Like any other self-respecting mom-to-be, I made my way to Babies R Us and attempted to put together a baby registry.  Instead of walking out with a feeling of having accomplished something, I left feeling overwhelmed.  I don’t overwhelm easily so this is quite a statement.  Let me preface this by telling you that I did not grow up around babies, and all of the friends I grew up with who had recently had babies were in another country.  I had zero exposure to babies and didn’t feel comfortable around them for lack of knowledge and experience.  My mother passed away a few years ago so I did not have her around to ask all of the critical mom-related questions.  Even my father was living in another country with his own new life.   My husband was interested and excited about the new little baby we were about to have but not interested enough to accompany me on long shopping scouting trips.  So it was me on my own as far as shopping for the new arrival. 

I figured that I had about eight solid months ahead of me to do some serious research on:

1.  What a baby needs

2.  What I want the baby to have

3.  How to balance 1. and 2.  to fit into reality/my budget.

I love a great bargain.  Fortunately this topic of shopping for baby lends itself perfectly for someone like me.  Like the saying goes, babies tend to grow faster than weeds.  Items of clothing may be worn for a few days,  a few weeks, or never.  Rarely are baby clothes worn to the point of having to dispose of them due to wear and tear.

I scoured regular retail outlets like the ones named above, spent countless hours on Amazon.com reading other people’s reviews and recommended products for babies, read the classic “Baby Bargains” book, looked at numerous thrift stores, garage sales, and went to many Moms/Kids sales held by pre-schools, support groups and co-ops.  I did my homework and then some.

I’ve compiled my own list of items that I’ve purchased/used and give my honest comments about them.  In addition, I’ve added my own recommendation on how I acquired it (new, used) and from where I got it (store, moms sale, etc).