Baby Skin & Body CareA blog on baby care

$0.00 ..we were lucky EVERYTHING was given to us..we only bought him clothes and shoes and that was just cause we felt like it..not cause we had too.

$3000 is probably a little high. You can get all of these things at a store like Target. Which in my opinion carries beautiful baby items at great prices. The bulk of your purchase is going to be the furniture. Some things…like a high chair could wait until the baby gets a little bigger. Buy LOTS of onesies. These are great cause they are easy to get on & off. Believe me…you’re gonna have to change the little critters clothes 100 times a day form spit up & such. Good luck & God bless!!

If you know specifically what models you want (car seat, bouncy seat, etc) you can go onto http://www.bizrate.com or http://www.nextag.com. These sites offer comparison pricing for a lot of stores. They’ll show you who has it the cheapest etc. Good luck!!

First, I would like to say I live in New York and the prices might be alittle different depending on where you live, but here I go..
nursery furnitur: crib, dressing table/dresser in one, about $600 for both
bedding & decor $150
large items like
carseat $300 for both the infant seat and toddler seat
stroller $150,
pack’n'play $50
swing $40,
highchair $100
diaper bag $20,
bouncy seat $25 (then i bought a toddler one $40),
playmat $30
bottles $60,
diapers to start $30 for a large box
wipes to start $10 for a large box
soaps to start $2.50 for a bottle (i bought about 3) the same with lotions
tub,$15
towels $10 (pack of 3 with washcloths)
clothes $50…the all depend, the average is $10 for an alfit, bought about 5 per age
Are you having a baby shower? I recieved almost all of the above. But that pretty much sums up everything. Also, Target has great prices.

$3000 is a lot. In fact it’s absurd!!! I live the UK, but the pressure to buy stuff you ‘might’ need for your baby is intense, and you get the ‘you only want your baby to have the best surely?’ added emotional pressure. Well as a mum of 2, a 13 year old and a 3 year old – 95% of these ‘essential’ items are a waste of money! Here’s what I found really really helpful:
1. Buy a good car seat. Absolutely essential. Get one that has been safety approved and will last for at least 3 years ie will adapt for a small baby up to a toddler. The one thing I wouldn’t get second hand.
2. Prams have become tanks. Don’t be pressurised into buying a really expensive one. Think about your needs; if you drive a lot you’ll want one that is light and collapsable. If you walk a lot, get a good sturdy one. Make sure you can fold it up with one hand. If you can’t don’t buy it. You’ll have to fold it with a baby in one hand and shopping in the other. If you can get a good second hand one – or borrow one from a relative, all the better!
3. A lambskin. These have been proven to help premature babies grow – it’s the fluffiness. And they seem to make babies feel safe about sleeping. I used to put one down in his cot, or a sofa or wherever we were and it’s familiarity made him feel safe and cosy. Machine washable. I bought one for about £40 which is roughly $60 but worth ever cent.
4. Cheap muslins. Cloths you wipe up sick and dribble with. Sling them over your shoulder when you burp baby. Incredibly useful.
5. Get a few bottles, not loads. If you’re breastfeeding, and having problems, an electric breastpump can be very useful.
6. Don’t buy any babyclothes that need handwashing or dry cleaning. And they grow out them very fast. Speaking of which, the single most important piece of baby equipment is a good washing machine.
7. You DON’T need special soaps, lotions or towels. You really don’t. Mild soap and water is fine and a soft sponge. And a tub of vaseline for nappy rash. Babies don’t need extra soft towels. Neither do they need baby wipe warmers, or locks for the toilet! When did you ever hear of a baby falling down the toilet. Far more likely your husband will come home, find the toilet locked and wee all over the floor.
8. You don’t need those silly Einstein baby clever maker things with special stimulating squeezy things. Utter rubbish and tap into parental paranoia. Babies are naturally curious. But you could get a mobile toy for the cot to give baby something to look at. They can only see black and white at first so you could stick on some black and white photos.
9. Speaking of cots, get a moses basket at first or not, if you want baby in the bed. We got a cheapo plain cot and padded it. You don’t need to get a silly layette with frills and lace. Babies don’t care! They’d rather you held them anyway.
10. Get stuff you need bit by bit. Don’t buy a swing chair thing. Your baby might hate it! We bought a high chair from a second hand shop and it was fine. As I said – the only thing you really shouldn’t get second hand is the car seat. Everything else, don’t feel guilted into bankrupting yourself. As long as the baby is fed, warm and cuddled, he or she will be FINE.

