Diaper Bag Shopping Guide
You will not always have a lot to carry with your baby. At first it will probably just be some diapers and a clean set of clothes. Mothers who are bottle feeding will have more to carry than their breastfeeding friends. Choose a bag or two that will grow with your family.
Do not automatically think lots of small pockets makes a great bag. One or two small pockets can be helpful to store a pacifier or small toy, but make sure the pockets are big enough to carry the things you will need.
Also, do not assume bigger is better. If you are taking your baby away for the night or weekend, use an overnight bag. A diaper bag should only be big enough to hold the items you need to keep your baby comfortable for a few hours.
Some mothers find it is easier to keep a separate, larger, bag for day care. This allows baby to have all the items necessary for a full day, but still provides the family with a more reasonable bag for family excursions.
Look for a bag that has a separate compartment for your wallet, phone, keys and other items you want to have handy but do not want left in the bag by accident. This can cut down on the amount of bags you need to carry when you are out.
Special items to consider are an insert to bring home cloth diapers and an insulated carrier. Insulated carriers are generally only needed if you intend to transport breast milk.
Once you know what you need your bag to carry you can begin to decide how to carry it. Do you want a backpack bag or a shoulder strap bag? Do you want something with baby fabric, or something that looks like a handbag?
Mom's Experiences
I loved having a diaper bag that wasn't covered in baby print fabric. It cleaned up easy and had lots of room to store things. It actually turned out to be bigger than I needed, but I didn't mind.
I received a diaper bag with lots of little pockets, which I expected to be perfect for storing all the little things you need when you have a baby. Unfortunately the little pockets were too small for the stuff I wanted to carry and everything ended up in the one big section. It worked, just not as organized as I had expected it to be.
Key Considerations
- Is this bag the right size for the amount of stuff we have?
- Is this bag easy to be carried?
- Does this bag allow easy access to the things inside?
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