I am not an expert in child development or parenting. I'm just a dad of three kids who are close to being out of diapers. So I started writing a post last week about little tips I thought I could give new moms and dads before they spend that small fortune on baby stuff. It got really long so I decided to chop it up into a series of posts called "Tips From a Veteran Baby Raiser." This is the second in that series.

Don't Get a Diaper Bag, Get a Good Backpack

We have used the same two diaper bags with all three of our kids. One was a freebie we got from the hospital with our first baby. It was really basic and looked like a purse. We still use it and I still hate it. The other was a really cute messenger style of diaper bag. It was full of little pockets and pouches. It was more fashionable (like that matters) and cost about $80, I think.

Then one day my brother comes over with his kids and a backpack double strapped to his back. I saw that and couldn't believe how stupid I had been.

I'm a wide bodied guy. Maneuvering between my truck and the vehicle next to me is already a careful operation to make sure I don't chip paint. Add a kid and a diaper bag and it's damn near impossible not to leave a mark. Put a pack on sitting high on my back instead of low on my hip and suddenly I have two arms with full range of motion at my disposal.

What is the best backpack to get? Honestly, anything you can reasonably afford. I'm not a backpack expert but , like most things, you get what you pay for. A cheap pack will have cheap straps that will wear out quickly and fall apart. A $200 hiking/camping pack will last you for all of your kids for sure but is probably too big and definitely overkill. But if you can swing it, I would get something of decent quality in the $60 - $100 range. You can find packs anywhere from Target to Cabelas that would fit the bill.

I have seen the backpack style diaper bags. I personally don't think I would like one. I thought about getting one but I felt like it didn't have enough compartments. Many of them have a specific wipe compartment on the outside, but a diaper bag is more than diapers and clothes. You're hauling food, bottles, sippy glasses. Give me a couple of water bottle pouches on the outside of a pack any day over a wipe compartment. You don't always need the wipes. They can ride inside the pack with the diapers. When not in use I wouldn't feel like walking around with a wipe dispenser on my back.

Being as late in the diaper bag stage as we are we never actually converted to a backpack. I have used a cheap promotional giveaway pack my wife got at work on occasion but we're still using the two old tired diaper bags.

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