Diaper Bag..

Hi, twin mommies! I am scheduled to have our mono/di twin girls on May 14th and I am wondering what type of diaper bags you all use. I've never posted on the first year forum, but I thought I would ask mommies with experience.

 

I had a Vera Bradley bag - nice and roomy, came with a changing pad and it was green and blue so the hubs didn't mind carrying it!

 

I bought a used Skip Hop Duo for a MoMs group lady and really liked it (I was kind of bummed I never got one for myself!). Tons of storage, good construction.

For us, though, nothing has ever beat the backpack we use. It's just an off-brand backpack that has two large pockets (one with a sleeve for laptops, which we stuck a roll-up diaper pad in). It has two water bottle holders on the outside for bottles and tons of little pouches and pockets. Love that backpack!

 

I had a Skip Hop Duo and really liked it. It fit on the back of the tandem or side by side stroller and was really roomy. I actually still have it and need to sell it because I'm using something smaller for the new baby.

 

Skip Hop Duo!

Whatever you get, the bigger, the better. I never had enough room in anything I carried!

 

That's the bag that I was looking at. It has great reviews and I have a Babies R Us gift card to help pay for it, but on the website it says it won't fit on a tandem stroller and that's what we have. I wonder if the design is different now than the one you have.

 

Actually, I think it's the Skip Hop Duo Double that won't fit on a tandem.

 

Backpack!!! Seriously you'll need 2 free hands for either carrying baby seats, or wrangling toddler's, or catching preschoolers!

I did have a messenger type bag (similar to the skip hop but WAY cheaper), from walmart that had a lovely long shoulder strap that worked great on my double strollers when the babies were younger and I needed a ton of clean clothes and burp cloths. But I used a backpack anytime I wasn't going to have the stroller with me. It was an Eddie Bauer one I found on clearance at babiesrus, with 2 water bottle pockets on the outside perfect for bottles and then sippy cups, tons of pockets on the inside and a few on the outside front for my stuff.

 

I have a brown and green backpack bag from Target. Plenty of room and easy to carry!

 

It's always said that. It fits fine. There are basically little straps that go over the handles. So picture little straps sticking up. They pull out away from the bag to fit a side by side. They pull toward the center of the bag to fit a tandem. Honestly, it fits the tandem so well that you would never know it wasn't made to fit. I have no idea why they say it doesn't? Maybe different strollers work differently? We had the Graco duo Quatro thing. But my advice would be to ignore what they say and go for it.

 

That's what I had. I think that's what people mean when they say duo. But I had the duo double. It fits a tandem perfectly. It also fits a SBS perfectly.

ETA: I just looked it up and there is a duo and a duo double, which is confusing. I knew it was called the duo double but didn't think there was a plain duo. Anyway, the duo double is what I have. It always said it didn't work with single strollers. It worked with mine absolutely beautifully.

 

I second the backpack option. It's necessary to have both hands free, plus you don't have to worry about the shoulder bag falling and hitting one of your babes in the head (speaking from personal experience... bad mommy)

 

Backpack for us, too. I started out using a Jansport backpack that I had around (our kids are adopted and we only had 3 weeks to get ready....). About a month later, my mom bought me an actual diaper bag that was supposed to be for twins. I had her send it back because it didn't hold half as much as the backpack, and I liked having my hands free.

 

I use a backpack now for my singleton and wish I'd thought to use one with my twins. So functional and I love having my hands free. I actually wear the backpack on my front because I usually have Emmett in a mei tei on my back, then I hold the girls' hands as needed. I probably look ridiculous but it works so well!

 

I used a regular backpack because I also wanted to have my hands free - and I really dislike slipping shoulder bags. I never took that much with me, so I would not have needed one of the larger diaper bags marketed for twins in any case.

 

Backpack, backpack!

We had the Eddie Bauer messenger bag but a backpack was easier to keep organized and I didn't feel lopsided wearing it.

 

Backpack! We used a Columbia trekster bag and I loved it! Wasn't too bulky and fit WVERYTHING you could think of in there, I called it my Mary poppins bag. It also has a thermal liner on one of the side pockets which I loved because I could make 2 bottles of formula up and put them in with an ice pack and then threw some more formula in one of those pre measure containers and some water bottles and we'd be good all day

 

I'm actually going to be anti-backpack. We use one now and love it, but when they are little I think it really comes down to whether you are going to use the stroller most of the time. We did, and a bag hooked on the stroller is truly hands free. The backpack is good until you need something. Then you have to have both hands to take the whole thing off your back, unzip, rummage through the black hole, get stuff out, rezip, put back on. Bag attached to stroller? Reach in with one hand and grab what you need. Easy. So if you are going to use a stroller most of the time, for me, a bag that hooks on the stroller is the only way to go.

 

We used the stroller most of the time and I agree a diaper bag was way handier than a backpack. Now I use a backpack because we don't ahve a stroller and I don't have free hands! But for sure when they were small a diaper bag was the way to go.

if I remember right the Duo isn't recommended for a tandem stroller because they can be too heavy and tip the stroller. However, if the stroller has two babies in it and/or two bucket seats and whatever other gear in the bottom of it this shouldn't be a problem at all!

 

Yeah, we never had any tipping issues!

 

My diaper bag is pretty generic. I love it.

what i like about it..
- big enough to hold everything
- 5 pockets: my stuff, their stuff, diaper changing stuff, insulated pocket (bottle, teething rings), little pocket on side for small stuff (keys, c-card, makeup)
- came with changing mat that fits perfectly
- wide strap, never ever hurts my shoulder (even when DS rests his foot on it!)
- strap is very easy to adjust and gets very long and very short (long enough to hang it across the entire bar of the shopping cart and it is still low enough not to get in the way of the feet of the child in the seat.)
- neutral, dark color (DH will carry it and doesn't show dirt)

I think when they are older a backpack will be better. Free hands to grab mobile kids For now, when i often have them in arms, it is easier to have everything within reach. When i am worried about slipping i carry it over my head and across my chest.
I have a Bob stroller and have never had a tip problem even when stroller is empty and bag is full.

 

Ok, I've always been puzzled by this. What the heck are you all carrying around in these giant bags? For a short trip with newborn twins I would pack four diapers, 2 one peice outfits, some wipes and maybe an extra blanket. For longer trips I would pack more diapers. When they get to the age of infrequent diaper blow outs, I stop packing extra clothes. And now I shove everything I need (diapers, wipes, a sippy and a snack) into the bottom of the stroller. So what are you guys toting around? I've always been mystified by this lol.

 

LOL, I'm one of those people that carries around way more than what I need. I like to be prepared. Truth be told, I rarely use most of what I pack. But it makes me feel better!

 

Miriam, you had the advantage of carrying milk on your body. : )
Bottles formula water bibs take up a lot of room.
Other than that it's the same.

the bag got much smaller once they were on food.

 

If we were going somewhere that lugging a diaper bag seemed inconvenient, we did get pretty good at paring down the supplies we carried-

Two diapers each (always)
One onesie each
Wipes
One bottle each
One of these thingers with four formula servings
One/Two bottle of water (for making formula) <-- not that you couldn't buy water while out, though
Maybe a rattle or stuffy or something, but they usually only wanted their bears

That was it!