The Parental Unit is the result of Tom's resolve to build a "diaper bag" that does more than just assist parents with changing diapers: it'll help organize and mobilize any parent or parents that participate in the modern world with their young kids. One of our goals in designing The Parental Unit was to make trips to the store, to the in-laws, daycare and even the museum less stressful and just as much fun as they should be. That, and making sure you won't look like a dork with some huge encumbrance slung over your shoulder, whacking nice people in the face as you navigate the narrow aisles of public transit or cozy restaurants. We particularly eschewed goofy printed fabrics: if you want a bag that screams "I'm a parent!", you'll have to look elsewhere. The Parental Unit was designed to be as svelte as possible, and equally stylish for all genders: long after the kids are out of diapers and on their way to college, the P.U. might still be your favorite go-to bag for everyday carry.

As a parent—or, if you’re expecting, you’ve probably heard this from other parents—you know that being organized and prepared (or not) is the deciding factor in what can make an outing with baby a great one (or not). The Parental Unit is loaded with organizational abilities, ready to assist. It is symmetrical front-to-back: both facets have gently curved zippers that open to generous, but not excessive, organizer compartments. Both of these are further divided into three vertical sub-compartments; the dividers themselves are more generous at their tops so that the wearer can easily see down into the sub-compartments. The center of the three is sized to fit most diapers, wipe dispensers (travel or home size both fit) and/or a changing pad; the spaces on either side are good for baby bottles, water bottles, or snacks.

The center compartment opens with a top zipper: we assume you'll leave that unzipped most of the time for fast access to a toy or a spit-up cloth, but you can zip it shut in bad weather or if you need to stow it during travel. Two billowy open-top pouches are sewn front and back inside this main compartment—you can choose to leave them empty and just take advantage of the large space, or you can use them to further organize changes of clothes and more diapers, or stash food, wipes, rags, etc. The outer surfaces of these pouches have three plastic snaps that allow you to join them together, dividing that one big space into four smaller and complete separate ones (we know that's hard to picture—watch The Parental Unit video to see how that works).

And we’ll admit it: a TOM BIHN diaper bag was a bit overdue. Thanks for your patience while we worked on designing the best diaper bag that we thought could be made.