Babies R Us Stores Are Closing, Now What?

I’m sure you’ve heard that Babies R Us stores are closing for good. Sad, I know… losing out on your registry picks, completion discounts, and those great rewards for the best deals is a tough pill to swallow.

The hunt for the best baby stuff is not over though, as I created a list of the best products and savings you probably used to get at Babies R Us stores and where you can get them now.

Proof that the modern mom does not give up, especially when a good deal’s involved!

This list mainly covers the steals you can get through Target and Amazon, as I have found those prices beat out other baby concierge stores and offer quick and easy shipping.

Rewards Cards for Extra Savings

Were you racking up those rewards with Babies R Us stores? Hopefully, you were able to redeem them, but now it’s time to start looking for another program you can join. Most of the products and savings mentioned below, cannot happen unless you apply for specific programs. Here are the two most popular to take advantage of!

Target RedCard

Check out the Target Red Card to save 5% on each purchase you make. With the RedCard you can also pair coupons and discounts on shipping prices. Coupons and other to combine can be found on the Target app.

You can also earn additional savings through subscribing for monthly deliveries (up to 15% more!), using manufacturers coupons, and seeking out further deals such as Target coupons and cartwheel deals on the app. Savings, savings, and more savings!

Amazon Prime Membership

An Amazon Prime membership can get you a ton of savings, as well as access to other programs offered by Amazon. I personally use Amazon for just about everything that I can. I’ve also had great experiences with Amazon customer service.

With your membership, you can receive extremely quick, free, and reliable shipping; sometimes I even get free, same day delivery which still blows my mind.

I receive my largest savings and convenience as a new parent is through the Amazon Subscribe and Save program. With this program, you can sign up to receive monthly subscriptions to various products. If you sign-up for five products in that month’s delivery, you get 15% off each item being shipped and 20% off on diapers! These savings can help you adjust to the closing Babies R Us stores’ discounts you were receiving.

Subscribe & Save is perfect for families as you can get baby products, certain foods, cleaning products, and other household items. I love that things like paper towels and diapers show up at my door each month, rather than shoving them into the bottom of my shopping cart while my toddler tries to escape his seat. Amazon also electronically adds access to manufacturer’s coupons, so you don’t have to go hunting for them yourself!

That’s a feature of this program I find super helpful with the lack of time I have to go coupon hunting, even if it is on an app!

Some other programs that are great for families are Amazon Fresh, Prime Pantry, Amazon Dash Buttons, and ordering items through the Echo. You can learn more about these on Amazon.com.

Another huge plus of an Amazon Prime membership is access to free streaming of awesome movies and TV shows!

Diapers

Something you most definitely need as a parent of babies & toddlers are diapers. A constant, endless flow of diapers. If you were using your Babies R Us stores’ rewards to their fullest advantage, you were probably stoked on how much you were saving on this necessary item. Just because Babies R Us stores are closing, it doesn’t mean the savings have to end!

Exclusive for Prime member, you can purchase Amazon brand diapers, which are less expensive than other name brand diapers. You can save even further by subscribing monthly for these diapers, and others, using the Subscribe & Save program to receive up to 20% off your diaper purchase.

I use and love the savings I receive on the Pampers diapers for my son with my Subscribe & Save discount!
As mentioned above, Target offers a monthly subscription program as well, where you can save 15% off diapers. They also offer their own brand, Up & Up, which is used and loved by many families. Target will also offer coupons where you can earn a Target gift card with your purchase.

Wipes

If you were collecting Babies R Us rewards, you were probably also saving on wipes. Baby wipes are something you need even after your kids are out of diapers.

Savings on wipes can be found at both Target and Amazon, but many swear by Amazon Elements Sensitive Baby Wipes. This brand is comparable to Pampers sensitive wipes, which are also very popular. With Subscribe & Save, you can save up to 15% each month. You also get a lot of wipes for your buck!

See some of my other picks for the best diapering products I use as a first-time mom.

Babyganics Products

Families love Babyganics products, and, if you were a Babies R Us regular, this is probably where you got your goods. But, you can still get your Babyganics from Amazon for a super good price. Using the Subscribe and Save program, you can earn 15% off your monthly purchase, which is awesome because many stores don’t include Babyganics products in their rewards options.

Most mom’s favorite Babyganics products are the sunscreen, Babyganics dish & bottle soap, and Babyganics eczema cream.

Registry Completion Discount

Registering at Babies R Us stores seemed like the obvious way to go when registering for baby. The registry completion discount was also a very enticing component to registering here. If your registry was through Babies R Us, don’t freak out, there is still time to register and earn those awesome discounts!

Here’s how:

With Amazon, there is a standard 10% registry completion discount and up to 15% on select items, if you are a Prime member.

I registered for my son with Amazon and loved the selection of items I had access to. It really is a world market with tons of cool, modern mom products that you can’t find anywhere else. Besides this, lots of your shower guests probably have Amazon Prime, and will really appreciate the ease of buying gifts off your registry. You want gifts, right?

With Target, you receive a 15% registry completion discount. That’s awesome and even better than Amazon! You can also stack manufacturer coupons with this discount and receive a 5% discount on top of these other savings, with your Target RedCard. Not a bad deal. Targets are around every corner, so this is another great option if you want to make gift buying easy for your shower guests.

