Shopping stuff for kids. Eeeerm? My son is almost three and when I got pregnant I was such a novice to all things pregnancy, baby and kid related. I’ve just not had that many kids around me and it wasn’t until I got pregnant that I realized that there is a whole world of things that babies and kids need that I had no clue about! And so at lot of manic googling started.
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I was born in Sweden so at least I had the advantage of doing my research in my native language, but if you are a newbie in the country on top of being a newbie parent – uff! So, here is a list of place to find things you may need for yourself and your child. And if you have any you’d like to ad – just do so in the comments and we will add them to the list.
Best in test
I am going to come out and confess – I am a bit of a control freak. Which means that I tend to read a lot of best-in-test websites. One that I like is simply called Bäst-i-test. It is in Swedish but has a huge parent/kid test section and it’s quite easy to get the results even in Swedish plus you can google translate the rest.
Second hand shopping for kids items
Another thing I quickly realized was that I bought way too much stuff and also that there is often little point in buying new things. Babies and kids in general grow so fast that clothes tend to be in really good shape even though they have a previous owner.
So before you go spending a months salary on cute little hats and shirts, make sure you check out second hand options.
- Facebook Marketplace is a great place to look for baby clothes in your area.
- Shpock is a pretty decent app and website where you can find sellers in your neighborhood.
- Sellpy is my personal favorite. People can send their stuff of to Sellpy to be sold, they take pictures of it, sort the delivery and the returns and they mark all items according to a set standard of use. I started off buying baby clothes from Sellpy and now the entire family gets pretty much all their stuff from there. They sell more than clothes so if you have just moved to Sweden and are looking for things to your home – this is a good place to look.
Also when I became a parent it really hit me that what I do to the planet is going to affect my son many years after I’m gone. And if second hand shopping has some impact on what type of planet he gets to live on years from now – then second hand shopping is what I am going to do:-)
Places to shop new stuff for kids and babies
Now, if you can’t find what you are looking for in a second hand shop or if you are really against the second hand concept, then there are of course places for you to find things for your kid. There are of course a lot of physical shops all over Sweden but here we are focusing on online shops in order to cater to all our newbie readers regardless of where you live.
- Clothes. Polarn och pyret* is another favorite of mine simply because their clothes last forever. I recently bought a winter overall second hand and there were FOUR other kids names in it. It had basically been worn by four other kids (at least) and it was still in such good shape that my child can wear it without getting wet or cold.
- Name stickers. When your kids go to school or preschool, you are going to want name stickers! Filur namnlappar* is a big online provider of all types of name stickers. Or Namnlappskungen*. You can also get a special pen that doesn’t wash off. My child enjoys putting the stickers on, and he gets a bit of a pleased feeling when he sees “his” fox sticker on his clothes. Which is the main reason why I go with this option.
- Baby buggy, baby carriage, baby stroller, buggy, stroller, pusher. Whatever you call it – you will probably be wanting one unless you prefer baby wearing at all times or have a baby buggy refuser baby. And if you do, you have my sympathies 🙂 Which type you prefer is really up to your life situation or preferences. Small and light or big with loads of room for bags etc. To be honest, I went with a second hand option here as well. A former colleague with bigger kids wanted to get rid of hers so I traded her the stroller, the sit up part, the lay down part and the car part for a few bottles of good wine. We were both happy 🙂 But here are some brands that are very common amongst new parents:
- Buggaboo*
- Emmaljunga
- Britax
- Cybex
- Toys, clothes, strollers and everything else. There are, of course, a number of online shops that have all you can think of baby and child related and that carry a lot of different brands as well as products. Just browse for what you need and do a general comparison on price and delivery options. Here are some options to get you started:
- Najell* is a Swedish baby brand that according to them focuses on urban life. They offer pregnancy pillows, baby carriers baby nests and much more.
- Micki* is a Swedish toy brand that’s been around for over 80 years. Their toys are designed and developed and party built in Småland.
Ecological items for babies and kids in Sweden
I also have to do a special shout out for some fantastic online and physical shops that cater a largely ecological set of products.
- Nävatextil / Ekostextil is a massive favorite of mine. They have the cutest little felted wool overalls, soft and warm wool long johns, and onesies that are perfect for the cold weather. They are so nice, that both myself and my partner bought a set of long johns for ourselves 🙂 They are pricey but good.
- Kokobello has a lot of ecological toys and tend to focus on open ended toys that keep kids entertained for a long time. Also, pricier than you find in the big online kid shops, but they have such nice things that are totally worth checking out.
- Rekoshoppen focuses on toys that are totally free of chemicals. Both for little and bigger kids.
Baby food
- Knattenplock’s* mission is to inspire an exploratory approach to food so that more children can have a joyful and healthy relationship with food. Perhaps worth checking out if you are looking to inspire happy eating in your little one. And their website comes in English too.
Further reading
We have a lot of blog posts on parenting and kids in Sweden. You can do a search on the website or get started with these ones:
- Winter clothing for children
- Social ideas for newbie parents
- Förskola: a lesson for parents and kids
- 9 posts on Swedish maternity and paternity leave
- 5 tips for moving to Sweden with kids
- Parenthood in Sweden: birth and early years
Have I missed something? Let me know in the comments and we will check it out and perhaps also add it to the list.
Have a great day and a big hug to you all!
Julieta from the Newbie Team
I’m inspired by your commitment to making a difference through your blog. Your passion shines through.