ONE of my favourite magazines recently died.

Last month, American publishing giant Conde Nast pulled the plug on Cookie magazine, which bore the proud tagline: “The stylish parenting magazine for the New Mom” on its cover.

While I gasped a little in dismay, I knew the end had been inevitable.

After all, what Cookie offered, in the few short years of its existence, was an unattainable, expensive and luxurious ideal of designer motherhood, complete with branded togs for toddlers, high-tech strollers and high chairs for geek parents, and ridiculously overpriced diaper bags.

Indeed, the whole concept of conspicuous parenting has gone the way of the dodo since the financial meltdown.

Sales of thousand-dollar strollers are down by double-digit percentage points.

Cashmere baby blankets and designer stuffed toys are on a list of “Top 10 Baby Luxuries We Won’t Miss” by money website Minyanville.com.

And ordinary dustbins are just as good as those new-fangled, expensive diaper genies when it comes to getting rid of baby poop.

As yuppie, first-time parents in those pre-bust days circa 2006, the Supportive Spouse and I foolishly bought into some of the designer-parenting vibe.

Now, as single-income secondtime parents, thanks to the birth of our younger son, we’re taking a Then-and-Now inventory:

COTS

2006: We buy, from a posh shop in Paragon shopping centre, a $600 Simplicity For Children cot – complete with vibrating mattress pad, an electric mobile with dancing frogs, a module that was programmed to play “sleepy time” and “play time” music, and built-in night light. None of these gew-gaws help our baby to go to – and stay – asleep.

2009: We try to resurrect said $600 cot. But it is either broken or its re-assembly is too difficult for our combined IQs to handle. We give up and buy a $99 convertible bed-cum-playpen from Carrefour. It does the job.

STROLLER

2006: We opt for a Quinny stroller and Maxi-Cosi car seat combination, which sets us back $600 in total.

While the Quinny’s selling point is that it folds up into a really compact shape, it proves to be a tad complicated – especially for petite me – to affix the car seat to the stroller in order to turn it into a baby basinette. When used to transport a toddler, the stroller does not recline, making for less comfortable pram naps.

2009: We’re eyeing a Koreanmade pram which is going for less than $200, with a 180-degree reclining seat and snappy open-and-shut mechanism. That is, if we decide to get a stroller.

BABY CLOTHES

2006: Softest cotton onesies from premium brands, quirky tops with indie slogans and designer gifts from kind friends and relatives.

2009: Hand-me-downs.

TOILETRIES

2006: Hypoallergenic French brands for diaper creams, shower gels and baby moisturisers that cost an average of $20 a bottle. Expensive stretch-mark creams for me.

2009: Supermarket brands. I consider using the remnants of the creams and gels from 2006, until the long-past expiry dates bring me to my senses. What stretch-mark cream?

DIAPER BAGS

2006: A $300 silver-and-gold tote, complete with leather straps, diaper pouch and matching diaper-changing mat.

Its handles break after a few months from the stress of supporting unnecessary things such as toys and snack containers.

2009: Any cheap, hardy bag I find around the house, preferably with compartments.

After all, we have learnt that no amount of fancy stuff we buy can miraculously make us better parents – or stop an infant from crying long enough for us to get some sleep, for that matter.

That’s just the way the Cookie crumbles.

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