How To Assemble A DIY Baby Changing Bag On A Budget

When I was pregnant, I was VERY aware of my dwindling funds. Although Indi was a happy surprise, I definitely wanted a baby and had thought a lot about it. But I hadn’t really thought about the finance involved. I mean, people say kids are expensive, but it did come as a shock to me when I learned how much Statutory Maternity Pay is. How were we going to do this?? Well I cut a few corners for a start. If we didn’t really NEED something for the baby, I decded to avoid it. We could always get whatever it was once the baby arrived, if we decided we really needed it. And one of those things was a baby changing bag.

A quick google, as well as scrolling through some of my favourite mum bloggers on Instagram, told me that changing bags were unnecessarily expensive. I did my reserach on this. WHY so expensive? What did they consist of? Were there special features involved that wouldn’t be in other bags?

Well. I came to the conclusion that baby changing bags were an absolute con.

They are handy for sure, they’re practical and do a good job. But for the price tag? Not worth it mate. If you’re on a budget and can’t really justify the beautiful Tiba & Marl bag or the dreamy Fact + Fiction backpack, (they are wonderful-looking I know, but they are not a must-have if you’re on a budget) you can totally have a DIY change bag. Here’s how.

Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links but I only recommend stuff I love!

How To Assemble A DIY Baby Changing Bag

Use a bag you already have.

Groundbreaking I know. But I am 100% certain you have a bag you can use as a changing bag. For me, I had a few options, from tote bags I used as carry-on luggage on my travels, to backpacks I still have from when they were quite on-trend. I used the later. A basic cotton backpack. It would fit under the pram, my baby daddy would be happy to use it when he was on-duty and it was big enough to fit everything I needed in. Job done.

Reminder: You do not need a bag that “goes” with your pram. When your baby stuff is shiny and new, it feels like it should all look nice together. But as soon as the baby is here, there are colourful toys attached to the pram, with assorted muslins hanging out of the bottom, trust me, it won’t matter your bag isn’t the same colour as the pram.

Also, it actually feels a lot nicer when you’re carrying around a bag you’ve chosen because you like it, instead of a huge nappy bag with a weird print (which is most of the affordable changing bags IMHO).

Make it cute.

If it’s not a bag you particularly like, maybe it’s an old gym bag or and old uni bag and you don’t feel like it’s very you, you can give it a makeover relatively cheaply. I did so by adding some cute enamel pins I had and it felt a lot more me than a personality-less nappy bag.

I also used some “mum” pins that Josh had bought me for Christmas so it felt quite special having things that said mum on them you know?

(This is where I give a shameless plug to my products – I sell a lovely little mum pin in my Etsy shop over here!)

Get a portable changing mat.

The thing that seems to set changing bags apart from regular bags, is the various extras. Like the portable changing mat. But hun, you can buy those on their own. This basic mat from Amazon is £7.99 and does the job, without having to buy a whole new bag.

Use pouches as compartments.

Another thing changing bags have is various compartments and pouches to make it easier to find things on-the-go. You can totally replicate this, if your “normal” bag doesn’t have compartments, by using pouches. My friend bought me a very cute pouch with my daughter’s name on it when she was born (I think from Etsy) and I used it to hold nappies and wipes. Any kind of pouch would do, like this make-up pouch for example. Cheap and cheerful.

Or if you wanted to use a tote bag as your change bag, one of these handbag organisers could also work. And again, super cheap.

But also, it doesn’t really make that much of a difference if you don’t have either of these things. You literally just need a bag to put baby stuff in, it’s not the end of the world if it isn’t perfectly organised.

Think about how you will need to transport milk.

This is one thing I didn’t really know about when I was putting together my DIY nappy bag. What do you need for the milk? I saw lots of bags had insulated bottle pouches – did I need one of those?

Well, I realised that in the Tommee Tippee bottle pack I bought when I was pregnant, it already came with a couple of portable bottle pouches. So I was covered. (Although there are cheaper versions on Amazon if you don’t already have one.)

But actually in reality it wasn’t often I needed it. When my daughter was newborn, I used it as I would have made and warmed up a milk bottle for her to have a mouthful and not want any more. So keeping it the insulated holder for a while and trying again in 20 mins was actually quite handy. However a few months in, I didn’t really need it anymore. I used little travel cartons of formula and that worked for us.

If you’re planning of breastfeeding, you may not need this altogether. Which is great, more room in the bag!

Consider a pram clip?

I noticed that a lot of the changing bags have clips so that you can attach the bag to the pram. So I naturally bought one (like this) thinking I would need it.

Personally, I didn’t really like it. The bag would bang against me as I walked so I didn’t use it for long. It might work for you depending on your bag type though so I thought it was worth mentioning.

Or a pram organiser?

What I did instead was put my baby change bag in the under-pram compartment. It would contain changing stuff, spare clothes, milk. And then I would have a pram organiser attached to the handles of the pram for anything I would need to grab quickly, like a muslin, a dummy, my phone, and water/snacks once she was a bit older.

Of course the whole point of this blog post is that you don’t have to go buying new stuff you don’t actually need. But I personally felt the pram organiser was worth it, and it was under a tenner compared to the £150+ that changing bags are asking for!

And there you have it a DIY baby changing bag for a fraction of the price. I used a bag I already owned, a pouch someone gifted me, an insulated milk container that came with my bottle set and only ended up buying a portable changing mat and a pram organiser. So under £20. Or £8 if you consider the pram organiser a separate purchase. Not bad, ay?

It’s weird when you’re a new mum because so much STUFF is marketed to you, that you supposedly NEED for your baby. But most of it is trash. And in my opinion the pricey baby changing bags fall in this category. You can 100% do it yourself, save yourself some cash and ultimately still look nice because it’s a bag you already own and like!

Let me know what you think. Have you done a DIY change bag? Did you buy the pricey one and think it was worth it?

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Total Blogger Transparency: This post contains affiliate links but I only ever recommend products or services I love.