Frugal Baby Care Tips
For A Happy Family Life

Frugal baby care, as an ideal, would make some advertisers of this world shiver with freight.

After all they spend all their time trying to convince expectant mothers that to provide the best care for their babies they must buy the most expensive items as they are the best.

Not true at all, remember they are trying to make money, they are not worrying about your finances.

Unfortunately we now live in a world where convenience is king. It has to be quicker, easier and effortless. But to achieve this so called convenience will cost you lots and lots of money.

Previous generations provided frugal baby care without even knowing it; they just got on with the job in hand. They would use reusable diapers, cook their own baby food and often make most of their baby clothes too.

Even if we went back to doing it their way it still wouldn't take us as long or be as hard with all our modern day equipment. So why not save yourself a small fortune and do things the frugal way.

Don't worry and don't let the advertisers make you feel bad, you will not be a bad mother if you don't buy all the latest baby items, in fact you will more than likely be providing your baby with better care as you will have spent more time actually thinking about your babies needs.

Many generations have grown up with frugal baby care and we all turned out just fine.

There are lots of ways you can save money and be frugal whilst still providing your baby with the best care possible.

The frugal baby way

Bringing baby home

In the UK all new mothers are supplied with a baby pack to take home with them when they leave hospital. However in the US you will have to pay for this kit, which could cost over a $100.

To save money request that you do not receive this kit and make your own up before you go into hospital. The kit contains newborn diapers, wipes, child thermometer, baby shampoo and some other cleaning supplies.

They may also contain some items for the mother like sanitary pads, nipple pads and disposable panties. You will have to buy all these items anyway so you might as well buy in bulk and save lots of money in the long run.

Diapers and Nappies

Diapers can be one of the most expensive items on your shopping list and when you consider that it is estimated that a baby will get through about 3,800 diapers until it is toilet trained at around 2.5 years old, that is a lot of cash.

Compare that to between 25 and 30 reusable diapers for the same period, plus the ability to use them for future babies and these become the frugal baby care option with all the savings they offer.

There are also many other benefits besides saving money of using reusable diapers:

• In the UK alone around 3 billion disposable nappies are thrown away every year, filling up our already overstretched landfill sites.
• Reusable cloth diapers are naturally absorbent and so do not rely on chemical gels to absorb liquid.
• They keep the skin cooler and allow the skin to breath, reducing rashes.
• They hinder the baby's mobility less and help to correctly support the baby's hips.
• In studies babies using reusable diapers are potty trained at least 6 moths to a year earlier.
• They are easy to wash and can either be boiled and hand washed or washed in a machine at 60c.
• Biodegradable liners can be used to catch solid and are easily flushed down the toilet.

The choice of reusable diapers has greatly increased over the years, so you are not restricted to just the plain cloth ones. The choice is now:

Flat clothes ones - these are like the old terry clothes used by our mothers. They have to be folded and pinned but are probably the cheapest option, especially if you wash them yourself.

If you do not feel like washing the diapers yourself there are laundry services which supply a pre-folded nappy similar to the flat cloth diaper, which is inserted inside a wrap.

Of course the laundry service will cost more but if you shop around it is possible to find ones that are quite reasonable.

Shaped - These are reusable diapers that come in different sizes and are easy to use. A waterproof cover is fitted over the top of them to add extra protection.

Birth to potty Diapers - these are similar to shaped diapers but can be adjusted to size with Velcro's and or poppers, so there is no need to purchase different sizes and therefore can be used for the whole diaper period.

Continued - More Frugal Moms and baby care