Saving Big on Baby Supplies: The Absolute Must Haves
by Michelle Jones
Babies can cost a fortune to care
for, or at least that’s what we’re told! The truth is, you
can do several things to save money when bringing that new
little angel into your family. And as with all good budgeting,
you just need to know the difference between needs and wants.
The
baby picture
I
originally had showing with this article was
perfect...
a cute little baby wearing only a diaper and holding a bottle
of milk, a perfect
example for this article.
Babies must have two things (besides lots of love of course),
they must have milk and diapers! I know food, clothes and
other things are important too, but we'll talk about that some
other time. Right now I'd just like to cover the basics.
As many of you already know,
we’ve been blessed with four children. So I've listed some of
the ways we saved money on baby supplies below, though I would
love to share many more with you someday!
The First 6 Months, the
Absolute Must Haves…
Milk/Formula
You already know that
nursing your baby will save a small fortune, not to mention
the health benefits for you and the baby - but the first six
weeks can be quite an adjustment for the new mom. If you’re
having any difficulties you can contact your local lactation
consultants and they will answer your questions for free (the
hospital should also be able to refer you to a group nearby,
or even give you a list of phone numbers to get help).
Some consulting groups
charge a fee for this service, but most of them are still
free. Even just talking to an experienced mom in your
community will help. The hospital will usually give the new
mom some helpful booklets to read, and some even provide those
paid nursing consultants free of charge during your stay, so
make good use of them while they're available.
Fortunately, I was able to
nurse all of our children for the first 12 months. It was a
great time of bonding, great nutrition (only 1 minor ear
infection through raising all 4 children!), and even though it
was exhausting at times for me, it was of course FREE!
Now as much as I would like
to recommend nursing for the first 12 months (or as long as
it's okay with your doctors), I do realize that this is not
always possible. Please do not feel bad if it doesn’t work
out, a lot of healthy babies are being raised on formula too!
If you’re using formula and
are low income, states in the U.S. have a WIC program (Women
Infants and Children), that’s available through the health
department. Call your local office and set up an appointment
to see if you qualify.
If you don’t qualify for the
WIC program, use coupons! You can even call the manufacturers
for more coupons (or use our link below). In general, the
pre-made formulas are much more expensive than the powder
mixes, unless they go on sale. You can save money by stocking
up on sale items, just be careful to note the expiration
dates!
Bottles
There are expensive bottles
and there are cheap bottles. When our babies reached the age
of being able to drink juice (around 6 months) and whole milk
(around 12 months), we always bought the cheap ones. You can
usually find them at the discount stores, for .50 cents each,
and that’s a lot better than paying over $2.00 for the fancier
brands.
The cheaper bottles work
just fine, and with each new baby all you have to do is
purchase new nipples. And sometimes, you can even find these
on sale at the grocery store, though discount stores will
usually have a better deal.
Pacifiers
If your baby will take one,
more power to you. Just don’t invest too much money on them
before the baby arrives. Many babies will refuse to use them,
and sometimes the hospital will provide you with a free one
you can try out (you can call ahead and ask if they do).
Diapers
With our first child we used
cloth diapers, see my previous column
"Save a Bundle Using Cloth Diapers and Homemade Diaper Wipes."
But with the next three
children, we used disposables because we felt they were worth
the extra money (to save a little bit of time and a lot of
sanity). The best bet for saving money on disposable diapers
is to use the store brand. Not only do the packages cost less,
but they usually have a few more diapers (per package)
compared to the popular brands. And believe it or not, the
store brand diapers go on sale just as often as the others,
even using a coupon for the more expensive brands will not
beat their price.
With the new style of
cloth-like disposable diapers, most store brands have updated
theirs as well. But I do not recommend buying the cheapest
store brands. Most stores have two styles of diapers; the
cheap, cheap ones (which are usually plastic), and the next
level up which costs a little more. Always get the better
store brand, I’ve never had a good experience with the
cheapest ones, and leaky diapers are not fun for anyone!
Diaper Wipes
As I also covered in the
previous cloth diaper article, making your own
diaper wipes is a great way to save money. I even know
some very frugal moms who use washcloths instead, but making
the homemade wipes will only cost about 50 cents a box. Right
now, I use whatever’s on sale and always try to use the
coupons when I can find them.
Buying the refill packs is
also helpful, and not being loyal to a certain brand
(especially in the event of a sale) is even better. I’ve
noticed that whenever I go shopping my eye just naturally
scans down the aisle looking for the sale tags first. Then I
do a price/quantity comparison, store brand versus name brand,
etc… It may take me longer to shop this way, but it’s a great
way of saving (and therefore earning) money for my family.
Diaper Bag
Have you been wondering why
everyone in your town has the same diaper bag? It’s because
the hospitals are handing them out free to new parents,
sometimes even two of them, depending on the product samples
being given away (marketed). The best ones even come with a
bottle pack, and two little ice packs inside.
If you can live with the
free diaper bags kudos to you! I always try, but I confess I
did end up buying a Winnie the Pooh bag for our last baby when
they went on sale (mainly because I just wanted it). But I
did carry the free bottle pack everywhere and rotate the ice
packs out one at a time.
If you stick with the free
diaper bags and run into trouble when you see everyone in your
play group or church nursery has the same color, simply put a
special tag on the handle, or even a big label on the side of
the bag with your baby’s name on it. This will help you and
the workers be able to find your bag more easily.
You can also find diaper
bags at yard sales and consignment shops, though I know it’s
nice to have a new one and in a style that you like. And
really, you’re going to be carrying that diaper bag around
everywhere you go, for the next 2-3 years. So, if you feel you
just have to have a nicer one, I’d say it’s worth the money.
The one I bought cost around $9, but it was after all for our
last baby, so we splurged!
Cloth Diapers, for
Burping!
Having at least one package
of cloth diapers on hand is great (the flat non-folded kind).
Especially if you have a baby that’s prone to spitting up,
which two of ours were. I kept a stack of them folded up on
the back of the couch and we just grabbed a new one as needed.
They’re easy to wash, and also keep your visitor’s clothes
clean when they want to cuddle or feed the baby.
They can also help protect
the baby’s sensitive skin! Our first child was severely
allergic to laundry detergents and would get a rash on her
face when anyone held her without a diaper cloth between her
and their shoulder. That’s actually why we started using them
in the first place, but it turned out to be such a great idea
we’ve used them with all four children. The same package of
cloth diapers has lasted us for 10 years!
And when we’re finally done
using them for this purpose, they’ll make great dust cloths
for another 10-20 years!
