I couldn't pass up a chance to use a 50% off a $35 clothing purchase coupon for Value Village. I focused strictly on clothes for the kids to grow into. And then I refocused on what I can't find for a quarter at a garage sale. I bought great jeans for both kids for $2 and less per pair. One demin skirt and a zip up hoodie for Big Girl. Little Guy has also shown an affinity for printed button up shirts. I let him pick and choose a few because he is pretty picky about his clothing. One shirt I held up was, "Too green". I think I bought 20 items for $31. Decent blue jeans also have a nice resale value at Once Upon a Child.
The Non-Consumer Advocate's post today featured ridiculous baby products. Here is a list of my favorite baby items.
Pack N Play- We put our newborn in our room for the first month or two before we transitioned them to sleeping in their own room. It was also very handy when we went on trips. With our first child we had one pack n play sheet and I just washed it whenever it got dirty. I overbought for our second and we had about five sheets for the pack n play. I think the right amount would be two or three. We used this consistently for the child's first two years.
Bumbo seat- I didn't have one for my first child and we managed ok. I borrowed one for Little Guy to use and we loved it. He sat in the middle of our dining table whenever we ate, when I unloaded the dishwasher, or made dinner. I also put it in the bathtub to wash him because wet babies are so slippery. He loved being able to sit up in it and see all the action. This was only used for the first five or so months but it was used daily.
Absorbent Bibs- Unfortunately I couldn't rely solely on my breast milk to feed my children so they always drank formula. We used a lot of bibs. I like the double layered velcro kind because it was quick to get on and absorbent. Anything with snaps or ties was used as a last resort bib. When the baby became a cracker snacker and solid food eater we loved the vinyl snap pocket bibs. They wipe off easy and are easy to tuck into a purse after a quick wipe down.
Bath tub foam- When our babies were new I washed them in our kitchen sink. Putting the baby shaped foam under them helped to cushion them and prevent bumped heads.
Diaper Rash Cream- Going without it and changing the baby more frequently didn't cut it for us. But, I have noticed no difference between the generic and more expensive name brands. Plus, one tube lasts a long time.
Now here's a list of things that I never used or found worthless:
Bottle Warmers
Hand covers for newborns
Baby tents
Hot/Cold water detecting rubber duckies. Mine never worked better than my own hand
Baby oil
Baby powder
Jumping Things that you hang from the door jamb
walkers
2 comments:
As a labor delivery nurse, I am "selling" breast feeding. I alway go the route of "nothing to pack, clean, run out of or pay for. Plus it's the absolutely best food you could possibly give your baby!"
Hopefully that message gets through to my patients.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"
Katy, I agree with you 100% on the breast feeding. Unfortunately I am one of those people that literally cannot produce enough to feed my child. So, we did combo breast/bottle feeding. The only benefit I can see to bottle feeding is that my Husband was able to get extra bonding time in with our children because he shared in the feeding duty.
Post a Comment