I just found out we are having a little boy! Due September 16th. Since Im a full time student, Id like to find a place that offers discount or clearance baby items. I dont see how some places offer crib sets for almost $300 or more! What a joke. Im not paying that much for something the baby will only use rarely! I dont want to have used or crappy stuff, but things that may be out of season. I also would like to have a lot of gender neutral items if we can so that we can reuse it. Anyone know of any cute items that can be boy/girl?
Thanks!
Ive already looked at walmart, which is where we will get our furniture, but Im really looking for more choices than they offer for bedding, etc.
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25 responses so far ↓
1 Joshua G // Apr 19, 2008
At Family Dollar.
2 *Love♥!sLyfe* // Apr 19, 2008
walmart
3 laxzgirl94 // Apr 19, 2008
costco…walmart those should be the easiest places
4 Kelly p // Apr 19, 2008
well u can get cheap baby things at target walmart babies r us well i would prefer those places
5 Michael N // Apr 19, 2008
Dependong on where you live there is this place called Once Upon A Baby, and it's got some really cheap lightly used or new things
6 Allie // Apr 19, 2008
I am a fan of Goodwill thrift stores. I am amazed at the amount of baby clothing I see there. As for furniture for the nursery, watch classified ads and/or yard sales. Many times, people sell those kinds of things and they still very good as babies never use them for long! Congratulations on the good news, by the way!
7 Johnnie // Apr 19, 2008
You can go to target they have the bast products for reasonably low prices
8 .gracie. // Apr 19, 2008
walmart. if you look at clearance stuff now you could stock up on winter clothes. yellow and green are always good choices for boys or girls, and i think the stuff with animals like giraffes and elephants go both ways.
9 Just Asking // Apr 19, 2008
Not that i have had any experience in that particular situation but…
I know Walmart Has ALOT of good selections for reasonable prices.
It might not be the latest baby fashion - or maybe it will! here take a look
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=5427
10 EmmasMommy // Apr 19, 2008
Yard Sales and Consignment Shops
11 lysistrata411 // Apr 19, 2008
Baby Depot, ebay, clearance online section of babies r us, consignment stores in your area, salvation army. Also ask family and friends if they have some things you can use. Luckily my sister still had her crib so we used hers. I know exactly what you mean about everything costing so much. I never knew until we went to register and I almost had a heart attack. Oh, also try craigslist.org for your area
12 ♥Kay1134♥ // Apr 19, 2008
Okay I have a few really great ideas. First of all, go online to craigslist.com and click on your area. There are always TONS of moms giving away or selling their gently used baby stuff. All kinds of stuff too. Clothes, toys, cribs, mattresses, dressers, changing tables, strollers, swings, carseats, even breast pumps and bottles…anything you can think of. Another thing you could try is garage sales. Those should be coming around really soon and you can really find some great bargains. Try going to one of those second hand baby stores too. Here in MN they have Once Upon a Child stores and you can buy all kinds of stuff for babies/toddlers/kids. They sell cribs, highchairs..you name it. They sell cribs that are in PERFECT condition for only $50-60 and you can get highchairs and excersaucers for only $20. They don't take junk either. They are very picky about what they take in to sell. The one I go to only takes stuff thats up to date and nothing can be broken or worn out and the clothes can't have any stains on them so everything is really nice. And when you're done using your stuff or when your son grows out of the clothes, you can take them back there and sell them back to them for money or store credit to get more clothes and stuff for him. Good luck!
13 Sarah // Apr 19, 2008
Try craigslist or freecycle
14 pomegranatepants // Apr 19, 2008
babies r us has the cheapest diapers and formula. you can get a crib for $100 at sears. they all pass the same federal safety requirements. the american academy of pediatrics only recommends keeping a tght-fitting crib sheet on a baby's bed, so you don't really need a crib set. all those fluffy baby comforters, etc. are only suffocation hazards anyway.
15 Krystal K // Apr 19, 2008
goodwills, garage sells, someone else mentioned baby depot but the bedding there is kind of expensive, i see that you said the baby will use it rarely, no they dont they use it a lot. some babys pee so much it leaks out of the diapers including non leaking diapers. i have to constantly change the sheats in my sons crib. also newborns spit up alot and there is also a reason that you need extra sheets/blankets.
Once upon a child is also a good place to get used baby items that do not cost much and are in good condition. However since he is due in september i would definitley try checking all the yard sales you can the entire summer. most of my boys clothing/bedding has come from yard sales.
16 ♥Dede♥ // Apr 19, 2008
Target and Babies R Us
make sure you look online too, there are alot more choices.
17 skydeesky // Apr 19, 2008
Once Upon a Child. They sell gently used items… some may not even have been used. But trust me if someone gives you it or you buy used, it's not a horrible thing! (I do suggest buying a new crib or at least the mattress, used ones have been linked to SIDS) Your baby could go through more then one outfits a day. But if you must buy new Walmart, Target, and K-mart have really cute stuff that's fairly cheap. As far as cute things that are unisex the colors green, yellow and purple can be for both boy and girl. Good Luck and Congrats!
18 Amber R // Apr 19, 2008
If you are interested, check out Freecycle.org and type in your city. Its an email group from your local area of people who are looking to get rid of things, and people who are asking for items. I did this with my son and received a beautiful crib- hardly used (and free) and LOTS of clothes, aside from other household things. Its really a great thing. You basically just send an email to the group asking for a crib that has not been recalled or damaged and the clothes. People subscribed to the group respond to you telling you what they have and you go and pick it up. Its 100% free. Check it out. Feel free to email me if you have any other questions about this.
Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory also has decently priced items as well. And ALOT of sales!!
