Baby Bargains: Secrets to Saving 20% to 50% on Baby Furniture, Equipment, Maternity Wear and Much, Much More!

Product Information

DON’T BUY A USED CRIB OR CAR SEAT. Old cribs may not meet current safety standards. It’s also difficult to get replacement parts for obscure brands. Car seats are also a second-hand no-no— you can’t be sure it wasn’t in an accident, weakening its safety and effectiveness. And watch out for clothing with drawstrings, loose buttons or other safety hazards. When it comes to travel car seats and infants and toddlers, we’d go for a lightweight seat that is easy to use and affordable. The key issue is weight: if you are lugging this seat through an airport or wrestling it into a rental car, you don’t want a 30 lb. behemoth (yes, some car seats weight that much!). Here’s more on why the Costco Onlook is a best bet for travel car seats for infants and toddlers: What We Liked Sometimes, the simpler the baby product, the better. Case in point: Fisher-Price’s Soothing Motions Bassinet. Basically, this is a simple bassinet with mesh sides, swing motion, vibration and lullabies. It came out tops in our testing for ease of use and overall quality. Here’s more: What We Liked

Exposed screws and screw holes. That doesn’t compromise safety; it’s just an aesthetic issue. More expensive cribs hide this hardware, but that is the trade-off to get the price so low. Receiving Blankets. You’ll need these small, cotton blankets for all kinds of uses: to swaddle the baby, as a play quilt, or even for an extra layer of warmth on a cold day. Lower profile also great for shorter parents. If you are under 5’5”, you may find reaching into a standard-size stationary crib challenging. Since most cribs sit a foot or two off the floor and drop-side cribs were phased out in 2011, shorter parents may find it difficult putting baby in a standard crib when the mattress is in its lowest position. At only 34” tall, the Hudson sits low to the ground making it much easier to put baby into and out of the crib.

2. Sizing–yeah, it’s confusing.

CONCENTRATE ON “FAMILY AREAS.” A mom here in Colorado told us she found garage sales in Boulder (a college town) were mostly students getting rid of stereos, clothes and other junk (sadly, a used beer pong table isn’t useful in a nursery). A better bet was nearby Louisville, a suburban bedroom community with lots of growing families.

How many? Skip the drool bibs. The exception: if your baby really can’t keep dry because he’s drooling the equivalent of a bathtub full every day, consider buying a few of these. When baby starts eating solid foods, you’ll need at least three or four large bibs. One option: plastic bibs for feeding so you can just sponge them off after a meal.Rear-facing to 40 lbs. It is safest for infants and toddlers to ride rear-facing as long as you can—and this seat’s 40 lb. rear-facing limit allows extended rear-facing use.

CHEAT SHEETS for your baby registry—create a baby registry in minutes with our good, better, best ideas. When we tested formula dispensers, we were surprised to find they have some very real differences. Here’s what we looked for: Easy pour. Here’s where the rubber meets the road. Can you get the formula from the dispenser into the baby bottle without banging it around to get the last little bits?

Best Overall

The big headline with Evenflo’s All-in-One Convertible seat, the Evenflo EveryStage, is the in-seat recline. While the seat is being used rear-facing in infant car seat mode, the in-seat recline angles baby to the appropriate angle internally. There is also an external five-position recline when the seat is used facing forward as a convertible seat. In our testing, this was impressive and easy to use. Choice of colors. The Graco Benton comes in four different colors, including the ever-popular Pebble Grey. Many low-end cribs only come in white or brown. What Needs Work Ease of use. The lids on all the dispensers we tested were supposed to rotate to direct the spout over each compartment. Some were easier to rotate than others. Mid-century vibe. This solidly made crib is a great splurge if you are looking for a crib as a statement piece. Bonus: you can get this crib in a two-tone option, where the spindles are a contrasting color to the crib’s base. The 2019 version of this seat adds Graco’s “Extend2Fit” feature that allows an extra five inches of legroom, thanks to an expanding base. Now the seat can be used for up to 50 lbs. rear-facing (the previous 4Ever stopped at 40 lbs).