Baby Topic_Things Not To Over Spend On Newborns

1. Baby Clothing

When I was pregnant with my first child, I heard a lot from experienced parents how fast babies outgrow their clothes, shoes, and even diapers. As much as I know it can be really tempting to buy lots of nice clothing for your newborns, here are some reason why not to overspend on baby clothing:

• Babies outgrow their clothing very quickly.
• They are most of the time swaddled anyways.
• High chances are that their clothing are going to get stained or soiled.
• You'd want simple and easy-access clothing to efficiently change baby after baths so they do not catch a cold.
• You're gonna receive a lot of clothing or baby gift-sets from friends/family as delivery or baby shower presents.

Some tips to save money on baby clothing:

• Buy used but in good condition (if you're comfortable with it) — just be sure to wash them first.
• Ask for hand me downs from friends/ relatives.
• Or buy as little as needed — for me I bought only simple (brand new) and brandless (but comfy) clothing for my NB. My Mother-in-law advised to buy those tie-front or button-front tops to change baby easily without having to pull the clothing on and off baby, this was a good tip.
• Don’t overspend on expensive clothing — if you really feel like pampering your little one, just make sure you don't over do it (but of course if you're loaded and want to spend on you baby then by all means).
• Ask for gift cards or red packets (cash) instead — you'd probably only do this with close friends/family.
• Try not to overstock on NB sized diapers as NBs outgrow them quickly.

2. Baby Stroller

Today a Mummy from my birth group

chat went to a warehouse sale and

found this awesome deal -

A brand new stroller retailing @ $419,

going for $29.90!!!!! 

There are a lot of strollers out there — good and bad (or not so good) ones. Although a stroller is a must-buy, perhaps being wise about shopping for the right stroller could save you some bucks by not having to get a second one. We bought a stroller taking these factors into account:

• 1-hand open & closing — easy especially when alone with baby.
• Stable, thick, and double-wheeled — so wheels do not get stuck in dents or gaps on the ground.
• Versatility — able to adjust to a lying position so it is suitable for infants and sitting position so it will be suitable for older babies.
• Finding a compatible stroller to suit your lifestyle — whether you need a car seat stroller, a jogger, something stable, or lightweight strollers.
• Easy to maneuver.
• And of course the budget — strollers can range from $200 to $2000, setting a budget for yourself is good to keep in mind what you're actually shopping for and not ending up with something too much.

3. Baby Crib and Bedding

This is a very personal choice for parents. You'd need to think of the sleeping arrangements for you and your baby to prepare the right bedding for your newborn. For example in Singapore, what I know is that a lot Moms & babies eventually co-sleep even when a cot is prepared for the little one. Simply because Mom is breastfeeding exclusively and it is easier for her to feed her baby throughout the night when they co-sleep. There could be different reasons why you'd want a crib or not, let's see how:

• Whether you have space for a cot at home — are you going to sleep in the same room? Whether you have space in your room for a cot or are you gonna have the cot in another room for baby?
• Type of bedding — a Moses Basket if you have less space, but be mindful that the lifespan is short as baby outgrows the basket quickly. A normal cot if you have a room for baby. A co-sleeping cot if you intend to co-sleep with baby but want him/her in their own bed. Or just have baby sleeping on your bed if want to co-sleep.
• Will you be co-sleeping? Usually Moms only co-sleep with baby if there's an intention to breastfeed so it's easier at night to simply pick baby up from your side and feed. Other reasons might be because some Moms (especially us Asian Moms) feel safer with baby by their sides instead of being alone in the other room — if you do co-sleep on the same bed with your NB, make sure the sleeping environment is safe for your little one.


The sleeping arrangement we had for our first born:


At that time I was still living with my in laws and as such did not have extra room in the house for the baby. The room that Hubs and I shared was already small as it was, so we did not have any space for a cot. Before baby arrived, Hubs and I discussed about who should be the caretaker of baby at nights and we decided for the confinement lady to take on that position so that I could rest well and recover well during my confinement. Because of this arrangement, we bought a playpen for the baby to sleep in and placed it in another room with the CL at night so she would do the night feedings without disturbing our sleep. We chose a playpen as it was a cheaper option than cots and probably might have a longer lifespan than a Moses Basket. So that was our arrangement for the period during my confinement. As soon as the CL left, we kept the playpen aside (which was eventually sold) because baby had to sleep with us from then on. So as mentioned that our room didn't have space for a cot, we let baby take half of our queen size bed to co-sleep with the "night shift-er" while the other parent slept on the mattress on the floor. This went on until we moved out and into our new place.





This was the exact playpen we bought for our first born. I ordered it from Carousell for roughly $100ish.. Was quite affordable and I liked that it had a change station.



