Baby’s needs can be a real budget buster

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Little Alec Larson of Oakdale, Minn., is but 2 weeks old, and he has already cost his parents $2,000.
That’s just for the initial infant gear — crib, car seat, stroller, bottles, bedding and the like. New parents Stacey and Adam Larson can plan on many more trips to Babies “R” Us, because the average first-year bill for supplies ranging from diapers to furniture is $6,200. That doesn’t include day care or medical insurance.
“It’s overwhelming,” says 30-year-old Stacey Larson
That’s coming from someone who is organized and budget-minded. In her first trimester, Larson started shopping at Once Upon a Child, which sells used baby gear, and eventually found a crib for $100 — compared with $300 for similar new ones. She borrowed a swing, bathtub and play gym. She printed coupons off the Pampers.com Web site. She bought closeout baby bedding, 50 percent off at Burlington Coat Factory’s Baby Depot.
Still, Larson says, she has thrown money down the drain. “We bought a bottle warmer. It looked cool.” Then she realized she could just run the bottles under hot water. She’s also out $300 for a nonreturnable breast pump she won’t need since breastfeeding didn’t work for her.
“There’s a tendency to rush out and buy everything, but you really don’t need it,” says Alan Fields, co-author of “Baby Bargains” ($16.95; Windsor Peak Press), a guide on what to buy, how to save and when to splurge.
But for some new parents, that’s still not enough guidance.
Enter Minneapolis moms Gretchen Pope and Kristina Erazmus. Having coached many pregnant friends through baby-product overload, they recently founded a company called the Essential Bebe, offering shopping assistance. They put together personalized shopping lists, take clients to the store to register and will even do all the shopping for them, charging anywhere from $65 for an hour consultation to $400 for a complete shopping spree.
In the six months since they launched a Web site, www.theessentialbebe.com, they’ve had 3,300 hits and say business is brisk. “There are a lot of people out there with no clue,” Pope says.
Here are some clues from the “Baby Bargains” and Essential Bebe experts to get expecting parents started, and there’s no charge.
What to buy before baby arrives
• Infant car seat: You must have one properly installed to take your baby home from the hospital.
• Crib and nursery furniture: Figure on around $1,500 average for the whole package, Fields says.
• A few basic onesies: Don’t go crazy. Baby’s wardrobe will be bigger than yours when all the gifts arrive.
• One or two pacifiers: Don’t stock up until you know which of the many varieties your baby likes.
• A pack of burp cloths: Quilted ones offer better absorbency, and they make great dust cloths down the road.
• Vibrating bouncer seat: “It’s generally a homerun for every baby,” Fields says, “and a place you can put infants right away.”
• Diaper bag: If you wait for a gift, you’ll probably get something fashionable but impractical. Pick one you like, since it’s going to be glued to your shoulder for the foreseeable future. Keep it comfortable and simple.
What to wait on
• Highchair: A newborn won’t need one for four or five months.
• Stroller: This depends on your lifestyle. Pope says she took her baby for a walk the day they got home from the hospital. She also points out buying a car seat-stroller combo can save money. Fields says a stroller is a good big-ticket item to register for, since you probably won’t leave the house much for at least the first week.
• Convertible car seat: Your baby will graduate from the infant seat at around 6 months, but by then, new models with updated technology will likely be available.
What you don’t need
• Baby-wipe warmer: Room-temperature wipes are perfectly fine.
• Hooded towels: They make cute gifts, but basic bath towels work just as well.
• Bottle sanitizer: A dishwasher does the job.
What to think twice about
• Baby monitor: If your house is small, you might not need one.
• Convertible crib: Most change into toddler beds, an unnecessary step before a twin bed, and require the purchase of a conversion kit. “Often, simplicity works better than multifunction products,” Fields says.
• Infant snowsuit: It can interfere with the safety of a car seat. Blankets work better when they’re that small.
What you can count on getting as gifts
• Baby clothing
• Blankets
• Rattles and toys
• Books and music
• Subscriptions to baby magazines
What to borrow or buy secondhand
• Clothes
• Toys
• Swing (not all babies like them, so try out a friend’s before blowing $100).