3000 is definately too high. i agree you can get everything from taget. fortunately i didn’t have to buy anything except some clothes as well.
i would suggest waiting until the baby shower if you’re having it before the baby is born. and buy alot of onesies and socks, you can never have enough. god bless and congratulations.

That sounds about right, if you are to buy everything yourself and brand new.
The great thing about being a first-time mom is that you usually don’t have to. The only things we bought for our son was his dresser, even that was used and I refinished it. Everything else, my family took care of. My mom organized the best baby shower ever, got me the stroller I wanted, playpen I picked and all the toys and clothes a baby could possibly need!
I also have a godson who is a year older than my boy so we got all of his clothes.
In the end, you can spend a fortune but remember that for when baby comes home you don’t need a HUGE amount of stuff, they’re fairly low maintenance. If you are going to be thrown any baby showers wait and see what you get so you don’t have a lot of returning to do.
Usually, people love to buy for a new baby, especially your family so register somewhere, see what comes and then go shopping!

I was fortunate and got alot of stuff from a good friend who did not need her nursery furniture anymore. Also alot of stuff I got as shower gifts. Here is a list of rough prices for things I did buy:
These are all Canadian prices:
Carseat (Peg Perego) – $199
Convertible Car seat (Britax)- $299
Stroller (Peg P3 Pramette) – $499
Pack and Play – $129
High Chair – $79
Bouncy Chair – $29
Diaper Bag – $100
Clothes – $100
Toiletries and Diapering stuff – $150-200
I don’t think that your friend is that off with the $3000 estimate if you are going to buy everything all new. Consider buying some of the clothes used (Second hand stores that specialize in baby stuff, yard sales, etc). I never thought I would but if you consider how long they are in it then it really is not worth it to buy the clothes brand new. I just washed the clothes 2-3 times before putting it on my little guy. If you do choose to buy new, Carters in the US has the best value, and in Canada Bonnie Togs has inexpensive sleepers and diaper shirts (Gagou Tagou line). When they are really little, best to keep them in diaper shirts and sleepers all day as they spit up and soil themselves alot. The cutesy outfits and sets are more of a pain to change so save them for special occasions and for when they are older.
When considering used stuff, keep in mind who it’s coming from, how much wear it has had, and how old the items are. Make sure the stuff still complies to current safety standards. The one thing I would never consider getting used would be the car seat.
If someone is having a shower for you, register at a store so that you will get stuff you need.
When getting the toiletries, buy small sizes first. Once you determine that your baby is fine with them (no rash etc), the go for the larger sizes for better value.
That’s all I can think of…hope it helps.
Congrats and good luck!
BTW, the best tub out there is one that converts so that there is a built in tub seat/ring for an older baby. It has suction cups on the bottom to stabilize it, a drain hole, and comes with and infant sling seat. I forget who makes it but it is about $40-50 and worth every penny!

well we can spend money so he got all name brand high end stuff. u only live once and i always wanted to be able to that for my kids. but furniture and stroller and big things like 2,000 and the rest , well god who knows.

I live in Australia and some of the items if you go to a baby shop you can get a deal for the big ticket items if you buy it all there at once.
Cot, high chair, car seat $800 but because I bought it at once it was $650
Pack’n'play $100 in toy sale for Christmas
Cot sheets, blankets, towels, wash cloths, $150 minimum (they poo and wee on everything)
Nappy bag, nappies and wipes $100
Baby bath, pram (depending on what kind, I got a jogger one because I do a lot of walking) $ 300+
Try on e-bay I got my pram off there brand new and shipping isn’t very expensive if you have saved on the shop ticket price. You can even get clothes, toys and all sorts for your baby and it will be delivered to your door.
$3000 isn’t bad but if you shop around you could probably know $500 bucks off.
Good luck

