Baby Shopping

The Baby shopping market is big business, so they say. But why? Much as you try, as a first time parent you cannot resist the urge to buy new and expensive things for your baby. Agreed, they are lovely and each year baby products are getting more cute.

First time parents very rarely have money to burn, or maybe they did initially. So, many parents are compelled to spend beyond their means for the CUTE BABY STUFF! It’s a drug. It’s that constant noise you hear in the baby layette department… “Aaww..! Look how cute that is!”

I was once a firm believer in not getting suckered into that world, where the big retailers would say, “that cot you got given last month from the next door neighbour is just not good enough - buy a NEW one!” But what could I do? I couldn’t resist that lovely crib from Mothercare with the fancy decorative motif and the beautiful…. Oh stop it!

So, what’s going to happen if we ALL buy a new cot for every first child? Is there a huge cot mountain on a landfill somewhere out there? And by committing ourselves to buying a new cot, are we compelled to have more children to justify the cost?

I can see the calculations now…
Jack = £250
Offset Lucy = £125
Final savings = £125!!

Let’s of course not forget baby clothes! It’s true, children’s clothes are getting cheaper, but the trade off is on quality. When you buy a cute baby t-shirt from a high quality brand, you can rest assured on two things:

1. That it will be built to last (ketchup stains and all!)
2. Because you really spent money on it, you’re likely to treat it with more care (even if baby doesn’t!)

And what about UNIQUE baby gifts? What a great idea! When you’re buying a gift for a new baby or new mother, you always want to out-shine the next person. The way you do that is by getting them a gift that will be remembered for a long time.

Be careful now, there’s a danger that it’ll be remembered for the wrong reasons, like, “That bloody toy! Couldn’t get it out of the toilet for 3 weeks!!”

To avoid adding more surplus baby products to the landfill, maybe we should let go of our pride and accept the odd freebie now and then. And in return, we should offer our surplus baby stuff to new parents without fear of offending them.

Happy Baby Shopping!