19 J. // Apr 19, 2008
It will actually be easier then you think to find nice baby stuff.And your right, it is outrageous the price some people will spend on things like bedding sets and such.. Check out target! They have very nice baby stuff, and at what I personally would think is cheap. (I'm a student as well and have a min wage job). They have really nice clothing, blankets and stuff like that. Most the stuff is around the same price as walmartt, just a more nice quality.
20 TAMMIE S // Apr 19, 2008
Have you looked at Kmart or target? Now JCPennys have great stuff but u have to catch one of those great sales.
21 Genna // Apr 19, 2008
I bought my son's crib/dresser/changing table as a set at walmart for like $200 after my friend told me how sturdy the crib was (her son is 2, and he has not been gentle with it!) I also found a consignment store in my area that not only sold baby clothes but also maternity clothes as well as baby toys and the like…you could look in your local phone book to find one near you (I am also a full time student and this worked well for me!) Congratulations and good luck!
22 Liberty // Apr 19, 2008
Go to Consignment shops. Yes, it is used. But barely or not at all. Rich people buy the cribs and walkers and crap for high dollar. They don't need it anymore, so they'll toss off a thousand dollar crib to a consignment shop for pennies on the dollar. The clothes are unbelievable too. They have such huge baby showers that most of the stuff they get go off to consignment. They didn't get rich by giving stuff away to places like the Savation Army or Good Will store. Go to consignment shops.
23 Mrs. Jent // Apr 19, 2008
http://www.ntyk.com/ - that is the ONLY place I buy my baby things.
24 Mama of 3 // Apr 19, 2008
I'm a mother of 2 and 24 wks pregnant with baby #3. I'll share my money saving tips with you. I am a full time Mom and do graphic design to supplement my husband's income. So basically we are a single income family (with a part time supplement), but doing well because we have learned to be economically savy.
Some tips:
1.Try Craigslist: oftentimes when moving people will sell beautiful "$300" crib sets along with matching armoires, bookcases, dressers etc. and the bedding for a fraction of the retail cost of the same set new. Oftentimes its a military family that's being deployed overseas or a husband has just been offered a job in another state so you can sometimes find these sets in several month old (basically new) condition for 1/2 or less of what they usually cost.
2.Try yard sales: if you make a habit of picking up a Pennysaver or Sunday paper and scanning the classifieds for Saturday morning Garage sales, oftentimes you can hit the"motherload" if you are an early riser. Motherload meaning clothes and baby gear in very good gently used condition, sometimes even with the tags still on. Expect to pay .25-2.00 per item for used clothing and about 1/2-1/5 the retail of baby gear.
3.You can collect coupons. My favorite are the 15% off coupons to Babies R' Us and Toys R' Us which are interchangeable. Oftentimes if you have a manufacturer's coupon you can get the 15% off plus the $1 off the item. We've used these to buy my breastpump, the baby's crib, Dutailier rocking chair and ottoman and all the other big ticket items…saving us a bundle.
4.Clip manufacturers coupons from the Sunday paper. There are oftentimes $2.00 off Huggies Diapers, or $1.50 off Huggies wipes. They will also release Huggies baby wash buy one package of wipes get one baby wash 2.00 off at the same time and we often double up, using the 2.00 off at the same time as the diaper/wipes coupons for more savings. If your supermarket doubles coupons this is an even better way to save yourself a lot of money. It all adds up!
5.If you plan (or don't plan) on using formula you should register for the "free diaper bag" with Enfamil and with Similac in order to get tons of free coupons, called "checks" that are up to $5-$7 off a can of formula. This saves a huge amount of money for formula fed infant's parents.
6.Ask friends to do a "clothing" swap. If you are first time parents and are expecting a son, and you have friends with a son who is older than your child. Ask nicely if they wouldn't mind saving his outgrown clothing for your little one. Then you promise that if baby #2 is a girl and they are expecting a girl for instance, that you save all the girl clothes and gear to pass down to their little girl. I have a close friend who does this with me. Her daughter is 18 months old and my second daughter is 15 months old. She saves all her little girl's clothing for my baby. It works out because I have a 3 almost 4 year old who just outgrew her 2T clothing and I'm sending her a huge box of barely used Gymboree and Gap clothing (that we bought on sale) during holiday clearance and my daughter can no longer use. It works out if you have Mom friends who can pass down their kids things.
We are also on a budget (a tight one at times) and the above strategies have allowed us to scrape by on one income for some time. Maybe you should honestly reconsider relaxing your "no used" items policy to include gently used and barely used items you can find for much cheaper than new. Don't get me wrong…sometimes we splurge (when there is a sale) and today I picked up some T-shirts and shorts for my 3 almost 4 year old daughter at Old Navy for 1/2 off. That was a good deal and I never pass up a really good bargain. I've just learned to be realistic about what we can afford to spend and then find creative ways in order to save us money. It works out nicely and I always feel great knowing I spent less than everyone else on the same nice things for our children.
You can buy a lot of white,teal, yellow, blue, orange, red and navy colored basics (onesies and sleepers) that can be interchangeable for boy/girl. My best friend did that because she wanted the sex of her babies to always be a surprise but that meant buying gender neutral clothing and gear. You can always buy pink/blue clothing once your little guy/girl arrives. That was her philosophy and it worked out great because her first child was a boy and her second was a girl! So they saved so much money on clothing, as they put away their son's outgrown clothes into plastic tupperwear bins in the garage for their daughter when she was born. Its very economical and wise to do things that way as clothing for baby can get expensive, especially when you have more than one, and they have opposite genders.
Good luck bargain hunting and congratulations on your little one!
25 Daydreamer // Apr 19, 2008
Check your local newspaper for garage sales. Get there early if you want to save on baby items. Congrats I'm due September 17th. Best of luck !!
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