Dad Diaper Bags

Over the last few decades, a lot of things we used to take for granted about gender roles and parenting have changed. With women choosing to be both mom and career woman, men started making the same choice. In some cases men chose staying home and forgoing the climb up the corporate ladder, sometimes as full-time caregiver, and sometimes by running their own business from home.

While our attitudes toward many aspects of men and women and their roles as parents have changed, there is one thing that most men could never really get over. No matter how hard they tried, their caveman like instincts would not allow them to go along, no matter what society said, no matter what any talk show host said, and no matter what any leader said.

Men HATE traditional diaper bags.

The best advice for dads is to get your own diaper bag instead of putting up with whatever one your wife gets at a baby shower.

The issue may be societal, or it may be inborn, but for whatever reason, men wan the bags they carry to be cool as well as functional. The average man can handle most anything you throw at him as a parent: Diaper changes? No problem. Bottle Feeding? No sweat. Rocking, swinging, singing, and soothing the baby? You bet. Carrying around a big, bulky, diaper bag? NO WAY!

Men hate regular diaper bags. For starters, they seem inefficient. For years, men have thought there had to be a better way than rummaging around in a purse for something. So, they don’t want to start doing the same thing now, with a diaper bag. Real men don’t say, “Where is that pacifier?” They say, “This is the pacifier compartment.”

Fortunately, a new trend in diaper bags began long ago. Diaper bags made specifically with men in mind are now made by several companies. These bag not only ditch the is-this-a-50s-chair-or-a-bag flower design, they are made in more comfortable and stylish forms like messenger bags, backpacks, and other familiar packs. And, yes, they come with TONS of compartments.

There are enough pockets, pouches, compartments, dividers, and straps on a man diaper bag to keep everything sorted out and in its place, theoretically anyways. The truth, of course, at the end of the day is that men are no different that women when it comes to how carefully they repack a back when a screaming infant wants to be fed. Of course, that is not the point. The point is that those pouches and pockets COULD be used, whenever he wanted.

Many of the companies making diaper bags for dads market them under names that seem a little too cutsie for the average man. They include brands such as Diaper Dude and Go GaGa. Fortunately, these companies are smart enough not to splash their names all over the bag. After all, 90% of being cool is pretending as if you weren’t trying to be cool. If it looked like you bought a special, more dad friendly bag in order to look cooler, well, that wouldn’t look cool at all.

While diaper bags made for fathers are great, there is an even better alternative, no diaper bag at all.

It turns out that 80% or more of what is in an average diaper bag is in there “just in case” for events that are not at all likely. More over at least three-quarters of the time, a man is no more than 5 minutes away from his car. If that is the case, why lug around all of that just in case stuff?

Instead, fill a bag with the things you need for emergencies and leave it in the trunk. Then, pack the essentials, 2 or 3 diapers, a little thing of baby wipes, a bottle, and a packet of formula and put it in a small travel tote of some kind. Then, throw that in the bottom of the stroller.

Voila, no diaper bag need apply.