Gold-plated baby bottles and pacifiers, strollers costing 30 million tomans ($710) and baby bedrooms decorated by interior designers; these are among the sismuni, or items for newborns, that have become fashionable among affluent people in Iranian society.
An IranWire citizen journalist, who has gone shopping for baby supplies, has written about Instagram pages items selling "luxury" baby items. Buying luxury sismuni requires about half a billion tomans ($19,000), it turns out; so what can be done with half a billion tomans?
Hanieh has entered the last month of her pregnancy and now almost everything is ready for Mania to be born.
Hanieh and her mother have been searching for the latest clothing, and baby firnuture, scouring baby stores and Instagram pages for weeks; finally they have completed Mania’s room. The interior designer will soon visit and will bring the curtains – ordered from Turkey – to install the finishing touches.
Preparing a newborn’s room, and acquiring the latest sismuni, has become a concern for many affluent couples in recent days as they await the birth of a first child. The rooms being created no longer resembles cozy and peaceful place with the basic necessities. Now they are luxurious and glamorous chambers, with baby supplies that last for years after birth, and are more like galleries designed for parents rather than babies.
Hanieh and her husband have dedicated a 15-meter room to Mania and her belongings. Her sismuni color scheme is white, gold, and bright pink, with matching hospital gowns for the first first days, food containers, bottle and pacifier, stroller, chair, cuddle toys, bed hanger, towel set, flask, burp pad, shawl, detergent and hygiene products, bed, wardrobe, drawer, desk, showcase, carpet and doll chandelier, and, and, and...
The couple says this sismuni has cost them about 500 million tomans ($11,800).
A tour of luxury baby stores and baby accessories shows that Hanieh and her husband's claim is not far-fetched. Here, when you look at the stroller, the salesman asks: "Do you want Iranian or foreign goods? Iranian products do not come with a guarantee and cost three to four million; but if you are looking for a foreign product, you can have all kinds of products based on color, features and quality, and most importantly, a guarantee."
The salesman takes me to the foreign goods section and shows me a stroller with a carrier and a bag of baby accessories, and says: "This magenta set is one of the most famous Italian brands and costs 33 million tomans ($781). This other set is Dutch and only includes stroller with a carrier, which cost 20 million tomans ($473).”
We then enter the baby clothes section of the store. The clothes are suitable for one- to two-year-olds. A saleswoman starts showing the clothes for the first week of the baby’s life: "These five-piece outfits are made in Turkey and suitable for the first and second weeks after birth. Prices start from 350,000 tomans ($8) and continue up to 1.4 million tomans ($33). Cover-alls that can be used for up to six months are between 500,000 ($12) and 700,000 tomans ($16.50). The price of clothes after six months to two years old varies, starting from 400,000 tomans ($9.40) and reaching 2 million tomans ($47).”
Bed and wardrobe sets are one of the most attractive items at this sismuni store: beds with different models and bed and wardrobe sets in different colors and models suitable for boys and girls.
One stroller-like bed, with a circular sleeping mattress different from other models, and can be used until the baby is two years old, costs 24 million tomans ($568).
If you are satisfied with a simpler set, and happy with models made in Iran with imported materials, you can get a set including a baby and teen bed, wardrobe, showcase, drawer and a shelf above the bed from 35 million ($828) to 55 million tomans ($1,300).
If the idea of a baby eating behind the chair after six months is attractive, you can buy his dining chair from one million to 10 million tomans ($236) along with an Italian dish for 250,000 tomans ($6).
Negin, another Tehran resident who is currently preparing a sismuni room, says: "If you are looking for a special set, you should go to Instagram ... they have fantastic items. All its goods are luxury, foreign and special, and are ordered directly from Italy and Turkey."
A tour of the Instagram page confirms Negin's remarks. Italian milk bottle with golden caps and jeweled bottles are about 1.5 million tomans ($35) and pacifier decorated with jewels and golden chain is about 700,000 tomans ($16.50).
The glittering world of baby sismuni in Iran does not end here. There are parents who still want to be more special and provide a complete set for a baby who has not yet been born, even a few years beforehand.
Some of these luxury stores offer these parents foreign goods that sell in dollars. These range from the $1,800 cradle to the $100 and $400 thermometers that can report a baby's vital signs moment by moment.
These luxury sismuni rooms are dreams for some expecting parents. And other parents worry about paying for childbirth, even in a public hospital, and providing their baby with milk and basic necessities, making the joy of raising a child more of a nightmare.
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