Congratulations, you and your partner are pregnant! You're now a marketer's dream and a financial planner's nightmare!
As your pregnancy progresses, your mind starts to wander to the nursery and setting up the space of your newborn baby in your heart and your home. It must be warm, soft, and comforting while being practical with plenty of room to grow.
There are of course other places to focus your attention, not just the nursery that will catch you out. Bottles, bags, and swings are all on the list of things to talk about when it comes to needs, wants, and a waste of time and money.
So, before you go too far down the path of bassinets and bottle warmers, you should hear what other parents have to say about the dos and don'ts of parent-to-be product purchases and make sure you're not buying for the sake of having.
Practical tips from the Care for Kids parents
We asked around the office and there's a great blend of seasoned and new parents in the mix as well as the more ‘practical over pretty' kind of purchasers. Here's what they had to say.
Crib
Ash confesses to using their bassinet only twice throughout the babyhood of his two children while Jo believes having her children closer for faster settling was a blessing. She does admit however that her husband, as a lighter sleeper struggled to have the kids in the room with their (very cute but very loud) snuffly breathing and all three kids were out of the crib and into their cot within 3 months.
If you're tossing up on this one, skip it and go straight to the cot!
Baby bath
For the first few weeks, babies can only get a sponge bath. Then later on you can give them tub baths. There's a lot to be said for the baths on stands so you no longer need to get down on your hands and knees, making back-breaking work out of baby bathing. But, for convenience, there is a cost and in the early days, do you even need a bath?
Sarah says not! “Babies can get clean anywhere. The kitchen or laundry sink is always a good start and you can even have some skin-on-skin time with them in the shower if you fancy.”
If you're keen on a bath, you can pick up an affordable bathing seat from any major department store, and if you prefer not to bend, hop in the bath too!
Bottle warmer
Most newborns need to be fed every 2-3 hours. If you're bottle feeding, you will know there are SO many accessories to think about. From the right teat with the correct flow to the sterilisers, cleaners, and formula containers. But what about the warmer? Apparently, this is a hard pass! Thierry even went as far as returning his, telling us there was no point as they made their baby's bottles warm and ready to consume.
Baby swings
Like the crib, these have their place in some homes and not in others. A lot of parents use these for a moment of settling and stimulation while others prefer the playmats and mobile stimulation to support their baby's development but if you ask Anna, she swore by it for baby Charlie.
“Charlie had terrible reflux and it was at a point where I couldn't put him down flat. The swing not only gave me a little reprieve, but he was comfortable and out of pain for a spell.
At the end of the day, there are pros and cons to this one but there are many other ways to give comfort without a bulky, expensive swing.
Baby bags
If there was ever a marketing dream it was in the baby bag! You can invest hundreds of dollars into the baby bag when truth be told, you need nothing more than a tote with accessories if you're out for a wander and possibly a baby backpack if you're out for a more extended amount of time. There are so many options but if you're short on cash, skip this for more important things that support child development and grab a tote!
Keep it simple
When it comes to purchasing for your family, you really need to separate the needs from the wants and be conscious of your cash. If you ask Jacqui, she says she needed next to nothing in the first couple of months.
“I was so low-key when it came to bringing the baby home. I needed the car seat, pram, change table, and a Moby wrap. That's what got us through.”
