Need help! Having a baby on a budget, what do we get?

[Ba'sini'on]

My husband and I are expecting our first baby on January 1st. It was a surprise honeymoon baby we weren't expecting, but we aren't complaining We are really excited to meet little Squishy soon and know if we are having a boy or a girl (we want to be surprised). 

 

Our issue is, we are on a really tight budget. And thankfully we've had some help from friends and family, baby stuff still needs to be purchased. For one things, clothes. My parents had promised to visit, and bring a load of baby clothes my sister is not using, along with toys, stroller, bed sheets, etc. They then changed their tune and said when they visited they would buy us a co-sleeper, and a pack 'n' play. But...they have changed their tune once again and it's looking like they won't visit at all. So they lied. 

 

My husband says it's sad, because I'm not upset by them breaking their promise. I'm honestly used to all of this. My other sisters come first, and I will come last. My parents bought my twin a lot of baby things for her kids, and they still support them since my brother-in-law and twin live with them. And my older sister (I'm the youngest) gets financial support even though she has a job, along with their attention. My parents are using their vacation to visit my older sis in Missouri. Although we are in Ohio, they planned other things and already said they most likely won't be coming. 

 

So since we are looking at getting most of the things needed, we need to know what the baby requires before he or she arrives. We have:

A mattress (hypoallergenic, organic, infant and toddler in one)

A crib set coming later

20 Gerber 6-ply, prefold, fabric diapers

Toddler car seat

9-piece Crib set

Changing pad

Totoro pillow that lights up in different colors

2 Pacifiers

2 One piece sleep bags

201 Huggies size 1 diapers

 

We are planning on cloth diapers, me breastfeeding long term, and a natural birth. How many clothes should we get before the baby arrives? Doubt the baby will fit in newborn clothes by the way, this kid will be a big baby And it will be winter by the time the baby arrives so what should we get so the baby is warm on the ride home?

[The Reel Godfather]

Believe me I understand the tight budget, my wife was laid off days before our son was born, we had some parental assistance and great friends and family but still had a tight budget. 

 

We choose to be surprised as well and my wife went natural, except the petoson(sp?) go get things moving.  Surprise is totally the way to go, there are very few good surprises in the modern world.

 

The only thing we really splurged on was a car seat (and nothing crazy but also did not cut corners there).  We made use of a couple of second hand consignment stores for lots of clothes plus the clearance rack at Babies R Us.  We also did pretty well at yard sales for clothes and stuff like swings and some toys.  You will need less clothes than you think you will, once you out grow a couple of sizes that will become obvious.  Using cloth diapers you will be rocking thru the laundry so cycling thru the clothes too is not a big deal.  Winter and newborns is kinda easy too as they don't do much and can be easily swaddled in an extra blanket to keep them warm.

 

Hope that helps, congrats on the addition to your family.  Enjoy the ride, it passes so quickly and remember everyone cries at 2 AM and its ok! 

[TheOtherScott]

We had our first when we were on a tight budget, and we relied pretty heavily on hand-me-downs, garage sales, and thrift stores.

[Twilight]

We got so many things from family and friends, plus with breastfeeding and cosleeping, we cut out many of the big expenses. We did use disposable diapers, and those do add up, but cloth is great if you have your own washing machine. If you can line-dry that will save electricity costs.

 

Clothes-wise, both of my kids grew so fast that there wasn't much point in getting them big wardrobes as babies. They'd have maybe a dozen pieces of clothing that they'd rotate through regularly. What we needed lots of were wash cloths, towels, and bedding - for spit ups and accidents. Thrift stores have lots of baby clothes in new or like new condition, and people are constantly giving away clothes their kids no longer fit into. If you don't have a parenting network yet (ie if you're the first of your friend group to have kids), see what you can find locally. Everything from strollers to high chairs to baby monitors is going for free a lot of the time.

 

I'm in the minimalist school of thought for "stuff" you need for kids. Clothes, diapers, food, and a place to sleep is all they need for the first few months. You'll slowly accumulate more stuff as your kid gets bigger, but you really don't need much in the beginning.

 

Best wishes for the delivery!

[PolishRifle]

We used a traveling consignment sale called "Just Between Friends" not sure where you live but I believe they travel all over.  At first you need so few clothes since they grow so fast and friends and coworkers will be lining up to give you stuff.

