Baby nurseries and lifestyles

In this week’s baby bargainista column, Rebecca Atkinson shares her thoughts about the importance of your lifestyle when making purchasing decisions for the nursery.

In last week’s column, Jenny confessed she sometimes buys items for fantasy rather than pleasure. At the same time, I was having conversations with other moms about what my next purchases might be for baby Atkinson.

I know I have visions of the “perfect” nursery dancing in my head, although to be honest, I’m not really sure what “perfect” is. Now that I’m in my fifth month, I’m starting to get asked questions about whether or not we’ve registered anywhere, what items we are looking for and what do we still need to purchase?

Knowing we have some of the bigger items as hand-me-downs from my older sister, I had to admit I wasn’t really sure, so took one of my lessons learned and put it into practice: I talked to other moms.

The one big piece of advice I got was to really think about what it is that we’ll need vs. what we want – based heavily on our lifestyle. I was also told to remember that no two nurseries will likely be identical, as lifestyles, needs and wants might be different.

Sounds easy, but I didn’t get it until I talked to my cousin-in-law who’s also pregnant. We were talking about nursery furniture and I mentioned that Mark and I wanted one of those double-duty change-table dresser combos. To which my cousin-in-law told me she and her husband went against that in favour of a dresser that matched a crib (which will do double duty as a toddler bed when the time comes). While that makes a lot of economical sense, I was really surprised they didn’t want a change table. So I called her on it.

“Oh I’ve been talking to friends with children and they told me that you don’t use them as much as you think you do. Who wants to go upstairs to change the baby all the time? You just change them wherever they/you are.”

Upon hearing that, I immediately wondered if Mark and I had made a big mistake in what we wanted to purchase. But then we sat down and talked about it. Our situation is very different than that of our cousins. We have two very inquisitive dogs and a kitten, whereas they have an older cat. As we pictured changing Baby Atkinson on the living room carpet, we had nightmares dancing in our heads thinking of what could happen, not to mention that unless I vacuumed 24/7, we’d be likely to get pet hairs in places better left unsaid.

It made us realize that we didn’t just want a change-table dresser combo, we needed one for our lifestyle.

Lessons Learned:
1. Really dissect your lifestyle and determine what kinds of furniture and items fit your needs before you buy anything
2. Your perfect nursery may not look like someone else’s idea of a perfect nursery
3. Talk to other moms (I know I said this before, but I think it bears repeating)

How to stay warm in the colder weather if you're pregnant

In this week’s baby bargainista column, Rebecca Atkinson shares tips for staying warm when you’re pregnancy belly starts showing during the last stretch of winter. Jenny, who needed a maternity coat for the whole winter shared her experience last fall.

The only problem with being pregnant in the winter months is that a growing belly can mean more than just trouble doing up your pants – it can also affect your outer layers. I’ve been finding that I’m having more and more trouble closing some of my winter coats lately, which given the minus double digits Toronto has been getting lately gave me two options:

1. Buy a new coat that will last me for the next six weeks (based on our Wiarton Willie’s predictions) and hope that if I become pregnant again it will be during the winter months again;

2. Hibernate until Spring (which considering I do work from home, could have been a real possibility).

As I was explaining this dilemma to my neighbour Moira she looked at me and said: “Oh no, you don’t need to go buy a new jacket, I have two options for you.”

1. Get the biggest, longest scarf you have (or invest in one, it will be cheaper than a jacket) and wrap it around so it hangs down in front of your belly. Now look at your jackets and see if you have one of the following: a) a double zipper that you could work to do up above your belly, or a jacket with snaps/buttons/Velcro (with or without a zipper option too) that you could then again just do up above your belly. This way you are warm(er) and even somewhat fashionable without spending big bucks.

Your second option, she advised me – especially if we had a lot more winter to go through, was to:
2. Go to a second-hand clothing store and look at picking up a jacket (bonus if they have any maternity clothes) in a size that would fit my expanding belly.

Now I personally prefer Moira’s first option, especially because I like the idea that it can be somewhat stylish and I can save my money to buy other maternity clothes that I’ll be wearing for longer periods of time. I was really impressed with the idea though and realized a few things from just that short conversation.

Lessons Learned:
1. If you find yourself facing a pregnancy-related issue and are looking for a cost-effective solution, ask your friends and neighbours who have had children if they had the same problem and see what they offer – you’d be surprised at the little tips and tricks you can pick up.

2. For the amount of time you’ll be wearing it, it doesn’t make any sense to buy new – especially if you can cash in on someone else who decided to buy new for a short period of time and then no longer needed it. Looking around online at forums also seems to provide this same advice. Sure buy a few pieces new, but again for the amount of time the clothes are usually worn, you can get some great deals at used clothing stores, although from the sounds of it, you have to look often as they seem to go fast.

Do you have any pregnancy clothing tips to share that will save other expectant moms money? If so, we’d love to hear them.

My Christmas Wish List

In this week’s baby bargainista column, Jenny is asking for your advice...

Last week I wrote about my daughter’s Christmas wish and my despair that it would be unfulfillable. I was really impressed and encouraged by all the creative suggestions for alternatives that would satisfy her wish – so this week I’m hoping to draw on your expertise again!

My own fervent Christmas wish for myself is for a baby carrier. I’m due in January and I have fantasies of walking off my baby weight with my infant cuddled up close to me, zipped snugly inside my nearly-new M Coat.

The problem is, now that baby-carrying has become a popular option, there are so many different carriers available I have no idea which one to choose!

According to babycenter.com, the criteria I should look for are:
• Padded head support for baby
• Adjustable head and seat openings to allow baby to grow
• An easy-to-open bottom area
• Wide, padded, adjustable shoulder straps
• Quick-release buckles
• Padded back support

That last one is especially important to me as I’ve had a “bad back” ever since my first pregnancy.

A friend recommended the Ergo baby carrier, available from milkface.com (pictured), but it seems a bit pricey for this baby bargainista.

So I’m hoping you can help me out one more time – can anyone recommend a baby carrier they’ve used that’s versatile, offers back support, and is comfortable for both carrier and baby? Let me know in the comments!

A plethora of prenatal courses

In this week’s baby bargainista column, Jenny discusses choosing prenatal education to suit your needs.

As an expecting mom, one of the things on my shopping list is prenatal education. Of course, there are prenatal courses ranging from beginner to refresher available at any major hospital, including the one my OB is affiliated with; but in this consumer-driven economy one should always shop around! You never know when you might find a course, class or workshop that is better suited to your needs, location, or price range.

For one thing, there are many different types of childbirth choices available to us moms-to-be these days. Hospital birth is just one. There’s also home birth, water birth, and any number of natural birth pain-relief options from massage to hypno-birthing. A recent google search for “prenatal education toronto” turned up hundreds of options – many right around the corner from me, that I hadn’t known about!

One such option in my neighborhood is Red Tent Sisters. In addition to courses and classes on female sexuality and women’s self-defense, they offer prenatal education and prenatal yoga courses. Some of their classes are a little bit crunchy granola for me, but the point is, it’s good to know there are options out there – and I encourage you to explore them.

Update:
Good news for moms and dads! Shopping for safe baby bottles just got a little easier with the Canadian government’s ban on Bisphenol-A in baby bottles. There’s still the question of its use in other products, most notably the linings of infant formula cans -- but this is definitely a step towards easing the fears of concerned parents.