I have explained it to you on more than one occasion: when we had our first child we entered a store specialized in baby things and they emptied our pockets. We had no idea and we left with a lot of gadgets and hookahs that seemed essential and then, or we did not use, or we did so little that everything was new. Come on, with the excuse of "for your son, the best", we spend more money than we should have spent according to what we did with the second and third.
Therefore, if you want to spend little money because you consider that it is not necessary, or if you are not left with money and do not want to have the feeling that you have been scammed, do not stop reading the best tips to save (a lot) with the arrival of the baby.
Baby's room
The decoration of the baby's room, and the filling of furniture and practical elements, is what most money takes. A chest of drawers, the crib, the changing table, the bassinet, the mat, the matching pictures, the paint, the floor, etc. It is true that it is very exciting to prepare that room, but it can be a considerable expense and in reality most things are expendable, because the baby's room is the whole house.
The best way to save money in this regard is to buy furniture that can be used later (that are not excessively childish and that can "grow" with the child, designed for that transition), or take advantage of things we already have.
If you know someone who has a crib, it is the only thing you can really need, and if not, you can look for a second-hand or new one, to which you can remove the barrier from one side and whose surface can go up and down to set it at the same level as your bed. So you don't have to buy bassinet and you have a big colecho cradle, for the time it takes, and that you can close completely later if you consider it appropriate.
Nothing to buy a furniture changer. In any case you buy a cloth changer, of those that on one side are cloth and on the other waterproof (or two, in case you have to wash one of the two) and you are putting it where necessary to change the baby.
The baby's clothes occupy little, so you can put it in a drawer in your room, or make yourself with a fabric organizer with several compartments. They can serve both for clothes and to put diapers, creams and various toiletries. While they are used, they hang up ... when they are no longer needed because diapers are no longer used, stored, given away or used for other things. By the way, diapers can be used cloth. Well managed at the washing level, they cost less than those of using and throwing away.
Food
The most economical and at the same time the most recommended diet for the baby is breast milk. It provides defenses and really everything that the baby's body expects to receive, so avoid visits to the pediatrician, spending on medications, and obviously expenses in bottles, teats and bottles of formula, which are not exactly cheap.
But wanting is not always power, so in this sense it is best to go to a breastfeeding support group in pregnancy, to learn about the possible problems, causes and solutions, understand how breastfeeding works, know how other mothers do so and have references and knowledge to, in case of problems with breastfeeding, know how to fix them or where to go. In addition, it is good to ask at the health center, or the mothers who attend, which pediatrician and nurse have more knowledge in breastfeeding, as this can also be decisive for breastfeeding to be successful.
Once the baby begins with the complementary feeding, the ideal is to give him food as natural as possible, so it will be enough to give him what we usually buy: vegetables, meat, fish, bread, fruit, legumes ... and so it is not necessary to spend money on potitos, cereals and things like that, which will then stop eating. It is better to start from the beginning with real food and let her get to know her and get used to her, because she will be the one who will eat the rest of her life.
It will be enough with the occasional plate and plastic cutlery to be able to give it to him and make room in some kitchen cupboard in which we have those gadgets that are never used.
The highchair can wait, and in fact it is better like this: at first the ideal is to feed the baby just as we did when we gave him milk, in our lap. We sit with us and we give him with the spoon or we leave within reach what we want him to take with his hands and put to his mouth. If you then prefer to give it more autonomy, because it asks for it, there are high chairs like IKEA super bars, or seats of those that are attached to the same table, which also occupy little space.
Bath time
As we have already mentioned, toiletries can be stored in cloth bags or similar. To bathe the baby, a large basin, or even an inflatable bathtub, is enough: it is not necessary to fill them with water, so the smaller the less water we will spend. By the time they are older we can store the inflatable bathtub for travel and put in the bathtub some invention so that they can sit safely, or a baby bath with non-slip (never leave them alone, of course), or even bathe with them .
In a mesh bag hanging on the wall we can have some bath toys and in another the sponge, soap and whatever we consider appropriate.
As we have said, nothing of a changing table: we leave the bathroom with the baby wrapped in a towel and in the room where we have everything already prepared, with the waterproof changing table on the bed or on the floor, we take the cream if necessary ( because if you have soft skin it is not too necessary) and we dress it.
The clothes
Find other women who have been mothers, because they can lend you, sure, a lot of clothes. If it is not possible, buy the essentials and no more. You don't have to have a lot of little models because last weeks. That shirt that was going great will be tight in a few weeks, and you can no longer wear it; And so with everything.
And the shoes or slippers? The same: if you are not going to walk, why?
The moment to play
Forget about stuffed animals, which do not serve to play and only accumulate dust. Get yourselves with toys or items that are flashy, make noises, etc., and can be easily washed, because a day will come when you will start sucking them. Don't spend too much time with toys: they tend to pay more attention to our things than we buy them, so it is almost worth leaving everyday things that are not dangerous or have much value than those we buy specifically for them (the cardboard boxes, for example, make them crazy).
The hammock is totally expendable: the baby should not sleep there because sitting does not receive the necessary oxygen, and at times when he is awake his head should be free of pressure (the more time he spends lying down or in a hammock the more likely that the head takes unwanted forms, in what we know as plagiocephaly). A baby has to be in the arms of his parents, in a flat and firm place if he sleeps and is comfortable or on the floor when awake, in a blanket or similar, especially after 6 months, which is when you have to start turning, face down and try to move.
If they have the possibility and the parents accompany them, they usually start crawling, crawling, and finally standing up. First they walk on the furniture, and then, when they are already able, they walk loose. And all without the help of any walker, walker or support element (no need to buy them).
At the time of going out
In the car they have to have a safe restraint chair. This is non-negotiable. But when it comes to going outside the possibilities are many. The cuckoo is used very, very little, because from 3-4 months or it stays small or more seats can go, so I would not buy it. Until that moment I would take it in a scarf or baby carrier, which is also recommended for the development of the hip is for the development of speech (it is easier to talk with him and talk to him hanging from mom or dad) or in an inclined stroller, which will serve to later take him sitting when either able to be like this, after 6 months (always with belts tightly fastened).
I comment this because the big 3 in 1 chairs are not very practical. The cuckoo, as I say, is little used. The maxi-cosi is used, for the car, but it is not recommended to put it on the wheel structure because they cannot be there for long. And when we already make it chair, it is too big and heavy compared to the lighter and more folding strollers, so they usually look like new.
In this sense, if you can borrow it or you can buy it second hand, go ahead. But if not, the option of the stroller seems to me the most logical. In addition, there are usually adapters in the form of a bag or similar so that the baby does not "dance" in it, and goes safely.
Of the three children we have, the one who used it the most was the first, because of what you bought and used. The second and third were hardly ever in a stroller until the year or a year and a half, when we already pulled more of a stroller with the corresponding "skate" attached to the one who gets tired more walking.
In summary
There are very few things, really, so The expense will depend above all on the comfort we want to achieve, on the aesthetics and usefulness of things. That is why people with the first spend much more than the second and the following, because they no longer have the need to have everything beautiful, beautiful and great, but it goes to the practical and what is really needed and useful.
Photos | iStock
In Babies and more | What to buy for the arrival of your baby, 6200 euros of expenditure (minimum?) During the first year of the baby, Two unique ways of raising: with money and without money