 

When it comes to a crib I bought the 3 in one conversion crib.  Regular crib with multiple heights, then converts to a toddler bed and then can be used as a headboard for a twin or full (i forget which).  We weren't keen on the co-sleeping idea so the baby was in a bassinet for 6-8 weeks then we moved her to the nursery and she was sleeping through the night by 4 months.

 

Car seats should be bought new, you never know how they were treated or if they were in an accident.  Strollers, swings, high chairs, etc you can find used on craig's list or at yard sales for cheap. 

 

For pacifiers we had a dozen, kept one in each car, one in each room, in the diaper bag because when you need one the most you'll never find it.  By our kids first birthdays we took the pacifiers away and still occasionally find one when cleaning.

[Laurenji]

Yeah, babies don't need a lot of clothes. I would say to base the number of outfits on # of days between when you do laundry + some extra, so if they spit up or poop and you need to change them, you have some extras. Other than that they grow super fast - friends gave us boxes of 0-12 month clothes, and most of them we really never used because the little munchkin grew so fast.

 

I've had a lot of good luck with "virtual garage sale" facebook groups - I scored a giant bag of 12-18mo clothes for like $50. Thrift stores are also good.

[Princess Pineapple]

I bought lots of clothes from eBay. One bundle of sleepsuits was really cheap and when it arrived it had lots of Disney ones included but it was sold as a mixed bundle with no mention of Disney. I ended up using them then reselling them, with Disney in the title and made twice as much!

I agree about the dummies, get plenty. Encourage these rather than thumb sucking as it's easier to break the habit, you can take a child's dummy away but not thumbs! My eldest sucked his fingers and needed lots of orthodontic work as he was still sucking at 6 or 7. Little one had a dummy but got rid it when he was one.

[Twilight]

Save money, don't use pacifiers. Or educate yourself on the pros and cons.  http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/pacifiers/art-20048140

 

Point of interest: I sucked my fingers until well in my 20s and have never needed orthodontic work. My sister did, and wasn't a thumb or finger sucker. It's not always a direct cause of dental problems.

[Ba'sini'on]

Thanks for the advice!

 

So update: Things are really coming together. My grandma is sending us money for the baby and is set on getting us the travel system we were looking at. My great grandmother sent us clothes, and a breastfeeding scarf. Mother in law has not stopped sending us stuff haha, this is her first grandchild so she's really excited about buying baby things. 

 

My parents are coming over next week, and it sounds like they are actually going to make an effort and get something for the baby. But last time we discussed it my mom seemed keen on forcing on us a co-sleeper. So this should be interesting to say the least....

 

Any advice on good baby carriers? We are interested in the Ergo baby 360 carrier, mainly because it's really easy to put on without needing help from someone else. And the baby can face in more than one direction. 

[buffyfraz]

I concur with the other post about cycling through baby clothes. The sacks are great because they fit for a longer time. Cons are that they can't wear them in a car seat. For a winter baby make certain you have a couple pairs of socks to keep little toes warm since they have a tendency to wiggle out of a swaddle first( my little guy didn't like to be swaddled after the first couple of weeks).

[Elennare]

The co-sleeper might be really cool.  We had one of these.  While my boys never actually slept in it at night, it was great for naps and it also functions as a pack and play (that's what we mostly used it for, honestly).

 

I used a ring sling for quite a while as a baby carrier.  I think the one I got was from Maya Wraps.  I'd link you to it, but the website seems to be having issues right now.  I picked it up at the maternity store at a nearby hospital, though, so maybe check out some of those if you're interested?  When they got bigger, the sling was a bit awkward so I wanted to carry them on my back.  I made a narrow blanket podegi, and it has been awesome.  I still occasionally use it with the 4 1/2 year old!  Check out this place for advice on MANY different types of carriers.  There is lots of good info there.

 

For winter for little ones, when going out, hats and warm blankets are important.  Dress the little one for inside or maybe add a sweater, then pop a hat on, put in car seat, and tuck in with a blanket or two.  Or 3, if it's really cold.  You don't want too much stuff under the straps or the car seat might not work right.  Since our boys ended up in bed with us all night for the first several months, we never used pajamas for them.  Anything more than a onsie and they got too hot.  If that's something you plan to do, you can save by not having to buy pj's.

 

Do you have a breast pump?  Useful if you're planning to leave the kid with a sitter or something while you go out, and vital if you're planning to go back to work and continue breast feeding.  I have a really nice one that I no longer use.  If you're interested in a second hand one, send me a PM and we can talk.

 

Congrats on the baby, too!