Baby freebies

[jennimoo]

So which supermarket / shop / company offers are worth signing up for? I have my boots change bag but remember last time that was about the only thing I got: Tescos pack thingy was always out of stock and my sainsburys voucher ran out before I could get theirs.

I haven't bothered with any of them this time, as last time I was bombarded with junk mail and email. I got the first couple of Bounty bags by default and there wasn't, in my opinion, much worth having in there.

I've signed up with aptimil and cow and gate for the free toys but opted out of being sent info about formula. I also signed up to the boots and toys r us ones for the points you get. I've looked at others but they all look like junk mail and I'm planning to bf and use cloth nappies so I won't need most of their coupons. I'd rather buy store brand, used, or research/shop around than rely in coupons sent to me.

Sainsbury's no longer supply the bounty packs. Not sure about Tesco but I think Boots and Superdrug do.

I signed up to Emma's diary and printed the vouchers off for a pack from Argos or boots, it's great I got loads of free things which included johnsons products and vouchers for 50% off nappies and wipes.

By far the best thing I got out of those packs were the teeny tubs of Sudocrem that were in them many moons ago. Perfect for the changebag!

Apart from that, much as I love a freebie, they were full of crap.

I like the cow and gate. They sent a weaning book when my son was a few months old and the recipes in it were really good.

I really regret giving any information to Emma's Diary or Bounty. I was inundated with phone calls from pushy energy companies and financial and insurance companies for the first few months of DS's life. I'm usually so careful about supplying my information to anyone but somehow being pregnant made me weak!

If you're more interested in natural parenting, check out the Mama Packs. I wish I'd known about these when I was pregnant.

Agree with nancerama - do not join Emma's Diary for freebies.... The energy companies who they pass the info onto are bloody persistent and annoying. Plus with pregnant lady rage I've lost my temper with them a lot!!

Not worth it IMO.

I'm going to use Boots changing bag from DD1 ( am going to treat self to a satchel and use the nappy bag as an insert. Like the rest of you felt inundated with junk mail and email. Hoping to breastfeeding DD2 and will use the three for two offers to save money. We've already been given loads of stuff from our friends who didnt wait as long as us to have their DC2s (and 'complete' their families - as they tell us). Managed to buy a baby jogger pram for £100 (need to source carrycot but we have a battered but usable maxi cosi cabrio car seat). Sounds like we are all being much more frugal now!

I got my first bounty pack last week, wasn't going to bother as last time thought they were crap. But I was surprised to find a full size bottle of simple moisturiser, a baby towel with about 4 different liquid sachets of persil in. The rest was pretty standard crap but I was pleasantly surprised!

Agree with nancerama and Rigglin. Avoid Emma's Diary like the plague....I had so many calls from completely random companies and couldn't work out what it was that I'd signed up to. To their credit, the moment I unsubscribed, it stopped.

To be totally honest, it's not worth signing up for all these things for the sake of a free plastic spoon or sachet of baby rice....the best baby money savers in my view are (a) keep a close eye on nappy promos at all the major supermarkets and when an offer which suits you is on, do an online shop and buy several packs and (b) buy clothes in charity shops or supermarkets. They are grown out of so quickly and the baby-hand-me-downs available are amazing.

Here's the link to request a Mama Pack. They have some great, alternative products and they don't sell your data to anyone. www.mamapack.co.uk/

It's absolutely worth making sure your advantage card at Boots is linked to their parenting club - in the last year I've had lots of good vouchers, things like £5 off when you spend £20? To spend on everything, not just baby stuff.