Think Twice Before Purchasing Overmarketed Baby Products; You May Not Need Them
As I opened my mailbox, I am greeted with a glaring reminder that I need to try something else, or maybe consider a different, healthier option for my children.
“Freshly made organic baby food delivered right to your door.”
All of these fearful thoughts swarm into my brain caused by one simple & tacky direct mailer. The stock photograph on the cover with a semi-clean baby is definitely misleading, as feeding babies has never been a task for those seeking a stain-free outcome.
But it’s not just in the mailbox where I am bombarded with these daily “suggestions” that trick my brain into thinking there is an easier, better solution if only I were to spend lots of money to achieve the desired outcome. Walking into any large baby supplier I am continuously surprised how quickly the simple task of buying a new baby bottle can turn into the outpouring of dollars based on all the new products we most certainly need to make our lives easier. It’s not surprising that the baby and child skin care product market raked in over 361 million U.S. dollars in sales last year, sometimes, at the expense of my sanity. After all, these companies are clever in how they target our insecurities when advertising.
I recall shopping for my first child, I discovered a cover to go over your finger when applying diaper cream to “protect” your skin. I also observed the specialized organic dish soap in which to specially wash bottles and newborn laundry detergent. It took me a number of months before I finally talked to our pediatrician and the ultimate holy resource of fellow mothers, that Dawn Dish Soap is perfectly fine and regular All Free and Clear detergent suffices for sensitive newborn skin.
As I progressed into motherhood, as those of us with children and pets do as well, I began to trust my motherly instincts to discover what works and what doesn’t based on my child (or pet’s specific needs). But that didn’t necessarily prevent me from overspending before the arrival of each human out of pure fear that I was going to mess up (or not have what I needed right when I needed it). While I appreciate the boundless variety of baby products that are available to families at a significant cost, I’ve learned to lean heavily on other parents’ advice and my own intuition.
Although, that doesn’t mean that I don’t get lost in the consumer haze of false information causing me to forget the truth; that we mothers, fathers, and family providers are the actual ones who know best, and it’s probably best we ignore those sneaky tag lines and sleek-looking products that easily convince us otherwise.
Growing up, I remember going for evening strolls on a nearby dirt road, pushed by my mother in an uncomplicated fabric umbrella stroller with a “belt” to secure my tiny body. Fast forward some 20 years later and I’ve decidedly purchased a multitude of strollers, with complicated safety features and random buttons that I can never seem to accurately operate. And guess which one I use the most for my growing family? An affordable and super basic fold-up umbrella stroller just like the one my mom had in the mid-eighties. Except now, it has an actual buckle vs a canvas belt to hold me in.