BABY CHANGING BAG - do I need one?

[Holymoly321]

Hi all, this may sound incredibly naive - but as I've still got at least 4 weeks to go till baby arrives, I think I can be forgiven for not knowing anything! I know that I'll need a baby changing bag, but how big should it be? The thing is, I've seen an absolutely gorgeous red leather baby changing bag on reddirect.co.uk - it's £140, but comes with thermal bottle warmer and two changing mats - which is obviously a huge chunk of change, but it's my birthday very soon (hope I'm not in labour on my birthday!), so I'm thinking of getting my DH to buy it for me. Is this a foolish idea? Should I just get a black nylon baby changing backpack from mothercare? Advice appreciated!

Sounds v expensive - try eBay, you may get something similar for much cheaper. I've got a bag I got in one of those really cheap stores like Poundstretcher and its plastic and doesn't look v great but does the trick. I think it cost £3.99.

I think you're all right! Hazlenut, I will have a look in John Lewis. I've got a leather rucksack already, and I think I'll probably just use a bag I already have until I've sussed out the whole bag thing - having the baby first will give me more of an idea what kind of bag I need. Still think I may get DH to buy me a nice big leather bag though - just because I like them! I'll just but a small changing mat to go in the bag and take it from there.

Two important things:

1. GET A CHANGING BAG THAT YOUR DH WILL WANT TO WEAR. Don't get anything remotely girlie. When you are out together you want it to be HIM that's carrying the changing bag.

2. Whatever you buy you will need to put down on a stinking wet toilet floor at some point. You will have one arm full of baby and no where but filthy places to put your stuff down. Bear this in mind.

Oh I've just looked at this bag and you have to carry it in your HAND?

You need something you can wear like a rucksack because you will be carrying BABY all the time.

hmm agree with others, that bag doesn't look that easy to carry.
Not sure why you need a bottle warmer either - most restaurants will warm baby milk won't they?
(I bf so don't really know).
I have had an assortment of rucksacks to keep hands free, generally bought from Argos for a few quid.
Never used portable ch mats - changed baby on the grass or in a changing station (lost of places have them now).
Better off spendign the £140 on a facial, pedicure and massage!

Agree totally with Sleepysuzy - buy yourself something nice. Expectant Mums are bombarded with 'stuff you must have' adverts and they are mostly tosh. Any old bag will do - why would we need one that says 'mamas and papas' on it just to show what it is and add a few £s to the price

As for pressies for yourself - how about a killer handbag or some nice pre-natal treatments

I bought a bag from accessorize for men, it has two little pockets, one big pocket and a zip pocket, perfect. Your dh wouldn't feel stupid carrying it around and it hangs on the back of a pushchair really easily.

and it cost £20, buy yourself something nice with the change.

I took a while to get the right one for me - I now used a Nike nylon drawstring bag (cheap as well) - can handle anything DD throws at it.. The best part is that I can carry it on shoulders, over back, fits on the buggy handles and fits under the carriage.

I found a melted chocolate bar in there the other day (took it out of M&S childs lunch box) and just chucked it in the washing machine - good as new (and obviously clean as well)...

Like the others say - save your birthday money for someone for YOU -

I would deinetely get if it I could afford it. You don't get to feel very glamourous when you have a newborn baby but at least this changing bag might help!

oh my god smiling why did you put down the website address....now i want one!! Its lovely, i would defintaly be able to justify the cost!!! then again i do have a bag fetish!

Echo the idea of a cheap backpack. More than once food spilled in mine or had to put wet clothes in with no plastic bag handy, a "good" bag would have been ruined.
If you don't already have one, get a cordless phone for your birthday, the best piece of "baby" equipment we got!

Hi

I would say not to bother. I'd rather spend the money on a really fab large bag that you can use for years to come. If you are thinking £100 then you could get anything, a designer thing or whatever takes your ancy. Orla Keily bags are wipeable and pretty indestructable. I'm sure you could get something just as fab for £40!

