"frugal baby ideas .... "

Boards:  Coupons Refunding Bargains Freebies Recipes Rewards Stockpiles Feedback General Chat
Rules Search Profile Login

General Chat Message
 
"frugal baby ideas .... "
Posted by Valkyrie on Jun-15-05 at 12:52 PM (Eastern)
Posted on Jun-15-05 at 12:52 PM (Eastern) by 69.169.155.158

There were a couple in here I didn't know (ie mineral oil, vinegar, olive oil).

quoted from another site:

Clean white cloths, or rags cut from just about any old thing, makes more sense than buying or even making baby wipes... those special throwaway bits that can irritate baby's skin with soaps and perfumes. Wash the cloths with bleach and detergent, rinse with a quarter cup of vinegar in the rinse water, and hang them in the sun to dry. (You have my permission to throw away the yuckiest!) They'll be safer than a box of wipes that set, wet and warm, after your bacteria covered hands have touched them.

Juice especially for baby (at three times the cost)? Where does it come from? Baby apples? Gentle peaches? If regular apple juice is too strong for baby, dilute it. If it needs pasteurizing, boil it.

By the same token, where does that baby food come from? I'd venture to say it starts out as the same food you eat! Just don't use salt or any form or fat - butter, vegetable oil, shortening are all no-no's at this point. (Although my daughter cut her first tooth on fried bacon.)
When feeding your baby real food, be sure it's mashed completely. Remove even very small lumps or strings of food which can choke a baby. His digestive system isn't ready to handle it yet, either.

It's not necessary to sew your own diapers, but it is necessary to use cloth diapers unless you have more money than you know what to do with. Do the math, as they say. A dozen cloth diapers cost around twelve to fifteen dollars and they last until the baby is potty trained. So what if it takes four dozen or more? How many times could you reuse a disposable diaper?
Wash diapers like you do the rags, in bleach and detergent, then use vinegar in the rinse to neutralize the bleach. Hang diapers in the sun to dry. Ultraviolet rays from the sun kills bacteria efficiently. Don't believe the myth that the heat from your dryer will do the same. If anything, bacteria will thrive in that warm dark environment.

Mother's milk is not only cheaper, it's preventative medicine. Babies raised on it are more easily weaned and sooner. They don't have digestive problems that plague bottle fed babies (constipation, etc) and they're generally healthier, according to most studies.

Did you know that baby oil is nothing more than mineral oil with fragrance added? Fragrance that could irritate your babies' skin at twice the price?

Or that corn starch is preferable to baby powder, money wise and purity wise? Baby powder is talcum powder, again with added fragrance which can irritate baby's skin. Corn starch is pure enough for food.

Baby lotion is more water than anything else. The 'anything else' is what sometimes hurts your baby's skin more than it helps. Normally, baby skin doesn't need lotion, but if it does occasionally, use pure olive oil instead. It's not especially frugal cost wise, but used sparingly and only when it's needed, one small bottle should last longer than your baby is a baby, which is more than you can say for baby lotion.


~~ Val ~~

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_is_Hodgkins_disease_20.asp


[Search for feedback on Valkyrie] [Edit] [Send email to Valkyrie] [Profile]
[Reply] [Reply with quote] [Top]

 Table of Contents
Messages in this discussion
 
1 . "Good ideas... here's a couple of mine..."
Posted by sunriver on Jun-15-05 at 10:22 PM (Eastern)
Posted on Jun-15-05 at 10:22 PM (Eastern) by 67.1.57.207

As much as I like the idea of using them, I never did get used to cloth diapers. We don't have anywhere we can hang a clothesline (small apartment), so that one doesn't work for me. I am totally a breastfeeding advocate though. Not only good for baby, but I think it was really good for me as a mom. It let me see my body as something so important. And the time we spent nursing was priceless! :0)

We're due again in early Dec, and a few more tips I would offer is that I learned that babies really do not need a huge amount of "stuff" to start out with. My first 2 never slept in a crib, used a highchair (unless we were eating out), etc. With this pregnancy there are only a couple of things I am investing in...
1. a good breastpump (so wonderful to have in case you need to get away-- moms need breaks too).
2. a good swing (I want one of those newer ones with no bar across the top-- those are so neat!)
3. A good car seat.
4. And I'm likely to get a baby sling or snuggly of some sort.
Most everything will be used, expept for the car seat (and if I knew someone who had one used and I trusted it had never been in an accident, I wouldn't buy that new either). I remember with my 1st I had all these grand ideas of wanting special patterns and prints and everything needed to be just right. By my 2nd and 3rd I realized how nutty that is... quality is important, but whether something has Winnie the Pooh on it or not, isn't a big deal in the scheme of things. LOL. So for #4 I am a little wiser...

That's it on the big stuff. Other than that I am trying to stockpile diapers and wipes when I find them on sale super cheap (like free, or I found some huge bags of pampers for .99 when the J&J albertsons deal was going on).


I know there are quite a few of us who are either pg or just had a baby, so this is a great thread. What are your ideas? :0) Vanessa

[Search for feedback on sunriver] [Remove] [Edit] [Send email to sunriver] [Profile]
[Reply] [Reply with quote] [Top]
 
2 . "Don't bleach cloth dipes!"
Posted by maryavan on Jun-16-05 at 02:04 AM (Eastern)
Posted on Jun-16-05 at 02:04 AM (Eastern) by 4.161.21.47

Don't follow the advice on cloth diapers/washcloths about using bleach. It is not necessary and it will damage the diapers which if good quality should last more than one child. Quality cloth diapers taken care of properly should last for 2+ kids.

I loved using cloth diapers. We did simple quality prefolds in velcro covers. It was nice to hang dry the diapers when we could, but putting them in the dryer was fine too. It was amazing how the sun took out pooh stains. There are so many savings when using cloth--even w/ washing costs added in. Cloth wipes can just be thrown in w/ dipes to wash. Saves all the money on wipes. Also, babies in cds do not have many rashes--so big$$ saved on Desitin and A&D, doctors visits. We even washed and reused the "disposable" Gerber diaper liners several times each (don't put those in dryer).

You can save alot of money using cloth. I know the last set of toddler prefolds/covers we got lasted us for over a year (plus we can use them for next child). 18 diapers and 5 covers only cost about $60 total, plus maybe costs of .25 tops per load for soap/dryer. I only washed dipes once every 3 days at that point. Figure how much pullups or very large disposables would cost for 18months. Alot more than $60bucks!

For anyone thinking about cloth, there are a lot of really helpful sites online. It is so much easier than most people think. My mom used cloth on us and she was amazed how far cloth products had advanced. Definitely don't take advice on cds from the "WHat to Expect..." book. That thing made me so mad when it talked about cds w/o knowing what they were talking about. Ugh...

Mary Ava

[Search for feedback on maryavan] [Remove] [Edit] [Send email to maryavan]
[Reply] [Reply with quote] [Top]
 
3 . "thanks Mary :)"
Posted by Valkyrie on Jun-16-05 at 08:12 AM (Eastern)
Posted on Jun-16-05 at 08:12 AM (Eastern) by 69.169.155.158

I'm trying to make my son's father see how much he'll save (and have less stress over) if he switched to cloth diapers.
Their daughter's record use for disposables in ONE day is 19!


~~ Val ~~

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_is_Hodgkins_disease_20.asp


[Search for feedback on Valkyrie] [Remove] [Edit] [Send email to Valkyrie] [Profile]
[Reply] [Reply with quote] [Top]


Remove This Thread: Admin and Moderator Only
Click here to goto Click here to goto the Lobby