Posts Tagged ‘mothercare’

Buying for your Baby

Monday, August 17th, 2009

..where to look to get some of the essentials a bit cheaper.

I have a number of friends and family at the moment who have recently had babies or are about to have them, and it’s been quite interesting watching them buying things in readiness for when each of the babies arrived Some have gone almost totally new, others almost totally second hand with others doing a mix.

Whether you go the new or the second hand route, most people know that having a baby is an expensive business, and want to try and keep the costs reasonably low if they can. The first thing I’d say is make a list!  There are always going to be people who want to buy a gift for you and your newborn, so let them, by making a list and planning you can steer them in the direction of something you really do want or need, and they’ll feel good knowing they’re buying the right thing, and you’ll feel good knowing one or two things are definitely organised.

Certain things like cot mattress and car carry seat it’s best to buy new – you do not want to risk your baby’s health after all.  Beyond that, most things can be washed or even sterilised and so second hand or new is really down to how you feel about it.

For those looking at the second hand option, places like E-bay, Freecycle, charity shops and friends with kids are good places to start.  These places are easy to access and are often very cheap or even free.  Car boot sales can be a good source as well, although E-bay does seem to have over taken these in terms of popularity for selling good quality second hand baby items – probably because there’s no need to drag baby out to do the selling!

For those wanting to go the new route, Although places like ELC, Mothercare and Babies R Us may be the places you think of first, E-bay is still a very worthwhile place to look – that there are many sellers on E-bay now who are selling purely new items and you can find yourself grabbing some good bargains there.  Supermarkets are also quite a good place to look believe it or not.  Particularly if you have a large store like a Tesco Extra, or a large Asda nearby as these often have quite a good range of baby products available from clothing to bottles, baths and breast pumps.  Always carry your list with you and then you can make a note of the prices so that when you find a good price you’ll know it (That and being pregnant the memory does tend to wander a little so it helps remind you what you’re still needing too ;-) ).  There are also places like Amazon – better known for books and dvds, but which has quite a large range of other items these days, and there are also many online stores to look at as well.  When you know the exact product you’re looking for, using the search engines to help you locate the best price can knock a good bit off the price you first found the item at I’ve found.

Contributed by Vialdana

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