Babies and Stuffitis: The Marketing Campaign to Empty Your Wallet. Part 1

In the duration of my pregnancy I had the good fortune to only enter a Babies R' Us store on two occasions. Both of them were in the same week and happened only because the furniture stores in our area did not have a very good selection of glider-rocking chairs. My parents had very generously offered to purchase one for us as it had become kind of a tradition in our family with each of my sisters receiving a glider from my parents before the birth of her first child. It was a lovely gift and one that we have been able to use more than we ever imagined! My mom and I had a good time choosing the glider- and even more fun getting the manager to give us a good deal on the last display model of a discontinued color. All of that said, however, I do not plan to set foot in one of those God-forsaken places again.

The ridiculousness that is Babies R' Us (or insert any big-box-baby-superstore here) can barely be described. Wall-to-wall shelves and aisles crammed full of the latest and greatest in baby gear, baby wear, baby feeding, baby travel, baby furniture and every thing else. You name it and they probably have at least 10 different options of essentially the same thing. A quick search for "travel system" indicated almost 20 different options available in-store and a separate search on the mega-store's website returned over 70 options for "convertible carseats"! Incredible! The choices seem almost infinite and are utterly staggering.

And that is the problem with entering the baby years. It's mind boggling, completely overwhelming and can easily get out-of-control-expensive. Marketing techniques convince new parents that they "need" the latest technology and would be irresponsible to attempt parenthood without it. (Watch a commercial for just about any baby product and this subtext will probably jump out at you now if it didn't before.) Even Amazon is on board with the "needs" of babyhood. They recently posted their editors picks for "Newborn Essentials: 10 Products You Probably Didn't Know You Needed" which lists items like a "White Noise Machine", a "Moses Basket", and swaddle blankets along with a convincing blurb describing why new parents will absolutely require the item.

Many soon-to-be and new parents look to seasoned parents for advice on which items to register for and purchase, but most of us also observe and respond to social norms and trends regarding raising baby. That is how we ended up with a crib, crib bedding set, crib mattress, and TWO of those waterproof crib mattress pads that the Amazon editors indicate as positively necessary, and that we have NEVER used. And probably never will.

As we prepared for the arrival of our daughter we began to collect the things we thought would be necessary and to prepare a room for her. Compared to some we didn't really buy too much stuff. We were much less convinced than most that we would need every available baby item in order to be adequately prepared. We also opted not to learn our baby's sex ahead of time and to wait to make certain purchases until after the baby arrived.

Well, it turns out that most of the items we did buy were really NOT necessary. Even the crib. Especially the crib, in our case, actually. It's too bad that we spent so much money on it too, since when I eventually Craigslist it we probably won't get much of it back!

The guilt-ridden marketing toward soon-to-be parents is deceptive and dishonest, at best. While there are SOME things that are certainly necessary, they don't even begin to add up to the thousands of dollars in baby merchandise that marketers try to convince parents they will need to succeed in bringing-up baby. Parents would be better off to purchase a few small things to get started and determine what they really need as they raise their baby. That would definitely free up some cash to start a college fund for that same kiddo.

There are several short and long term complications caused by this very successful marketing scheme that go beyond the ridiculous surplus of stuff in American homes. The first and most obvious is a shortage of cash in the short term - cash that might otherwise be used to begin a college fund, or allow a parent (or both parents) to stay home with their baby for awhile longer before returning to work. This critical time with baby can especially effect breastfeeding success, parent-child bonding and attachment. Another issue may be a decrease in birthrates due to the perceived cost of raising infants. (Likewise, the cost may very well get out of hand because of the materialistic nature of our culture. But that is a topic for another time.) Requiring so much stuff for the arrival of and first year of baby's life is also setting a standard for the rest of the baby's childhood and maybe their entire lives. More and more stuff leads to "stuffitis" which can ultimately lead to poor priorities and poor checkbooks in adulthood. Maybe this seems like a stretch for some but take an honest look around and see if you still think it's untrue.

This doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with having some fun and frivolous things for your baby, or that there is anything wrong with being prepared with silly, pretty, or cool baby stuff. It just means that parents should consider the short and long term gains of the things they buy, if they can really afford them or if that money would be better spent on something else that is of more value to their baby (time, college tuition, etc). It means that parents should not buy into the commercials and advertisements laced with guilt directed at them for not having the newest and- almost always - outrageously expensive piece of baby equipment available.

It is important for parents to consider their parenting style and how they plan to raise their child as they prepare for baby's arrival. Conversations about these things are of much more value than stuff, and can lead to important, and possibly money saving revelations about which items are necessities and which items are more frivolous.

Next: Babies and Stuffitis: The Marketing Campaign to Empty Your Wallet. Part 2 - Ignoring the Force-Fed Guilt to Determine What You Need!

American's Are Fat - But Is Anyone Really Surprised?

Reuters reported today that Americans are fatter this year than they were last year. While this does not seem surprising, it did make me wonder what additional factors could have influenced the increase in obese Americans. The article indicated that organizations such as the The Center for Science in the Public Interest (who sued McDonald's last year) and the American Academy of Pediatrics believe that marketing fast food and large portions to children to be a large part of the problem. That's too easy. It's so cliche, really, to just blame it on big business. The root of the childhood obesity epidemic in this country are much smaller targets- parents.

It is the responsibility of parents to monitor what their children are eating. The duty does not lie with the education system, Sunday school teachers, and least of all, McDonald's. It is the parent(s) who drive(s) the child to the fast food chain and allows him/her to consume the contents of a Happy Meal. And by the way, McDonald's isn't just giving those Happy Meals away- parents are paying for them! And paying well; in some places the cost of these meals has reached nearly $4.

Blaming McDonald's and the Happy Meal only touches part of the problem though. What about adult obesity? The Reuters article also indicates that two-thirds of American adults are obese (compared to one-third of American children). The Happy Meals and brilliant toy marketing can't be to blame for this too. Maybe adults are fat because they are lazy and inactive. Or perhaps is it because they have no self control and eat anything in front of them. It could be because they don't understand the principles of good nutrition and how to eat well. It's actually probably a combination of these things but perhaps it also has something to do with the cost of healthier foods.

It's a well-known fact that eating healthy and fresh (and especially organic) foods costs more (and sometimes a great deal more) than eating prepackaged or prepared foods. Perhaps the recession and housing market are also culprits of this epidemic. If families are having a difficult time paying for shelter then their grocery budget is probably also suffering. Clearly, this does not apply to the parents who feed over-sized kids meals with large price-tags to their children, but perhaps it is a piece of the equation.

Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health, said that "If we're going to reverse the obesity trends, willpower alone won't do it. We're going to have to make healthier choices easier for Americans," (click here for article of origin). Levi seems to think that it is up to someone other than the individual to help solve this problem. This article does not elaborate on how he plans to make these choices easier, but until American's are faced with and realize the truth, that there weight is their choice and responsibility, there probably isn't going to be much change in the statistics of American obesity. Personal responsibility for life, health, activity, and food choices are the answer to this problem.