Yard sales
are another great place to find baby
items. Many yard sales have ONLY baby
and toddler items. I would definitely
shop yard sales for clothes, toys
and books, since little ones “grow
out” of these so quickly. On
a recent shopping spree to find gifts
for my toddler's birthday, I got everything
I needed at a few yard sales in one
day. I found a Winnie the Pooh sleeping
tent for $3, a complete set of “Bear
in the Big Blue House” stuffed
animals for $2, a Barbie house for
$3, a tape recorder for $1 to play
all the tapes she has been collecting,
and various games, books and puzzles
for 25-50 cents each. So, for a little
over $10, my birthday shopping is
complete…and no trips to the mall
were needed!
Caution
A few words of caution…I would not
suggest buying a used car seat, due
to safety and recall concerns. Also,
if buying a used crib, please use
the soda can test. A soda can should
not be able to fit through the slats
in the crib. If it can, there is a
choking hazard as a newborn baby's
head may also fit through there. Although
you can check numerous Consumer Affairs
Web sites after the fact, you will
have already spent your hard earned
money! So check the following Web
sites first. They have very good information
about product safety and recalls.
In all the years
that I have been buying used items
for me or my family, the only thing
that I have bought that did not work
was a videotape that I purchased for
$1. If I had just opened the box,
I would have seen that it was all
twisted, so it was my fault. But to
keep these incidents to a minimum,
check videos and cassettes carefully.
And don't forget to bring some spare
batteries along to test the toys and
battery-operated items that you may
want to purchase!
