29 Diapers

Keep reading EcoFrugal Friday posts to learn how to save up to 70% off baby's first year!

When I was pregnant, the doctors told me the sudden pain that caused me to involuntarily yell and my leg to collapse under me at random intervals was probably just normal round ligament stretching (read: “You’re a wimp at this pregnancy thing.”). Um, no. It wasn’t. It was my round ligament tearing away from my sacrum. Suffice it to say, tearing a ligament 20-30 times in one year gives you some mobility issues to work through when you have a new baby to carry around all day. So when I went looking for baby carriers and strollers, I knew that this was one area where I would have to put my own comfort and convenience ahead of my crazy obsession with saving money.

But that doesn’t mean I paid full price! Oh no, dear reader, never that! Even if you have special considerations like I did, you should be able to find safe, high-quality baby gear for significantly less than retail. You just have to know where to look.

If you are looking for mobility gear, here is how to get what you want without paying full price:

• First, you need to make sure the stroller you’re getting is safe, whether it’s new or used. You should kick the tires on whatever you buy to make sure it seems sturdy, but also check the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall database for product recalls and safety notices. These stay active for many years, so even if you buy a 10-year-old stroller, you should be able to make sure it has never been recalled by plugging in the brand and stroller model name or number. MacLaren recalled ALL its umbrella strollers in 2009 (1 million strollers) because the hinge mechanism could cause fingertip amputations and lacerations. This recall affected many strollers that were several years old, so you might also want to sign up for the CPSC email advisory to be notified of all baby product recalls, so if your stroller is recalled several years after you buy it, you find out right away.

Ergo soft structured baby carriers are a popular choice, but make sure it fits before you buy it!

• Plan ahead. This seems obvious, but when you’re a new sleep-deprived parent, the last thing you are thinking about is comparison shopping. I lucked out when I ran into this problem one week before a surprise trip to California: I found a nice Combi Flare stroller on clearance that folded up beautifully for the plane ride, but I don’t like to rely on luck to get me 40% off. If you research your strollers and baby carriers ahead of time, you will know a good deal when you see it. One way to research baby gear is to read the book Baby Bargains, which teaches you how to evaluate and purchase baby gear, so you know your baby brands and how to tell if you’re getting a quality piece of gear.
• That brings us to seasonal sales, which can often net you at least 20% off an item you’ve been jonesing for. We decided we would splurge on a B.O.B. all-terrain stroller, since we needed air-filled tires to comfortably walk with baby on our country dirt roads, and all the other all-terrain strollers we looked at seemed wobbly by comparison. I think this was the most fun my husband had buying baby gear, because we found the best deal by waiting for the seasonal 20% off sale at REI! What dad isn’t going to love shopping for baby between kayaks and mountain bikes? Thankfully we got out of there ONLY having bought the stroller. There was a moment there when I thought we might also be picking up a collapsible bike and some camping gear. The best way to find seasonal sales is to hunt for stores that carry products you like and sign up for their newsletters or mailings, so you won’t miss a sale or coupon. And 20% off is only a good deal when you’re shopping for a very specific item and can’t find it used.

If you just have to have that double-layer linen Sakura Bloom ring sling, look for boutique clearance sales.

• Baby boutique clearance sales are the best, especially for baby carriers and strollers because they don’t expire after a certain number of years like car seats do (more on that in a future post). Baby carrier manufacturers are always coming up with cooler designs, but the year-to-year differences in the carrier models may not make that much difference to you. What will probably make the most difference to you is the style of carrier or the fit. I absolutely love my Baby Hawk carrier that ties around my back like an apron because it has a customizable fit and is very supportive (including a neck rest for my baby who was always arching her back), but the ties dragging on the ground when you put it on can be inconvenient if you’re on the go, so some people may prefer Baby Hawk’s new “Oh Snap!” soft structured carrier with buckles. Other people like adjustable ring slings, that hold baby in a pouch that slings over one shoulder, but these can hurt your back after a while if you wear baby all day long. One-piece cloth Moby Wraps can make baby feel like a part of you they’re wrapped so close and tight, but you have to be willing to re-adjust the fabric every time you take baby out of the carrier. So many choices! If you have a local baby boutique, go in and try on various carriers to see what you like best. Some carriers, such as the Ergo, seem like they have it all but just don’t fit certain body types, so if you can’t try on carriers somewhere–or you’re too pregnant to tell what will fit you when baby is born–buy your carrier from a website that offers a money-back guarantee or a trial program. Strollers go on clearance maybe once or twice a year to clear out floor models and make way for updated stroller models on the shelves. Baby carriers go on clearance more frequently.

Some strollers allow you to use an adapter to snap in a limited number of infant car seat models, so make sure your stroller and car seat are compatible before you buy.