You can stuff spare clothes, toy, nappies bags etc in there which is great for when baby is a baby. However, you still need a large bag when baby is a toddler eg potty training or just messy for a spare t-shirt, snacks, little toys etc so I would say get one that does not scream 'this is full of nappies' and get ones that says ' i am still a cool person'!!

I just had an orla keily one for my birthday for this very purpose Newgirl... and the one I got ended up not being v. practical at all due to the handles so I have now just ordered a new changing bag but like a few others here I do LOVE bags. I agree with Mummyjules about having a lovely bag with a new born making you feel that little bit more glam (not that I could have ever been described as that). I had a shanghai bag when dd was born and it did used to make me feel nice ! Yes, I am that shallow !! Having said that I would really recommend the shanghai bag for practicality given that it is made of satiny/silky material and the material is stained and snagged !

right. Must stop reading this thread am beginning to sound like a bag fetishist...

what about one of these?

Have never had a changing bag ... complete waste of money IMO ... up there with the Sangenic Nappy bin ...
You can get a little changing mat to fold into any bag ... no need for bottle warmers if you breastfeed and if you bottlefeed then most places will warm the bottle for you.
When DS was little (he is nearly 6 now)I used a leather rucksack and then I use a Nike bag (the type that crosses over your body with one strap ... from one shoulder to waist?) until it fell apart a couple of months ago. Now I carry a big bag that is very trendy and does the trick.

My nike one looks just like that one in sleepysuzy's picture ... only not a 'baby' bag

you can get a folding change mat at pound shops, i prefer putting ds on it rather than directly onto a changing table and can use the floor when necessary.
totally agree not to buy a bag that needs a hand to carry it, you will be wondering how to get additional arms to attach to yourself as it is...

I got a minki changing mat made it's lovely soft red fleece on one side (you can choose between fleece or terry cloth) and wipe clean on the other, totally machine washable...yes yes I know I'm sad.

I saw a very large shoulder bag in Dorothy Perkins today - leather look and only £25. I think I may buy this cos it's cheap, but funky looking, huge and will probably hold quite a lot - then see how I go with that. As much as I'd like to get a fabulous and expensive leather bag, I've never been able to justify it to myself - and I'd feel pretty crap if I got one only to have it ruined by baby spew and what not! Whereas the £25 bag could get wrecked and i wouldn't feel too bad about it as there is always another £25 bag round the corner! I'll get DH to get me something else for my birthday!

DH wouldn't be seen dead carrying a change bag so we just bought a plain black rucksuck, then a separate travel change mat + insulated bottle holder to go inside. Still use the rucksack all the time for travelling, nights away etc, so glad I didn't waste any money on a change bag .

who has £100 to spend on a changing bag what a waste of money, if you are going to spend that much money buy yourself a nice handbag which has a couple of open pockets and is open at the top or easy to open with one hand. I drooled over designer changing bags for years ended up with a £5 jobbie from Boots with DD1 which I still use 3 years on, luckily with dd2 I was given a sample changing bag from work, ditched the changing mat waste of time and very bulky a small hand towel suffices. Changing bags are totally over priced and there for first time mums to over indulge, sorry if I sound scarred but really its all Reatil speil. Find a great handbag which you can use for years or buy a cheapo one and chuck it away. Otherwise a kiddies rucksack holds everything you need,

To answer your question - no you dont need a changing bag. What you do need, as everyone has said, is a wipe clean bag with a long enough strap to hang over the buggy and room for all the stuff you need. i had a black bag with a long strap - I think its called a courier bag & it cost about £10. Not too embarassing for Dh to carry. Personally i would rather spend £140 on something non-baby that I really really wanted.

Also I never used a bottle warmer. Just took a bottle of water and one of these little containers of powder and either added boiling water or got the cold water heated up somewhere. Bottle warmers take ages and i would worry about keeping a bottle of milk lukewarm for hours.

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