One thing I did not realize when I was pregnant and preparing for the baby was the enormity that is the baby market. I enlisted the help of my husband for this task. I did not want to become like so many other first-time mothers who enter a baby store and want everything off the shelves. Plus, I wasn’t into the whole pastel blue or pink baby pattern/theme that is often offered. I knew that I wanted neutral colors for his room and build from there. We wanted to be smart and practical about the purchases that we were about to make.

Being hormonal and new to the game makes it so easy to get suckered into buying bedding and accessories that would be, in my opinion, too expensive for this little person that would have no recollection of any of it.

Don’t get me wrong, my husband and I want nothing but the best for our son but didn’t feel that filling his room with materialistic things was going to have much of an impact on him. Plus, like many other hard working people, we like keeping most of the money we work hard in our own pockets.

With many things to consider and so many “experts” advertising products that every new parent should get and books that every pregnant woman on the planet should own, my husband and I decided to seek the advice of our friends who have children and use our own discretion to buy things that would benefit us the most.

We decided on purchasing things that were more of a necessity than a luxury. We bought the core products, car seat stroller combo, swing, highchair, crib, mattress, mattress pads and dresser. We passed on the changing table as friends informed us that it was not necessary – so we purchased a changing pad and cover instead and placed it the dresser. Thinking back in the past four months since my son was born; I can count on one hand the amount of times that we used the changing pad. For clothing, I was fortunate enough to be working for a children’s retail company and received a discount for the clothing purchased. The best advice I received from a friend was not to splurge on newborn clothing, for a few simple reasons, 1. You will be so tired and beside yourself that you probably won’t put them on the baby 2. They will either be too big or to small depending on how much they weigh at birth and finally 3. Some baby clothes are expensive and we were better off buying him essential items in bigger sizes and get better use out of them later on.

Keeping things simple and making smart purchases are things that new mothers should be advised to do, but in a multi-million dollar market that uses pretty, and cutesy things to grab our attention it is not likely to happen.