Baby Things

Day 2 of Leave (36 weeks and 1 day)

With hubby going to work and me staying at home, and in a  sense, literally waiting for baby to come out, I turned to taking pictures  of some of the baby things we've collected so far to while away some time on Day 2 of my Maternity Leave. I've included the cost just as a guide to some other newbie parent like me who may find it useful.

1. Cuddlebug Newport Crib

Cuddlebug Newport Crib

We got our Cuddlebug Newport 3-in-1 Crib from Youji&Me's warehouse sale last September 2012. It usually retails at Php 9,999.75 at their stores but we got it at a 30% discount for Php 7,000. We are on a tight budget so this is definitely one of our splurges for baby. We could have bought a much cheaper one (and there are cheaper options for sure) but I really wanted to get a wooden crib instead of a pack and play and the ones we saw at the department stores are either at the same price range and/or do not appeal to me. Also, we figured that since our baby is the first baby on my side of the family (I have five unmarried younger siblings, although for the record, I am not in a rush to hand this down to them!) this crib will probably be handed down to a few more babies, including our next darling baby daughter/son. 

This crib does not have the usual drop-side but has 3 adjustable mattress heights. Most cribs that we looked at at malls are still drop-side cribs, which safety standards set by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission no longer allow. Read more about Warning on Drop-Side Cribs here.  Also, it is made from New Zealand pine and has a non-toxic white finish. It also easily converts from crib to toddler bed and daybed although we opted not to get the side railing (additional P 1,000+) for the toddler bed conversion as we we were thinking there will be another baby in the family who will be using this crib at the time when this baby boy becomes a toddler (lol!) 

How appropriate! A Cuddlebug Crib for a couple of cuddle bugs!

You can check out Youji&me's website here.

Total Cost: Php 7,000 + delivery ($180 +)

2. Crib Mattress and Safari Bedding 

Baby Company crib bedding set

The crib does not come with a mattress so we had to get one. We bought a Uratex Crib Foam Mattress at The Baby Company at SM North Edsa for Php 2,000.xx. The Safari Bedding is also a splurge at Php 2000+ since I didn't really plan on purchasing a bedding set yet since I read that newborns should not sleep with any soft bedding like pillows and loose blankets due to risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). But Daddy wanted a bedding set and I just couldn't resist those cute baby safari animals. It may be because the baby giraffe on print has sleepy eyes like Daddy's! I'll just keep them for when baby is a little older or for picture-taking purposes. 

Baby is also getting an Angry Birds bedding set from his Mamu which I'll take pictures of once I get them.  

Total Cost: Php 4,000++ ($95)

3. Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapers

When my siblings and I were babies, we were all diapered in the traditional "lampin" (bird's eye flat cloth diapers) with "bigkis" (abdominal binder) functioning as a sort of belt and the traditional plastic mat placed under the bottom area to protect the bed from leaks. I remember hand washing the cloth diapers of my younger siblings (I'm not a stranger to washing diapers with baby poo afterall) and hanging them on the clothesline to dry. I wanted to go back to cloth diapering for my first born so I bought an initial stash of cloth diapers. After extensive reading on modern cloth diapering (so many more options now other than the flat cloth diapers we grew up with!), I decided on an initial stash of prefolds plus a few covers for daytime use, a couple of fitted diapers also to be used with covers, and a couple of all in ones for nighttime use (or for when Daddy is the one changing the diaper!) 

So far I have:
12 Chinese Diaper Service Quality Prefolds (bought at Ecobabybotique)
12 Curity Cloth Diapers (free from baby's Mamu) 
6 Indian Prefolds 
2 Dappi Diaper Covers, White, Small  
2 Lil' Joey All in One Newborn Diaper  
2 Kissaluvs Kissa's Cotton Fleece Fitted Cloth Diapers 
1 Litewrap Diaper Cover, Small, Retro design
1 Snappi (Mint Green)

To save money since most fitted and all-in-one brands are imported and can be costly when bought brand new, most of these were bought online gently used.  Hopefully, I can still use these on baby's future sibling/s and cousins. If all goes well, I plan to try the other CD systems and buy a few more AIO covers that can be used until the toddler years. 

