Helping Moms-To-Be Make Smart Purchases

Many moms-to-be ask the question, “What products do I really need to buy to take care of my infant?” There are so many new-fangled products in stores that it can be overwhelming trying to determine what you will actually use and what will sit in the box gathering dust.

Compare Prices
The Babies & Kids page in CoolSavings' Compare Prices section is a great place to start looking for the best price on baby items you may be considering purchasing.

The Necessary
Items you will most likely need over the first year include a crib, car seat, stroller and high chair. You will also need formula and bottles if you intend to bottle feed. Additional products that are not absolutely necessary but that I found useful when both of my kids were infants include a monitor, a playpen and a bouncy saucer.

The Not-So-Necessary
Items I never used, not even once, included a baby wipe warmer and a bottle/baby food jar warmer. And those cute terry cloth bath robes received as shower gifts? Neither of my kids liked to be wrapped in them after a bath, preferring instead a more no-nonsense procedure of being dried off and put straight into PJ’s. The bath water thermometer remained in the package collecting dust; it was just easier to test the water with my own hand.

Furniture
When purchasing furniture, if space in your baby’s bedroom is limited, consider forgoing the changing table. Instead, you can purchase a horizontal dresser and put the changing pad on top of it. When looking for cribs, dressers and bedding, check out the Nursery page in the Compare Prices feature on CoolSavings.

Strollers
As for strollers, a very useful one during the first year is a "travel system" model, where you can pop the car seat carrier right into the stroller and go. Once the baby is approaching his or her first birthday, however, a $20 lightweight, foldable umbrella stroller may become your new best friend. Check out CoolSavings’ Strollers & Other Gear price comparison page when trying to find the best deals on strollers.

Handy gadgets?
During my older child’s first year of life, I meticulously recorded in a notebook his intake of formula and baby food. I began doing this when he was a newborn but continued the process for much longer. A few days ago on a friend’s baby registry I found this electronic Coast Innovations Itzbeen Baby Care Timer that I would have given my left arm for back then! Just clicking a button on this handy electronic gadget will enable you to record when your baby last fed, napped and was changed. If by nature you’re a recorder of events as I am, this product may be worth the investment.

Read the reviews!
Check reviews on Web sites that sell baby items. The BabyCenter and Babies "R" Us Web sites provide consumer reviews at the bottom of their product listings. If a toy falls apart or did not capture a child’s interest, for instance, you may read about it in the review.

Please feel free to chime in by responding with comments on what items you have found useful, or what not to bother buying. It may help out other moms-to-be when making purchase decisions.