Baby Dummies | Parent Reviews

Two in five parents buy second hand for second kids

As of May 2013, the average cost of raising a child is roughly $458 per week. While parents often spend big for their first born, many are ready to cut costs by the time the second child comes around.

Our recent survey results show two in five parents bought new items for their first baby, but opted for second hand items when it came to later children. More than half of surveyed parents justified their purchase of second hand items by saying, “My baby won’t know the difference.”

This reduced expenditure may be related to the fact that about one in two respondents purchased specialised baby equipment they didn’t need or use. Three in five parents tried to recoup some of this expense by selling on baby items originally bought brand new (61%).

For 44% of parents, while most of their baby items were purchased second hand, some things had to be brand new. It’s likely that one of the items particularly likely to fall into this category is baby soothers.

Suck on this: Happy Baby wins soother awards for 2013

Our Parent’s Pick Awards are designed to help mums and dads find brands best suited for their baby. This is the first year we’ve compared pacifiers in our ratings, and Happy Baby has emerged as the winner of our Most Satisfied Customers Award in this category.

Being an award-winner in 2012 for baby bottles, Happy Baby is no stranger to accolades. This brand achieved five star ratings for value for money, soothes my baby, size of pacifiers available, fit and comfort and overall satisfaction. Also compared were Tommee Tippee, Philips Avent and Nuby.

For a full breakdown of these results, see below.

Overall customer satisfaction

Happy Baby achieved five stars for overall customer satisfaction in this category. Next in line were Tommee Tippee and Philips Avent with four stars, then Nuby with three.

Value for money

Happy Baby achieved five stars for the value for money of its pacifiers; Tommee Tippee followed with a four star rating, and Philips Avent and Nuby both achieved three.

Soothes my baby

Babies are understandably sensitive, and something familiar and soothing might be just the thing they need to keep them calm in any given situation. Customers of Happy Baby and Tommee Tippee were most satisfied their pacifier product soothed their baby. Philips Avent followed with four stars, and Nuby with three.

Size of pacifiers available

Both Tommee Tippee and Happy Baby achieved five star ratings for the available sizes of their pacifier range. These were followed by four star recipient Philips Avent, then by three star recipient Nuby.

Features (e.g. glows in the dark)

Can your pacifier be easily sterilised? Is it brightly coloured so it can be found among your child’s toys? No matter how simple a product may appear, you can’t overlook or undervalue the extra features of a pacifier. Philips Avent achieved five stars for pacifier features, and was followed by four star recipient Tommee Tippee. Both Happy Baby and Nuby received three star ratings for features.

Fit and comfort

Make sure the dummy you buy is well-suited for your child’s mouth. Customers of both Happy Baby and Tommee Tippee received a final five stars, this time for the fit and comfort of their pacifiers. Philips Avent received four stars, and Nuby achieved three.

Frequently asked questions

How we rated baby pacifiers

These baby pacifier ratings are part of our Parent’s Pick Awards, where we commission Colmar Brunton to survey 1,300 Australian parents aged 18-40 years old with at least one child aged three years and younger to measure and track customer satisfaction over a number of categories. The outcomes reported are the results from parents within the survey group who have purchased a baby dummy / soother in the last six months – in this case, 457 people.

Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then alphabetically. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criteria.