5 diaper bags that won't make you look like a sissy.

My wife used to have one of those newer lime green Volkswagen beetles, and if you have ever driven one of those things you know that right next to the steering wheel, there is a little vase to put flowers in.  Every time I would have to drive the car I would stare at those flowers and then take them out, put them elsewhere, and put a pen or something in there.  For those same reasons I believe that a diaper bag or wheelchair bag or whatever, should NOT always be a girly bag.

                                                                                                                                                                                     

This is my nightmare....

  My wife and I have carried around some form of diaper bag every day for the past 8 years for our daughter, and bottom line is that I shouldn't have to "change the flowers" every time I get in the car if you catch my drift.  The diaper bags function for us and for most people is to carry around the necessary items and or tools you will need to properly care for your child.

Imagine bottles and junk...how awesome is that!

Let me preface with this, in our bag we carry quite a bit of stuff including 4-7 diapers, meds, 2-3 bottles, feeding syringes, a small pulse ox, lip balm, 2 changes of clothes, 3-5 bibs, and more, so these bags are going to fit at LEAST that much stuff.

So with all that said, here are 5 diaper bags (and other kind of bags), that have worked for us, are functional,  will still be stylish enough for your lady, but won't make you look like a sissy.



1. Eddie Bauer® Medina Backpack Diaper Bag - Black/ Gray

This thing looks pretty cool and we found it at target.  It has insulated pockets and all that jazz, but on top of everything else it looks like a snazzy backpack.  Another thing to note is that sometimes your best option depending on your wheelchair IS a backpack, so yeah look out for this one and others like it.

Snazzy!

2. Jeep Diaper Bag-Black Micro Fiber Tote

Don't let the micro fiber thing fool you, this one is like the Juggernaut of diaper bags.  You can carry it over your shoulder or by hand, and it has this wire thing in it like tool bags or doctor bags have so it keeps its shape.  It also has that neat little cellphone thing so you can carry around a Nokia big enough to stop a bullet.  Bottom line is that I liked this one a lot but it was quite bulky.  It hung from our daughters wheelchair decently enough, but it still was at times too much.  Hey, it's made by Jeep so you know it's rugged!

Rugged!

3. Busy Breathers Oxygen Carrying Backpack

Not so much in the diaper bag category, but this one is really cool and if anyone asks you can always say the BB stands for big boss.  The Busy Breathers Oxygen Carrying Backpack, will hold most transportable oxygen tanks, and has a hole that you can thread the line through.  I heard his set up also works for a feeding pump if that's your situation.  You can find these at  http://www.busybreathersllc.com/  and pick up a pediatric pulse ox while you're there, those things really do come in handy.

Big Boss!

4. Dash Diaper Bag-SkipHop

 We currently use a variation of this bag, and honestly it's the best bag we have ever used for our situation.  Period.  The main thing for us about this one is the design of the handles on Aria's wheelchair honestly make it difficult to carry most bags on it, but the shuttle clips that are supposed to go on any stroller work AWESOMELY on our kiddos chair.  Another benefit of this bag is that it is smaller than most of the other bags we have used, while at the same time it just has a ton of packets and little nooks for you to fit everything into.  There are a ton of styles on this one, but get those shuttle hooks they're a life saver.

Awesomely!

5. Backpacks, messenger bags, fanny packs, totes, etc...

The bottom line when it comes to choosing the right bag for your situation is to understand just that...it is YOUR situation.  If a backpack works, use it.  If a tote bag works use it.  If a plastic bag works, use that.  Don't let the fact that you want your bag to match your nursery, your hair, and your shoes, influence the functionality of what you need to carry around for your little one.

The Situation!

Much love!

-Salvador

Hi!

My name us Salvador Arrona, and here are a few things you need to know

I am a C.
I am a C-H.
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N
And I do have Christ in my heart, and if everything goes well I will live FOREVER.

I am married to an awesome wife who I don't deserve.  Her name is Deborah Arrona and you can check out her blog here.

I am a dad to a little girl named Aria Magdalena Arrona who has some special needs.

My wife became very sick when she was carrying Aria and at 25 weeks into her pregnancy Aria was delivered.  Aria was 1 pound 4 ounces when she was born and that day was crazy.

I remember the second when Aria was born, she made this little meowing gurgle sound...and that was it.  We didn't hear her again for at least 2 months.  You see all these movies where they pull the child out of the mom and give them a slap on the bum and that kid just cries and cries, but what I heard (and Deborah still doesn't remember hearing it) was closer to a death rattle.  It was New years Eve.

Aria stayed 110 days in the NICU.  For the first 5 days Deb and I didn't get to see her.  We were so young.  I was 19 and she was 20, and we had no idea what was going on.  We would go in every day to see Aria, and just watch her.  The day they took her breathing tube out, we were surprised because no one had told us.  We just heard her little fussy voice.  We didn't take enough photos.

If your child is premature, even if things are looking grim, make sure you take A LOT of photos.

We left that hospital with oxygen, a pulse ox, and hope.

A pulse oximeter is the medical fields equivalent to nails on a chalk board.

Aria did okay for a while.  Eventually, she was spending too much energy eating and not getting enough calories. At 2 years old, a feeding tube was surgically implanted into Aria, and she began to grow and grow!

Now Aria is 8, and she has some special needs, (Cerebral Palsy, Cortical Visual Impairment, Epilepsy, etc..), but it's cool.  She is a really sweet and awesome kiddo, and we couldn't ask for a more well behaved child.

Here she is starting 3rd grade a couple of days ago!

So yeah, I hope with this blog, that I can reach out to some other special needs dads.  I am a plumber, musician, and have an awesome rugged beard.  So I probably won't always be really emo about everything after this blog, and hope to provide some manly insight into parenting a special needs kiddo.

-Salvador