Save Money on Baby Items

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When you are expecting, it is hard to not want to splurge on your brand new little one.

In the age of Pinterest, it is easy to want everything to be perfect and to have the very best for your baby.

Here is a little secret that might help you feel better about not splurging…”Your baby won’t know any different.”

Also, what one person thinks is a waste of money, another might find very useful.

A wipes warmer is a great example of this. We use our heat the minimum amount possible during the winter. To keep warm, we wear lots of layers. The last thing I wanted to use on my kiddo was cold wipes and using my hands to warm the wipes up wasn’t the easiest thing if I had a squirmy toddler. For me, I bought a Lion Head wipes warmer at a local consignment sale for super cheap and it was worth the few bucks to me. If you keep your house warm during the winter, it may be a total waste of money for you.

So, what I’m trying to say is take my list and any other list you read with a grain of salt. With all things parenting, what works for me, might not work for you.

Think through your decision making for items.

Clothing

Ok, so hear me out a little. Baby clothes are so cute – like ridicously cute! But, babies also grow fast – like you blink and they are bigger. Which means that super adorable outfit you bought doesn’t fit them 2 weeks later.

If you have a lot of friends and family you will most likely be inundated with new baby clothes. If anyone close to you has had a baby within the last year or two, you might end up with more hand me downs than you can possibly use.

If you don’t think you are going to have tons of new clothes from friends and family or a lot of hand me downs, then check out garage sales, consignment sales and Craigslist or eBay.

I can almost guarantee you, you will save a TON of money by purchasing used.

My best friend came home with grocery sacks full of practically new baby clothes for her little girl when she was expecting. She paid something ridiculous like $2.00 per bag and her daughter had the cutest clothes.

Diapers

Consider using cloth diapers. The cost of them is more money upfront, but in the long run you will save money.

If you can’t afford the initial investment, try to purchase some one-size whenever you can and just keep building your stash up over time.

We used cloth diapers on all three of my boys and I know we saved a ton of money in diapers because of it.

Diaper Genie

We used cloth diapers and a diaper genie wasn’t really in our radar as something that we needed. We used a wet sack to put our dirty diapers in until it was time to clean them.

On the occassions, I’ve babysat and the kiddo wore disposables I would always either take the diaper outside right away to the trash can or when it was raining, I would collect it in a trash can in my garage and then empty it at the end of the day.

Expensive Furniture

Spending a lot of money on furniture such as a changing table or crib is unnecessary.

Honestly, if you are anything like me, you won’t use the changing table for every change. If you are already in the family room and have some items out there, it is just as easy to throw a blanket on the ground and change your baby there.

We did use our changing table a lot, especially when my oldest two were newborns. With my third, we had gotten rid of our changing table at that point and just used a changing table mattress on top of a low-ish dresser.

I stored diapers and diapering supplies in the top drawer of the dresser and on some shelves next to the dresser, which worked out really well for us.

All cribs that are on the market, do have to pass safety standards. A cheap crib works just as well as a more expensive crib.

If I were to go through looking for a crib again, my biggest criteria would be making sure that it could sidecar against my bed. We ended up co-sleeping and our crib was a really expensive laundry basket for a long time, until I realized I could sidecar it again

Baby Shoes

Baby shoes, while adorable are totally not necessary, not to mention that babies aren’t supposed to wear shoes until they are able to walk.

Soft soled shoes should be worn once your baby is walking.

Formula

Ok, I know this is a hot topic – breastfeeding vs bottle feeding. I am just going to focus on the financial aspect of this.

If you decide (and can) breastfeed, this can save you thousands. Formula is said to range from $54-$198 per month, which comes out to $648-2376 for a year! (source)

One of my friend’s paid a lot more than this per month. She was unable to breastfeed and her son was allergic to what seemed like every formula on the market. She told me it was close to $250 per month they were spending…..ouch!

I don’t consider breastfeeding free. In my opinion, there are costs associated with it. Such as a nursing pillow, nursing bra and a pump if you are planning to pump, bottles and storage bags.

These costs are mostly one-time, so you won’t need to buy it over and over. Plus, when breastfeeding you need to be eating more, which is another small cost.

If breastfeeding is on your radar, check out this breastfeeding class. It is online, super affordable and has a ton of great information to get you started on the right foot. Plus, she has so many great tips to help you with problems you might experience.

Bottle Warmers

So this is something that maybe you think is worth it. I would say to save your money though.

You can easily heat a bottle up in a pan of warm water.

And while we are talking about warming up a bottle of milk, you know not to warm up a bottle of milk in the microwave, right?

The microwave will heat the milk unevenly, which could have hot spots that could hurt your baby. Plastic should also never be used in the microwave as the chemicals from the plastic will leach into the formula or food you are heating.