Micah Hildenbrand and her husband, Eric, are corporate lawyers who live in an affluent neighbourhood in Washington and drive a Lexus sports utility vehicle.

However, when their son, Chase, was born in January, they trawled friends' garages - nearly all of Chase's belongings are hand-me-downs or were bought second-hand.

Micah Hildenbrand said that a good salary was not reason enough to spend money that might not always be there.

Observers of baby consumerism say such caution is not unusual these days. It is mirrored in the declining fortunes of the US$343 million (S$520 million) 'play and discover' market - toys and goods marketed to parents of children under a year old - which has fallen by more than a third over the last 11/2 years.

The recession, it seems, has catalysed a moment of reflection among the formerly free-spending new-parent set: used is good; free is best.

Experts say the children's market is just playing catch-up to a radical consumer shift taking place across all luxury sectors. Some say the new attitude reflects a broader change in perspective when it comes to conspicuous consumption for young children.

No longer is it necessary to buy a US$1,000 changing table.

This new frugality is celebrated by anti-consumerism groups, dreaded by retailers and mused over by social scientists who say Americans might be on the cusp of raising a new generation of depression-era babies.

Not only are children named after their grandparents these days, but all those Rubys, Sadies and Harrys at the playgrounds may end up thinking like them as well.

'The recession has liberated us from a lot of the consumer expectations so that we can have a big enough space to feel really comfortable just giving our kids a pot and a spoon,' said Robbie Blinkoff, a cultural anthropologist at Context-Based Research Group, an ethnographic marketing research firm in Baltimore.

A REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

Susan Linn, director of the Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood, agrees. The recession, she said, provides a chance for families to back away from 'a pattern of escalation in spending on children'.

Retailers like Lisa Mahar have certainly noticed a change.

'Three years ago, in the heyday of the moment, someone would come into the shop and say, 'I want the most expensive thing you have',' said Mahar, a designer of educational toys and the owner of Kid O, a toy shop in Manhattan.

Now, she said people are much more discreet.

'Large orders are placed on the phone. And at birthday parties... no one will bring a US$300 LikeaBike (a two-wheeled kid's toy) anymore.'

Sam Apple, a writer and father of three, recently wrote a memoir called American Parent from the bewildered perspective of the inundated new dad.

Like the Hildenbrands, Apple and his wife, Jennifer, thumb their noses at what the blogosphere calls the 'baby industrial complex'.

For their first child, the house was filled with new, luxe and name-brand items.

'New parents are the ideal targets for marketers,' he said.

'They're confused and anxious almost by definition.'

For their new twins, however, they received a hand-me-down double stroller from friends and they plucked cribs from second-hand sales.

Tim Dowd, a senior analyst for Packaged Facts, a research firm based in Maryland, said that the play-and-discover market has had what he calls a 'reversal of fortune' over the last year.

While that market climbed 75percent from 2003 to 2007, it lost about one-third of its retail value in the first 10 months of last year, even before the economy had experienced its most marked downturn.

TOYING WITH IDEAS

For many companies, it has only become worse. Mattel - owner of Fisher-Price and Barbie, among others - saw a 15 per cent drop in first-quarter sales this year.

Dorel, the parent of the company that makes the haute Dutch stroller the Quinny and the plush Maxi-Cosi infant car seat, reported a 17.7 per cent decrease in sales for their juvenile segment in North America and Europe for the same period.

Meanwhile, brands like Skip Hop, known for its Duo diaper bag which, at US$54, hits the mid-price sweet spot, are doing well. In fact, last year was Skip Hop's best year yet, said Ellen Diamant, a founder.

'People are being less indulgent,' she said, but they are expecting a lot more for their money.

'They want gorgeous design, they want ethical, they want organic. But they don't want to pay what they would have paid a year ago.'

'Fashionability of product is beginning to change,' said Chris Sanderson, a director of Future Laboratory, a trend-forecasting group based in London.

'Something that is cool has longevity, inherent sustainability and good design.'

Until recently, children in the United States received, on average, 70 new toys a year, Linn said.

Greg Allen, whose blog, daddytypes.com, monitors the industry, said: 'There is a sense that there is just so much stuff for kids already out there that the idea of buying brand new seems completely unnecessary. Even sexy stuff is eye candy at best and there is no guarantee your kid will like the expensive Alexander Calder pull toy you bought.

'When you discover that, you focus on what your kid really likes and needs, which is a very small percentage of what's out there.'

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.