Petunia Pickle Bottom Boxy Backpack in Central Park North Stop

We used to own the older model Petunia Pickle Bottom Women's Boxy Backpack Diaper Bag, Black Currant but we returned it to get this bag. We got a 20% off coupon from a local retailer and got it there instead of Amazon. (Sorry Amazon!) But since I use Amazon for all my reviews (even when I'm in retail stores), I wanted to share my thoughts.

PROS:

The bag is large enough (in fact, it seems a little larger than the older model) to hold plenty of stuff. We easily fit in 1-2 spare outfits, socks, shoes, binkies, nursing cover, 1-2 bottles, lotion, hand sanitizer, formula, and of course diapers and wipes.

I like that the changing pad on the front can unzip and the wipes and diapers fit nicely in convenient pouches in the front. The pad can be removed for easy washing as well.

The bag has sufficient storage for smaller items (2 side pockets are perfect for hand sanitizer, lotion, binkies, or cell phone. The inside has a couple open pouches as well as a zipped pouch.

The outside has a nice texture that doesn't snag like our old model (it had a fuzzy texture that sometimes caught on velcro and tape). It's a simple "stamped" style pattern but it doesn't look or feel cheap.

We almost always use the back-pack style straps since we prefer having both hands free for carrying other objects (like the baby carseat!). If you use it over your shoulder it can slip pretty easily since the straps don't have any padding or grip.

CONS:

Although not a straight "con", the straps are still a little simple. I thought they might add some padding, but I also haven't ever had too many heavy items in the bag that would require a lot of padding. Besides, how long am I ever carrying the bag? 10 minutes at most? Usually it is in the car, on the ground, or in the stroller. So the padding isn't a must.

COMPARISON TO OLDER MODEL:

So far we like this newer model much better. The biggest improvement is the lack of velcro on the top flap that folds over the whole bag. On the older model they had velcro that came loose by simply picking up the bag. So if you forgot to zip up the bag and simply folded over the flap, the contents of the bag would spill out. But on this newer model, they have magnets (stronger than the velcro) as well as 2 snap settings (1 for normal fit, 1 for stuffing in extra capacity into the bag). It seems like they listened to their customers and we thank the company for that.

Hopefully this review helps you in your decision to buy. We like the bag... it's functional, looks good (come on, I'm a guy and I don't mind carrying it), and it works great. If you appreciate this review, please let me and the other reviewers know. And leave a comment with any questions.