While I understand the impulse to invest in the highest quality products for your children, I think it’s important to meet your kid’s needs without going overboard. Marketing schemes can be very alluring, playing on parents’ eagerness to help foster their children’s physical and mental growth. It’s important to remember that what’s best is not simply what’s most expensive.
There are all kinds of amazing products out there to help new parents, and I am a strong proponent of using technology to assist with parenting. That being said, it’s interesting to know facts regarding the popularity of products that depart from expert recommendations. For instance, Disney’s series of “Baby Einstein” DVDs were owned by 1/3 of babies in the U.S in 2003 even though The American Academy of Pediatrics cautions against kids under two watching television. Without sounding overly sinister, I feel that there aren’t just financial concerns at play here.
Although it’s hard to always quantify the success of a given product, this infographic captures the trend of parental overspending, and the marketing ploys used to encourage it. It examines some of the most expensive products in terms of what the experts say, what the consumers say, and some general common sense observations. As a parent, it’s especially important to know what your money is buying, which products aren’t worth their cost, and which might be worth saving for.
