Raising Creative Children » infants

Things for Baby

Lorelei — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:18:58 +0000

Raising a Budget Baby in a Consumerist World

You'd Like to Give Him the World

I hesitated to write this article, as the focus of my blog is on toddler and preschool age children, but I’ve been asked for advice on this topic often enough to guess that it still might be relevant for some of you. The big question is, what does baby need? Or rather, how much can baby do without! I just laugh when I read articles or headlines about how much it costs to raise a child these days, and I wonder what criteria they use. I can quite honestly tell you that much of the baby paraphernalia on the market today is useless, and some of it might even be harmful.

So here is a discussion on the various things you can buy for your nursery and the costs involved, to help you make an informed decision before you work it into your budget.

Basic Items:

crib	car seat	rocker	layette	stroller	sling	baby gate	total:
$150.00	100.00	150.00	100.00	100.00	35.00	50.00	$685.00

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A bed

That’s basic. Your new baby will need a place to sleep. For some famillies, this may mean sharing your bed. For others, this may mean an heirloom cradle with a brass name plate, followed by a solid-maple six-year crib only used for a year and a half, which is then transformed into a toddler bed. Some families may also invest in port-a-cribs and playpens.

Cradles, bassinets, and playpens have fallen out of favor in recent years. A newborn will only use a bassinet for two months, three at tops. You cannot use the bassinet once the baby is rolling over or sitting. A bassinet starts at around $100 (not including the bedding) and a cradle at $150. Since a newborn will sleep just fine in a crib, here is one expense you can do without.

Get a good crib. Your baby can sleep in the crib until he starts first grade. Because nearly everybody gets a crib, you can always find one used. Don’t get one that’s too old, as the older cribs may not meet current safety standards. But if you check around, you should be able to find a really nice used crib for around $150.00. Check rummage sales and Good Will for crib sheets and blankets.

If you choose to go with a new crib, you can still save money. It isn’t necessary to get one that converts into a toddler bed. Toddlers may actually sleep better and feel more secure if they stay in their crib, even after toilet training. Think about it – do you really want your little child up wandering around the house when you might still be asleep? If your child calls for you, and you don’t wake up to answer, it is probably better to have to deal with wet pants and bedding, than whatever mischief or danger your child could get in to. Get a crib and use it.

The issues of a family bed could fill an entire post, if not a book, so I won’t do more than mention that some families choose to keep their baby in their bed. For safety reasons, you should not do this if either you or your significant other smokes or consumes alcohol, to reduce the risk of rolling over on top of your baby.

A Car Seat

A Safe Carseat May Save a Precious Life

Here you can spend as little as $50, or well over $400! It may actually be cheaper to get a separate car seat and a separate stroller, than one of these multi-purpose combinations. Most car seats will convert from the newborn/reclining position, to the forward-facing upright toddler position. However, there is more research to suggest that you should keep your baby in the rear-facing reclining position until he is two to two and a half years old.

For the car seat, it might be wisest to go new. Go ahead and check the garage sales and second-hand shops, but again, older ones may not meet current safety standards. Not all car seats fit in all vehicles – we had a car seat with the padded shield that comes down overhead – it was really hard to use in our Pontiac Firebird, where the roof sloped sharply down in the rear. There is a really great website that discusses car seats, how to use them, how to buy them, by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

A Rocker

Rocking Soothes the Child and Strengthens the Bond Between You

This really is a must. You will want to rock your baby to sleep. You’ll want to cuddle your baby in the rocker after a bath, before bed, after nightmares, the rocker may become your favorite chair in the house! It certainly will be the most used. Find a rocker that fits you! I’m a little short, and I always wanted to have my spouse cut the legs off my rocker and put the rockers back on, so I could make it rock without getting a crick in my back.

Used rockers are really hard to find. I think that’s because people who own them, use them all up. So shop around, but you should be able to get a solid, wooden one for around $150.00.

