Many baby and toddler products, from infant car seats to bassinets and baby carriers, are designed for a limited time span of your little one’s life. But babies grow really fast. Just as the older folks tell you, in a blink of an eye, your new bundle of joy will be sitting up and crawling and then walking and talking.
So, given how much baby gear costs ($7,385 on average during the first year, according to the book Baby Bargains), watching your child quickly outgrow the limited-use products you so carefully selected can be frustrating, not to mention a strain on your budget if you have to then buy another whole set of age-appropriate gear.
The good news, however, is that there is a way to potentially cut such costs: Opt for convertible products from the get go. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s now increasingly possible to find multi-stage gear that will grow with your child (and family), including cribs that turn into toddler beds and strollers that shift from newborn to toddler mode.
However, the multi-stage gear trend is extending way beyond just cribs and strollers, as more and more baby gear manufacturers roll out products that transform from those appropriate for infants to those appropriate for toddlers and even older kids.
In fact, earlier this month, at the baby gear industry’s big trade show, the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas, the multi-stage, multi-function feature was one of the major trends evident across baby gear categories, from car seats to crib accessories. Here’s a look at five baby product categories beyond cribs and strollers where there’s now convertible gear.
Crib Mobiles. Parents are supposed to remove mobiles from a crib once their babies can sit up, or push onto all fours, and reach the device. This means that mobiles typically have a limited usefulness span of about four or five months, assuming you don’t opt for one of the newer designs that convert into some other useful product.
Tiny Love, for instance, now offers a $70 mobile that turns into a lamp, and new for 2015, the brand is rolling out a Peek-A-Boo Mobile that transforms into a floor toy. In November, meanwhile, Fisher-Price will begin offering a $24.99 3-in-1 Musical Mobile that converts into a musical owl toy.
Car Seats. The days of having to buy multiple car seats and boosters for different stages of your child’s life may soon be a thing of the past. Graco, for example, now offers a 4-in-1 car seat (the $299.99 4Ever All-in-1 Car Seat available at Babies “R” US) that transitions from a rear-facing infant seat into a forward-facing car seat and then into two different booster stages. In other words, it can last for the first ten years of a child’s life (or at least until a child weighs 120 lbs).
Mealtime Seats. Many gear makers are introducing mealtime seating options — think high chairs and booster seats — that also work as infant and toddler floor seats.
At the ABC Kids Expo, Delta Children, for instance, showed a 5-in-1 high chair that transforms into a booster and floor seat. In January, meanwhile, Bumbo will begin offering a $44.99 three-in-one product that transitions from a traditional Bumbo infant floor seat into a booster seat.
Potties. It’s also now possible to buy toddler potties that work for various stages of potty training and that still can be useful once your child is fully trained. Early next year, for example, Ubbi plans to begin selling a $39.99 3-in-1 potty that turns from a potty into a small stool and a cover that reduces the size of regular toilet seats. Elsewhere, the First Years sells a 4-in-1 potty that also turns into an adult toilet seat top and a step stool.
Nursing Covers. Finally, a number of nursing cover companies are coming out with designs that work as much more than nursing wraps, so they can still be useful once the breastfeeding stage is over. Itzy Ritzy, for instance, sells $25 nursing covers that double as infinity scarves, while the PunkinWrap nursing cover ($48 with some accessories) is designed to also work as a blanket, portable changing pad and toddler yoga mat, among other functions.
Of course, whether these items really are worth the money will depend on whether you can use and need what they transform into, especially considering that the convertible products can come with higher price tags than their limited-use counterparts.
So, if you don’t envision needing a separate lamp for your child’s room or an extra stool around the house, you may be better off just buying a basic mobile or potty. Along the same lines, if you really just need a simple and frugal booster seat that can work as a space-saving high chair, then the more elaborate convertible high chairs may not be worth the expense. Similarly, if you don’t need a new infinity scarf or changing pad, a large scarf or small blanket you already have around the house can fill in as a very frugal nursing cover.
It’s also worth noting that some baby product manufacturers not making the convertible gear say that multi-stage products may not be as perfectly designed for each stage of a baby’s life as products just focused on a particular stage. For instance, car seats geared just toward infants can be easier to remove from cars than longer-lasting seats designed to be rear and forward facing.
Lastly, before opting for any convertible products, you’ll want to consider how much wear and tear baby items tend to get in your house, because a piece of convertible gear really only is worth the money if it will hold up for the long run.
Would you recommend convertible baby products — why or why not? What multi-stage baby gear categories and items did I miss? Share your experiences with multi-function baby and toddler gear below.
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How to Save on Baby Products originally appeared on usnews.com
