The MomSpeak

My little sister had her first baby a few months ago. I flew across the country to visit her recently, and did all the things you do with a new mom: showed her how to put whiskey on the pacifier, locked her in the garage while he “cried it out,” encouraged her to give up breastfeeding because it was so inconvenient.

And on the second day, we went to The Great Big Baby Supply Store and spent too much money buying baby clothes at the retail price.

If there’s one lesson I taught her, it was to never buy clothing or other children’s supplies at the retail price. There’s no need. Not with all those sales, end of season clearances, coupons, giveaways, and discount codes out there!

Camping? With a baby? Are you nuts?

Possibly, but that’s beside the point, isn’t it? Camping is one of the best budget-savvy vacation options around, and if you can master it while your kids are little, they will grow up loving it (and so will you). While it’s true that camping with a non-walking, non-toilet-using person poses a few challenges, a deep breath and a little planning can go a long way.

Parent Hacks readers recently sent in a slew of smart tips for camping with babies and kids. Here are a few highlights geared toward the under-two set:

Start simple. As in, pitch-your-tent-in-the-backyard simple. That way, you can practice using all of your equipment (the tent, the stove, the lantern) but still have easy access to your stuff. In the process, you can figure out which bits of baby gear you actually need, so when you head out on a real camping excursion, you’ll know what to expect.