The Mom Crowd

Babies do not generally require high chairs until they start to eat solid foods. For most infants this happens around six months (or thereabouts). Even before babies start throwing food from the tray of their chairs, high chairs can make it possible for a little one to spend quality time with other family members at the table for a meal. Babies often enjoy being included in meal times with other household members.

Your infant’s first chair is his or her high chair. The purchase of such a chair is very important. You may wonder what you need to think about when it comes to making such a significant purchase for your baby. After all as a parent you cannot try it out for yourself as you might a new sofa or loveseat because the fit is not quite right for you! Just as you need to consider a variety of factors when you buy a crib or a car seat for your baby daughter or son there are numerous things to think about before you make a high chair purchase. Here we look at those factors for you to bear in mind:

Know what your budget is

Your finances should not be the only deciding factor for the type of high chair you buy your baby but they must be one factor. The range of prices for high chairs is vast which is why it helps for you to know how much you can and cannot afford for this purchase.

In that way when you go shopping you will be able to zero in on the chairs that are most fitting for your budget and this will save you time. Ask others such as family members and friends what high chairs they can recommend to you. Other new mothers would be one of your best sources for finding the right chair for your baby!

Safety and security should be a top priority. Only purchase a high chair that you feel completely confident about when it comes to your baby’s safety and security. If you find one that you are just not sure about then keep looking. You need to find a chair that is strong and resilient.

It must be able to resist your baby pushing against it, rocking it and even kicking it. It must securely fasten into place when your baby is seated in it. It should be as steady as possible and should not wobble. To find a safe high chair you need to look to a quality brand. It is an investment that is worth it for the sake of your sweet little one.

Be mindful of the height of the chair. You want the high chair to be at a comfortable level for you to feed your baby, whether you are standing, sitting or bending over the chair. For this reason you should take a height measurement of our table before you go shopping. An adjustable high chair is a good idea but you must ensure that it is secure before you buy it.

Consider the size of the tray

All high chairs have trays but they do not all have the same size trays. Food will fall from the high chair onto the floor no matter what you do but the larger the tray the less food is likely to end up on the floor. Decide what size tray is best for your baby before you start looking.

Ease of use and convenience makes a difference

Let’s face it some baby furniture is not so easy to use and that is not what you want. As a mother you want a chair that is lightweight and easy to move around. You also want a chair that you can get your baby in and out of as easily and as quickly as possible. If your little one is crying and you want to get him or her out of the chair as fast as you can the last thing you want is to have to struggle with a complicated chair!

This will cause more stress for the both of you! If you travel or plan to take the chair with you go to visit family members then you need a chair that is easy to lift and put in the car.

Consider the lasting quality of the chair.

You want to buy a chair that will serve its purpose for your baby until he or she outgrows it. If you plan to have more children then the longevity of the high chair matters. If you can reuse it for your future babies then this will save you money in the long run.

Comparison shopping can offer a means of saving money and it can even be fun to do once you get into the spirit of doing it. It does take some time however to perfect the technique of shopping by doing comparisons. It also takes time out of your day or week in a general sense because it is more time consuming than just finding an item at the first store or website that you visit. It also takes a level of patience but it can be a worthwhile pursuit in the long run because you can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars if you comparison shop for practically everything that you need to purchase.

You can comparison shop for groceries, personal care items, appliances, cars, insurance, travel, gardening equipment, electronics and whatever else you may need. It is a versatile means of finding what you need because it can be used both at retail stores as well as for online shopping.

If you have ever looked at a receipt for something you have purchased and  were not happy with the price you paid then you really need to start shopping in a more constructive and cost effective manner. You need to become a shrewd comparison shopper. Prices vary tremendously on items and finding the best price possible can take some work.

Here we look at some important points worth considering when it comes to the concept of comparison shopping:

Price Fluctuations are Common

You may think that every store you visit is selling an item for the same price but that is not the case. Look around at the stores in any given malls or the shops in your community and you will quickly see that this is not how stores operate. Many stores have sales on a frequent basis and they put different items on sale. If you check flyers regularly you will see what items are on sale. It is also worth mentioning that when you comparison shop you will be able to pick out which stores consistently charge higher prices on everything from toilet paper to vegetables to meat to peanut butter, and so on.

You are not likely to find a store that charges cheaper prices on everything that it sells. From a marketing perspective this is not a smart thing to do. That is why you need to be a wise shopper and look for bargains at different stores. If the stores you shop at are all in close proximity then you will not use as much gas driving from one place to another and you will not use up as much time and energy either!

Keep in mind that comparison shopping is wise because prices fluctuate and they can also vary quite a bit from one shop to another. That is why you need to be on your toes and you need to shop around!

Shopping – The Time Factor

Many people do not view comparison shopping in a positive light because they think it is too time consuming. The time factor is important but the extra time it takes you to compare one product to another can be well worth it to you in terms of the money you will save. The extra time you spend looking for a better deal will make all of the difference if you can save $10 on an item, $20, $50 or more!

Become a Keen Watcher of Store Marks Downs

If you shop at a particular store often enough then you will become use to which items are marked down the most often and which products go on sale frequently. Many stores follow a pattern and are consistent about the items that they place on sale the most often. Become a keen observer when it comes to how stores operate. By so doing you will be able to know where you should go to get the best bargains and deals! That will make comparison shopping very worthwhile to you!