Babies are expensive, which is why I do my best to reveal ways to save money. But there are some things that are worth the splurge.
Consider splurging on things that will be used for a long time or provide a benefit beyond what the basic version does. Everything on this list is useful beyond the infant stage and is worth the investment.
Many of these are things I wish I had known about sooner or had gotten earlier. Sometimes it pays to get quality early.
One- Fephas Baby Wooden Hair Brush
I got this when my baby was two, and I sincerely wish I had had it from the moment she was born.
The wooden brush feels fantastic to hold and the extremely soft sustainably farmed goat hair bristles massage the head while brushing through hair without tangling it.
If you have fine hair, this brush will still be usable through the toddler years. Thicker hair can be taken care of if you splurge on the full set which comes with a bristle brush and a comb.
My only regret is that I didn’t get the full brush set from the beginning.
Two- Aiden and Anais Swaddle Blanket
I know there are a lot of different ways to swaddle your baby, and a lot of people swear by the swaddle sacks, but I am old school.
These Aiden and Anais blankets are big, soft, and very breathable. It is easy to swaddle a newborn with them, and they can continue to be used as blankets when the swaddling phase is done. Older kids who don’t need them as blankets anymore can use them as capes or wraps for dress-up.
My daughter is currently 2 and I don’t see them coming out of rotation anytime soon. Plus the designs are super cute.
They are a little more expensive, but they are well worth the splurge. I recommend getting a couple of packs. When she was a newborn we never seemed to have enough of them.
Three- Glass Bottles
I’ve talked before about how plastic and food don’t mix, but there are other reasons to invest in some glass bottles.
You have to replace plastic bottles every 3-6 months at a minimum, and the nipples need to be replaced every 3 months. If your child uses a bottle for 2 years (pretty common) then a pack of plastic bottles at $28.90 will need to be replaced at least 4 times, which comes to 115.60 per baby.
A set of analogous glass bottles costs $36.99 and while the nipples will need to be replaced, the bottles can be used for the duration of all your children’s bottle phases. Until it breaks…
We used glass bottles and I have dropped them several times from counter height onto our concrete floors. Only one bottle has broken. The others didn’t even chip.
I think it is worth spending $8.09 more initially to save $78.61 minimum over the course of 2 years.
Four- Changing Basket
The average child potty trains between 2 and 3 years old. That means whatever you are using for a changing table will be in use for 2-3 years per child. If you have 2 children, that station could be set up for 4-6 years.
4-6 years is a long time to have a towel on your countertop to change the baby on (our current setup). While our setup is frugal, it is also in the main area of our home. Sometimes it is nice to have something that looks like it belongs instead of something that just functions.
Personally, I love the look of these changing baskets over a changing pad. When the child/ children no longer need a changing table, the basket can be used for something else in the home. It could be a tray, or a crib for the baby dolls, or a million other things.
If you are short on cash, a towel works just fine for changing a baby on. But if you have the cash, consider the space around the changing table and try to come up with a changing pad solution that will blend in with your design style. It is going to be there a while.
Five- Washable Rug
Kids are really messy. Even if you have rules in place to minimize messes, you will still wind up with stains on the carpet.
One idea to minimize mess and make cleanup easier is to not have carpet at all, but toddlers and babies especially need a soft place to crawl around and play.
You could get the gaudy, multi-colored foam tiles; or you could spring for a washable rug. While a rug is generally more expensive than foam tiles, it also lasts longer and looks more adult. Consider springing for a washable rug if the play area is in a common space (like the living room).
Ruggable even has thick underpads for play areas. Choose something low ply so it is easy to spot clean and wont cause a suffocation risk during infant tummy time.
Six- Cloth Wipes and High-Quality Kitchen towels
Children are messy.
It starts with spitup and blow-outs, moves through the messy food phases, to general exploration mess, and culminates with teenage backpacks and shoes everywhere.
With all that mess going on, it is a good idea to invest in high quality-long lasting wipes and kitchen towels that won’t need to be replaced every year. Flannel wipes are great for baby and toddler messes. Kitchen towels make great burp cloths and are exceptional at cleaning up larger messes.
There is definitely a difference between low and high quality kitchen towels. A good towels can last a decade or longer so they are really worth a little investment.
Seven- Real Furniture
A real wooden dresser will outlast a particle board one every time.
It is much cheaper in the long run to invest in real wooden pieces of a quality your child can use for their lifetime. It may even be cheaper in the short term if you choose to pick up those pieces second hand and refinish them instead of buying new.
The baby phase is short, so a dresser with a changing pad on it is going to be useful for far longer than a changing table.
Some things are worth investing in
If an item is going to be in use for a long time or is going to significantly elevate a daily task, it is worth investing a little bit of money. Often that initial investment will reduce your long term costs.
Consider adding some of these items to your registry. They are well worth the cost.
Jane
Jane Reid, the primary author of Unprepared Mom and STEM 911, is an educator, tutor, women’s rights advocate, and mom. Here to make your life easier one article at a time.