Aug 162011
 

As guys, we don’t really think about diaper bags.  No really, I dare you to find any guy who’s actually thought about diaper bags…until he has a kid and realizes that he (and the wife) now have to carry around a miniature Baby’s R’ Us with them at all times.

Gentlemen, I’m here to tell you to think proactively and look for a diaper bag fits with your sensibilities, your style, and your need for function.  Because whenever you go out as a family unit (mom, dad, baby), guess who’s going to be carrying said diaper bag most of the time.  Yup.  It’s you, pal.

Now, it seems to be the trend these days that most hospitals where the baby is born give you a goodies bag when you are discharged and take the child home.  Most of the time the goodies bag will contain a diaper bag.  Some are rudimentary, some are pretty good, but all probably have the logo of the hospital on them.  You will, after all, be providing the hospital with free marketing service if you make use of the bag and go out in public with it.

Now this is all fine and good, but sometimes the bags don’t really measure up to what you want and you gotta ask yourself if you mind being a walking billboard for the hospital.  And if you leave it to your wife to decide these things, you may not get what you like.  Now, full disclosure here, I am actually fortunate in that my wife got a bag that I actually like.

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Here is the bag that we use, and here’s what the bag looks like slung over my shoulder.

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OK, why am I obsessing over this?  Well, take a look at what you may get if you don’t do your homework.  Here’s what the trend seems to be in terms of diaper bags for moms.

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Looks more like a purse, doesn’t it? It’s quite nice looking, very pretty, very chic.  Do you want to carry any of these all weekend long?

Here’s what I’d recommend for Dads.  This one’s from a company called Diaper Dude:

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They look sporty, cool, and look more, uh, manly.  Here’s another company I like, Dad Gear.com.

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You may think I’m making a big hoopla for a bag, but I’m from NYC where we have a fairly strong pedestrian bag culture, so I take my bags seriously.  And consider that you’re going to be living with this thing for the next couple of years, so you might as well invest in something that you’re NOT going to mind lugging around.  Trust me, you’re gonna want one that you might even like being seen in, and it’ll actually psychologically set you up to want to carry it around when you’re out with the family.  And, as an added bonus, your offer to always carry it around without any hesitation will get you extra points with the wife.

OK, so enough about the styling.  What about the actual nitty gritty?  In my next post, I’ll go over what we actually carry around, and some strategies for how I’d recommend you prepare for any outing with the baby.

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