Comments on: Having A Second Child? Seven Frugal Tips For Getting Ready

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:08:54 +0000

This is a great conversation! Just wanted to add my two cents. Another idea about diapers is to buy prepaid Pampers gift certificates (if you use disposables). The certificates are for 1, 3, 6 or even a year supply of diapers. We live in a small 2 bd apartment with 4 year old son and do not have space for storage. My son also skipped sizes very quickly so this will be a good alternative for our #2.

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:00:56 +0000

For frugal baby raising, go to freecycle.org website and sign up. We have received free cloth diapers, clothing, toys, formula, etc… on this website. Likewise, we have given generously to people who need items we no longer use. Excellent for those who don’t have a large group of friends or family to pass along hand me downs. Plus, it keeps our landfills from expanding at atrocious rates.

By: SAHMmy Says

SAHMmy Says — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 21:14:57 +0000

Wow-it’s getting hot in here! All I was going to say is that stockpiling diapers in size 3 is the way to go–you never know how big the baby will be when she gets here, or how fast she will grow! Best of luck to your growing family!

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 16:37:52 +0000

My boy went through exactly one small package of newborn sized diapers, and not quite one package of size 1 diapers. He was in size 2’s for two months, size 3’s for three months, and has been in size 4’s since then.

By: Margaret

Margaret — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:00:49 +0000

I second that about not getting too many size one diapers. My second was 10 10 and we didn’t even get through the second box. Of course, in my and my husband’s families, any baby under 8 pounds is considered small.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:54:54 +0000

Really the “overpopulation” comment was just a throwaway thing to put in there, and I surely didn’t mean to start a political discussion.

I suppose I’ll measure my comments before making them again. My intent was not to rock the boat or start a flame war or anything…

By: DivaJean

DivaJean — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:44:55 +0000

None of my kids get uptight about clothes. We point out to the two oldest (8 & 5) that if we can save money on clothes, we’ll have more money to budget for play. This means monthly visits to the amusement park during the summer, more trips to the lake, more fun stuff. They’d rather wear the secondhand stuff and have more places to go- and not have to worry about keeping clothes perfect too.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:29:57 +0000

I think evryone is being too hard on Kenny. I dont mind how many kids people choose to have, but the minute they start complaining about how tough a time they are having with time/money etc, is the minute I lose respect for them since they obviously had no foresight to the consequeces of their choices.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:21:59 +0000

We didn’t worry about any political statements when shopping at yard sales for our kids.

If the clothes in the best shape had been camouflage they would’ve been bought & worn, boy or girl. :)

Don’t forget to solicit clothing from friends with older kids!

By: Mitch

Mitch — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:16:57 +0000

To add to DivaJean’s comments, it’s good to keep in mind that on average (IIRC), the first child is born weighing more, and boy babies statistically tend to weigh more than girl babies. And each kid might have a different growth pattern. And girls on average can potty train younger. So the diaper sizes and clothing seasons you need might not line up exactly with what you already have. That can be a tricky bet to place. But you’re pretty much guaranteed to at least briefly pass through each size. (8

As for clothing styles, having a pacifist Christian family, I’d say that dressing your boy in camouflage may look like a very loud political statement! But anyway, only if the other kids are really uptight do you need to worry about a girl wearing school and play clothes with bold colors and dinosaurs. You may not need much more than a few dress-up/church outfits.

By: Pam

Pam — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:40:08 +0000

All of the frugal ideas are great – except for telling someone not the contribute to the world’s population problems. ?????

I have three kids. We cram into our vehicle, they argue over who gets to sit next to me, it costs more, AND I NEVER LOST ONE.

@Kenny – you don’t understand why people are worked up? It’s fine for someone to suggest cloth diapers or hand-me-downs, but suggesting how many babies a family should have is too much. BTW – like you said – enjoy your little ones while they still want to be seen with you! Time passes quickly. :)

By: DivaJean

DivaJean — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:39:22 +0000

that should be “developed relationships with other families” in my first sentence.

By: DivaJean

DivaJean — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:37:14 +0000

Don’t forget that with a second child, you’ve likely developed other families with kids who are outgrowing clothes and can be a great resource.

We have 4 kids and have an elaborate network of friends and families that share clothes. The rule is: no selling- we let the clothes ebb & flow in & out of our families for use, not for moneymaking. Changes of season for us usually means evaluating where there might be some gaps in what we’ve obtained recently- back to school usually means more sneaker & shoe shopping than anything else (kids seem to wear their shoes particularly hard in our clique) and maybe underwear for one or two of the kids.

By: Trent

Trent — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:52:38 +0000

ablemabel: I don’t care if my daughter wears camouflage if it is her choice, but choosing to dress my daughter in camouflage makes a specific statement that I don’t feel comfortable in making in rural Iowa. I’d rather just dress all my kids in plain colors or at best stripes until they can choose their own – my child isn’t an extension of my own fashion statements or political beliefs.

By: fiveberries

fiveberries — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:42:28 +0000

Daria — it was tongue in cheek, honestly! My little girl never has girly pajamas, unless they are a gift from someone else!

I guess we’ve just been to the ER in the middle of the night so many times that I started thinking it was funny. That, and I sometimes got tired of explaining that the little person in front of the doctor was indeed a girl, not a boy, wearing firetrucks or spacemen.

By: ablemabel

ablemabel — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:26:54 +0000

“Gender appropriate”? I didn’t realize it was inappropriate for girls to wear camouflage. Maybe we need to suggest to all the women serving in the armed forces that they only wear their uniforms “around the house”.

Trent, I’m disappointed. I thought you were more egalitarian than this.

By: mommylove

mommylove — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:15:18 +0000

Sorry to get slightly off topic,
Kenny – no issue here against you. I’m probably more sensitive than ususal right now (hormones and the anticipation)and I usually just read, not post. I erroneosly jumped to a conclusion based on what was written regarding family size. It grates on me how, like you said in your post, society in general defines “family” as only 4 persons. Like the rest of us aren’t a family?
Anyways, the misunderstanding was also mine, I was wrong to judge. Peace.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:43:41 +0000

Oh, mommylove, I said I struggled with the logistics, not the finances or amount of love for the children.

It’s a logistical nightmare for me because all three kids want to hold my hands, but I have but two hands to offer.

Since I can’t grow a third arm, or have one attached, that means one child will have none of my hands to hold.

I dread the time where none of the three will even want to be seen with me, so I want to hold all of their hands whenever I can!

Logistical struggle in absolutely no way indicates that I am disappointed with having three children. Indeed, I lobbied for a fourth myself, but it was vetoed because our history indicated no guarantee for a singleton.

In many ways, a fourth child would have made things easier, for the same logistical reasons.

Yeah, I just re-read my original entry but still don’t quite see how it could have whipped up all that emotion from you. Sorry for any misunderstanding there…

Good luck with your fourth!

By: Christa

Christa — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:14:08 +0000

I am a mother of 4 and when I was pregnant with my twins I prepared several casseroles in advance and froze them. Those meals were so wonderful to have after the twins were born. They really saved us a lot of trouble. I am glad you listed that idea.

By: Meredith

Meredith — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:33:49 +0000

One of the great joys of having a baby girl (after having a son) is dressing her in beautiful little clothes!

I’m as cheap as anyone I know, but we resold my son’s boyish baby clothes to a children’s consignment shop. I took the money to a few thrift shops and had a frugal shopping spree. Smocked dresses, ruffled onesies, soft pink blankets–a small luxury, but well worth it.

Perhaps your wife is as utilitarian as you are; if not, don’t deprive her of the fun of dressing a new baby girl.

Best wishes!