Cheaper, local all-in-one brands are also available but seems to be a better fit for baby when he is a little older and chunkier. You will have to shell out a bigger investment initially on cloth diapers as compared to disposables and there has been much discussion on whether cloth is cheaper  but I think cloth is still better for the environment and you can save more if you can use it on more than one baby.

Total Cost: Php 3,700.++ ($88)

4. Newborn Tie-Side shirts, shorts, etc

No newborn clothing outfit is complete without the traditional "baru-baruan" or tie-side shirts with the matching white bottoms, mittens, socks, and bonnet. I bought a few brand new tie-side shirts without sleeves, with sleeves and long-sleeves which I plan to use while baby's umbilical cord stump has not yet fallen off. I also bought a set of "bigkis" or abdominal binders which I may end up not using anyway. 

tie-side shirts, etc.

I bought these at the mall which is more convenient for me but for those who are able, and those who plan to buy more can definitely get a good bargain if you buy this at your local market, or at Divisoria or Baclaran. 

Total Cost: Php 1,000.00++ ($25)

5. Receiving Blankets and Hooded Towel

I also bought a 4-pc pack of Carter's receiving blankets and a hooded towel online. We're also getting a couple of free blankets again from Mamu! 

4-pc Carter's receiving blankets with star design

cute hooded bath towel with washcloth with teddy bear design

Total Cost: Php 1,000.00++ ($25)

6. Carter's Just One You Baby's Jungle Dots First Record Book

I tried to look for a baby book at the local bookstore but I didn't find one that I liked. I finally found one on eBay.ph with a design fit for a baby boy. It has 38 pages with full color illustrations on both sides and records baby's firsts from before birth through his first day of school. 

If you are crafty and not afraid to diy, there are also some great baby book templates that you can download for free online which you can print out or just make your own, scrapbook style. I might try to do that for our next child. 

Total Cost: Php 1,000.00++ ($25)

7. Bodysuits/Onesies

I'm planning to use onesies or bodysuits as our baby boy's everyday clothes once the umbilical stump has dried and healed.  Due to a pregnancy-caused hoarding phase, I probably have around 75 pieces of baby clothes -onesies, jackets, frogsuits, and sleep sacks which are in different sizes (0-3, 3-6, 6-9) so I didn't bother taking a picture of all of them. I figured it will be more practical to buy these gently used instead of brand new since baby will surely outgrow these clothes pretty fast anyway. Around 80-90% of the baby clothes that I bought are all gently-used but still in good to excellent condition! Big tummy and all, I thoroughly washed them myself with baby-safe detergent and lovingly ironed them to make sure they are clean and ready for use by baby. The few brand new items that I purchased at the mall are still unwashed as I may not need them right away and may still be given away as gifts or I can just wash them when I plan to use them in the future. 

onesies

frogsuits

sleep sacks

I was told Nanay had included some used baby boy clothes in her "padala" (gift) box when she was still working in the UK but they were given away as gifts since we weren't expecting yet at that time.  :( A pity but I was able to find these two bodysuits from the boxes of clothes in storage.  

bodysuits

Total Cost: Php 1,800.00++ or Php 20- Php 30 per piece 

                     ($45++ or $0.50-$0.70 per piece)

8. Bibs

I know, I know, I shouldn't have bought a lot of bibs but I blame it on the hormones. I was still in that pregnancy-caused hoarding phase at that time I bought these lot of gently-used bibs from an online seller.

Total Cost: Php 500 or $12

8. Socks, etc

Some random infant socks, baby bonnet and blue pj's I bought at the mall. 

Total cost: Php 350+ ($8+) 

8. Feeding Bottles

We also bought some Nuby feeding bottles, breast pump, brush, extra nipples, pacifiers, pacifier clip on sale at the Youji&me warehouse sale. 

I hope to be able to exclusively breastfeed for a few months so if all goes well I will not be using the feeding bottles until maybe when I go back to work and baby has to drink expressed milk from a bottle. Same goes for the pacifiers, we will try to live without one while baby and I are still establishing our breastfeeding routine. The bottles have been sterilized using a good old boiling pot that we bought just for this purpose. I am not comfortable with those microwave steam sterilizers and electric sterilizers are pricey.  

Nuby Feeding Bottles

Total Cost: Php 1,700++ ($40)

I got hungry so I made some pancakes for breakfast. For the record I only hate half of these. :)

pancakes for breakfast