LONDON ? One year and many pounds (I live in London) later, I stare at my year-old son?s wardrobe in shock. He has more clothes than I and my husband combined. I realize this has been an expensive year?and it is mostly of my own doing!

I won?t make excuses for my expense, but any mother I?m sure will admit that with the myriad of baby products out there, it is impossible to resist the newest fashions, latest baby accessories and, in a country where we walk more than we ride, investing in the best pushchair.

Of course, a significant percentage of my son?s things are gifts from generous grandparents, aunts and uncles, but that has only added to my guilt. For as much money as I have wasted on products that turned out to be useless or too cumbersome, they have, with the best of intentions, spent on gifts that my son can?t use here or end up outgrowing before they even get to us.

And so I have decided to save new mothers from this wasteful fate by writing this. I hope new and future mums will end their first year with more money saved than I did?so that they can run to the spa and reward themselves for all the poop, burps, vomit, colic attacks, temper tantrums (the baby?s, not ours!) and secret post-partum depression fits of the year past.

My resolution for my baby?s next year is also to buy only as much as I need for two weeks (of course, I can?t guarantee that his grandparents will join me in this resolution, but oh well?). Anything more is wasteful.

If you must buy, invest in plain-colored onesies that your baby can change into when he/she gets sweaty or vomits. If you live in a cold country like I do, have no more than four coats?two light and two heavy. Baby clothes are remarkably easy to wash and dry quite quickly.

Also, only buy nearer the time you will need to update your baby?s wardrobe, because you will know how big your baby will be only closer to the date. My son is long but slim for his age, so I still use his 9-12 months pants, even if they?re a little short, because the 12-18 ones just slide off him.

The best baby clothes in the UK for me are from Baby GAP. The selection is realistic, comfortable (the neck part can really s-t-r-e-t-c-h!) and looks good even after you?ve machine-washed them several times. I like those with little teddy bears the best, but that?s just me being childish.

In Manila, I like the clothes from Brusselsprouts, an online store owned by my two friends, Rica Geronimo and Charmaine de la Luna. Not only are their fashions well-thought out (both are hands-on mums, so they know what works and what doesn?t), but they?re of good quality and are transportable, meaning my son wore them out-and-about in sweltering Manila and as comfy layers in freezing London.

If your baby likes to remove his shoes and socks like mine (and not to mention, fling them out of his pushchair when you?re not looking!), I suggest getting the Chicco ones with rubber underneath. They?re like shoes and socks put together and have great traction for babies learning to walk. You can get them in Greenbelt 5.

When I was back last Christmas, I was surprised to discover that Manila had a really good selection of pushchairs, this considering most people ride in cars. In London, a pushchair is a necessity, not an option, and we have to be very picky, taking into consideration our lifestyle, prevalent mode of transport and even how strong the parent who will be folding the pushchair is!

The Maxi-Cosi is undeniably the best car seat/pushchair attachment for newborn babies. My son sank into it the first time he tried it, loved it to bits and vehemently (not to mention, angrily!) refused to move to a bigger seat even when his feet were clearly sticking out of the pram. For parents, it is just so convenient. It?s lightweight, easy to attach to the car and it just clicks on to the pushchair. I wish they had it for bigger babies.

For six months plus, Bugaboo is the clear favorite in the UK, particularly for those who want their babies facing them. Other popular brands are Maclaren, Silver Cross, Skokie and the one I have, Quinny Buzz. Both the Bugaboo and Buzz can be used from birth, with my favorite Maxi-Cosi attached.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about the Buzz. While it is definitely steady and strong (I call it Gabby?s Hummer!), the straps came too short and I had to order extensions when Gabby was just six months old, which was when we moved from the Maxi-Cosi to the Quinny?s actual seat. I also found the rain cover a hassle to attach and to store, unlike the Bugaboo?s, which attaches neatly and can be easily moved up and down.

