Saving Big on Baby Supplies - The Absolute Must Haves
Copyright 2001 by Michelle Jones

Babies cost a fortune to care for, or at least that’s what we’re told. But the truth is you can do several things to save money when bringing that new little angel into your family. As with all forms of good budgeting, you have to know the difference between needs and wants.

As my original picture on BetterBudgeting.com showed, babies must have two things... milk and diapers! I know, clothes and other things are nice too, and we'll talk about that next time. This week I'd like to start with a few money-saving basics.

We’ve been very blessed to have four children, and these are some of the ways we’ve saved money on baby supplies. If you don’t have children, maybe you can pass this on to someone who does.

Here’s a few things babies require in 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 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).

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.

I was able to nurse all of my children for the first 12 months, but I realize not everyone can do this. Don’t 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. 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 reach the age of being able to drink juice (around 6 months) and whole milk (around 12 months), we always buy the cheap ones. You can 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’ll need to do is replace the nipples. Sometimes you can find these on sale at the grocery store, but usually discount stores will 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 call ahead and ask if they do).

Diapers – With our first child we used cloth diapers, see my recent article on Save a Bundle Using Cloth Diapers and Homemade Diaper Wipes. But with the last three, we've used disposables because we felt they were worth the extra money (to save time and a little bit 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.

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 helpful, and not being particular to a certain brand (especially in the event of a sale) is even better. I’ve noticed that when 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 give them to new parents, sometimes even two of them, depending on the product samples being given away. The best ones even come with a bottle pack, and two little ice packs inside. I ended up buying a Winnie the Pooh bag for the last baby when they went on sale (mainly because I wanted it), but I carry the free bottle pack everywhere and rotate the ice packs out one at a time (because I usually forget to refreeze them when we get home).

Although these free diaper bags are fine, and especially since they are free, they can also be a pain in the play group or church nursery when everyone has the same color. But you can put a special tag on the handle, or even a big label 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. 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.

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 mine were. I keep a stack of them folded up on the back of the couch and we just grab a new one when one gets dirty. 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 detergent 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 babies. 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!

Saving big on baby supplies, to be continued…

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