Diaper Bags, Decisions, and Dollar Signs

Thanks so much for all your input earlier this week in regards to my diaper bag quandary. Quite a few of you chimed in to tell me what issues you’d faced with your own diaper bags, what qualities mattered the most, and what you liked to carry around with you in your own bag. (You can see all the comments and feed back here.)

Whew. There’s a lot to learn and wade through when it comes to shopping for baby, so I appreciate you all opening up in hopes that it will ease and guide my decision-making.

It’s not really that picking a diaper bag is a huge ordeal or life-threatening or any of that. It’s just that there’s so much to take into account with a new baby and I want to make sure that when we make purchases, that we’re making them wisely rather than on something that we’ll end up discarding or disliking soon after.

A few years ago, I learned about that firsthand when I went shopping for hair straighteners. I remember going to Target and picking out a $30 or $40 hair straightener. With daily use, it ended up dying after a year. So I went back to target and purchased another straightener, this time $40 or $50. It still ended up dying about a year later. Finally, I polled my friends, read reviews and bought a $100 straightener. It’s lasted me for more than 4 years now, effectively costing me only $25 a year.

Sometimes spending more up-front can end up costing less over the long-run. That’s kind of the same mentality I try to sort through when it comes to almost any spending decision: How can I make the most of this purchase?

Anyway, so that’s the approach I’ll be taking as we start making our way down this newfound buying-for-baby road, which is why I really appreciate you all taking the time to chime in on share your own experiences with me. It helps all the decision-making that goes into it a ton easier to have the firsthand accounts!

In case you missed it, here are some of the highlights from the diaper-bag suggestions post you offered up, in summary:

• Yes, you definitely need a diaper bag. And you'll probably be better off buying a bag that's intended as a diaper bag, versus a random bag you have in your closet.
• It doesn’t have to be huge but it will probably need to be bigger than you expect.
• Pick one with lots of pockets and organization options, so that you can find things quickly without too much digging around.
• Some people preferred backpack style vs. messenger-bag style. Which makes me interested in getting a convertible one that can do both.
• Make sure it’s waterproof. There will be spills!
• Plus, you can read all the other comments everyone shared here.

If you have any other insights (whether it’s to add more to the diaper-bag discussion or just about other best-buy baby purchases), I’d love to hear them in the comments!

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