When we asked you guys, “What’s one baby item you’d advise a new mom to borrow instead of buy?” there was one clear winner: The Swing.
I had a swing baby as I like to call her, and she slept overnight, swaddled, in the swing many times. Oh yes she did. But I can imagine that if I bought a swing brand-new, and then learned that my baby hated it, I would want to return it. Borrowing from a friend who is in between babies or done with baby-making is the easiest way to learn on-the-cheap if a mechanical swing will be a miracle drug for your child.
Other items with short shelf lives named by rookie moms as good candidates for borrowing (or Craig’s List):
- Snap n Go stroller
- Baby gym
- Bouncy chair with fancy features
- Bumbo
- Infant insert for the Ergo carrier
- Breastfeeding pillow
- Double stroller depending on the spacing of your children
- Shopping cart cover-thingy (Heather discovered an easy way to make a cheap one out of fleece and a few strategic scissor snips.)
- Exersaucer or Jumperoo-style entertainers
- Moses basket/basinette/co-sleeping device
- Infant bathtub
Baby carriers are another story. If you can borrow some for a few weeks to see if you like it, that’s great. A Moby wrap is wonderful to have in the very early days and a friend with a two-year old is not going to miss it. But an Ergo carrier, or similar styled device, can be used with an infant and a toddler, so you might want to splurge on it — especially if you scored a bunch of these other items from a friend or consignment store.
How about travel cribs? Many of you called these out as short-lived, but mine got tons of use. I think this depends on whether or not you travel (we do!) and if you host a nanny share (we did — and our baby guest slept in our Pack N Play every day.) I think it’s a must-have for a baby registry list, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t accept a hand-me-down from a friend!
Totally agree! I actually still have my pack n play (my girls are now 3 and 5) and refuse to let it go. I keep it on hand for visiting friends/family with babies.
I have a warning about second-hand swings!! I bought one from a resale shop and was so proud of my purchase. It looked like it had never been used. The instant my 3 week old baby was in it he slept “like a baby” and then proceeded to sleep ONLY when in his swing. Then one day, the motor broke. It was the most panicky day – running to the store to purchase a new swing with a nap-deprived infant in the winter and then having to put it together once home was so frazzling. I vowed to never rely on anything electric second-hand again. If you borrow one and your LO loves it, go buy a new model!!!!
@Christel, The details on this are a little fuzzy because none of us was getting enough sleep, but I believe that Whitney’s swing (from Erin) died in a similar manner but she had another friend (me!) with another swing ready to borrow.
I guess I’m a little odd, but I found it weird to borrow breastfeeding or bathing items. The one thing we were given from my sister in law (who has twin boys), which we LOOOOVED was the baby vibrating seat! We ended up loving it so much that we bought…4 more. Not kidding. Two for our house (he slept in one for two months), one for my mom’s house, and one for my grandma’s. The jumperoo is a great idea to lend out, as we bought two (one for my house, one for my mom’s, where he spends his days). Also, I would love if someone would lend me some activity seats…I’d love to keep those around the house! Great post.
I love everything about this post and this concept. I was so blessed by having Whitney for a friend with six months more experience — and gear!! — than I had for my rookie baby. She loaned me many items, some of which I returned and some of which I paid forward to other people. I think I feel more like a member of the mom community for finding the people (who inevitably have the stuff) because my family all lives so far away.
No new mom friends? No problem! Craigs List is a treasure trove of used baby gear. I got myself an ergo that way. And I never sell anything I received as a hand-me-down (bad karma) so I still have a very sturdy glider to give away to someone local!
Nice post but I respectfully disagree on the breast feeding pillow. My kids spit up on them, milk leaked on them, etc. They can be a little hard to clean and those covers are not waterproof.
Amy, respectful disagreements are what these discussions are made of! Thanks so much for weighing in.
I kind of wished I had found this post before all of our expensive items were bought. There are some items I do not think i could handle getting as second hand from craiglist. Only because you don’t know the cleaning habits of others and some items are just hard to sanitize. But over all I agree some of these things can definitely be second hand and save lots of money.