Toys R Us Inflating Prices on Baby Products?
How much do you spend on baby products? Regular shoppers of Toys R Us or Babies R Us claim that the toys and baby products chain has been inflating prices on baby products, such as strollers and other baby items. Although a baby shower sometimes gives you most of your basics for having a child, additional strollers, high chairs, diapers, clothing, and formula will be purchased often during the first year. The article, however, doesn’t mention what prices for Toys R Us products are being compared to. Is it their online counterparts, such as a website like Stroller.com or even high-end baby retailers like Baby and Me Boutique?
Toys/Babies R Us is essentially the convenience store for baby products. As the most physically visible retailer, and the most comprehensive, it’s often the only place people turn to for basic baby products ranging from strollers to baby clothes. Although other retailers for baby products are available off the internet, Babies R Us remains the most visible. Like a convenience store in a poor or working-class neighborhood, it’s the only place around to buy food within walking distance. As a result, the convenience store can charge $3 for a bottle of milk, compared to $1.50 at a standard supermarket, as it’s the only place around.
For people who don’t have access to a computer or are wary of buying things off the internet, Babies R Us is really the only visible retailer out there for baby products, especially those that don’t appear “high end.” Unless another large baby retailer gets a stronger hold on the market, Babies R Us will continue to dominate it. For those who no longer want to shop there, baby products retailers, such as the ones linked above, are options for purchasing your basic baby clothing and furniture online. Formula and diapers, in addition, can be bought from bulk retailers like Costco or discount ones like Walmart or Target.
Your Baby Can Read: Can He?
A new toy has appeared on the market called Your Baby Can Read and, according to the press release in the link, the toy has been named one of the top educational toys of the year. But, as studies have shown with videos like Baby Einstein for building vocabulary, children can become over-stimulated, and these supposed educational toys end up backfiring. In the case of studies done on Baby Einstein, the vocabulary of children exposed to Baby Einstein videos and those not was about the same. Your Baby Can Read has been on the market not as long, but the press release claims that helping a child learn new words during a time when they crave stimulation is better than waiting until elementary school.
Both the press release and the website for the Your Baby Can Read toy, however, fail to fully explain how this toy works. The website’s product selection includes various CDs, DVDs, and flashcards for building vocabulary and learning to read. Although children under five need stimulation to learn certain skills, over stimulation is also an issue. Another point, especially from studies done on Baby Einstein, is that these videos don’t use parent-ese or “baby talk,” which a baby responds to better.
The positive aspect of this toy is some aspect of interaction. Many educational toys simply involve putting a child in front of a computer or television, but the set of products for Your Baby Can Read incorporates colored flashcards, which require some interaction between the parent and child. Although asking a child under five to learn to read sentences might lead to over stimulation, the toy appears to help children with building vocabulary and identifying individual words. As parents are under pressure to have their child reading by or during kindergarten, this toy could help with learning words, although children who feel pressure or over stimulation tend to not absorb new information or skills as quickly as one who receives enough stimulation to still be curious.
Using a Baby Sling
One debate among parents is the issue between using strollers and carrying your baby. Strollers, on one hand, offer more convenience, as you don’t have to hold the baby with all of the other things you’re carrying. Holding the baby, although said to be somewhat developmentally better, often involves holding it with other items and getting tired from holding it all the time. One solution to this problem has been to use a baby sling, which allows the baby to be close to you, like holding, and allows your arms to be free. Slings, in addition, allow you to position the baby on your hip or back in more comfortable positions.
Aside from the physical aspect, the main reason for using a baby sling is the developmental reason. Some consider that using a stroller pushes the baby – both literally and figuratively – away from the parent and, as a result, the child can develop loss and loneliness during childhood and might not be as independent later in life. Using a baby sling, on the other hand, positions a child close to its mother and no pushing – or pushing away – motion is involved. While the closeness to the mother is said to develop a child’s independence sooner, a child supposedly cries less when carried often in a sling.
Where do you find a baby sling? Although many brick-and-mortar baby stores might not carry a sling, they can be found online. Organic baby products retailer Natural Baby Network, for example, carries their version of a baby sling made out of organic cotton, which is adjustable for various sized babies and toddlers up to 40 pounds. Similar versions are available from retailers that sell more than organic and natural baby products.
Giving Large Baby Gifts
Generally, gifts given at a baby shower are small and practical. This includes items like baby clothing, toys, books, and blankets. But in some cases, a guest might want to give a larger gift. Larger baby gifts include such items as various pieces of furniture and strollers. These might be items the parents have already, but you, as a guest, may not know. What is the etiquette if you’re thinking of getting a large baby gift? Always, the parents should be asked if they’ve already bought basic baby furniture like cribs and changing tables or if they’re planning to buy such things themselves. If they haven’t gotten any of these yet and aren’t planning to, purchasing them is appropriate.
