My Frugal Baby Tips: 2006-04-09

Thanks to Lisa for this Frugal Baby Tip!

As my baby is just starting to learn how to walk and it is cold in the evenings (the reason for not being barefoot), instead of buying socks with grips on the soles already, we buy the socks in the bulk bag and use puffy paint on the soles.

If applied properly, this doesn't peel off (if you're worried about this, you can also get the non-toxic kind). You can write anything you want, or draw pictures, and baby has a better grip on the floor.

Thanks to Catherine for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Every home should have a choke tester to check if toys and other objects are safe for baby play. But commercial choke testers can be very difficult to find, very expensive and too small to be effective. Did you know you have a frugal baby choke tester right in your own home? (No, I don't mean the baby...)

An empty toilet paper tube!

Commercial choke testers are made to gov't. regulation size of 3.5 cm (1 3/8") in diameter. However, the Consumer Products Safety Commission in the U.S. has reported many deaths of babies and children who have choked on objects slightly larger than 3.5 cm (1 3/8") in diameter.Your ordinary toilet paper tube is 4.5 cm (1 6/8") in diameter.

You can consider any toy or object in your home that fits inside this tube to be a choking hazard to your baby or child.

Thanks to Catherine for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Take one plastic grocery bag with handles. Tie a long length of string to one handle, and RUN! Even a little one can handle this "kite"!