Frugal pregnancy tips?

**mama2James** · 06-22-2009, 01:53 PM

Just found out yesterday on Father's Day that we are going to be blessed with our second child. The baby will be due at the end of February, and we are so excited! I am looking for any ideas, tips or anecdotes about having a frugal pregnancy and newborn stage. I definitely do plan to breastfeed again, and I will use as much as I can of our son's hand-me-downs for the new baby, boy or girl. Who says a baby girl can't use a navy blue car seat or pack and play, right?

**elphie** · 06-22-2009, 02:15 PM

First of all- CONGRATULATIONS!!

Sounds like you already have some great ideas. A few more...

-You should look into cloth diapers as well. You can buy (or make if you can sew) them a little at a time over the next few months.

-Belly bands are now sold even at Wal-mart so you can continue wearing your own pants instead of buying maternity. If you need to buy tops buy regular instead of maternity in the new flowing or stretchy styles- this way you can continue to wear them post baby.

-Make friends with your local Goodwill and Salvation Army stores.

-before buying something that a baby will only need for a few months ask yourself if you can get by without it or if something similar will work instead.

Again, congratulations and good luck.

**lilk** · 06-22-2009, 05:59 PM

Congrats on the baby! It's a good time of year to hit those yard sales. I got a bunch of baby clothes for $1. each, like brand new. Whatever you do don't shop a Babies r Us, they are super expensive. Crazy!!!! I was just their on Saturday looking for baby bedding, $200.00. Lets just say they didn't get any business from me. If, I'm going to spend that kind of money I'm going to get a super nice stroller.
My little girl is due Oct. 6, 2009. It's so exciting, I have 2 ds ages 17 and 13.
I'm sure your little angel will look just as beautiful in a blue stroller. Hey, you could always put some pretty pink or purple ribbons on it.
Don't forget to ask friends and family if they have any baby items they no longer need. That's how I got alot of my stuff. And free-cycle, you can ask for what you need.
Good luck with your pregnacy

.

**Maine Girl** · 06-22-2009, 06:02 PM

Congrads!! Stockpile meals that can go into the freezer then the oven. For days you don't feel well and for when the baby comes.

**Siebrie** · 06-24-2009, 10:00 AM

- Put out the word that you're expecting and that you will accept any second hand items
- Borrow your maternity wear (I have 3 friends who are also of 'childbearing' age, and the clothes are on loan for several months from one mum-to-be to the other)

**Emarie** · 06-24-2009, 03:04 PM

Congratulations! I can't say enough about yard sales. I got a brand new fisher-price rainforest cradle swing for 20 bucks which go for 100 bucks in the stores and a my breast friend breastfeeding pillow for a couple of bucks and tons of other great deals like really nicecrib bedding sets for 10 bucks. Luckily, we saved most of our older son's stuff so we didn't really need a ton of stuff. I set money aside to buy everything else we wanted. I knew I wanted a good stroller that would stand up to a lot of walking and be easy to maneuver so I saved for a Kolcraft Contour 3 wheeler and we love it. We also saved for a new Graco snugseat because it had gotten such great reviews for safety. I ended up using the website strollers.com because they were cheaper than the local stores and had the colors I wanted.

My philosophy was to spend money on the things where quality made a difference and would be getting a lot of use. Things like clothing are outgrown so quickly that yard sales and hand me downs make more sense. I did buy some maternity clothes from Wal-Mart that were on sale and a couple of nice dresses from Target. I started planning early so I had plenty of time to watch for sales.

**Marie78** · 07-15-2009, 07:09 PM

We just had our son on June 19th and we got quite a few things from my sister in law to get us started: changing table, crib, bassinet, bath tub, bouncy chair, exersaucer, and a few other things. We cleaned them up and they are in great condition. We bought new mattresses for the bassinet and the crib.

We bought clothes on clearance and have been buying things as we find we need them. I think we are pretty much set right now...yard sales are a great place to find quality items. My mother in law just bought us a baby bjorn at a yard sale in it's box only used once. She bought it for $20, it was selling for $80 in the stores. Look around...lots to be found

.

**Didi** · 07-16-2009, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by Marie78

We just had our son on June 19th and we got quite a few things from my sister in law to get us started: changing table, crib, bassinet, bath tub, bouncy chair, exersaucer, and a few other things. We cleaned them up and they are in great condition. We bought new mattresses for the bassinet and the crib.

We bought clothes on clearance and have been buying things as we find we need them. I think we are pretty much set right now...yard sales are a great place to find quality items. My mother in law just bought us a baby bjorn at a yard sale in it's box only used once. She bought it for $20, it was selling for $80 in the stores. Look around...lots to be found

.

Congratulations on the birth of your son!
I'm not sure if you have one of Baby Björn sitters (or perhaps the sling), but there is a recall because of safety issues, just so you know.

I've added the link.
http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Ne...r_balance.html

**Maisiedotes** · 07-19-2009, 06:36 AM

Since I did not have a baby shower with my daughter, we relied heavily on bargains, hand-me-downs, and second-hand stuff. We use cloth diapers and that has saved us a ton of money- we buy them used, use them, and re-sell them. I have actually MADE money on diapers and we still have about 3 dozen! For example, I bought 2 dozen organic cotton pre-folds for $12. I used them and re-sold them for $20. I bought 20 BumGenius for $110 and re-sold them for $10 each after I used them. If you can sew, even better- you can get wicked cheap dipes that need new elastic and fix them yourself. And there is something very satisfying about washing diapers. Maybe that sounds weird....

I try to keep going to the consignment shop, bringing the outgrown stuff, swapping it for bigger stuff. If you go on diaperswappers.com, you can find all kinds of stuff like slings, cloth dipes and wipes, "free for shipping" diapers and clothes... I never pay full-price for anything.

Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy!!

**Maisiedotes** · 07-19-2009, 06:41 AM

Originally Posted by mama2James

I definitely do plan to breastfeed again, and I will use as much as I can of our son's hand-me-downs for the new baby, boy or girl. Who says a baby girl can't use a navy blue car seat or pack and play, right?

Oh- and I had a baby boy in my first pregnancy (he didn't make it, tragically, but we kept some of his things). So, DD had a blue plaid travel system, lots of jeans that were gender-neutral (no trucks on them or anything)... we don't really "do" pink- I am more of an earthtones type of girl- so alot of DD's stuff was gender-neutral anyways, We have a boy due in Nov. and with hand-me-downs, we are almost all set! We are registering though because I never had a baby shower and we need a new travel system- ours is 6 years old and I don't think you are supposed to use a carseat that is that old.