Baboodle Review: How Renting Baby Gear Could Save You Serious Cash

The author four years ago and a baby bouncer.We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.This time four years ago I was in my third trimester and completely overwhelmed by all of the stuff we had to buy ahead of our first baby’s arrival. The car seat, the pram, the cot, the baby monitor, the breast pump – it seemed like there were so many non-negotiables that were set to cost us thousands of pounds.At the time we bought a Nuna travel system (basically, an all-encompassing word for a car seat, pushchair and bassinet) which cost over £1,000. I could’ve sworn I heard my partner’s credit card gasp as he entered his details online. I also panic-purchased a cot from Aldi that attached to our bed and had a zip-down side panel to make the night feeds easier. We barely got much use out of it. Months later, it was time to invest in a bigger bed – we opted for a cot that became a toddler bed to at least make it stretch a bit further. The cot set us back about £200, on top of the £££s already spent on the ~ pretty pointless ~ side-sleeper.We had to upgrade our car seat quickly too, as our baby seemed to grow out of it in the blink of an eye. We ended up forking out about £170 for a Joie Spin 360 (a great car seat which has lasted us years, saved my back countless times, and I would 100% recommend).All of this is to say that becoming a parent is bloody expensive and knowing what I know now, I would definitely consider renting some of the big-ticket items if I was to go back and do it all over again.The case for renting baby gearRenting baby gear, in my view, has three big perks. The main one is that it can save you some serious cash. Baboodle is a baby rental site where you can trial prams, cribs and baby carriers as well as feeding and play equipment.Many of the items listed are those expensive cult parenting brands that you might not be able to justify spending the big bucks on IRL – the SnüzPods and Babyzen buggies, retailing at £199 and £340 (for the latest models) respectively. The site estimates that, on average, customers rent £3,400 worth of short-term use equipment for £66 a month in the first year. That’s an annual cost of £792 which is still way cheaper than I paid for our travel system alone.Another perk is that it saves you the hassle of having to re-home everything once it’s no longer in use – something which I barely have time to do with two young kids running around, meaning our attic has become a dumping ground for baby items. And thirdly, there’s the sustainable element – by reusing items that other parents have used and returned, you’re reducing the impact on the environment. I rented a toddler tower – and realised I don’t actually need oneThere are a few things I’ve purchased since having kids which I definitely regret because we didn’t really use them that much – a UV bottle steriliser being one of them, the side-sleeper cot being another. (Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of purchases that were 10/10, too.)I am not alone in this baby purchase regret. A study from pushchair brand iCandy revealed UK parents are collectively spending billions of pounds on baby items they only end up using once or twice. On average, parents said they shelled out almost £400 on baby items they didn’t actually need. Almost one in four parents (24%) spent more than £500 and almost one in 10 (9%) spent at least £900 in the first 12 months on items that never saw the light of day.Recently I was umm-ing and ahh-ing about buying a toddler tower (aka kitchen helper) so our eldest, who is almost four, can get involved with cooking and baking in the kitchen. Our youngest is 15 months old so I was envisaging that when our eldest grew out of it, she would be able to use it, too.The toddler tower is great for baking.We had been using a folding step stool or a dining chair, but I wondered if a toddler tower would be better, so we trialled one via Baboodle before taking the financial plunge – especially as decent toddler towers typically retail at £100 (or more).Long story short, it made me realise that actually, the foldable step stool was perfect for her – she can get on and off it easily (she’d sometimes bash her head on the toddler tower’s safety bar), and it’s way more convenient and easy to store. It turns out kitchen helpers are quite bulky items and not the easiest to put away (unless you’ve got a massive cupboard near your kitchen to put it in). They’re also a bit of a liability if you have to leave them out – especially with a rogue toddler marching about. We folded it up and put it behind our utility room door (out of sight, out of mind) but there were a few occasions when our youngest took it upon herself to make a run for it and try to pull said toddler tower (a fairly large wooden item) down on top of her. Thankfully she was always intercepted.In the end we decided to stick to the folding step stool as a) it’s very lightweight and not a concussion hazard, and b) our eldest daughter is pretty sensible and hasn’t had any problems, such as falling off it, so far. Who knows, maybe when our littlest is bigger we’ll give it another shot?All I need to do now is pop the tower back in its box and send it to Baboodle. At just £23 for a month’s trial – rather than £100+ – I’m grateful I now know that a kitchen helper isn’t for me. As for renting baby and toddler gear? I’m all for it. Related...Give The Easter Bunny A Break: 13 Chocolate-Free Gifts To Keep Kids EntertainedI Thought I Was Ready For Parenting. But This 1 Thing Only Gets Worse As My Son Grows Up.This 'Positive' Parenting Phrase Is Actually Super Painful For Your Child