Here’s a list of some of the prices I spent
$0 – infant carseat (given to me used, but GREAT condition)
$64- Aquarium take-along swing by Fisher Price (I recommend a full size if you have a big enough house)
$25- the BEST baby tubhttp://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp…
$10 approx- fitted sheet
$0- home knitted/made blankets and dust ruffle. NO bumper b/c it’s unnecessary
$150- crib (found on major liquidation sale)
$100- Mattress by Colgate (two sided- extra firm and firm)
$100- changer (found on major liquidation sale)
$80- Pack n’ Play, may I suggest this one for boy or girl http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=…
$10- shelf for baby clothes
$0- rocking chair (using hubby’s old lazy boy that works like a charm!)
$30- crib mobile
$33- bouncer from Target
$99- convertable car seat that goes up to 50lb at Target
$18- love this diaper bag http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=…
$0- clothes (I was given TOO many little outfits as gifts; I ended up returning many 3 month sizes and held onto the credit for buying clothes later!)
$0- diaper pale and trash bags (I am using my old kitchen trash can with pop up lid. The bags are left overs. I plan to buy the Diaper Genie II when babe is on solids and things are stinking a little more!)
$170- Playtex Embrace double electric breast pump (I would actually suggest the Ameda “purely yours” with or without the bag. I don’t use my bag from the playtex embrace the way that it is intended; I just throw everything in the main compartment, which means that any bag would work.)
$0- toys & books (given to baby as baptismal gifts)
$~20- baby bath items such as diaper creams, nasal aspirators, nail clippers, body/hair wash, lotions, non-talc powder, etc
$10- a pack of flannel recieving blankets (not the best for swaddling b/c they’re TOO small!)
$30 some- boppy (nurshing mother’s gift from God. ALso, makes a great pillow for baby when babe is learning to sit unassisted!!!)
$50- used Graco stroller/ travel set from second hand store. I ended up giving the carseat portion to goodwill because it was only a 3 point harness!
When I added up everything that I wanted, it came out to about $1000. I used MS excel to list everything out, including the store, price, and tax!
Try to omit the unnecessaries from your list:
ask yourself:
-would a pack n’ play serve the purpose of a crib, mattress, mobile, bumper, bassenet and changing table?
-Do you need a fancy bouncer, or could you bounce baby just as well on your knees or a cheeper bouncer found at a garage sale?
-Does your baby need a crib bedding set? Or, could you make do with a couple of sheets and some blankets?
-Can you find alternatives to a dresser? A plastic shelf is doing the trick for us right now (maybe not as good, though, when babe is crawling)

Canadian dollars
Crib $450 with out matress
Matress $ 100
Dressers $ 200 with changing stand
Bedding winnie to pooh $ 99.00
Stroller with car seat $ 400.00
Swing $ free but around $200
Bouncer $ 50
High chair $ 99
Diaper bag $ 30
Bath stuff $ 130 including tub

crib/mattress- (these were given to me as a gift, but they cost:) $180/$40
stroller: $35
playpen: $60 (but it came with a free umbrella stroller….Toys R Us has these kinds of deals often)
exersaucer: $15 (used)
then of course there are smaller things (that add up!) like pacifiers, bottles (even if you’re breastfeeding), receiving blankets etc. by far, though, the most expensive thing was the diapers. Find a good way to buy them in bulk.

Ok lets see…for nursery furniture..walmart has the cribs where they transform to youth beds…wish I had gotten one of those but they are under $200. Not sure if they come w/the mattress so the cheapest @ walmart I saw was almost $50.
bedding and decor-gets very expensive and can go for over $100..I look on ebay and try to get a better deal.
Carseat-I had the infant one..not sure how much they cost..had my brothers old one..but got one where it’s going to be good till daughter is alot older and it was no more than $150 @ walmart.
Stroller-umbrella strollers $10…now you can get a nice stroller w/the infant car seat for around or under $200 at walmart.
Pack n play-never really used mine but you can get them as cheap as $60 at walmart or target.
swing-daughter used a portable swing from walmart and less than $40
high chair-walmart got the cheapest and works great and has great features..can’t remember the price but it was a good one.
diaper bag-got mine off ebay less than $10 and brands like eddie bauer
boucy seat-cute ones at babies r us will run between $50-$80
playmat-never used one
bottles-depends on which ones you use. Regular bottles..got @ walmart 3/$2 and then theres playtex w/drop in liners…easier to use, less mess. Cost a few bucks more but still good.
diapers-you have to decide that on your own..depends if baby is allergic to any one brand..i tried different kinds and my daughter uses the cheapest brand at walmart. Personally don’t like Luvs…too stiff for me. The diapers I buy are $10/bag but daughter is in 5’s.
Wipes-i use generic for sensitive skin…best wipes i have found are at target and it’s the target brand and run you bout $2/tub.
soaps-I use parents choice. Only a few bucks and lasts awhile..I get the lavender..helps then sleep better.
Towels and wash cloths…got them off ebay for cheaper than walmart.
Tub-never used one…took a bath w/daughter or put her in the sink.
Clothes-find then at baby consignment shops..they don’t sell them unless they are in great condition, ebay, garage sales but if you go to a store..i would say walmart, target and old navy have good deals and clearance sales.
Hope that helps and if you need any more advice or help feel free to email me.