Saving Money When You Shop for Baby

Home Family Babies Food Saving Money When You Shop for Baby

Other parents are great advisors. Ask your friends what they liked and didn't like about their stroller, high chair, etc. Check out baby books with what-to-buy sections from the library. Make copies and go home to study them. Copy and print out parents' product reviews from the web. Good search words are: "comments" or "advice" and "baby products." The big baby sites usually have product reviews from parents, too.

Don't buy a stroller, car seat, or other big-ticket item until you've taken a studious look at what's in the stores around you. Carry a pen and a notebook (but leave your charge cards at home). Pull down the products from the shelves and give them test drives. If it folds, fold it. If something's removable, remove it. That way you'll begin to troubleshoot where the problems are. Write down model names, numbers and prices so you can compare them later. Don't trust salespeople to be straight with you, even if they are grandmotherly types. They're trained to subtly (or not so subtly) to guide you toward buying more than you need -- like getting a more expensive mattress because there's more profit for the store.

K-Mart and Wal-Mart have good prices, and so do the big megastores for babies, such as "Babies-R-Us" in larger metropolitan areas. Just be sure you KNOW what you want before you go there, or you'll just feel overwhelmed. H-e-y-y, you may be able to save enough to pay for second honeymoon night!

Don't buy cribs or carseats used. New innovations are happening all the time. Plus, the glue that holds cribs together deteriorates when they've been stored in super-hot attics or damp basements. Important pieces of hardware may get lost, or get bent, screw holes wear out. Trust me on this. Babies DIE in malfunctioning cribs. Carseats could have been in accidents and have invisible cracks in the frame that compromise their ability to protect your baby in an accident.

Breastfeed. Breastfeed. BREASTFEED! Cow's milk is for cow's. Human milk is for building brain tissue and protecting baby from life-threatening illnesses and even helps build cavity-resistant teeth! Cram for your breastfeeding exam by reading THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING and any other instruction manuals you can check out or buy. You'll save over $1,000 just by doing that, but don't expect to fly by intuition -- get coaching by attending a couple of La Leche League meetings before your baby comes (they're listed in the white pages of the telephone directory or see: lalecheleague.org.) Don't buy a breast pump until you're sure you need one (babies are the best breast pumps).

For car seats: buy a baby-sized version (Century's a good name: centuryproducts.com). Shop early in your pregnancy, in case you have trouble with it fitting in your backseat (should be unmovable and facing backwards). Rely on your car's owner's manual and the directions from the seat to tell you what to do. If you can't figure it out, contact BOTH the carseat and the car manufacturer.

Don't buy a stroller-carseat combo. Shop for a stroller separately and get something that's lightweight with a reclining back, not a giant baby bed on wheels. If you want wheels for your baby's carseat, get a Baby Trend "Snap-N-Go Lite" babytrend.com that lets you put your baby's seat on a wheeled frame.

Buy the cheapest crib you can find that has smooth (un-sandpapery) finish and no glue residue at the bottom of the bars: both are signs of quality. The crib should have just one lowering side and go down without too much pain. It'll take a few tries to master this -- usually a lift and unlock maneuver, or squeezing releases on both sides.Your baby doesn't need a super-deluxe beauty baby mattress. A simple, extra-firm foam mattress will make sheet-changings easier. (How to test for firmness: Take the mattress off the shelf and squeeze front and back together between your two hands).

Don't fall for a $250 crib bedding set (quilt, dust ruffles, headboard pad, etc.). Baby couldn't care less, and you'll just have to fold the quilt away in the closet because they're DANGEROUS. Quilts, pillows, big soft toys, lambskins and puffy bedding have all figured in Sudden Infant Death incidents. Instead, stock up on plain, fitted baby sheets at KMart or Wal-Mart and wash 'em before baby gets home. To avoid irritating baby's nose, use Cheer unscented and no farbric softener.

Don't get a high chair until your baby's old enough to sit up (about six months), then consider getting a First Years (1-800-225-0382) booster seat that straps onto a dining room chair. Buy baby clothes one size larger than newborn and then fold up the sleeves. Better yet, beg and borrow baby clothes from friends, or buy them at Goodwill or Salvation Army. Nightgowns that tie closed on the bottom are a great find. Soak stained duds in a solution of 1/4 cup of dishWASHER detergent to 3 gallons of nearly boiling water, then give them a couple of launderings with a vinegar rinse, and they'll be white as new.

Avoid folding playards and playard/bassinet combo's like the plague. They're awkward, awful, and won't let you use a sheet without compromising your baby's safety. (Babies get entangled in loose sheets and strangle themselves). Forget about baby toys and get a soft front carrier instead -- a hammock-like sling or little fabric baby seat with straps -- so baby can ride on your front. Don't use commercial baby wipes. Those chemicals don't belong on baby's skin. Instead, carry a small spray bottle with water in it, and couple of moistened, soft baby washcloths in a Zip-loc bag, instead.

All your baby REALLY longs for is to be kept close to you -- to be nursed, rocked, carried around, and talked to. Baby paraphernalia just gets in the way of that.

There you have it. Share your wisdom with me, too, OK? Sandy Jones sunny1@citcom.net.

Sandy Jones is the author of the GUIDE TO BABY PRODUCTS from Consumer Reports Books. (P.S., her book can be ordered from Amazon.com. She's currently working on the new, sixth edition. The GUIDE offers shopping advice for carseats, cribs, strollers, high chairs, potties, backpacks, feeding supplies -- everything babies use. Here's her question for you: "WHAT'S YOUR ADVICE TO EXPECTANT PARENTS ON SHOPPING FOR BABY?" Whenever you can, please pinpoint specific products and stores -- e.g. "our Graco LiteRider stroller was wonderful because…" or "I didn't like Playtex nursers because…" or "We got a great deal on a stroller at Burlington's Baby Depot, but their return policy was awful…", etc. Money-saving tips are great! (E.g., "We got a great deal on a carseat at Toys-R-Us by using their coupons"). Please email your money-saving tips directly to her at: sunny1@citcom.net.

Do you have a time or money saving idea that wasn't included in this article? Please send it to tips@stretcher.com. We get the best ideas from our readers!

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