When we moved to our new place, my girl was about 9 months old. At our new place we designed our bed to be on a platform against both walls so our baby would not roll down the bed from a high point. The space fit our king size bed and also a single mattress that fit right nicely beside ours and snugly into the platform space. It was great!! Now she sleep beside us on her own bed, Hubs & I would rotate our "night shifts" for the one in charge to sleep on the side our girl sleeps on. 
Our second born would join us in a couple months time, now we have to crack our head on the new sleeping arrangements.. LOL!! Lucky for us, we have a brand new cot and mattress which was won during my first pregnancy through a Mummy pageant.. Hahaha.. At least this way we'd definitely save on new bedding for my other princess.

Anyway, there’s no need to go crazy on crib, mattresses, and bedding as long as you read, understand, and follow the safety instruction. Planning your sleeping arrangements pre-hand could probably help save you money so just you won't end up buying something and not using it and having to store it aside.

4. Nursery Furniture and Decoration

Some parents spend a lot of money to build the “dream” nursery for their little ones. Although it can be really awesome to have such a room in the house, I personally think its quite a waste of money for a room that is going to change in a few years. New paint, new furniture, and decoration can add up to thousands of dollars very quickly. But of course if you have that kind of money to spend for such purposes, good for you. But if you're a practical parent like myself, you'd probably wanna skip on those permanent decorations which have to be re-done in years to come. 

When Hubs and I were planning for our home renovation, we planned everything with a young baby in mind. Our house is very spacious and open in concept so our child gets to roam around our place safely. I've had some Mummy friends coming to our place to get some ideas on how they could redo their renovation as some of them may have designed their houses at a time before they had kids or even planned for one. Years later they decided that the space just isn't kid-friendly anymore and want to have their place re-done — that's what I meant, having to spend doubles on the same room/space is just unnecessary if you could have it planned out in the beginning.  

Even though we have a baby/kid's room, it was done in such a way that there isn't any permanent carpentry work or furniture in the room just so that we could switch around the furniture as our kid/s grow. The only thing we used to decorate the kid's room was some wall stickers, cute furniture, and lighting. Oh and we painted the room in a neutral colour just in case we had a boy — LOL!

5. Baby Toys

Having enough to keep your baby/kids entertained and challenged, but not so much that you end up with a toy room is quite a challenge. I have friends who made an entire room an entertainment room for her kid and it looked really fun, even for me as an adult. I guess at the end of the day is where you can buy cheap or find good deals for the toys you get.

So far for us, we haven't gotten to the extend of an entire room of toys but we do have a play corner for our girl — and that seemed sufficient at the moment.

Where we got the cheap toys/books and furniture/storage for those items:

The kind of book shelf cum toy storage we
got from Taobao which only cost us about
SGD$60 inclusive of shipping?

• Taobao!!! Yes!! It is our number 1 place to find cheap toys (or almost anything else!!).. infact alot of accessories in our house came from Taobao. They are super cheap yet good (so far we have no complains on any of our purchases). Things we bought for example was a book shelf cum toy storage, 90% of her toys, her play mat, etc. Just the play mat alone would save you so much from buying on Taobao. Have you seen how much they're selling play mats and play yards at baby fairs?? We got them at a fraction... looks and works just as fine.
• Warehouse sales — I can't name you any for now since such sales are on and off from time to time. But do keep a look out for warehouse sales as some sales could offer you branded toys and books at fraction of their retail prices. 
• Carousell — I get some of my girl's hard cover books from Carousell. They are often pre-loved but I make sure they're always in good condition and wipe them down before giving them to my girl.
• Hand me downs — whenever I have friends who wants to hand us toys/books, I'd gladly accept them. To me its like the more the merrier since I don't have alot for my girl and I really don't mind them being pre-loved, so long as i make sure they've been cleaned before letting my girl have them.

It's funny how I've changed. When I was expecting my first born, I didn't want any pre-loved items as felt strange giving my baby used items. But now that my girl is almost 18 months old and my number 2 on her way, my mind set has switched over. Funny how we change after becoming parents - haha..

6. Baby Accessories

There are so many accessories and gadgets for Mummies and babies these days, the list is crazy! Since it's too much for me to list here, so I'll just make a few comments:

• You don’t really need a bottle cooler/warmer — I personally had one that Hubs got form Taobao, and it has been sitting in our store since a year and a half ago, not even opened to try.
• You don’t need a baby monitor if your house is small — usually you'd be able to hear the baby even though you're rooms apart. You know lah, Singapore's HDB flats are so small, unless you live in a Bungalow you probably might need one.
• Baby carriers and Mummy Bags — yes yes, I know the craze of TULA Baby Carriers and Ju-Ju-Be Bags and I myself own them. It's nice to have different colours that matches different of our outfits, but do we really need so many?

7. Diapers

Babies, especially newborns, use alot of diapers. If reusable/cloth diapers isn't something you're thinking of, what you can do is buy diapers in bulk because the price will be cheaper than buying them one by one. 