The Layette

“Layette” comes from the French, for “little box”. Supposedly, all the things a baby needed to wear would fit in one – a little box, that is. Many babies today have their own chest of drawers and a closet to hold all their things, which is really ridiculous when you figure how fast they’ll outgrow them. Little tiny baby things are just so darn cute! It’s hard to resist buying them, almost as hard as it is to walk past a display of chocolate bars, only they won’t break your diet. Just your budget.

How many clothing items you’ll need to buy for baby depends on how often you plan to do laundry. If you have a washing machine in your home and can throw in a load every day, then you’ll need a lot less than if you have to haul everything to the laundromat every other week. Start out with: six onesies, six pair of bootie socks, six sleeper-pajamas or nightgowns, and one cute outfit. Add to that some small flannel receiving blankets, a couple of larger, heavier blankets, and depending on the season, you may need a jacket or snuggle-sack – just be sure that the outer garment will “fit” in the car seat.

If you’re choosing cloth diapers, start with three dozen. One dozen plastic diaper covers, and two waterproof pads to lay baby on while changing. You don’t need to buy a special baby towel – assuming that you have a bathroom already, you must also have towels. You don’t need to buy special baby wash cloths. Baby does not need shoes – he isn’t going walking anywhere for about a year.

A stroller

Even if you’re very much into Attachment Parenting, and you want to carry your baby everywhere right next to your skin using the sling, a stroller may be very helpful. At the least you can put the diaper bag in the stroller. If you live in the country and have no sidewalks, get a stroller with larger wheels, like a Jogger stroller. If you live in town, and will spend a lot of time getting in and out of the car, or on and off a bus, consider the smaller, more portable Umbroller- type stroller. The Umbroller wheels do not turn well on rough pavement. The jogger stroller does not collapse very small to fit in the trunk of your car. If you shop at garage sales, you might be able to afford one of each. Or, you could get a big red wagon, and skip the stroller completely. That’s a matter of preference.

A sling

Baby Slings Build Relationship, Plastic Carriers Do Not

There are many designs of baby carriers today. I strongly advice AGAINST the hard-plastic baby carriers that are so popular. The kind where you see parents carrying a baby like a basket of fruit. Babies want to be held! Hold them close, next to your heart. Let them hear your heart beating. Let them get jostled around as you walk. They’re used to it – they’ve been inside you in that neat waterbed for nine months, they’ve been listening to your heartbeat for nine months.

I can’t help but wonder if the sudden rise in diagnosed cases of autism isn’t somehow related to the sudden rise of plastic baby carriers? Get a carrier that holds your baby close to you. Choose a design with wide straps, for your comfort. It will allow you to have your hands free, so you can go on with your life, but keep baby close and happy, so the two of you can bond.

A baby gate

You’ll need either a baby gate or a playpen – you’ll need a safe place to put your baby when he starts to move around. If you have older children, then a playpen may be more practical. Otherwise, I keep the nursery “baby-proof” and put a gate up over the door. Then, for those times when you can’t be with baby (for a run to the bathroom) you know that baby will be safe until you return. As baby grows, you may continue to use the gate, to teach baby to learn to amuse himself for a short period of time.

That’s All, Folks

And there you have it. All the “must haves” for your newborn. For well under a thousand dollars, you’ve got the necessities covered. You do NOT need to buy swings, jumpers, shakers, rollers, monitors, bottle warmers, baby wipe warmers, shoes, boots, or toys. You do not need to buy a dresser for baby, unless you plan on buying too many clothes. You do not need to buy a changing table for baby. While they may be convenient, they also take up space. It may be easier to change baby on the floor, or on the foot of a bed with a large, waterproof pad over it. You do not need a diaper bag the size of a suitcase. You can use any backpack, just make sure you restock it after every trip – take out the soiled items and put in fresh. If you plan to nurse, you do not need baby bottles and formula. You do not need baby dishes and silverware – baby shouldn’t be eating solid foods until he is nearly a year old, and then can just use the same dishes as the rest of your family (unless they are fragile. Then buy him something unbreakable). Eventually, you may want to buy a high chair, but not for many months. You can get a cheap plastic booster seat and strap it to a dining chair. These don’t work for very young babies, but very young babies do not need solid food.