• Giveaways, my favorite! I won nearly $600 worth of baby gear in online giveaways, including a Rockin’ Baby pouch sling, so don’t overlook this option if you have the time to enter these. The best way to find new giveaways is to spider web your way from one to the next using review bloggers’ blog rolls (review bloggers often link to each other) or Google Friend Connect follower lists (you can often get an extra entry in a blog giveaway for following the giveaway host blogger on Google Friend Connect, and GFC followers’ profiles display a list of other blogs they follow, so reading the profiles of Google Friend Connect followers of a blog can help you find other great giveaway blogs). If you’re new to the game you could start with a giveaway aggregator such as Prizey, which lists hundreds of giveaways in one place and includes photos of the prizes, making it easy to find a giveaway you want to enter. Online-Sweepstakes is another high-profile giveaway aggregator, but they don’t have pictures in the list of giveaways, so it will take you longer to find what you’re looking for. Etsy sellers also sponsor giveaways, and you can sign up to be emailed a list of giveaways every weekday at the Esty Giveaways blog. And don’t forget your friendly northern neighbors, the Canadian bloggers! Many Canadian blog giveaways are open to both U.S. and Canadian residents, so if your favorite brand is Canadian, such as Baby Hawk, you should be lurking on the Canadian blogs looking for a deal or a contest.
• “They are going to regret that promotion, just because of you!” my husband said of Franklin Goose‘s offer of $5 store credit for every product review posted on their site. I had tried 38 (!) of their products, so I went to town on this offer, amassing nearly $200 worth of free, eco-friendly baby stuff for my effort of two hours of review writing. Keep your eye on eco-friendly baby product sites for crazy good deals like this (an easy way to do this is to sign up for their newsletters), or more common discounts such as SproutBaby/EcoMom’s 15% off deal with free shipping for orders over a certain $ amount. (In fact, EcoMom just launched a new limited-time promo today that gives you 30% off anything on their site when you fan them on Facebook and include two baby food products in your order.) Here’s the kicker: many of these sites (Plan Toys, EcoMom, etc.) both sponsor blog giveaways AND offer these deals, so you could win a gift card to EcoMom on a blog giveaway and then wait for a special promotion to double up your discount and get free shipping like I did. My husband is right. I’m a bit of a loss leader for these stores, except that I tell so many people about them! They have safe, adorable, and eco-friendly products and you can always find a deal, if you know how–and now you do.

The B.O.B. all-terrain stroller might be worth a splurge if you need air-filled tires, because it's almost impossible to find used.

• If you’re open to buying a gently used stroller, check out Craigslist for listings that mention the condition of the stroller, as this is often a sign that the stroller has been well-cared-for. Craigslist is a great way to get jogging strollers for very little money, but it’s not such a great way to find a rare brand or an all-terrain stroller, which is a much-coveted style. Also, you may find a good baby carrier here, but don’t buy one right away unless you’re in a rush. If you’re going for simple economy, you can find loads of Baby Bjorn carriers for $10-20, but if you wait you can find that perfect mei tai for a steal.
• Freecycle is one of the ways I got my baby girl’s entire first-year wardrobe for FREE (more on that later, too). It is a free, local email group (or groups–there are also unofficial Yahoo! Freecycle groups) you sign up for to receive emails when other members of the group want to give something away. Everything has to be free, so if you accept a stroller on Freecycle and then decide you don’t like it, you will be obligated to give it away, not sell it. There is nothing wrong with cherry-picking a Freecycle lot, as most of the stuff would have been thrown out if it hadn’t been Freecycled! Freecycle is the best for basic strollers, and you might also luck out and run into a fellow Freecycler that makes ring slings and has an old style to give away, like I did, but beware that Freecyclers can be a little flaky, because everything is free and casual, so don’t check that free stroller off your shopping list until it’s sitting in your garage.

The ubiquitous Baby Bjorn carrier can be found on Craigslist for 50-90% off.

• Don’t forget garage sales for strollers and baby carriers, especially the backpacking kind of carrier that people often only use occasionally. You can find notices for garage sales on Craigslist, or on local mom forums. We got our backpack carrier from a friend who was about to put it out for a garage sale. She had only used it twice, and we got a three-year-old carrier that costs $250 retail for $40.
• You never know when other moms will want to dump their unused baby carrier or stroller, so being part of a local moms’ play group, church group, or any other group that connects you with families can pay dividends beyond the social benefits. Local is the keyword here for getting mobility gear, because your local friends can drop off a stroller at your house, whereas your online Army wife mommy group friend would have to ship hers to you.

So there you have it! Just a few ways to get your stroller and baby carrier at a huge discount, or even for free. What do you think about these ideas? I’d love your feedback, especially if you have more tips for me to include in this post or posts on finding other kinds of baby gear at a large discount.

Next up is how to save big bucks on car seats, so stay tuned for more Ecofrugal Friday posts that can save you up to 70% off baby’s first year. Thanks for reading!