Secrets to Saving on 6 Must Have Baby Products

If you are cramped for space or don’t have the “required” $2,000 nursery budget, you can still provide for baby without causing psychological damage. Take it from a master over-buyer that many of your baby products can do double duty. 

1. Diaper Changing Table
I assumed that a diaper changing table was an absolute necessity when preparing for our first arrival.  And it had to match the crib.  The truth is most changing tables and dressers are cheaply made and serve little purpose after five months.  After my active girl maneuvered the roll-over, trying to keep her on her back was like manhandling a cat.  She also loved preparing uneven bar routines using the sides of the table.  After I started changing her diaper on my bed or the carpet, the baskets I put in place of the cushy foam insert looked silly.  

Buy a sturdy dresser, preferably used, and refinish or paint it.  Junior will be able to use it for far longer and it will be more durable.  If you’re dying to have an official diaper changing station, you can purchase a frame to attach on top.  I recommend using a diaper caddy to tote around the house for portable changing.

2. Crib
If you’re strapped for cash, space, or especially if you have an unexpected arrival shortly after your first, consider purchasing a portable playpen to double as a safe play area for baby and sleeping quarters.  The Graco model we purchased has a higher insert (to save your back) and a bassinet.  The good thing about a portable crib is your child will be accustomed to sleeping in it and won’t be as disjointed during travel.  Our next child is coming just fifteen months after our first and I plan on putting the new addition in the playpen bassinet for quite some time.  

Beware of outgrowing beds!  Rather than buying a crib, then toddler bed, next the twin bed, go straight from the crib to full bed or bunk beds if you plan on having more than one child.  Try to delay the switch until close to three-years-old.  Install a rail around the full bed for safety purposes.  By purchasing a full bed or bunk beds you’ll have more room for guests without having to devote an entire room to it.   

3. Stroller
The stroller market is a racket and should be recognized for what it is—a money sucking, guilt inducing trap.  Here’s a secret: you don’t really need the giant travel system with car seat and cruise ship stroller.  You probably won’t be going out enough in the first four or five months to warrant the purchase.  Buy an upscale (or even cheapy) umbrella stroller for a fraction of the price.  Your trunk and fellow shoppers will love you for it.  Depending on the neck strength of your little one, he can sit upright in a stroller as soon as five or six months.  For households with more than one child under three buy a side by side umbrella stroller.

4. Gender Neutral Clothing and Décor
My first is a girl and no matter how much I broadcast that I abhor pink, it doesn’t matter.  Friends and family can’t help themselves when buying clothes.  Accept them with gratitude—never look a gift horse in the mouth.  But when it comes to your own purchases, look for clothing and room décor colors that do double duty.  Not mellow oranges, yellows, and greens, but bright primary colors that are cheery and work for boys and girls.  Visit a kindergarten classroom to see what I mean.  You might even consider not telling your loved ones the baby’s sex to encourage gender neutral purchases!

5. Formula
At as much as $27 per can, your baby will eat you out of house and home.  Contact Enfamil’s main site to register for an impressive starter kit with formula and a bag.  They will also send periodic coupons for formula.  Similac offers similar rewards with the Strong Moms program.   Always look around! Formula is a big ticket item. I found Enfamil Lipil in bulk at Costco for nearly 75% of the price at the grocery store and the fancy organic grocer had my particular brand for 70% of any other store.

6. Diapers
Number two will wear cloth diapers until I can’t take it anymore.  We were blessed with a diaper shower for our first and, after seven months, are just now starting to buy diapers.  They are nearly $.30 a piece!  For potty training purposes, cloth facilitates using the toilet faster because he can feel the wetness.  That Pampers offers pull-ups for five and six-year-olds is obscene!  Their aim is to keep little one in diapers until college to take your money.  Cloth diapers only cost $19 per month after basic initial start-up costs.  I’m spending the next six months gearing up mentally for the switch.