a few diaper + wipes + disposable chaging pad in a baggie, snacks, and entertainment. Currently in toilet training mode, so I have a folding potty seat shoved in there and I try to rememebr to keep extra clothes in the car.
I’d like to be diaper bag free and just toss a few things in my purse — but I’m too much of an over packer (extra clothes! entertainment! snacks!) and my purses never seemed right. My bigger ones are all shoulder bags that just don’t stay on my shoulder when kid-wrangling and my crossbody bags are too small.
My unicorn bag is a crossbody that’s jusssst right, so I can carry some of the stuff and kiddo’s backpack can be light enough so that she can wear it without tipping over.
I had a Jujube for my third, and I really liked it. It’s machine washable, has little holes to let crumbs out, could be carried as a backpack, shoulder bag, or by the handles, had some anti-microbal lining, lots of great pockets. It was kind of expensive, and you have to get past the crazy prints, but for practicality it was the best I found.
First time transplant over from the main website. Hoping to get some commiseration/hear your own experiences as I’m struggling. I’m 12 weeks pregnant and already in need of maternity pants/belly band. I’m wearing one tonight. I know that, in the grand scheme of 40 weeks, I’m hardly showing, but I’m having trouble letting go of the comparison game (e.g., mother-in-law telling me she didn’t show until 20 weeks, my own mother only gained 20 lbs, etc.) I know my belly growing is a sign of a healthy growing baby, and I’d like to get a grip on my negative self/body image before I really start growing. I wasn’t super comfortable with my weight prior to getting pregnant (hormones, changing medications, etc.), and it’s only going up from here. How did you handle your changing body and/or conquer the comparison game?