Ingenious Diaper Bags

I've just found the perfect diaper bag. It's fabulously chic, totally practical, perfect for traveling and costs just over $200.  I can almost hear my mom's voice…"Are you out of your mind? You're going to spend $200 on a bag to carry a few diapers in? What's wrong with using a plastic grocery bag like I did?"

What can I say? She has a point. Just about any bag will work as a diaper bag.  I countered with "Mom, I could never use plastic. It's just so not green." 

I have to admit (although never to my mom) that my current diaper bag is really just a big bag with a couple of zippered pockets. It works beautifully, holds everything, and costs less than $40. It's really just meant to be a temporary replacement for my first one, which I was forced to bid adieu to after it fell into an airplane toilet. Yes, you read right.  There I was trying to change the baby in a place where there is no room to change a baby. Holding the baby with one hand, I was trying to spread out the changing pad and take out the diapers and wipes with the other. I was holding the bag between my stomach and the change table, and… SPLASH. Thankfully it was at the end of a flight because I was not about to salvage that bag.

So all this got me thinking. My company, Wee Travel Baby Equipment Rentals, makes it easier for parents to travel lighter by providing a full range of the latest and greatest in baby gear. Could there possibly be a mom out there who invented a diaper bag that makes it easy to change a baby in a public washroom?

And so the search began for something hip, functional, and brilliantly engineered. And that's when I found ‘my cherie amour' - the Studio Cherie diaper bag - an ingenious little thing that I adore (but don't yet own because the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and I'm having trouble justifying the $200).

What's so great, you ask? The Studio Cherie diaper bag was designed to make it easy to change your baby in the washroom of an airplane. The back side of the bag opens up to become a changing pad that is designed to fully cover the changing table. When you open the changing pad, your wipes, plastic bag pocket and diapers are at your fingertips. And the thing that I love the best - there's no way the diaper bag is going to fall into the toilet when  your baby is lying on the changing pad!

I also came across the gr8x Baby Traveller Deluxe Diaper Bag which is a diaper bag and baby changing station all in one. Ok - function over fashion here, but it's pretty clever. It has 3 layers of pockets that hold everything you need for changing, and it's perfect for parents who want a lightweight, practical and organized diaper bag. There's not a whole lot of room for extra stuff, but I could definitely see keeping one of these in the car, or bringing it in my airplane carry-on bag.

Finally, because your man may not be too keen on carrying the gorgeous girly girl diaper bag you've just spent a fortune on, there is the DadGear Diaper Vest. Just as the name implies, this is essentially a wearable diaper bag - perfect for the dad who won't be caught carrying anything that even remotely resembles a purse. The vest has strategically placed pockets for all of the baby-care essentials that a diaper bag would hold, including a changing pad hidden in the back. All in all, not a bad idea, but where do you "wear" the dirty diapers?

About the author: Lesley Cherry is co-founder of Wee Travel Inc. Baby Equipment Rentals, weetravel.ca, serving Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria. Check out her hip baby gear blog www.weetravel.ca/blog to read about more great travel gear for parents on the go