It is hard to believe, but my second child will be here in 10 weeks or less. Although I was late with my first child, this one is on the large side and they are not letting me go past my due date with him. Last week my friends told me they decided to throw me a shower so we went and registered last night at Babies r Us. While creating my short registry, I was reminded of how much excess the baby industry tries to sell us. I bought in to some of this with the first child but I tried to keep it minimal. With this one, we need to replace a few things that didn't survive or we simply did not like the version we bought. Most of these items I've already replaced thanks to Craigslist and garage sales.
Here are the essentials for a newborn:
* Diapers (disposable or cloth)
* Wipes
* Bottles
* Crib
* Crib sheets
* Clothes - be careful to not go overboard here
* Diaper bag
* Infant bath soap
* Infant Tylenol
Here are a few of the splurges I want or already have:
* Sling
* Swing
* Bouncy seat
* Boppy
* Stroller of various types
* Electric breast pump (if working and breastfeeding, this becomes a necessity)
While registering, I could have added hundreds of items to this list, but I kept it minimal. With our first, we did not even buy the swing until he was a few months old. Some babies love them, some hate them. When we discovered he really liked it and it was lifesaver for us, we splurged. With this child, my big splurge is a sling. I know it will be hard to chase a toddler around while holding a baby and I think a sling would be handy. I already have a front pack carrier but I like the concept of the sling better.
Another word of warning is to not go overboard on the necessities either. Do you really need the most expensive diaper bag? I wound up using the free one from the hospital because I liked it better than the one I bought. Do you need excessive amounts of bottles? No, a few will be fine and it is ok to only buy the larger ones as the baby will eventually need them anyway.
I see nothing wrong with splurging on a few items as long as there is room in the budget, but my point is to pick and choose wisely.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tightwad Tuesday: Preparing for a Baby
Posted by Julie at 9:09 AM
Labels: Living on Less, Pregnancy, Tightwad Tuesday
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1 comments:
I am due in 8 weeks with our 2nd child as well! I agree with you on using the sling. I had the front carrier with our son and I had the worse time with it! The sling I think will be so much easier, especially when going to the store with both kids (it won't be so easy to just pop the car seat on the front of the buggy as I don't allow my son in the back!) I hate registering for baby though, I had to for family in SC so they can get an idea of things we'd like to have or still need. Thankfully, going through this once makes it easier on us 2nd time moms making decisions that are good for us! What we need or don't need will be an easier decision (I hope!) Good luck to you and your family!
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