Some families swear by baby swings. Some never use them. See if you can borrow a swing before you decide to buy one. But consider this – in many American homes we swing, rock, and jiggle our babies. We can put babies in contraptions that let them jump, bounce, hop, and wiggle. When a baby is fussy, someone is sure to recommend that we put the baby in the car seat and go for a drive. Baby is constantly in motion… and then when baby is old enough to start school, teachers wonder why baby can’t sit still!

I can’t think of anything else in a “basic” list of baby needs. Of course, if you can work it into the budget, you could buy more of anything – more diapers, more pajamas. You could buy lambs wool and bumper pads for the crib. You could invest in a collectors set of children’s books. You could buy every educational CD and DVD on the market. You could buy only organic fruits and vegetables and start making your own baby food, canning or freezing it until your baby is older. There are a lot of ways you could spend your money, but before the budget is spent, just make sure you’ve got the basics covered. Then don’t sweat the rest.

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Jonny Hunter
Middle:photo by Valentina Powers
Carseat: photo by Benjamin Hoyt
Rocking Chair: photo by author
Bottom: photo by Summer

Home-made Baby Wipes

Lorelei — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:00:36 +0000

Earth-Friendly Products May Be Safer For Your Child

Any time you can make your own something, you can generally make it cheaper. You can also make sure that the ingredients are safe for your child, and if you chose the cloth method, you can even help save the planet. Not bad for a day’s work!

The wipe
You can use paper towels, or wash cloths, depending on your level of green-ness. If you chose the disposable route, you’ll want a better quality paper towel than the el-cheapo brand. Cut the roll of paper towels in half so that you have two rolls shaped like a roll of toilet tissue. Pull out and discard the cardboard insert. You may find that an electric knife works great for the cutting part. Otherwise, be careful as you saw away! Pull towels from the center, just like you would with a commercial brand of wipes. Find a round container with a snug fitting lid that will hold your paper towel half-roll, or recycle an empty commercial wipes container – but their lids tend not to shut very tight and the wipes dry out.

If you chose to recycle, buy a stack of cheap wash cloths. You can keep them dry and store a wetting solution in a spray bottle, or you can soak the washcloths and store them in a zippy bag, or recycled plastic container with a tight fitting lid, or a glass canning jar. If you store them wet, rotate them frequently so they don’t get musty or moldy. Storing them dry, and bringing along some wash solution in a spray bottle works best for me.

The solution:
recipe #1
2 cups water
2 tablespoons baby wash or shampoo
2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix together well. For disposable wipes, pour solution into the container, add paper towels and snap the lid shut. Shake and set aside. Towels will eventually absorb all the solution. Otherwise, pour solution into a spray bottle. Spray solution on a wash cloth right before using.

recipe #2
2 cups water
2 drops tea tree oil
2 drops lavender oil
2 drops chamomile oil
1 vitamin E gel cap

Cut open gel cap and squeeze vitamin E into the water. Add the essential oils, and shake. Be sure to use pure essential oils, and not synthetic ones. They are available in health food stores. Tea tree oil acts like a disinfectant. I think the others just smell nice. Vitamin E is good for nourishing the skin. Full-strength essential oils are toxic, so keep the bottle out of reach of your child. Two drops of oil diluted in 2 cups of water is relatively harmless.

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Linda Aslund

WIC – A Nutrition Program for Pregnant, Nursing Moms and Young Children

Lorelei — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:50:30 +0000

More Juice, Please!