Where we got cheaper diapers (and baby formula milk powder from):

• CK Department Store: you can usually find them around neighborhood areas. Here's a list of CK Departmental Stores in Singapore: http://www.myck.sg/locate.php — we usually get our Mamy Poko diapers from CK, they're cheaper than in supermarkets, and also better in quality. We ever got the same diapers from Fair Price Finest Supermarket which were slightly more expensive, yet different in quality (did not have the wet diaper indicator line).
• Kim Sang Medical Hall — yes, a medical hall. They sell baby stuff which are cheaper than in retail as well as cheaper diapers and baby formula. We usually get our baby formula milk powders here and sometimes diapers. We also get our Pigeon Milk Bottles or baby necessities like baby ear buds, medicated oil, etc here because it is near my in law's place and cheaper than in stores and baby fairs. Here's a list of their store locations: http://luvbabies.kimsang.com.sg/stores
• Although we do not practice this, but I heard alot from my Mummy friends saying online stores sometimes have bulk offers from time to time. You may check out online stores like Lazada, Redmart, Qoo10.

8. Health Care

It’s easy to feel anxious, nervous, and unsure about health issues during pregnancy and afterward with your baby. New parents can be really "kanjiong" (anxious) and impulsive when it comes to making decisions to keep baby in good hands. That being said, like impulsively signing on to a package or buying some thing expensive just because someone tells you its good for your baby. In any case, there is one health care product that I thought is not a necessity and that is cord blood banking. Cord blood banking is a basically a process where a company specialized in preservation of human cells save your baby’s Umbilical cord blood stem cells with the idea that these cells could be used to battle certain diseases, such as leukemia, sickle cell disease, and metabolic disorders. This can be a rather costly expense and even requires more money when you need to process and use it. 

But how often will we require the usage of such technology? "The chance of baby later benefiting from his or her own banked cord blood is currently less than 0.04 percent, according to the ASBMT. Not only is that because the diseases currently treatable with cord blood are fairly rare, but with many, the child's cord blood would be unusable because those stem cells contain the same genetic defects, said Shearer, who co-authored the AAP policy statement." This statement was taken from Nbc News online (source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/cord-blood-banking-n400561)

I wouldn't say cord blood banking is complete unnecessary or useless, but it's more like a "if you can" kind of thing.. otherwise, this is something you might want to re-consider — for us, we opt to have our baby's cord blood donated to the public cord blood bank of Singapore. You may find out more about them and how to donate here.

9. Baby Life Insurance

Last but not least, another product that parents have dilemmas about — baby life insurance. This is subjective to your own earning capabilities since raising a child isn't easy and definitely not cheap. Buying insurance for your little one requires commitment. If you buy a few now then have them terminated in a couple of years realizing you're not able to afford that cost especially when your child starts going to school, then you're better off utilizing your money on something more important now. As parents, you are obliged to take good care of your baby all the time. But that doesn’t mean that you have to overspend for your baby, as there are many ways for you to choose from in order to get the most of your money. I am not saying not to buy any insurance for your baby, but life insurance in particular may not be necessary at this point. As an ex-insurance agent, let me share my stand point of view...

What types of insurance should I get for my baby?:

• Health/medical insurance — this is the one of the cheapest and most affordable insurance plan you can get for your baby. If you only have a budget for one policy, then this is it! It is a policy that allows you to make claims for hospitalization and surgery cost and can be purchased as soon as your baby is born.
• Accident plan — something also affordable and covers quite a few "common illnesses" in children. Most insurance companies offer coverage against accidents, illnesses such as Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD), Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF), food poisoning, and even Zika virus infection — accident plans these days have comprehensive benefits.
• Endowment/savings plan — is something good to have, just to put aside some savings for your child's future studies expenses. If you're a financially and investment savvy parent, you may have your own means to invest and earn more than what insurance companies can offer. Otherwise, this will be a good and safe way to allow steady savings till your child is grown-up.
• Life insurance — as mentioned, this is not a necessary plan you need for your child. Let me explain why: a life insurance is paid out when the insurred "passes on"... you do not need "that" benefit from your child and it will not benefit your child in anyway until he/she has their own family. So as much as it is a nice "gift" you can give to your child (because buying at a young age is cheaper than later in life), it is totally unnecessary to spend on it right away. I'd rather advise you to use this money to insure yourselves instead because anything happens to you will be disastrous to your family and young one, or use the money in more important areas. 

But as much as I can advise, at the end of the day it still boils down to each parent's earning capabilities. If you have all the money to buy all of the insurance, then of course that is each own's prerogative.

; ) Of course we know every parent loves their child. 

So that is all for today and hope you find my blog post informative. Do feel free to leave comments in the comment box below if you have any question/s regarding the topic and I'll try my best to answer them if it's not already stated in my blog above. And that's all for today, bye~! ; )

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