Costco blog/discussion forum

Costco.com is selling a wireless video baby monitor system, the Q-See 2.4" TFT monitor with wireless camera (Costco item #298791, available online only). This comes with a small handheld monitor, a camera, two power adapters, and a video cable. Both the camera and monitor can run off of either batteries or the power adapter, which is plugged into the wall.

You probably want to mount the camera somewhere in the baby's room, plugged into a wall outlet. If you use batteries on the camera, you'll spend a fortune, since the 4 AA batteries will only last about 5 hours. The monitor, on the other hand, can run off batteries. The trick is to put the monitor in sleep mode, (turn off the video portion) when you aren't actively looking at it.

This wireless baby monitor is regularly priced at $189 at costco.com, with shipping and handling included. However, a $20 discount is available for the month of June 2008. This does not appear to be a great deal. You can get the same $169 price, directly from the Q-See store. Since it's the same price, you might as well buy it from costco.com in case you need to return it. The Q-See store, however, also sells a second camera for $69.99.

Costco sells three kinds of infant formula. The Kirkland Signature Infant Formula (Costco item number 31221), Enfamil Lipil, and Similac Advance. The Kirkland baby formula comes in a two can pack and is priced at about half the cost (per ounce) of the other two brands.

You probably want only the best for your baby, and might think that since the Kirkland baby formula costs less than the other baby formulas, it must be not as good. But that is not true. All infant formula sold in the United States is regulated by the FDA. (The FDA has a frequently asked questions about infant formula web page.) The nutritional requirements for baby formula are tightly regulated, and you can see from the table below that Kirkland, Enfamil, and Similac have nearly identical nutritional value.

We started with the Enfamil brand, and used it for a few months. One day we noticed black specks in the bottom of the bottle, after feeding the baby. After ruling out contaminated water and contamination of the opened can of Enfamil formula (we threw out the opened can), we came to the conclusion that the black specks were coming from the Enfamil formula.

Kirkland's premium unscented baby wipes (Costco Item #29309) is one product you will probably never buy until you have a baby, but then you might just keep buying as the kids get older and leave the house.

This Kirkland product is also available at other retailers. For instance Diapers.com, sells these right along side the wipes from Huggies and Pampers. How do the prices compare? A case of Costco's Kirkland brand wipes (8 packages of 88 wipes each) costs $23.99 at diapers.com (it's about $15 at my local Costco Warehouse), while a case of Huggies Natural Care Fragrance Free Wipes (384 wipes) costs $15.99 at diapers.com. Even using diapers.com prices, the Kirkland wipes cost about 20% less per wipe than the Huggies brand.

So what else can you use these for besides cleaning the baby? You can keep a pack in your office and car for general cleaning. They wipe up spilled coffee, or soda very well. The US soldiers, marines, and airmen in the field inIraq seem to have found baby wipes to be indispensible according to a number of newspaper articles. They use the wipes for cleaning sand and grime out of everything, and as a substitute for showering.

Finally, if you really want to save money you can try making your own baby wipes. You just cut a roll of paper towels in half, pull out the cardboard tube, soak the paper towels in some water mixed with baby shampoo, wait until the paper towels are saturated with liquid, then store the home made baby wipes in a sealed container. More detailed information is available on this web page about making your own baby wipes.

My local Costco sells Kirkland Signature Premium Diapers, along with Huggies brand. We have used the Kirkland brand diapers since they became available a few years ago. I have a very positive experience with them, my only complaint is that occasionally, maybe 1 in 100 times, the fastener falls off when I'm trying to put the diaper on my baby.

The Kirkland diaper has a wide, stretchable back waistband and stretchable fasteners. Most other brands stretch at one location, but not both.

The price, per diaper, is very close to the Huggies diapers that they also sell. This is deceiving, however. Huggies has two brands: Huggies and Huggies Supreme. Costco does not sell the Huggies Supreme brand, but rather the plain Huggies. The Kirkland brand, shown above, is comparable to the Huggies Supreme. The Huggies Supreme diapers usually sell for about 25% more than the Huggies plain brand.

The Kirkland Signature Premium diapers come in large packs, they are designed to be a one-month supply. So, if you only get to Costco once a month, pick up a pack every time and you should be well supplied.

Conclusion, at Costco buy Kirkland diapers. You won't save much, but you'll get a better quality diaper.

Costco Item Numbers
Size 1-2; Quantity: 234 Item Number 529024
Size 3; Quantity: 200 Item Number 529034
Size 4; Quantity: 184 Item Number 529044
Size 5; Quantity: 160 Item Number 529054