How To Save $$$ on Toddler Feeding

You have a high chair by now, but you might also want to get a booster seat for bigger kids or for grandma's house.

Most of your money spent on feeding your toddler will end up on the floor in the form of cheese and applesauce flung onto the hardwood. There isn’t much to be done about that. But I can help you save some money on the gear you’ll use to feed your toddler. In this stage between babyhood and school lunches, there are a few pieces of equipment that will make your life easier–but you don’t have to pay full price, of course.

The Booster Seat

Booster seats today are usually small, contoured plastic or foam seats with three-point harness seat belts and an optional tray. In other words, much fancier than the phone book I remember sitting on as a kid. The best ones are portable so you can use the same seat at home and at grandma’s house. You may not need to pay for this item at all if you have local relatives: both my mother and mother-in-law took it upon themselves to buy boosters for their houses so I would have one less thing to schlep from place to place. If you do find yourself in the market for a booster seat, though, you can:

1) ask for one as a first birthday gift for baby. She will have enough toys to play with already.

2) monitor Craigslist for the Fischer-Price kind, which is all plastic and will make a good-condition hand-me-down. These cost $30 new, so a used seat should be very affordable.

3) Keep an eye out for sales during baby’s first year, since booster seats will keep until you need them. Common deals you can find are 20% off at Babies R Us, or a Facebook/Twitter/newsletter coupon combined with a clearance sale at your local baby boutique.

Toddler Feeding Utensils

Baby spoons and forks come in several different sizes, and some are better for toddlers. If you happened to buy a variety when your baby was small, you won’t need anything extra now, but you may find your spoons are all too small now or you really need a fork that isn’t a spork so your toddler can feed himself macaroni.

1) Feeding utensils are common giveaway items, so for this item start by checking Prizey.net and Online-Sweepstakes to find some giveaways. We acquired several kinds of Boon utensils this way, and since Boon is one of the leading manufacturers of BPA-free feeding utensils, you could also specifically search Google or Twitter for a Boon giveaway by keyword.

2) Utensils are pretty inexpensive, so you could also add them to an Amazon order to qualify for free shipping, which means they would basically pay for themselves. Amazon carries all the major brands, so you can also find a variety of products to try this way.

3) Just like booster seats, toddler feeding utensils make a good registry item for baby’s first birthday. This is a great time to stock up on sippy cups (KidBasix Safe Sippy is our favorite) and any additional plastic bowls (Boon’s Catch Bowl is baby girl’s favorite) you might want, as well.

4) If you can’t find utensils for free using these techniques, sales, coupons, or discounted gift cards from retailers that carry the products you want can help reduce the cost. But utensils are relatively inexpensive already, so it’s not worth a huge amount of effort to get a percentage discount.

Baby Bjorn makes a great smock for art and eating, but you could also use a button-down shirt worn backwards.

Toddler Smocks

Bibs are pretty useless by this age, at least in my experience. But for really messy foods I like to use a smock that covers baby girl’s whole front. Baby Bjorn makes a great smock you can use for art projects or eating, but it’s a little pricey at $30. If you have a button-down shirt lying around, or can get one at a consignment shop for a couple dollars, this will serve the same purpose on the cheap. We just happened to have a light blue button-down shirt that came with some hand-me-down clothes, so we put this on baby girl backwards and it keeps applesauce off her shirts.

As you can see, you don’t need nearly as much stuff to feed your toddler, but it’s still nice to know how to get this gear at a discount, because it still adds up. If you bought a booster seat, two toddler smocks, and two sets of utensils with a bowl for retail, you’re looking at $120 total. With a little elbow grease you can get all the same stuff or close equivalents for about $20. That’s $100 more going in the college fund!