Baby questions…

by Krishna on January 13, 2008 at 1:07 pm

Posted In: News, Rant

Sonia’s 5 weeks old and doing very well. One thing Aarti and I have come to realize is how expensive baby items really are – like diapers and formula. We’ve stuck with the brand names thus far, but I would like to know from other parents out there as to whether generic (i.e. Target brand) items are just as good. There is a 50% mark-up between generic vs. brand name baby items, and I’m curious to know if going “generic” is okay and safe for my little girl.

Thanks!

-Krishna

Jim Roberts

First my qualifications: I have 4 kids. 2 boys (13 and 12) and 2 girls (6 and 5).

Most store brand products come off the same assembly lines as the name brand. We didn’t use formula (my wife breastfed 100%) but pretty much everything else I can say that we at least tried the generics.

My suggestion would be to give the storebrand a try and see how well it works for you. Different brands of diapers will fit better/worse on depending on your child and I found that the generics actually worked better in our case.
quamper

We used Target brand formulate and you’re right it’s like $11 vs $23 for the big brand name ones.

If you compare the ingredients/nutritional information it’s exactly the same. The consistency of the powder is the only thing slightly different.

As for diapers we’ve tried a bunch of brands very strongly like Huggies, nothing else seems to work as good especially over night.
http://www.pcweenies.net krishna

Thanks quamper & Jim – I’ve decided to go with the Target brand of formula for the little one – I compared the ingredients – and its about the same as the Simulac brand. The Target diapers I’ve put on Sonia seem to be okay for number ‘one’ jobs – but not too great for number ‘two’ jobs.
DrDoug

Krishna – we have 3 little boys, now 3 1/2, and 2 year old twins… yes, lots of diapers!

We generally preferred Pampers Swaddlers, when very young, then Pampers Cruisers (twins are still in them), but we found that the Costco store brand was substantially less expensive and generally just as good as the latter.

The elastic waist and around the legs seemed best on these two brands by far above the others.

Of course, everyone will have “blowouts” occasionally, no matter what brand, and we’ve had to rarely deal with explosive, projectile #2… it’s surprising what the little ones can, um, teach you to deal with. ;-)

Night-time diapers have become an important thing at this stage too – be ready…
http://reddsea.com/teacher/ eddie

Krish – I have to agree with Jim you’ll just have to see how it works with the lil’ lady. I got three, well outta the diaper stage but each child is different and she can as well break out in a rash if she’s sensitive to different products. keep desiten don’t know if that’s spelled right) on hand if you plan on trying different options, and pretty much the same with formula.

hope that helps!
Theala Sildorian

Desitin. eddie is quite right, a tube on hand will save you if she gets diaper rash. It’s a water barrier, very thick and sticky but a little goes a long way. With my niece and nephew, the Costco diapers worked just fine, as did the generic formula. With formula, pretty much you try it and if she drinks it and doesn’t have problems with her stool, then it will be OK. Some other things to keep on hand for when she gets her first cold: Tylenol Infant drops and Pedialyte (generic versions work just as well with these too). Check with your pediatrician for the dose on Tylenol: it’s weight based. Could save you in the middle of the night–I gave some to my brother when my niece was born and he was very glad not to have to go to Walmart at 2am. :D
http://www.hamjob.com GoatTuber

Our boy’s 18 months old now. I recommend Pampers Swaddlers for the first few months, Huggies really didn’t want to stay on at that stage. Huggies seem to be better than Pampers once you hit the cruiser stage, but you should give Luvs a try when you get there. They’re just as good as Huggies, but cost a bit less.

The PC Weenies

Baby questions…