Awesome Return Policies

Babies R Us stores were known for returning just about anything, which is a nice feeling before making a purchase on some of these baby items you’re fearful may not work out, stop working after the return window, or you just never used. I can relate. If you’ve read any of my other registry tip blog posts, you will know I am the neurotic new mom who bought everything for my son and worried about the returns later.

So, what other companies boast great return policies for new parents?

Target

When you make a purchase from a Target registry, you have up to a year to return items, if they are new or unused. That is much better than Amazon’s return policies, and a lot easier, if you live close to a Target. I’m sure Target will also willingly exchange things from your registry that stopped working as well.

As the ultimate new mom returner, I would suggest keeping tags on a lot of stuff and keeping boxes (even if it is super annoying and takes up a ton of space!). This way, returns can be made much easier on unwanted, unused, or broken items.

Buy Buy Baby

You haven’t seen Buy Buy Baby on this list yet, but this company is making an appearance here. Why? Buy Buy Baby, owned by Bed Bath and Beyond, has a GREAT return policy when you make a return using your registry. How do I know? I registered at Bed Bath and Beyond for our wedding. After using a food processor about 3-5 times, it stopped working. The problem is, I didn’t realize it stopped working until about 4 years into our marriage. I obviously don’t food process often!

I went back to a Bed Bath and Beyond, and, with little to no hassle, was able to exchange my broken food processor for a brand new one! That is some major customer service right there. Knowing this information, I chose to make some of my bigger purchases such as pricier strollers, furniture, and carriers at Buy Buy Baby, so if something went wrong with these items, I could easily return or exchange them. Yes, I may have paid a little more, but when you are spending upwards of $400 on something, you want the extra insurance.

Price Matching

Babies R Us stores were great with price matching. Guess what? So is Buy Buy Baby!

Buy Buy Baby will totally price match from anywhere that’s a legit site. Great return policies and great price matching, makes this an awesome option for your baby registry.

You can still price match at Target, but my price matching has been with their prices online! Lots of time, the online price is better online than in-store, so have your homework done or do a quick check before making a purchase to make sure you’re getting the best deal available.

Variety From Small Businesses

One thing that Babies R Us had was variety, and, at times, offered products from smaller-scale companies.

I like supporting small businesses, but it can be tricky to do when you are searching for the best prices. Amazon, even though a mega giant in the business world, offers access to tons of smaller companies that you can make purchases from. Even more than Babies R Us stores… like way more.

These companies are concerned with quality and offer unique customer service because their livelihood depends on it. I think of it this way: A large company can make several, even hundreds of different baby products, but a smaller scale company may just focus on one or two specific items. I’d definitely be more interested in wanting that small-scale company’s product because that’s what they specialize in!

You also have the added bonus of TONS of reviews on products, so that can help with narrowing down which small business you would like to make a purchase from. I found it important to read about people who had an issue with a product and received excellent customer service from that third-party vendor, because Amazon may not be able to help you in that case scenario.

Sometimes these products can be more expensive, but once again, the quality you receive is worth it in the long run.

One great product I’ve found on Amazon from a smaller company is a waterproof changing pad cover made by iLuvBamboo. This cover sits on top of the changing pad and changing pad cover to keep sheets clean. These have held up over many blowouts and washes and are much better than some bigger box brands that are out there, like Munchkin.

Baby Concierge Products on Steroids

Going to a place like Babies R Us can be super overwhelming for new parents. My first time in, I actually just went on a reconnaissance mission before I went in for real. There. Is. So. Much. Stuff. Now obviously, lots of the items are ones that would be situational and only necessary or needed in certain case scenarios. I call these baby product, next-level baby gear. These are these modern mom products that make your life easier, but may have your own mother or grandmother rolling her eyes at you.

You know who has the best, next-level baby gear for the modern mom? Amazon! Here are a couple I purchased, loved, and loaned out to others who ended up in these case-by-case scenarios.

Binxy Baby Shopping Cart Hammock: A hammock you can securely fasten across your shopping cart, so you don’t have to stick a giant car seat in the space you need to fit groceries.

Silicone Fruit Feeder & Teether: Silicone (NOT MESH) pacifiers you can stick ice cubes and frozen fruit in to help curb teething pains as well as transition your child from purees to solids.

Reusable Baby Food Pouch: These silicone reusable food and drink pouches have a stopper, so your child can’t squeeze all the contents out all over your floor like the ones you would find at the grocery store. They also end up costing you less money in the long run.
Electric Baby Nail Filer: Old fashioned nail clippers are out, and, to be honest, pretty scary to use on your little baby who is squirming around everywhere! These electronic nail filers come equip with various files to fasten on, as well as a light for those who can trim nails while baby sleeps.

These are just a few of the crazy modern mom products you can find on Amazon, but trust me, there are hundreds and hundreds of others available.

The Babies R Us Stores Alternatives in a Nut Shell

Hopefully, this article has made you feel a bit better about Babies R Us stores going out of business. Change is never easy, especially when you were saving money.

Places like Amazon, Target, and Buy Buy Baby make great alternatives to Babies R Us with their rewards programs, savings on diapers and wipes, easy monthly shipping subscriptions, baby registry options and endless variety of the coolest, next level baby gear.

Start looking into Prime and RedCard options to see which may best fit your needs as a new or seasoned parent. Or, be like me, and join both. Either way, you can begin to see the savings right away, so enjoy!

To see more of Real Time Mom’s top registry picks for the modern mom, download my FREE baby registry checklist. Sign up below and get it straight to your inbox.