Stocking up on Baby Items

[sihotan]

Hello Everybody.

So, my oldest sister just had a baby girl last week and my second oldest sister and my wife are also expecting their bundles of joy early next year.

We are planning on stocking up on diapers and formula and what not, like some other smartcanuck members have. If anyone has any advice on what prices to look for, what coupons to use or stack and what brands are good etc when shopping for these items.. just post away.

I would like this to be a general thread for families expecting a baby to reference to get info as it can be very expensive like most of you know.

Thank you.

[BCSparkyGirl]

Honestly, it all kinda went to hell since P&G stopped allowing stacking. Save.ca used to have huggies coupons, but lately, they have had sweet f-all. Ticks me off, cause they know that this stuff is not a luxury item, so they know we will buy them, so unlike smellies which have limitless amounts of coupons, the much sought after cheap diapers are getting harder and harder to find, to the point where I give up. I get them on sale at Costco, and that has been the best lately.

This week at Costco, the 1120 count wipes are on sale for $22, and cases of daipers are on for $33.

[BuggaBugga]

Many find this subforum to be very useful.

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/pregnan...dler-freebies/

[amoureux]

I would caution you against stocking up too much. Not ever mom uses formula and of those who do, not every baby tolerates every formula. Formula also expires.

Not all diapers work on every baby either. We started out with a mix of huggies organic and regular huggies for our son. He leaked out of them numerous times a day. It was pretty messy.... Pampers swaddlers ended up being what worked when he was a newborn. Luckily we didn't have a big pile of newborn huggies on hand.

Now I generally use the Target Up and Up brand - as you are in Surrey a trip to Bellingham is easy. The price is great and they work beautifully. I often end up with a catalina coupon for them as well. We also buy the Costco Kirkland brand. Now that he is older huggies work so every so often I pick them up if the coupons and sale combines to make a good price. As the other poster said however, now that there are fewer stacking opportunities, it is typically cheaper to buy Target or Costco.

I do really like the huggies overnight diapers -- lowest sale price I've seen is $9.99 so combined with a coupon, buying a pack or 2 could be good so they are there for the mom to try once the baby is sleeping longer at night.

Another caution with building a stockpile is you just don't know how long the baby will need each size. My friend's baby is already in size 5 at 20 months. She barely used newborn and didn't stay in size one long either. My son is now 21 months old and is still in size 3. He is already starting to potty train so if I had stockpiled a bunch of size 4, 5, and 6 they wouldn't have been used.

All to say building a small stash of diapers would be very sweet but just go easy until you know what brand the mom prefers.

[barbs]

food banks & crisis pregnancy centres LOVE diaper donations....so if you did stock up on extras, they'd be happy to inherit them.

(formula has to be donated prior to the expiry date though. they can't distribute expired formula or baby food.)