Items not worth buying?!

[JulyBug]

As every mum and mummy to be knows there are thousands/millions of baby products out there.. a lot of them unnecessary!

I keep seeing list upon list on 'essential' newborn items and I'm trying to decipher what really is ESSENTIAL and what I could live without?

I was wondering has anybody bought something that they never actually used or anything you'd say was 'unnecessary' and not worth buying?

xx

 

[Nic_M]

I found I had loads of "outfits" that I never used first time round. My lo was in a baby grow pretty much all the time for the first few months

 

[ClaireDoll]

Following this!

 

[violet13]

I find that changing mats seem to be a waste I don't use it unless it's on the changing table. Also cheap bottle brushes don't last yes others can be pricey but they are much more worth it xxx

 

[Stupidred]

For me my inlaws bought us a massive baby bath from mamas and papas. It was one of those they have up until 5. We used it twice before taking it back because it was too big to fit in our bath to fill amd empty and also it warped when it had water in making it heavy and difficult to manoeuvre. In the end we bought a £3 circular washing up bowl and used that or she bathed with me.

Tbh bathing with your baby is amazing. I loved it and it's fab for skin on skin. My ditch would be baby bath. Xx

 

[candymycandy]

Agreed on baby bath. So cumbersome. We got the angelcare thing to put in big bath which was great

 

[KateK]

3rd baby bath! I found it so awkward to use..

I also had way too many outfits with skirts, tights and tops that were just so impractical for the first 6 months she never wore them..

 

[Rose83]

My SIL drove me mad with my first trying to tell me everything I should buy. I finally lost it when she told me I needed this whole baby bath set thing, rang my partner in (hormonal) tears telling him he needed to get her to back off before I lost my mind because no way was I buying a baby bath when we didn't need one in our small flat!

I know nappy bins always come up in these discussions and some people are dead against them but it totally depends on your living situation. With my first we lived in a third floor flat so weren't able to pop dirty nappies out to the bin every five minutes or even daily if we were being lazy so it was essential but with my second we live in a house where we can go straight out to the bin and I don't use it nearly as much.

Sophie the giraffe. EVERYbody seems to think this overpriced chew toy is essential and we got one. Neither of my children has shown any interest in it at all. But they did love a 50p turtle made of the same sort of rubber type material from Hawkins Bazaar!

X

 

[Stupidred]

My SIL drove me mad with my first trying to tell me everything I should buy. I finally lost it when she told me I needed this whole baby bath set thing, rang my partner in (hormonal) tears telling him he needed to get her to back off before I lost my mind because no way was I buying a baby bath when we didn't need one in our small flat!

I know nappy bins always come up in these discussions and some people are dead against them but it totally depends on your living situation. With my first we lived in a third floor flat so weren't able to pop dirty nappies out to the bin every five minutes or even daily if we were being lazy so it was essential but with my second we live in a house where we can go straight out to the bin and I don't use it nearly as much.

Sophie the giraffe. EVERYbody seems to think this overpriced chew toy is essential and we got one. Neither of my children has shown any interest in it at all. But they did love a 50p turtle made of the same sort of rubber type material from Hawkins Bazaar!

X

Just read this on the sophie the giraffe...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...-MOULD-inside-14-toy-noticed-musty-smell.html

I'm thinking twice about getting one this time round

 

[Blueclass]

There is a angle seat thing for the bath which is great. My baby 7months and still using it.

 

[Laura1992]

I find that changing mats seem to be a waste I don't use it unless it's on the changing table. Also cheap bottle brushes don't last yes others can be pricey but they are much more worth it xxx

Opposite for me, we only use mat on the floor! We have one downstairs and one upstairs x

 

[kumber]

I found a baby bath enormously helpful BUT I'm a tiny 5ft so it killed by back leaning over the big bath and I have a removable shower head to fill it up with which was incredibly helpful. Definitely not a necessity for most though I think.

Snowsuits are my biggest pet hate, they're so dangerous for baby and not worth the money.

Also change tables. Stick them on the floor, much safer actually furniture for the nursery in general but I don't move babies out of my room til 12 months so I wasn't in a rush to get their room ready before they arrived.

Mittens. Never used them, just kept their nails cut regularly and they didn't scratch their faces.

Sudocrem/Bepanthen/etc. They cause nappy rash by preventing the nappy from absorbing the wee. Don't need it, never used it and only ever minor nappy rash when teething.

 

[ams25]

Definitely outfits for the first few months... sleepsuits so much easier and comfy when they're lying down and being held! I want to cringe when I look back on pics of my first son dressed in a little ted baker shirt and jeans at 1 month old lol what was I thinking?! My second child lived in sleepsuits until 5 months and was much comfier! (Nice patterned ones for daytime plain for night)! I don't like pram shoes either, yes they look cute but they don't need shoes when they can't walk! Electric bottle warmer also useless, took 6 minutes to warm up, kettle or microwave much quicker! (Or perfect prep machine that makes bottle to perfect temp from scratch in 90 seconds!)

