I want to know what kinds of things I can get in Italy for my baby before I arrive so I can plan accordingly from the U.S. Are there any sites that I can go to to look at Italian baby stuff. I know Italy is not a third world country, but I'm curious about differences in items, etc. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Cassi

I'm Grandma age, but of all the things you could have asked about here - baby clothes are the easiest to come by, from cheap to the moon, an infinite variety and choice and really great shoes too!

If you bring anything?
lots of diapers-they have them, but
more expensive.
also formula is twice the price.
There are baby chains I'm trying to think of the names: Benneton, Premamman. I know there others, just try Italy-shopping-babies
key words: bambini, vestiti, neonati

Even though my daughter was born in Italy I tend to get most of the necessaries in the uk or the us...I don't know why, the kids grow up perfectly normal here! But I have found that certain things are VERY expensive in Italy. As Bardigiana says, formula that cost 10 euro in the uk costs 40 in Italy. Preprapared babyfood is not as developed , rabbit puree anyone? But that pushed me to make up healthier batches in the kitchen and freeze little portions.Kids shoes are either very expensive or so cheap that they fall to pieces after 4 weeks.I find that a lot of the clothes are old fashioned-peter pan collars, navy dress coats and wool mix undervests which cannot be comfortable.I also prefer to use some of the trusted medicines that I know from home because they cost less and I am more sure of what I,m giving her. A recent bout of tonsilitis and a prescription from the doctor left me with a bottle of powder, a dropper and measuring cup... I had to get a calculater to multiply bodyweight by god knows what!! I order stuff from the internet and get it sent to relatives or friends who can post it out to me.

But thats all part of living here, new experiences, new ways of doing things and excepting it!
Good luck!

quote:

As Bardigiana says, formula that cost 10 euro in the uk costs 40 in Italy. Preprapared babyfood is not as developed , rabbit puree anyone?

I guess this is all matter of opiion. I fed my -now - 3 years old with all baby food possible, our isle in our local COOP has 5 different kinds of fish, all different volatiles and any possible vegetable. If I pushed out to one IPERCOOP or one ESSELUNGA I would have drowned in the possibilities!

Formula milk powder has been object of a big campaign that had the result of lowering the prices.
The one I used for Francesca, 29€ at the time, now costs 12€.

I made a great use of baby feeder, which is essentially a pacifier, but has a net on top insteadof the nipple, in the net you can put fruit, carrots, cookies, anything, and give it freely to your teething child without worring. I think it can be found at www.babyfeeder.com
Somebody gave it to me for Matteo's birth (he's now 8) and I bought it online for Francesca, that is impossible to find it here.

Our little girls name is going to be Francesca too! )

I've seen the net thing here in the U.S. in stores. I wasn't going to pick one up, but I
just might have !to then! Thanks for the idea!

Goodness, never heard of that one..so they've got a nipple in their mouths the whole time?

Just went to take a look..hmmm..messy?

My youngest at that age didn't like processed baby food (except carrots, now he won't touch 'em, go figure.)

So I got a grinder and ground what we were having, starting one thing at a time in the beginning, but none of us has allergies so I wasn't too worried.

Now they've got those cute little mini food processors....I'm always 20 yrs too late!

Ciao Catherine,

As someone mentioned, babies grow up totally normal here in Italy, but all the same there are certain things I always stock up on when in the US. 1) Medicine --- if your child gets sick here there is always some equivalent but certain brands we trust more so because we've grown up with them. I always had problems getting my kids to take aspirin, so children's tylenol in bubble gum or some sweet flavor might be a good bet. Of course for a baby, the easiest medicine to give might just be a "supposta" and those you can get here no problem. The only other thing I would bring is a bottle of Calamine liquid in case your baby comes down with Chicken Pox or some itchy child's disease. 2) You can find all the major brands of diapers etc here, as well as sometimes (depending upon your location)companies that sell in bulk no name brands but are a worthwhile investment as you can save a ton.

Familiar brands here are Pampers, Huggies, Libero , Fissan, Johnson's & Johnson's, Mustela, Aveena, Avent, so rest assured you'll find it all.

Italians have wonderful baby carriages/strollers and are much lighter than the American equivalents and IMHO have a nicer design, but you can find every possible brand as well.

Food is another issue. It depends on how you want to raise your child. I spent the extra money on prepared formula and always had it handy in my bag, so there was no need to mix it when it was necessary. I went for a brand that was a bit more expensive than Nestle, but never had problems with it. As for the foods, well I just made them myself with the food processor and froze them, that way I knew for sure what was in it with no preservatives. DK publishing makes a great book by Stoppard on Babies meals, perhaps you can pick that up.

As far as clothes, well you can find everything in every price range. Supermarkets even sell petite bateau underwear at decent prices. However, if you yearn to dress your child "American" then a trip to the gap outlet, old Navy or even Target will provide you with some great inexpensive staples. Prices have doubled here since the conversion to the €uro but bargains can still be found. As far as shoes go, sneakers definately cost less in the US (brand names) but a good Italian shoe will cost you €40 and up. You can even find Prada and Gucci shoes for babies!!!

Here's a baby site that near me in Lodi which is right outside of Milano, as you'll see they have it all!!!

www.mammababy.it

I'm sure you'll find all that you need for your child here, what's important to remember is that you only have to buy what's necessary, most of us with our first child go overboard and buy every gadget made for baby and then we find that we've spent a fortune on useless items that are cluttering up own homes!!!

Good luck,
Arlene

Arlene, where is the Gap outlet - I presume you mean in Italy ? I miss Gap jeans...

OOOps sorry MilanoClaire,

I meant for Catherine (who is still in Chicago if I'm correct) to stock up there!!!

No GAP for now in Italy (at least in Milano) unless one opened up in Rome and I don't know about it. Of course there's always the option of heading out on a cheap flight on RyanAir (from Bergamo) for a quick fix in the UK!!!

OT BTW, you are familiar with Salvagente (both adults and kids) in Milano aren't you? and of course there are tons of other outlets in and around Milano.

A presto,
Arlene