Sometimes childhood dreams are too good to be true.
An old Lifehacker article suggests buying toothpaste for kids instead of purchasing normal travel-sized toothpaste will save oodles of cents. But real munchkin travelers could care less about these type of things.
Though buying child-sized toothpaste seems like a quick way to save money, the reality is far different. There was only a three cent difference at my local store between a 0.85-ounce travel toothpaste and 2.7-ounce kids-sized toothpaste. Sure, things cost differently around the world but let's not think about that for a second. The children's toothpaste isn't any cheaper than adult toothpastes either - it was about the same amount and price. Basically, it's just a lot cheaper to buy a normal-sized toothpaste than a kids- or travel-sized toothpaste.
To see how much is actually saved, we took a look at three different sizes for Crest toothpaste. The results are below.
| Children vs. Adult Toothpaste | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total ounces | Price per ounce | Total cost | |
| Crest Travel Size Regular | 0.85 oz | $1.14 | $0.97 |
| Colgate Kid's Cavity Protection | 2.7 oz | $0.35 | $0.94 |
| Crest Baking Soda & Peroxide Whitening | 2.9 oz | $0.33 | $0.97 |
About 95% of the time, children's toothpaste weighed over 4 ounces, which goes over the legal amount of liquid possible to bring on a plane. At both the Target and Walgreens here in San Jose, Calif., the brick-and-mortar stores had no children's toothpaste below 3.4 ounces. In fact, any travel-friendly children-sized toothpaste cost around two to three dollars! (In particular, it ranged from $2.01 to $3.52. Barely savings.)
I don't think I've been this disappointed about something so trivial since when Pluto became a planet to a moon.
But despite all this, I still suggest using kid's toothpaste. But solely for nostalgia purposes. Revel in some extra days of insert-your-favorite-character bubblegum-flavored toothpaste just for the sake of it. Think about it, this is your chance to be a kid again.
