A Frugal Mom's 11 Favorite Baby Items

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Wonder what baby items are worth spending your money on? I’m a frugal mom of 4 and here are all my favorite frugal baby items!

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Trying to figure out what baby items are worth buying? As a frugal mom of four, I know how hard it is to decide whether something is worth spending your hard-earned money on! And so I thought I’d try to help you out by sharing the 11 items that I would willingly buy again in a heartbeat.

A Frugal Mom’s Favorite Baby Items

1. Conair Sound Machine

This little machine has been a life saver for us so often! We live in a house where sound carries easily. We also live in the city and during the summer months often have neighbors who party loud and long into the night.

This machine makes just enough white noise to block other sounds out and has helped our babies (and older children too!) sleep well even when there’s other noise close by. I love that it has the option to run on batteries which is great for camping.

Update: The Conair sound machine has increased drastically in price and is no longer a frugal buy. This Homedics option looks like a good alternative.

2. Aden + Anais Classic Muslin Swaddle Blanket

These blankets are amazing! Yes, they’re a bit pricier than many other blankets but let me tell you, they are worth the extra money. I didn’t have them with my first two and sometimes I wonder how I managed! They are now my go-to blanket and I have hardly used anything else with babies #3 and #4. Here’s what I love about them:

They’re bigger than most blankets and work wonderfully for swaddling.
They are lightweight enough that they aren’t all bulky and annoying.
I didn’t feel like I had to worry about them suffocating my baby because the fabric “breathes”.
(Obviously, this doesn’t mean that they couldn’t suffocate your baby, but it just seemed less likely to me. As always, use common sense.)
Because of their size and their lightweight design, they work great as a cover-up when nursing.
They get softer the more you wash them.

3. Boppy Pillow

If you are nursing, this is one of those things that just makes life a little easier. I didn’t have one for my first child and often would get a backache from hunching over when nursing. The Boppy helped with that by giving me a higher surface to rest my baby on while I was nursing him.

I also used it a lot as a place to nestle my baby when I wasn’t nursing. When they are newborns, they can lie nicely in the center. As they get older, it works perfectly to sit them in the middle since the Boppy gives just enough support to help them get used to sitting up.

4. Bumbo Seat

This little seat is just awesome! It’s perfect to use when your baby is just starting to try to sit up and can’t quite support themselves and it’s also great once they can sit a bit better but tire out easily.

I found that using the Bumbo helped my babies be more content because it gave them a change of scenery so to speak. And the fact that it is easy to wipe clean is wonderful! Obviously, it is great for indoor use, but it is also perfect for outdoors as well.

5. Graco Pack ‘n Play

This one is a big-ticket item but it is definitely worth it in my opinion! We have a lot of family that live out of state and so we travel a lot. This Pack ‘n Play folds up compact enough that it is easy to transport and allows us to have a nice little bed for our child no matter where we are. There is a more expensive model, but personally, I wouldn’t bother spending the extra simply because the extra features are not something you are going to use for more than maybe a month or so.

And I highly recommend spending a little bit more and getting a waterproof pad and sheet to protect your Pack ‘n Play while you are at it. It’s an easy way to keep it clean!

6. Soft Baby Shoes

I discovered these shoes with baby #2 and loved them! They are an inexpensive, perfect first shoe. They’re soft and not as clunky as regular shoes which make it easy for your baby to crawl in as well as learn to walk. If you are looking for a boy version, I thought these Canvas Baby Boy Shoes were quite darling!

Here are a few other options:

Plaid Boy’s Shoes
Girls Bow Shoes

To be clear, the shoes that I used for my girls were Goldbug brand, but they don’t seem to be available anymore. So I read reviews and tried to find shoes that seemed to be decent quality and like the ones that I used on my daughters.

7. Tommee Tippee Insulated Sippy Cup

These cups are hands down the best sippy cups we’ve owned- and we’ve owned quite a few brands! They won our approval because they truly are leak-proof, which is something that no other cup that we tried actually lived up to. I also really like that they are insulated.

Update: I since have discovered the Munchkin Miracle 360 Sippy Cup and think I like it even more!

8. Bumkins Waterproof SuperBib

Maybe I’m picky, but it took me a while to find a bib that I truly loved. In my opinion, these Bumkin bibs are perfect for babies up to about 12 to 14 mos. They’re long enough to cover well and keep clothes clean, they are flexible enough to fit nicely and they wipe up easily, too. Plus, you can throw them in the washer too if you want to get them super clean!

9. Usborne “That’s Not My….” Books

We love introducing our children to books at an early age. The Usborne “That’s Not My ______” books are favorites of both our children and us! They feature bright colors, simple pictures and have fun textures to feel, too. And they are nice and sturdy as well, which is obviously important if you are going to be letting little ones look at them!

10. The Mommy Hook

This handy hook is like an extra hand! It clips easily onto your stroller or shopping cart to give you a place to hang your purse or grocery bags from. It’s small enough that you can easily keep it in your diaper bag to use when needed.

11. Bouncer Seat

Our babies all have loved the bouncer seat! I picked up an older version of the seat shown above on a whim at a yard sale when our first baby was a newborn, and I’ve never regretted it.

I love that the bouncer seat is smaller and more mobile than a swing, but still gives babies a nice soft, cushy place to be. And with the way it’s designed, every time your baby moves, it will gently bounce just a little bit. It’s not huge movement, but our babies seemed to like it.

It was especially great for when they were napping and I have no idea what I would have done without a bouncer seat for our colicky 4th baby. He slept in this thing all.the.time. for the first several months of his life! He seemed to have a lot of stomach gassiness and I think the fact that he could sleep on a bit of an incline in the seat helped him feel better.

Side note: I’ve since learned of Dock a Tot and think they could be another nice option. You can read my friend’s Dock a Tot review here.

BONUS ITEMS

I just had to update this post and add these 2 items…because we are currently in the baby stage with our 4th child and I realized that these 2 items have been huge lifesavers for me and you all deserved to know about them too! 🙂

12. Doorway Jumper

I eyed these things when each of our previous children were babies but always ended up convincing myself that I didn’t need another baby gadget. Recently though my sister-in-law offered to let me borrow hers and you all, it has been a total lifesaver! Our little guy (baby #4) absolutely loves it and it keeps him happy for such a long time.

13. Johnson & Johnson Nursing Pads

Hands down, these are the absolute best nursing pads out there- and I’ve tried quite a few brands! They are super absorbent and never leak (which is especially great if you have an active letdown and an oversupply of milk).

I love that they are made from a material that doesn’t make you sweat and allows your skin to breathe- key to avoiding getting yeast infections/thrush. So many of the other brands that I tried have a plastic backing that caused me to sweat and always made me feel slightly damp.

Yes, these cost a bit more than other brands, but they are totally worth every single extra penny! Even when I leak a lot, I rarely change them more than twice a day because they are so, super absorbent.

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