Dear Ms. Stacy,
I just read your Diaper Bag 101 article and even though I'm expecting my second child, I still found it to be very informative.
I just wanted to add a bit of advice . . . I, like many women, always kept my wallet in the diaper bag. One night, my husband, daughter, and I went grocery shopping. When we came out of the store 15 minutes later, our car trunk had been forced open and the diaper bag was gone. Since I was shopping, I had taken my wallet with me, and then locked the bag in the trunk.
Store security said that they had large numbers of diaper bag thefts reported because thieves know that many women carry their wallet, money, credit cards or other documents with identifying information in the diaper bag and think that no one would steal something like that. One thief was eventually caught (although no one's items were recovered). He [also] said that "80% of diaper bags contained items that had monetary value, or could be used for illegal purposes" and that "if there's an infant car seat in the back of the car, and toys and pacifiers scattered through-out the car.there's a strong chance that there's a diaper bag in the trunk.and is worth attempting to break in." Also [some diaper bags are stolen because they are] left in plain sight, or (as in my case) [I] believe that the thief watched me lock the bag in the trunk.
I was very naïve, and I know now that I didn't handle the situation as securely as I should have. Since then, I notice more [that] women don't mind their diaper bags as closely as they would their purse. I wish more women just guarded it a little bit closer at times. I would love to see advice on what "not" to put in your diaper bag--the baby's most favorite toy, perhaps, should stay at home, or a nice blanket that Aunt Sally knitted etc etc. I don't mean to scare anyone, but I wish someone had at least mentioned the threat to me before.
Thank-you again for your article.
Susan
So there you have it! Thanks, Susan for sharing this letter with me so that I could pass this information on to other parents. May we all learn from Susan's misfortune that we need to be very careful about how we handle our diaper bags, where we place our diaper bags, and what we put in them!
