$23 billion.
That’s how much parents spend a year on their babies, so you can best believe that these companies are willing to give out free baby stuff to get you hooked on their products.
We're talking diapers, bottles, clothes, milk, books, and more.
If you’re an expecting mother, then you definitely need to get your hands on freebies to reduce the cost of raising a baby.
We break it all down from free baby stuff without participation required, to coupons, giveaways, and samples for totally free baby stuff, and even free baby stuff by mail.
In this post, you will learn:
- What kinds of baby necessities you can get
- Top strategies to get free baby stuff
- A breakdown of freebies by type of item
Disclosure: Opinions expressed are our own. If you buy something through any of our affiliate links on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting our site.
Free baby stuff
If you’re looking for how to get a specific type of baby product for free, this section will help you score exactly what you are looking for.
Baby diapers
- Amazon: 1-2 samples when you sign up for Amazon's free baby registry*.
- Target: 1-2 samples when you sign up for Target's baby registry*.
- Costco: 1-2 samples if they have a sample station out.
- Hospital: 1 pack that will be used during your stay after giving birth
- Pampers & Huggies: scan purchases to earn points and redeem for rewards.
Baby clothes
- Friends and family: Word will spread and you will likely be the recipient of hand-me-downs from parents of older kids and brand-new sets of clothes because people love gifting adorable outfits for babies.
- Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace: Folks will periodically put listings for free pick up of used baby items, including clothing.
- Hospital: You will usually be provided with a onesie and newborn hat when your child is born.
TIP: Thank those who were generous enough to share hand-me-downs with you by getting them a coffee or doing something nice for them.
For recurring givers who have a child slightly older than you and thus gives you a steady stream of items, don’t forget to express your gratitude periodically with a small gift or favor.
Formula milk
- Similac: Sign up for their free rewards program to receive samples of powdered formula along with coupons.
- Enfamil: Sign up for their free rewards program to receive samples of powdered formula along with coupons.
- Hospital: Receive samples of ready-made formula during your stay after childbirth.
Baby bottles
- Amazon: 1-2 samples when you sign up for Amazon's free baby registry*.
- Target: 1-2 samples when you sign up for Target's baby registry*.
Pacifiers
- Amazon: 1-2 samples when you sign up for Amazon's free baby registry*.
- Target: 1-2 samples when you sign up for Target's baby registry*.
Baby shampoo and personal care samples
- Amazon: 1-2 samples when you sign up for Amazon's free baby registry*.
- Target: 1-2 samples when you sign up for Target's baby registry*.
Baby or children’s books and toys
- Pampers & Huggies: scan purchases to earn points and redeem for rewards.
- Dolly Parton's Imagination Library: 1 book a month based on availability in your community.
Tips to get free baby stuff
Here are things you can do to get free baby items and help you prepare financially for the costs of a baby.
Sign up for baby registries
And yes, that's registries in plural form.
From Target alone, we received a free welcome kit came with $50 in coupons and baby products, including:
- a pacifier
- 2 baby bottles
- 2 samples of diaper rash cream
- a sample of stretch mark cream
- a pack of 2 diapers
- breast pads
- a full-size package of baby wipes
- a sample of sensitive laundry detergent
The contents of your welcome kit/box will vary, but the value of free items and coupons usually comes out to about $100 in value for Target and $50 for Amazon.
Sign up for Amazon's registry* as well as Target's registry* at the very least.
Register for rewards programs
This was, in fact, our greatest money saver. I had trouble breastfeeding and needed to rely on formula to supplement. Luckily, I had signed up for both Similac and Enfamil rewards programs.
Between the two, I easily saved $100s in the first year from free samples and the generous amount of coupons they sent to offset the cost of expensive formula.
Here are the two different ways you can get baby freebies through this method:
- Many brands offer welcome gifts of free product samples and coupons for future purchases.
- Buy the brand's products and scan your receipts to earn rewards points to get other products for free (that's how we scored a free pack of Huggies diapers)
Join mailing lists or send a note
If there is no rewards program for a particular brand that you want to use, it may be worth the effort to sign up for their mailing list to get coupons.
Some companies may offer test sample products to members of their mailing list as well.
Also, it doesn’t hurt to send a note about how much you love a company’s product; they might share the love back by sending coupons or free samples your way.
Get active on social media.
Many companies have social media accounts that they may use to spread the word about their products.
Even if you just come away with coupons, hey, that’s essentially free money if you were already intending to buy the product.
Take advantage of promotional gift cards
Stores like Target offer promotions where you spend $X to get $X in a store gift card.
Try to buy your purchases in batches rather than one at a time, so you can qualify for these free gift card promotions.
Increase your savings with online cashback or rebates
A free cashback site like Rakuten* or rebate app like Ibotta* lets you bank extra savings on things you were already going to buy anyway.
For Rakuten, simply log on and choose the merchant site you will be purchasing from. This adds a tracking cookie that will remember any purchases you make at the vendor’s site and then reward you with a percentage of your purchase in cash back.
For Ibotta, scan a receipt of a purchase to claim rebates or shop directly online to earn cash back.
Check what your hospital will provide you
I scheduled a tour of the hospital my son was going to be born at.
One of the questions I asked, to get a sense of the total cost of the hospital birth, was what baby items would be provided at the hospital.
Here are the free things I brought home from the hospital, in addition to my new bundle of joy:
- Pack of newborn diapers
- 3-pack of onesies
- Hospital hat
- Swaddle
- Samples of baby formula (since my son had trouble taking to breastfeeding)
- Baby comb
- Nasal aspirator bulb
Enjoy the love from friends and family
Having a baby is a big deal, so we made an effort to let close friends and family know that we were expecting. Our main goal was to avoid offending anyone by forgetting to personally tell them we were going to have a baby.
What we didn’t expect was the unbelievable number of hand-me-downs we'd be offered.
We acquired so many free diapers, clothes, shoes, book, toys, baby bouncers and baby rollers this way that we could have gotten away with not buying a single item from any of those categories.
And if you are having a baby shower, expect lots of cute gifts too!
Sell, trade or exchange the items you don’t use
If you buy your items at a discount and keep them in usable quality, you can sell them afterwards to either offset your cost, break even, or even make a profit.
True story: We bought a secondhand play yard on Craigslist for $40, used it for 6-8 months, then sold it for $45.
You could also trade or exchange items for the things you need. If you signed up for any of the popular baby registries, you may have up to one year to make returns for unused items that were ordered off your registry.
Conclusion
Babies bring on a lot of joy, laughter...and new expenses too. Snagging free baby stuff is one way to keep your baby bill in check.
From saving money on diapers to formula to other baby items, learn all the different ways to score totally free baby stuff by mail or in store for expecting mothers to save money.
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