Buying Baby Supplies in the US?

My wife and I are about to have our first baby and I've heard that there are a number of baby products/supplies that are much cheaper to buy in the US. Is that true? Any examples? I travel back and forth quite frequently so it would be fairly easy to bring things back with me. One item I noticed was that Peg Perego strollers were about 25% cheaper to buy in the US than here. What else am i missing? thanks

I noticed that my colleagues buy BabyGap clothes, Pottery Barn soft toys. I'm not sure whether it is cheaper or could be the range of choices.

How about things like formula, shampoo etc?

I suggest you purchase OTC baby meds in USA. IN PARTICULAR for an infant, there is an orange colored cold medicine -- I'm sorry I don't remember the exact name -- but you only need to give baby a few drops rather than an entire teaspoonful. Which is a great benefit when you're trying to get a fever med into a baby who may protest every drop! I think it has the name "infant drops" in the label and any pharmacist can help you find it. Some other products you can't really find here for children are: Tylenol brand "Simply Stuffy," baby Motrin, antibiotic ointment like Neosporin (sold prescrip only in HK). For ear pain in a baby, there are prescrip only drops called "auralgan." Oh, then there's the clear benadryl liquid. I can't find it here. You may like the diaper rash ointment Desitin which does a really good job coating and protecting the skin.


The other thing you'll find is that your HK doc may not be familiar with these meds and may have different tools in his toolbox, for instance they may rely more on Australian or European meds and I know my Chinese doc has a bias against motrin in spite of its anti-inflammatory properties. Depending on your comfort level with your doc here (and I strongly suggest a pediatrician who will spend lots of time with you and answer all your Q's), I suggest you consider forming a relationship with a USA pediatrician with the understanding that your questions will be coming to him / her in the form of email and phone calls.


My other suggestion is, walk into a pharmacy in the USA, tell the pharmacist where you live, and ask his suggestion about what you might want to have in your home medicine kit for baby! For instance, a nice, fast digital thermometer, a bulb syringe. Maybe some Lotrimin cream for skin fungus (it doesn't burn at all, whereas some here in China do).