I did use the baby bath for the first few weeks as it's a lot quicker and easier to fill up than the big bath. I has a reclining bath seat for later on but you have to fill up the bath quite deep to get any water over the baby, as they're high. So baby bath easier for tiny babies.

I found those little hooded baby bath towels useless as they're tiny! Just use a normal towel.

My babies personally never liked the big expensive baby swing and mamaroo chair, they preferred a cheap £25 asda vibrating v
bouncer! Although I know other babies love them. Worth buying big items like swing second hand then at least you can sell on for same price if baby doesn't like them.

scratch mittens are rubbish and don't stay on, a lot of sleepsuits have mittens built into the sleeve which are much better (just turn the sleeve over at the bottom ) - took me until my second baby to realise this! .

Things I couldn't live without - baby sleeping bags and perfect prep machine if bottle feeding, Angelcare sensor mat movement and sound monitor, Lansinoh nipple cream if breastfeeding. Aldi nappies and wipes are brilliant, better than pampers in my opinion and half the price, and tesco own brand nappy sacks 300 for 35p! Good to have a second light/portable bouncy chair with a 5 point harness upstairs that you can move from bedroom to bathroom for somewhere safe to put baby while you have a shower or pop to the loo, no good having everything downstairs when you need to get a shower! xx

It's worth joining your local facebook Stork sale /baby buy and sell page if you haven't already, as at least if you do have any disasters you can sell stuff on and make some money back xx

 

[violet13]

Burping cloths I have tons of the buggers and never used em I did use muslins but never the burping cloths haha. I'm in agreement with snowsuits For young babies we never used one but have now my sons older as he's walking everywhere but it's not thick it's just an extra layer if it is freezing and I have to go out. Baby bath as well never used it's in the garage and bath seats too never used, changing tables are safe as long as you stay with baby only not the over the cot ones I seriously hate those things super scary but we change our son and he gets down done and dusted I'll have a think of what else we have but never used ooh Moses basket we have a next to me so ours has had 2 months tops use xxx

 

[lisey]

I have a question regarding the sleeping bag things. From what age did you use them and how do you work out what tog to buy? Xx

 

[mellie_88]

I have a question regarding the sleeping bag things. From what age did you use them and how do you work out what tog to buy? Xx

I used them from birth with my son, think they normally say from 8lb and he was born 8lb. Generally in the UK the 2.5tog is what you'll use the most. Then in the summer you might use the 1 tog on really warm nights.
The grobag website does have a chart on it for room temperature, what tog sleeping bag and what baby should wear underneath it.

 

[mellie_88]

There's loads of stuff we barely used first time round. The amount of clothes and outfits were stupid. Especially as he pretty much just lived in sleepsuits when he was tiny.
I also got loads of bottles and teats as I was planning on expressing loads. I barely ever expressed and when I did he always used the same bottle.
If I was doing it again for the first time I'd buy a lot more stuff second hand. Some of the baby markets, Facebook, Gumtree and ebay are full of absolute bargains that have barely been used!
I also got crazy amounts of cotton wool expecting to use that and cooled boiled water to clean his bum. I did that for a few days but then I got lazy and just used water wipes!

 

[mellie_88]

Just thought of more things.
Snow suits. If you walk a lot and don't use the car they probably are useful. But for us they were a big waste as you're not meant to use them in the car seat. He ended up only wearing one once which meant a fair few got left unused.
Also baby shoes. They're so pointless and so much hassle! I think I got aboutique 2 pairs then we were given hundreds by a friend. Again he only ever wore one pair once. They look cute, but they're not good for their feet and so much hassle to take on and off during nappy changes. Plus you'll end up loosing some when they inevitably kick them off!

 

[Rose83]

Snowsuits - depends on your activities. If I'm doing something outside then I use them because I don't want any cold gaps for them but even in the height of Scottish winter with a newborn I didn't use them a great amount. What I found was brilliant was the maxicosi car seat footmuff. Basically the seat harness threads through the footmuff so baby is safely secured in the seat as normal but then has a thick hooded blanket wrapped all round them. They cost £50 from maxicosi but I got a brand new one on eBay for £25 and have used it with both my children and it's still good as new for this next one. It keeps them toasty warm too X

 

[lisey]

I have a question regarding the sleeping bag things. From what age did you use them and how do you work out what tog to buy? Xx

I used them from birth with my son, think they normally say from 8lb and he was born 8lb. Generally in the UK the 2.5tog is what you'll use the most. Then in the summer you might use the 1 tog on really warm nights.
The grobag website does have a chart on it for room temperature, what tog sleeping bag and what baby should wear underneath it.

Thanks, this is really helpful. Kind of what I thought but good to know where is a place to check too xx