[rossdavidh]

Congratulations! One thing, not as major as some of what other commenters have mentioned but worth knowing, is that you should not feel guilty about buying used clothes/cribs/etc. for your kid. 1) most baby clothes get worn very few times before they're outgrown, so you can get them in good shape at garage sales or thrift shops 2) your baby doesn't care whether it is dressed stylishly or not, it just cares if it's comfortable and its parents are nearby 3) your kid will likely throw up on it five minutes of putting it on anyway :)

Some parents feel guilt about buying used things for their child, and end up spending a lot of $$ on new clothes, crib, etc. for a child that will not benefit from all that extra expense in the least. You don't want to cut corners on, for example, health care or quality food, but things like clothes because they are visible can cause some parents of newborns to spend a lot of money they don't need to. Save it for the things that actually matter.

[dev_dull]

Go on Nextdoor and share your good news. Ask if there’s any hand-me-downs available. You’ll be surprised. The stuff people held onto but are now finally giving away is usually the good stuff that they really liked. Oh and congratulations!

[blankcheque]

+1 to this suggestion, Nextdoor's marketplace is great for this. People give away stuff all the time. I'm sure there's some nearby parent with lightly used baby clothes packed away. At least in my neighborhood, I see them offered from time to time.

[jmedefind]

This x 100. We get used clothing from friends and goodwill all the time. They blow through clothing so fast it's not worth buying new.

If you buy a used crib just make sure it's in good shape and hasn't been recalled.

More practical advice: Costco brand diapers and formula are the cheapest we found, but still good quality. Well worth the membership. There are also ways around going to Costco without paying for a membership. You can just google it.

Walmart brand wipes were the cheapest (and not useless) ones we found. We buy them in lots of 1200 at a time for about $20.

[BrandoElFollito]

I tried this once : I bought a (whatever that one piece cloth is called) for my newborn.

I saw that it was a perfect fit so I bought 10 more.

And then I had to return them because my wife wanted variety...

[VBprogrammer]

This is a great point. My partner and I have all but stopped buying new stuff. We spent a fair amount on her travel system but it's already becoming obvious that she's out-growing most of it at 6 months.

My way of rationalising it is whether she'd rather have us spend all we could on having the best of baby gear now, or whether she'd rather have it in a savings account when she is looking to buy her first house, go to university etc.

[sloaken]

Great advice! My wife would not shop goodwill until she was helping kids with a play and the amount of funds for costuming made her. Now she loves to 'Pop some tags...'

[altsyset]

Is it safe though? Like possible skin issues that can easily be transferred?

[circlefavshape]

:)

Dude - relax! Becoming a parent is a real emotional roller-coaster, and it's hard to keep your perspective, especially with your first, but remember - all kinds of morons have kids, and they're fine. Perfect is the enemy of good in this part of your life too

(my kids, and all my friends' and family's kids, wear and have worn hand-me-downs almost exclusively, except for fancy or special-occasion clothes)

[karmajunkie]

> all kinds of morons have kids, and they're fine

So, so true.

[rossdavidh]

1) you're going to wash it, which will take care of most issues that could possibly occur 2) the factory where the new stuff was made could also have left some chemical residue on there, and that could be gone by the time you get used stuff. I don't say this because I think either scenario is likely, but because you can use it to calm your inner paranoid-parent-voice (which most parents have, btw). Used clothes have finished outgassing all the weird chemicals from the factory where they were made.

[jmedefind]

It's fine, we just wash it on high.

Ask your OB about it though if you want a more professional opinion.

[rubidium]

Give it 1 cycle through the wash and it'll be fine.