Years ago when my husband and I were young, we struggled to make ends meet. We were both full-time students, with one infant and another on the way. For about a year we lived in subsidized housing. We used food stamps, medical assistance, and stood in lines to receive government commodities distributions. I was grateful, but I sort of hated it, too. I mean, my parents had struggled when they were newly weds, but that was long before I came along. I was fourth out of five, and grew up in a lovely parsonage, and was used to a higher standard of living. My husband was the only son of a first generation Polish Catholic family. He’d grown up on a dairy farm, and had learned to be independent, self-sufficient, and proud. We did not want to be on welfare. But the alternative – drop out of school and try to find a decent job – just didn’t seem to make sense in the long run. And so we accepted the help. We both graduated, and have been paying taxes ever since.

I remember how it felt to use food stamps. Back then we got colored bits of paper that looked like Monopoly money, and everyone who stood in line in the grocery store knew that we were buying our groceries with their tax dollars. I felt like they were checking out the items I had chosen, wondering if I were spending their money on pop and candy. I felt like I had no business driving a decent car – that we should sell the Firebird and buy a wreck, even though my husband’s car was paid for in full, ran well, and cost us no repair bills. Accepting Federal Aid made me feel stupid. All except for WIC.

WIC is Not a Welfare Program

W.I.C. stands for Women, Infants, and Children. It is NOT a welfare program. It receives its funds from the Department of Agriculture, not the Department of Human Services! I don’t know why that makes a difference, but it does. I was always treated with respect as I went to the required monthly meetings to get my dose of nutritional education along with the coupons that would supply me with free milk, eggs, juice, and iron-fortified cereals.

Just last week I dragged my daughter in to the W.I.C. office to get her signed up. She dreaded the trip, perhaps because she’s had such dreadful experiences with the Department of Human Services. We waited less than five minutes in a cheery waiting room filled with other young moms and their babies. We met with a social worker who took her information, checked my granddaughter’s weight, height, and blood iron-level with calm patience, even when the 2 yr old was acting particularly two-ish. Then we met with a nutritionist who gave her some advice on meals and menu-planning. We left less than an hour after we arrived, and walked out with a cute, generic looking “credit card” that will make all her purchases discretely.

We Can All Benefit From Nutritional Education

Offering a Toddler Healthy Foods is Easy. Getting Her to Eat them is Not.

I used to feel a little superior – like I didn’t need the nutritional part of the W.I.C. program. I graduated suma cum laude from college! But being smart doesn’t necessarily make you a smart shopper. And even after years of meal planning and preparing, I can still learn something new! The W.I.C. nutritionist told my daughter and me that you should never serve your bologna raw. I have never heard of cooking bologna, have you? She claimed that bologna and hot dogs are basically the same, and that you would never give your child a hot dog raw. Bologna is moist, and exposed to other raw meats on the deli slicer, and is a perfect environment for food-born contaminants like salmonella. She said, “Always cook your sandwich meats, especially when you are serving them to a young child.”

Studies Show That WIC Works

W.I.C. works. It provides supplemental nutritious foods for women who are pregnant, nursing, or postpartum and not nursing. It also provides such foods for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers up to age five, who may be at nutritional risk. Studies have shown that spending the money on nutritional programs like W.I.C. is cheaper in the long run, as medical care expenses drop. Women on W.I.C. have healthier babies. Children on W.I.C. have larger vocabularies and better memories. Infants on W.I.C. have higher birth weights, lower mortality rates, and are more likely to get all their vaccinations and receive routine medical care.

Sometimes a Cute Bowl or Drinking Straw Can Tempt a Child to Eat

Currently, I believe the income guidelines for W.I.C. is $39,000 a year for a family of four. If you fall below that, you may be eligible to receive W.I.C. You can contact your state agency to find out where to apply.

In some states, W.I.C. also provides vouchers to take to the farmer’s markets in the summer! Fresh, locally grown, organic vegetables! I feel kind of proud. My tax dollars are doing something good, after all.

For further reading, check out:
Feeding the Finicky Eater
Raw for Life
Going Raw

Photo credits:
Top photo: Leonid Mamchenkov
Middle photo: Andrew Eick
Bottom photo: ultrakickgirl