Baby furniture is one of the larger types of baby gifts available. Some pieces of furniture are only used when the child is in infancy, and this includes cribs, cradles, bassinets, and changing tables, although parents, planning to have more than one child, could always hold on to these pieces of furniture. Other pieces last into toddler and preschool years, and this includes tables and chairs that a child may want to use when he or she has learned to walk.
Another larger baby gift is a stroller. Generally parents have already picked out a stroller, but not always. In some cases, a parent may not always know what to get. Strollers, as you have read from these posts, come in standard and umbrella types. If you know that the parents are active, a jogging stroller might be appropriate for their needs. If they’ve already bought a standard stroller, for example, an extra umbrella or jogging stroller could help them out based on the family’s needs. If the parents have more than one child and don’t own a double stroller yet, you can give one of these as a practical baby gift to the family.
Bath Toys
Sometimes, the only way to get a child to take a bath is to put toys in the tub. Traditionally, these were toys like rubber ducks and boats, which could be played with for hours until the parent had to take the child out of the bath. Other options included parents getting somewhat creative and making water toys out of sieves and strainers. Some non-traditional plastic toys are even used in the bath. But, even with more bath toy options now, all bath toys fall into the categories of being creative and also using fine motor skills. Playing with toys in the bath adds a new dimension to play that children don’t ordinarily experience.
Basic bath toys are still sold by various retailers, such as Genius Babies in the link above. These are both rubber ducks and boats, and most retain their traditional shapes. Boats, for example, are small and plastic and, in some cases, a set of boats can be attached together and taken through the water together. However, the purpose is creative play and children can use either of these plastic bath toys in whatever games they can think of involving toys and the water.
But bath toys, especially those for toddlers, sometimes allow more creativity and even interaction between the parent and the child. Two of these examples include rubber tub shapes which come in different shapes and can be stuck to the side of the bathtub and peeled off, much like Color Forms used to be nearly twenty years ago, minus the bathtub. Another interactive toy is bath puppets. These puppets, sold by Baby Einstein and other toy manufacturers, are in animal shapes and are made of a foam-like material. The material can be taken into the water and also used as a wash cloth, once your child is done playing with the puppet.
Pram Strollers
Pram strollers are one of the types of strollers on the market. Although the term “pram” usually refers to any stroller in England, a pram stroller in the United States is one designed like an old-fashioned baby carriage. This design, basically, is a bassinet that a parent pushes like an ordinary stroller, only the baby is facing you. At the moment, pram stroller are making a comeback for their vintage style but, as a pram has more style than a standard stroller. In terms of storage, however, the parent pushing the stroller will probably end up carrying any belongings in a diaper bag, as the stroller has no storage space, unless you hang a smaller diaper bag from the handle.
The main difference between prams and standard strollers, aside from direction and storage options, is that they’re designed solely for infants and babies. As a pram stroller is essentially a bassinet with wheels, the baby lies on his or her back and instead of on an inclined seat. But if you have a toddler and don’t want to buy a completely new stroller design, some of these prams transition into a seat design, such as some Inglesina pram strollers. In this link, the upper image shows what the stroller looks like ordinarily, while the lower images show how this stroller can accommodate a toddler.
Pram strollers have been seen among celebrities in Hollywood, mostly for the style associated with these types of strollers. However, owning a stylish pram stroller for the fashion and image conscious is affordable, as brands like Inglesina carry designs under $400, which include the standard baby bassinet design and the toddler seat.
Travel System Strollers
One common design that is practical for travel is a travel system stroller. If you’ve ever ridden on a bus or subway and seen a passenger get on with a stroller, this design is more often used. What is so unique about a travel system stroller? Often, this type of design is cited for having the versatility of being a car seat and a stroller in one frame. Once a baby is old enough to sit up by itself, for example, it can sit in the stroller. Until then, the car seat design is better, especially for taking a baby, as well as with a stroller and a diaper bag, on public transportation.
As many public busses require passengers with carts and strollers to fold them up and put them under a seat, a mother is often left with the task of holding onto a baby and diaper bag at the same time. Trying to control a squirming child and hold onto a bulky stroller and diaper bag can be difficult, if not almost impossible, when taking a bus or subway. One option that eliminates holding the baby yourself is keeping it inside the car seat portion of the stroller and, when getting on the bus, taking out the car seat and folding up the rest of the stroller frame. For convenience purposes, the car seat can be taken out and stroller frame folded before the bus even arrives.
But even if you drive a car, this design is convenient, as you don’t need to remove the baby from the stroller to strap it into the car seat. Instead, the baby can stay in the seat as it is being taken into the car. In addition, once the child outgrows the car seat, he or she can still sit in the standard stroller portion of a travel system stroller.