The Buzz?s wheels also went flat while I was out shopping, which was a total nightmare. Not only did I have to pay for an expensive cab ride home, I had to order a new inner tube, which took three weeks to arrive. According to one of my girl friends, the Bugaboo?s wheels are more solid. If I could turn back time, I?d probably have gotten a Bugaboo, or my new discovery, the Japanese Combi, which looks like a Bugaboo, but is much cheaper and is super light and compact.

For feeding equipment, my son is an Avent baby for his sterilizer (their iQ steam sterilizer is the best ever!), warmer and milk bottles, but Tommee Tippee for tableware. The Tommee Tippee spoons change color, which saves mums from becoming breathless while trying to cool down baby?s dinners. I also like NUK and MAM?s water bottles, which my son is finding easier to drink from. Oddly enough, all these brands are made in the UK, but the selection is so much better in Baby and Co.

My pediatrician in London advised me against buying the food processors specially made for babies. She said it was a waste of ?50 and told me I was better off using a ?5 hand blender, if anything at all. My son liked the bottled purees during his first stages, so I didn?t even get to use the hand blender, and now that he?s started to chew, I use a fork and knife to cut and mash.

I love Heinz?s baby cereals and bottled baby food. They have a great selection and their Egg Custard smells like crème brûlée. Unfortunately, I don?t think they have them in Manila. The Gerber ones are good, too, although I do wish supermarkets would stock better varieties. Babies can?t live on pureed fruit, and not everyone has a battalion of cooks to make fresh food daily. Heinz makes baby rice, pasta and sauces that already have meat and veg in them, which makes cooking for my son so much easier. We have their ketchup and beans, so why can?t they bring in their baby food as well?

Other products I wish I could find in Manila are baby yogurt and baby ?junk food.? Yoplait makes Petits Filous, which my son just loves, and Organix, a British organic baby food brand that makes organic, low-fat corn, cheese and tomato-flavored curls, which are healthy, apparently tasty (my husband and sister-in-law have tasted them) and teach babies to chew.

With regard to mummy fashion, what better says I?m a yummy mummy than the baby bag! Friends and family gave me baby bags during my baby shower and my husband so kindly offered to buy me a designer one (I actually refused!), but the only one I use and want is the Skip Hop, which I found in Rustan?s. These durable bags attach to the prams and fit heaps of things. They come in many styles, the newest being the City Chic, which I have yet to see up close, but I am already coveting (now this one you can buy me, Mom!).

I have the Messenger Dash and the larger-sized Duo, the latter of which I took on a 24-hour flight to Sydney and fit six bottles, a six-layer stack of milk containers (the cheap ones from Shopwise are the best!), four bottles of baby food, a pack of baby cheese curls, a giant pack of baby wipes (unfortunately, we don?t have those cute mini ones Johnson?s makes for the Philippine market here in the UK), eight nappies, two packs of tissues, a pack of anti-bacterial wipes? you get the picture.

Another parent essential are baby carriers. We were gifted with Infantino carriers and they both worked perfectly until our son turned one. Most parents recommend Baby Bjorn and admittedly, if they?d stocked it in Manila at the time of our baby shower, we would have opted for it because of the additional neck support that?s built in.

There wasn?t much selection of carriers for over 12-kilogram babies, other than the back-pack-type one, but that was not an option for a diminutive 4? 11?-tall mum like me. Luckily, we found the Ergo carrier in Australia. The comfy US-made carrier goes up to 18 kg and lets heavier babies face their parents; a feature often lost once babies hit about 10 kg. I?m not sure who stocks them in Manila, but you can go online and order from the US, or from Babies Galore in Australia.

Okay, this piece is getting too long for a newspaper article, so I must stop even if I have heaps more to write about. You get the drift though, that we have to spend on the best, so that we don?t have to spend so much in the end. Quality, not quantity, is the best motto of motherhood; at least this is what I?ve learned. Now, if only the excited grandparents would believe that, too!