While I was pregnant with Oliver, I read up quite a bit on diaper bags. I decided in the end that I should have a small, medium and extra large diaper bag. For the small, I chose the Fleurville Escape Pod.
The escape pod measure 10.5”x6.5”x2.5” and is large enough to fit a couple diapers, a pack of travel wipes (you get a nice orange plastic container for the wipes), a couple travel-size bottles, and some cash and credit cards. There’s also a small 21”x12.5” changing pad included.
How useful has it been? Oliver is now 14.5 months old and I haven’t used this bag once.
The Escape Pod is seriously cute. Just pulling it out now to play with it before writing up this review, I thought, “Dang, this is cute, I should take it out sometime.” The only thing is, I don’t find it very practical in the life I lead. I’m wondering if maybe it’s the kind of bag a mom who spends most of the time in the car needs. I still have a hard time imagining it being that much more useful in that situation, but I’ve decided to take it along when I travel to the US later this month to see if I put it to use there.
If you’re like me, and spend most of your time tooling around town with a stroller, you probably only need a medium or large bag. Something that fits on the stroller. That’s really the only size diaper bag I use, although my large one does get taken to the pool, but that’s a review for another day.
I would recommend Fleurville diaper bags though. The quality of the Escape Pod is great, although if I were to use it, I would prefer a pocket for putting money in that is accessible from the outside, so that I wouldn’t have to zip open the whole bag in order to pull out my cash.
Do you have a Fleurville Escape Pod or a Skip Hop Dash, or any other mini-diaper bag? How do you like it? Do you get a lot of use out of it? Let us know, maybe you will inspire me!
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I tried using “fancy” diaper bags with my first son who is now 9, but none really worked for me. My husband suggested a backpack and I was like “no way” but we got one anyway as that’s what he wanted to use. Well it stuck. We were able to fit everything we needed in it. It had lots of pockets inside and out. Now with my 1 year old that’s all we use. I have a small one and a large one. Baby on the front and backpack on the back with free hands. What a great deal. We live in Berlin and don’t have a car and our stroller is small so this works the best for us.
Thanks for all the great advice and info on this web site.
I have a SkipHop dash. I didn’t use it much in Germany because I walked everywhere and used a larger bag. But it became our go-to solution when we traveled by plane. On a long-haul flight, we would shove a whole bunch of diapers, an entire pack of wipes, clothes, and the Duo into a backpack. Our normal diaper bag wouldn’t have held so much stuff, we could wear it on our backs, and we could just grab the Dash and a diaper to take into the teeny tiny airport bathroom. Now that I drive quite a bit, I keep it in the car and don’t have to take a diaper bag everywhere.
Do you mean the Skip Hop pronto? That’s the wallet i have – it’s a life saver.
@jennifer: I think the backpack is a good idea. They usually have a lot of pockets and let you be hands free when you can’t hang it on the stroller.
@blythe: I can see that. So it’s probably more useful for parents in Europe to have a larger diaper bag and MAYBE a diaper wallet, while American parents may want a larger selection.
@debi: You’re right, I meant the Pronto. Looking at it on the Skip Hop site, I think it would be more useful than the Escape Pod, but I guess the Fleurville equivalent would be the Mod Pod.
I have a wallet made by 1st years, and I like i because I can just throw it in my larger purse and go. It’s great for quick trips or times when I won’t need but one or two diapers. Now that we cloth though, I use it a lot less.
I have four kids and with each child, my diaper bag got smaller. I love the Escape Pod diaper bag. Not only is it ecofriendly, but it is really convenient. And the patterns are really splashy and pretty.
My escaped pod is a lifesaver!!! My son is now 20 months and instead of lugging around a huge diaper bag I grab that for trips to the Mall etc. and that is all I need. Earlier when my son was an infant I kept it in my diaper bag and would take just that out for trips to the changing room when we were out.