A practical yummy-mummy wannabe accessory. (Ju-Ju-BeTween changing bag)

Member Name: HonestBob

Product:	Ju-Ju-BeTween changing bag
Date:	01/03/09 (372 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compact size with useful pockets which force you to downsize the 'stuff' you carry around.

Disadvantages: Price and small changing mat.

I will never by a yummy-mummy. I haven't 'kept' my figure (I didn't actually have much of a figure to keep in the first place). I rarely have time to apply make-up during the day. I don't wear designer clothes, have ridiculously long fake nails, or a spray tan. My shoes are from M&S, as are my undies (forget lacy trim, think white cotton). So why I spent over a months child allowance on a changing bag I can't really explain. I guess I just wanted something practical and pretty hanging off my pram handles after months of carting around my huggies freebie until the seams came apart.

And so I asked my best friend - the internet - to provide me with some ideas for a new changing bag. Something red to match my stroller (and my secret inner passions!). It's amazing what you can find if you look hard enough, and after swooning over leather designer changing bags priced in their hundreds, the £56 I eventually found the Ju-Ju-BeTween changing bag for seemed almost a bargain.

I bought my bag from thatcuteage.com in the Sienna Swirl design. This has a red theme, but it is swirled in with khaki green and cream. The bag measures 30.5cm wide x 23cm high x 15cm deep. It fits perfectly between the rear frame strutts of my stroller and the seat back when the seat is in an upright position, meaning that the bag does not stick out at the back of the stroller and allows me to walk upright whilst pushing the pram rather than having to have my arms at full stretch to avoid catching the bag with my knees as I walk (people who use wide messenger style changing bags and hang them from stroller handles will know what I mean about having to adjust your pushing style to avoid the potential bruising of a full bag hung at the handles and jutting outwards!!)

When empty the bag weighs 950g, which I find is very light. Not as light as an empty Huggies freebie messenger bag, but as this bag has more pockets and therefore more fabric and filling, I think the empty weight is fine.

On the exterior of each side of the bag there is an insulated bottle holder/side pocket. The pocket/holder has a strong elasticated top which keeps bottles firmly in place. I have used the pockets to store both bottles and tommy tippee sippy cups and have never had either fall out. It takes a firm push to get two handled beakers in the pockets but it's doable and you can be sure that they will stay put. The insulation isn't as good as a fully enclosed separate bottle holder would be and I wouldn't rely on it to keep a bottle of milk cool all day. However, it is adequate if you go out in the morning and want to keep a bottle cool until lunchtime. It's certainly less hassle and less cumbersome than carting a double bottle insulated container around.

The bag comes with a change mat made from Anti-microbial Memory Foam, making it comfortable for baby to lay on whilst being changed and easier to keep hygeinic. The mat is plain coloured on one side (creamy gold in the case of my bag) whilst the rear side is made of the same fabric as the bag. The mat is quite small, measuring 55cm long and 23cm wide. Littlest HonestBob is almost 2 and I can only get him on the mat from chest height down. This is generally fine, but I wouldn't want to use the mat on a surface I felt was unclean as I couldn't protect his head from it.

The bag features 7 pockets, most of which close with zips. The zips feature a little crystal decoration which I think is quite pretty. I have to cart this bag around on a daily basis so why shouldn't it be pretty!

Some of the pockets are quite small and when I first got the bag I couldn't see what I would use so many pockets for. However, they have proved useful for keeping snacks away from clothes and wipes, I can store small toys in a pocket and know I won't have to root through the whole bag when distraction is required and I can always find a dummy when Littlest HonestBob needs comforting.

The front pocket is for mummies. It contains a mobile phone holder, priceless for those moments when I would previously have been fetching out countless vests and trousers in the hunt for my ringing phone. There are also holders for pens and a stretchy key ring so that you can always find your frontdoor key and stretch it to the doorlock. This has been a real plus, particularly if I've got a sleeping littlest HonestBob and don't want to wake him by rustling around the bag at his back.

Good points:
+ Pretty and practical
+ Easy clean fabric exterior - even curry 'stains' have simply wiped off
+ Crumb holes - small holes in the base of the bag which prevent the collection of crumbs in the corners but which are too small to lose anything else through
+ Hygeinic material of the changing mat
+ Adjustable shoulder strap which can be altered easily to fit any pram or shoulder
+ D rings - Stroller clips can be purchased separately so that the bag clips to the stroller handles rather than being hung by the handles (I don't have these so cannot comment on their functionality)

Less Good points:
- This is not big enough to use if you have a newborn baby as you will need to cart too much stuff around. This is a toddler bag, for when baby is unlikely to need more than one change of clothing and requires less nappy changes and fewer other resources like jars of baby food, endless cuddly toys, blankets etc...
- The price. Although I bought mine for about £56, the same design is currently retailing on the same website for £70.42. The price of the fabric designs does vary however so it's worth shopping around for the colour you want.

Other points:
The Ju-Ju-Between is just one shape/style of changing bag produced by Ju Ju Be. They come in various sizes (with matching price tags) and styles and are certainly worth considering if the wannabe-yummy-mummy in you needs feeding.

Summary: Mothers Day is on the horizon and this might fit the bill.