Baby On the Go: Best Budget Picks for Travel Systems, Carriers & Diaper Bags

January 24, 2011 By 8 Comments

BC’s Cheapskate Challenges explore how to buy the very best baby items you can on a very limited budget. Here are the results of last week’s “Baby on the Go” Cheapskate Challenge.

About the Challenge:

Baby Cheapskate’s 2nd Cheapskate Challenge focused on items babies need when they’re on the go. I Issued the following challenge to readers and asked them to consider the quality of items as well as price:

You’re about to have a baby. You have occasional access to a car, but sometimes you take public transportation and have to walk a few blocks to a bus stop. You need the following (new) items:

  • A versatile stroller that will work for a newborn, but you’d like to be able to use it for at least two years. You don’t plan on buying another stroller until then.
  • An infant car seat.
  • An infant Carrier so that you can wear the baby on occasion.
  • A diaper bag (must include changing pad).

Let’s say you only have $330 (including shipping) to buy these items online today. What do you buy?

I received over 150 responses from readers, and I’ve compiled some of them below. You’ll find many more reader responses to the challenge, including reasons for the items chosen, in the comments here.

Reader Picks: (Mix and match to fit your lifestyle and budget:)

Note: I decided to list non-sale prices below to give this post some longevity. You should be able to find most of these items at significantly lower sale or closeout prices. In fact, some of the items were more than 50% off at the time of this writing. For that reason, I recommended looking at all of the options on the lists before you rule any out.

To save up to 50%, consider gently used items (except the car seat). Check your local consignment shop, consignment sales, Craigslist and other sources.

Travel Systems: Buying your infant car seat and stroller together as a travel system can save you money. Reader faves:

Note: If possible, upgrade to an infant car seat with a higher weight limit. If you look hard enough, you can find most of the Graco systems with the Snugride 35 instead of the 22. Expect the cost to be a bit higher.

Other stroller picks (Buy car seat separately. Make sure it’s compatible with your stroller)

Baby Carriers: $30 to $105

Even cheaper: Make your own Moby wrap using one of the tutorials online (just Google “Moby Wrap Tutorial”). No sewing necessary.

Diaper Bags: $20 to $55

Even cheaper: Skip the diaper bag in favor of a bag you already own. Time to bring that college backpack out of retirement!

My Picks:

My picks for the best budget buys, based on price, availability, product features, and reader reviews:

At current prices, I could pick up all of the above from Amazon for as little as $195.06 , shipped. Sweet!

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So what do you think about my picks and about the other items on the list? Leave a comment!

Related: Crib, Mattress, and Accessories for Under $350? Here’s How

Filed Under: Deals & Sales, Essential Articles, QandA Tagged With:

Comments

  1. Amanda says:
    January 24, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    I whole-heartedly agree that the ergo is worth the expense!! Just in chiropractor bills for me and the expense of my childs crotch! Plus I can get it on and off in less than 30 seconds. My ergo (and steam mop!) was my absolute best purchase last year!

    Reply
  2. michelle says:
    January 24, 2011 at 1:11 pm

    I really want to get my daughter the Safety 1st Aerolite Travel System in the Eiffel Rose, but it’s quite spendy, so I’m wondering how and where YOU could possibly get all that you said for $195.06 shipped?? Please help this cheapskate-soon to be grandma. :D Thanks

    Reply
  3. Mollie says:
    January 24, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    I agree that the ergo is worth it. You can also find it used on thebabywearer.com. I traded another carrier for my ergo and only spent an additional $20.

    Reply
  4. Nava says:
    January 24, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    Just want to add that in terms of car seat, if your little one is on the smaller side, they probably won’t hit the 35 lb. limit on the car seat before they outgrow it in height. Even if your kid isn’t so small. I wasn’t convinced way back when, but DS was a tall and a chunkymonkey and only weighed 30 lbs. at 1 year of age..by then he had already become too tall for his infant carrier seat for 5 months already (and was switched to a rear-facing convertible car seat at 7 months).

    Basically, if the height of the hard, outer shell is the same on a 22 lb. limit seat as it is on a 35 lb. seat, I’d recommend saving your money and sticking with the less expensive seat (a higher height shell means your child will be able to use the seat longer).

    Reply
    • Heather says:
      January 24, 2011 at 3:36 pm

      Your child was 32″ tall at 7 months?

      Reply
    • L says:
      January 25, 2011 at 11:13 am

      The 35 lb weight limit seats also have a corresponding much heigher height limit. I had a 22lb for my first child and a 35lb for my second. If your child is large IMO the 35lb seat is well worth the extra money. Now that my 2nd is 9 months old we don’t pop the seat out all the time, but when she falls asleep in it it’s wonderful to not have to wake her to get her out of the car.

      Reply
    • Lesley says:
      January 26, 2011 at 12:49 pm

      I agree that I prefer the smaller seat. One advantage of the travel system is to move your baby in and out of the car while still in the seat. By the time my baby was outgrowing the 22 lb. weigh tlimit seat it was getting to heavy anyway. Maybe I am just a weakling but I was more than happy with just the 22 lb seat.

      Reply

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