Today I’m going to review one of my favorite bags for about 2 years now, the Skip Hop Grand Central. I came upon my beloved red one when I was pregnant and instead of being a good girl and saving it for when the baby came, I was so excited to bring it out in public. At the time, I was working for an airline and it made an amazing carry-on bag that I could easily pack for an overnight trip. It also made an amazing gym bag and carried all of my pregnant snacks easily. I’m pretty sure there was food in my mouth for the majority of my pregnancy, so that says a lot about how many snacks I carried. I also worked alongside a girl who was a month further along than I was and we were each other’s enablers, bringing in goodies for each other constantly. It also has insulated pockets on the sides which were amazing for my frozen water bottles and the super hot summertime weather.
In case you missed it; here’s what I typically pack (and is included in this review) in my diaper bag for a day out with my young toddler:
- 2 diaper covers and 6 soakers in total (1 inside each cover and 4 spare).
- wet/dry bag
- disposable wipes
- 2 toys
- coconut oil
- baby lotion
- a swaddle (blankie)
- a sippy cup
- snacks (raisins and cheerios)
- lunch (sandwich)
- a board book
- a bib
- sunglasses
- my cell phone
- my wallet
- a small makeup bag
- pacifier
This bag is similar to their duo bag; it has 2 interior pockets that are about the same size. They are a little bit taller, but other than that, there’s no real discernible difference between what the pockets can hold. I still stuff them with a blankie, lotion, book, and wipes. It is noticeably larger in the main part of the pocket, however. My wet/dry bag easily fits horizontally on the bottom with plenty of room to spare. If you have multiple children, I’m certain you could fit another one right on top of it as this bag only takes up ¼ of the capacity of the bag with 6 diaper changes.
With the rest of my main compartment contents (bib, sandwich, snacks, and toys), the bag is still only about ½ full. There’s plenty of room for a jacket or larger blanket/carrier directly on top of it, or maybe even a breast pump if you needed it.
One of the cooler things about this bag is the 2 smaller compartments on either side of the main one. the “baby compartment” in the back has a waterproof pocket–absolutely perfect for a pacifier or coconut oil, especially since coconut oil liquefies at a relatively low temperature. The rest of the compartment has a deep pocket, great for additional books or toys.
The “mommy compartment” in the front has a soft lined pocket for sunglasses, a handy phone pocket, and a deep pocket for my wallet and makeup tote. There’s also an additional zippered pocket in this compartment that is great for keys or other things you need handy but also secured.
The side pockets on this bag have double the capacity of their duo bag. In total, I can tote around 4 bottles (or straw bottles) at once, which was a life saver when dropping off our son to the babysitter.
This is a great bag from Skip Hop for moms of multiples or singletons. It retails for $90 and is both stylish and spacious. It has straps that are great for toting over the shoulder or carrying by hand and easily attaches to a stroller with Skip Hop’s signature stroller straps. It does have an included changing pad that I didn’t photograph because I managed to lose it, but they even sell replacements for $9 if you’re like me and forgetful.