The Best Diaper Bags, Ever

I bet you didn't know, but I'm a bit of a diaper bag expert. I have bought so many diaper bags in an effort to “not spend so much” on the bag I really wanted. I have a frugal (read: cheap) gene and spending a hundred dollars, or more, on a bag is really hard for me. So now you can benefit from my expertise, read on and you will learn about the best (and only) diaper bag you will ever need.

When I had my first child none of my local friends had babies and I knew nothing at all about all that was available in the world of diaper bags. So my first bag was a large, vinyl like tote bag, with matching changing pad, zippered pouch, and paci holder. It looked similar to this:

Photo Credit Babies r Us

Just a big cavernous pit of a bag with some mesh bottle pockets inside. After a few weeks of lugging it around with the carrier and not being able to find anything, or dumping out all the contents when I bent over to pick him up, I ditched it.

After that bag I used a hiking satchel from when my husband and I were young fit non-parents and would hike all over the state. It was not really functional as a diaper bag, but it didn’t spill, and I could wear it across my body. I also tried the free ones from the hospital, which weren’t terrible but were too small. By this time I had a playgroup and several of the moms had these neat looking bags. They had a ton of pockets and get this, they could be strapped to the stroller:

Photo Credit Skip*Hop

I was like, Neat! Than I saw the price $60? Hrmph. I was not working and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend that much (ps my memory tells me that 5yrs ago it was $80, I could be wrong). So I went with a messenger style bag, similar to this:

Photo Credit Babies R Us

Only mine was canvas, with outside pockets and it had had the same kind of latch on the strap as the Skip*Hop, I thought this meant I could put it on my stroller.

I was wrong.

to this day I don’t know what the latch did, we couldn’t ever figure out what it hooked to, there’s a reason I can't find it in stores anymore!

After 2 years and countless different bag changes (I may have bought another one, or two on clearance thinking they would work) I was complaining to my husband about my diaper bag. He looked at the pile of diaper bags in our hall closet and than looked at the bag I was currently coveting for our new double stroller:

Photo Credit Skip*Hop

He turned to me and said “Women! You haven’t saved any money! You have bought so many bags you don’t like you could have bought the one you wanted, TWICE!”

Ooops.

So while he was in a spending mood I ran out to the store and bought my first Skip*Hop:

Photo credit Skip*Hop

It was love at first sight.

It had pockets, so many pockets! Inside, outside, under the flap. It was a messenger bag so when we were zipping around the city I could where it across my body. It had the coveted clasps that allowed me to attach it to my stroller. It was everything I dreamed of and more. Seriously. It looks like a small bag but I fit SO much stuff in it.For the first month or so I had to carry newborn diapers, change of clothes, burp cloth AND pull ups and toddler change of clothes. Not to mention drinks for mommy and toddler and snacks, toys, you know everything but the kitchen sink. I carried that bag everywhere for 3 years, until I rewarded myself with a purse and I lovingly stored it away until I had another baby.

I have another baby.

However times are a little different now. I have two kids in school, I am on various committees, I am sort of working from home, and I live in the suburbs. There is no more walking to the park or running errands on foot. I spend my days running the kids and myself around in the car. Which means on most days I have a baby strapped to my chest in one carrier or another. I still loved my diaper bag but it wasn’t working. It would slide off my shoulder as I tried to balance baby and preschooler. I found myself throwing it on the floor of the minivan and leaving it there as we ran in and out. No bag should be punished by being on the floor of my minivan. Worse was when I had to run to meeting or event, I needed to carry a purse too, and I am not a fan of carrying multiple  things, just ask my husband.

So I turned back to my friends at Skip*Hop, I had heard they had a new, more purse like line but I hadn’t seen it (we’ve been out of the baby loop for 2 years). Oh, they are even better than I expected, just look:

Studio:

City Chic (removable Clutch!):

Versa:

Aren’t they pretty?

As a gift when baby Bean was born Skip*Hop sent me a studio bag in Pewter Dot, they didn’t ask me to write this, it was just a gift. I AM IN LOVE.
 
Seriously. I can’t believe how much stuff I can fit in this bag and it it doesn’t look or feel bulky.

It can fit a lot, but it can't refill the always empty wipe container in it! 

That would be miraculous!

My daughter calls it my silver purse, PURSE. That’s right it doesn’t look like a diaper bag, I have even gone out, without children, and used it. I am in love with the zippered pockets on the front.

I developed a bit of a lip gloss obsession and I could not find a place for it in my old bag, now they have their own pocket. It also has an antimicrobial lined pocket in the back so my changing pad (which came with) and all it’s gross little germs can be safely tucked away without touching any of my stuff. It still attaches to my stroller, but without the big bulky strap strap:

See the little hooks just slip in and out the side. And when not attached to the stroller, it’s a great place to store my keys:

I have felt more stylish and put together, dare I say organized since it arrived:


So take my advice, head over to Skip*Hop and find the style that suits you best, and just buy it, they are worth every penny. Take it from a cheapskate.

Oh and if you want to save a ton, they are currently on Zulily (referral link) for almost 50% until tomorrow, so you better move fast.

Take it from a diaper bag expert, these are the best of the best.