Baby bond是指“小额债券”。通常指面值低于1 000美元的债券，一般为25美元至500美元。小额债券为小额投资者提供了可参与的债券市场，也为因财力不足而无法进入大额公共市场者提供了资金来源。

可参考Investopedia给出的解释：

Baby bonds are issued mainly by municipalities, counties, and states to fund expensive infrastructure projects and capital expenditures. These tax-exempt municipal bonds are generally structured as zero-coupon bonds with a maturity of between eight and 15 years. The muni bonds are usually rated A or better in the bond market.

Baby bonds are also issued by businesses as corporate bonds. Corporate issuers of these debt securities include utility companies, investment banks, telecom companies, and business development companies (BDCs) involved in funding small- and mid-sized businesses. The price of the corporate bonds is determined by the issuer’s financial health, credit rating, and available market data for the company. A company that cannot or does not want to issue a large debt offering may issue baby bonds as a way to generate demand and liquidity for the bonds. Another reason that a company may issue baby bonds is to attract small or retail investors who may not have the funds to purchase the standard $1,000 par value bond.

（可参考译文：小额债券主要由市政府、县政府和州政府发行，用于资助昂贵的基础设施项目和资本支出。这些免税的市政债券一般结构为零息债券，期限在8到15年之间。市政债券在债券市场上通常被评为A级或更好。

小额债券也被企业作为公司债券发行。这些债务证券的企业发行人包括公用事业公司、投资银行、电信公司和参与资助中小型企业的商业发展公司（BDCs）。公司债券的价格是由发行人的财务健康状况、信用评级和公司的现有市场数据决定的。一个不能或不想发行大型债务的公司可能会发行小额债券，作为一种为债券创造需求和流动性的方式。公司发行小额债券的另一个原因是吸引小型或零售投资者，他们可能没有资金购买标准的1000美元面值的债券。）