Purchasing Phases

When you first have a baby, you have no true idea of the economic duty you have just taken upon yourself. Then you spend and buy for the new infant and once you have everything arranged (see list blog from 2008) you thinks its over! But no! The baby grows and you are rushing to purchase yet again...

Your baby's life cycle determines your expenses. Just when you think you have finished buying all the stuff your baby needs they have grown and need new stuff. And I believe this will go on until they are fully grown! And even afterwards...

The purchasing phases I have discovered so far:

1 - The newborn: baby bed, cabinet, trolley/stroller – these are the big items! Smaller things – like clothes (you will always have to buy some, even if you are collecting from friends) bottles and diapers top it all off. Clothes and diapers are a continuous phase (see below).
2 – Eating solids: now you have to buy bigger bottles but also solid foods, organic vegetables to cook and grind and of course the baby chair. Clothes are also of a bigger size, as are diapers – which are becoming more expensive (the clever diapers manufacturers do not change the price of the package they just lower the number of diapers it contains!).
3 – First shoes: you can buy the cute little slippers but soon they are too small and you need to buy another pair. Season changes are no help when it comes to the frequency of purchasing toddler shoes. Once you start with the shoes – its a continuous phase (see below).
4 – The big boy's/girl's bed – we have now just gone through this phase. The baby bed is not longer relevant and an investment made just 24 months ago is now sunk cost! In our case, the baby bed has moved on to my sister and it may be returned to us in the future when a new baby causes us to start the cycle again (anything you get as a gift or collect second hand is pure saving because nothing lasts in a baby's life for too long – their needs change – hence the purchasing phases...). We now bought a new bed, but this is not the only new thing to this phase – bed covers are required, enough so we can change them often because he might still wet his bed (now due to over-filled diapers and soon due to his potty training) and plastic protecting covers (did I mention wetting the bed?) and blankets, and new pajamas (its Winter and Jonathan is bigger...last years PJ's and baby blanket just will no longer do).
5 – Potty training: diapers are still in full swing but a toilet seat is required and so are pant like expensive diapers. Diapers will remain with us for the night time for some time to come but their consumption will eventually be reduced. We already purchased the toilet seat for toddlers because Jonathan is showing interest in it, but true potty training is planned for the Spring (he can then run about naked in the warm weather – I will save on detergents and water due to less washing).

This is as far as I have come...

Continuous phases
A - Clothes – season changes and a growing toddler mean you cannot collect or receive 100% of the clothes you require.
B - Shoes are also a frustrating investment because at the age of 2 they only last for an average of 3-4 months – the boy grows and his feet grow with him...
C - Toys too are a continuing investment and relevant for about 6 months – different development phases require new and more challenging toys as the toddler grows. The only bright light in the toy tunnel is that a two year old can find a new born baby toy totally fascinating, after all he has not seen such a thing for two years – hence it is innovative for him (in his fast paced world anything as new as 6 months is boring and familiar – but older stuff is vintage...).

I am sure there are more phases, but I need to determine them first. One thing I am now sure about – above the age of 1.5 years – one has nothing to do in a focused baby shop! Your toddler needs stuff you can find anywhere but there!

May the university tutorage payment be the last phase...
ahh, my parents are still spending on me, via Jonathan of course...