Best Purses for Moms with Toddlers (or just moms who need a cute + practical purse)
I had an ultra sound the other day, so my grandma kept my kiddo – and I found myself ALONE in the city with a couple hours to kill and about 421 things I SHOULD probably do. But there was only one thing that I was BOUND AND DETERMINED to do – and that was hunt down the best purses for moms.
Don’t laugh – without my son tagging along, I had grabbed my phone, wallet, keys, and my shopping list out of the diaper bag – and I was just sort of carrying them awkwardly around. I stopped using a purse shortly after he was born, because I seem to be naturally drawn to big beautiful purses… and none of the ones I own already are exactly the ideal mom purse.
I just got so tired of carrying a diaper bag, a baby and a huge purse. All my things sort of migrated into the diaper bag… and though I often MISSED my purse, it just didn’t seem practical to use one in my new role as mommy.
Related: How to simplify your life with kids
But these days, baby is a bit bigger and I find myself doing this awkward wallet / phone / key shuffle more often than not and I am REALLY over it. And I’m excited to get back to a purse.
I’ve never been a super-into-trends sort of girl, but I do love purses. They’ve always been sort of an extension of me… and I’ve always bought exactly what I wanted – I’ve never stopped to consider the practicality of it for my situation. BUT kids change things, and a cute and practical mom purse is what I was after now.
(It almost makes me giggle to think that a “mom purse” is a thing.)
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These were the purses I struggled to choose from:
Best purses for moms – my top picks
I am a HUGE sucker for Fossil purses, so it’s not surprising that this cute satchel style bag grabbed my attention. (There were actually a bunch of OTHER fossil purses I loved even MORE, but they were really narrow and no way was I compromising on the width – my perfect mom purse has to be at least 4 inches wide, so I can get a wallet, wipes and one diaper in there (along with all my other stuff). I hate it when a purse looks “bulgy”.
This vintage-style leather bag by HESHE is almost PERFECT for a mommy. (It was a great price too, at under 100$.) The ONLY thing that made me hesitate on this one was the weight. It’s just over 2 pounds, and I REALLY wanted a bag that was super light. But maybe I could have handled the extra pound…
This gorgeous coach purse ticks all my boxes, and it comes in almost any color you’d ever want. It’s got the long strap we need at this stage in our lives, but I like that it also has regular purse handles so if you’re going out WITHOUT baby, you don’t have to do the whole “mom crossbody bag” thing.
Mother Erth makes beautiful hand-woven purses, and I LOVE their purpose. This is a social impact company that takes materials that can’t be recycled and they weave it into a one-of-a-kind purse. My favorite part about them is that they pay fair-wage prices (over three times the average in the area) so that mothers can provide a better life for their family. Learn more about their story and shop these unique purses here!
This freaking gorgeous purse by Guess is almost identical to the purse I ended up purchasing – plain black and VERY practical but still really cute. It will definitely hold my diaper + wipes with no bulging. As far as I’m concerned, this tops my list of best purses for moms.
I love it so much I needed to show it to you in two colors… 
I had a hard time deciding, but in the end I chose black because really, you can’t go wrong with black. But I also don’t think you could go wrong with brown. If I was NOT a mom, I’d probably have bought it in both versions. Once upon a time, when I was a terrible spender.
I wouldn’t have guessed that Kate Spade makes one of the best handbags for moms, to be honest, but this one is actually awesome. This is probably the biggest purse I would go with as a mom with a toddler though, it’s a little bigger than the others on this list, and that was the reason I passed on it. 
This bag is by a brand I haven’t heard of – Realer – but I kept coming back to it because it was pretty much exactly what I was looking for AND it was way under my budget at 55$. (For that price, I was surprised that it was genuine leather! BUT I also find that I get my moneys worth out of a purse, so I opted to spend just a little more and get the one I loved the BEST.)
My “Mom Purse” Requirements
If the purses I already owned were mommy-friendly, I wouldn’t have been shopping. So obviously there were a few boxes this NEW purse had to tick to make it the perfect mom purse. Keep these things in mind when you’re shopping:
- Size – not huge, because there’s still a kid to carry. But also not itty bitty because there are times when it will have to hold a diaper, wipes and snacks. (Really, let’s be honest – are we EVER going out with out a diaper and snacks again?)
- Color – not white / not light, (and no crazy patterns – just because I don’t like them – they don’t stay in style as long in my opinion). I try, but I am just NOT as clean as I used to be. There’s something about apple sauce and sticky fingers that I just can’t get on top of… and I hate it when everything looks dirty all the time. A white purse as a mom just seems insane.
- Long strap – Moms HAVE to be able to put a purse over their shoulder or cross body when their hands are full. This was a major downfall of most of the purses I already owned.
- Lite weight – because we are already carrying allthethings. Don’t need a bag that weighs 3 pounds all on it’s own, thanks.
Maybe it was just that I was shopping… ALONE, for MYSELF which is something that I almost don’t even remember how to do… but I has SO MUCH FUN trying to find the most functional purses for moms (that didn’t look like a diaper bag – because honestly, I am SO over the diaper bag). And I was totally successful – I ended up getting my purse on sale – which made it an even better experience.
Related: How to be a happy stay at home mom
Not 100% ready to move on from the diaper bag Mommy
?
?I sure was…
But if you are JUST NOT ready to totally give up the diaper bag, maybe a teeny-tiny cell phone + credit card only purse is more appropriate? Something that will keep your phone from getting swallowed up by the diaper bag, and be ready to grab if you ever get the chance to go out without kids:
Chala makes the SWEETEST tiny purses, they might just be all you need?
I never imagined there would come a time when graduating from a diaper bag to a purse felt like a big step but I am SO EXCITED about it! Go ahead mommy, and splurge on one of the best purses for moms!
Thank you for sharing this list! I have a Fawn Design diaper bag that I love for now but once my girls get a little older I would LOVE to ditch the diaper bag and get one of the above. Another one I am dying for is this one https://www.taraand.co/mybag/care.html. I don’t get paid to mention them at all I just think the functionality of these are amazing and they’re very stylish, just like the ones you have above.
PS – I love your blog!!!