I started this aaaages ago and coming across it again tonight I think its time to add more. Anyone else want to contribute?
Mum's Top 3 Things I Didn't Need For Baby
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I started this aaaages ago and coming across it again tonight I think its time to add more. Anyone else want to contribute?
Mum's Top 3 Things I Didn't Need For Baby
With DD1 we bought one of those plastic seats that go in the bath for babies and infants to lie on.... waste of money! I think we used it once! :lol:
Might be a few more but cant think of them right now!
Ps i love our change table!! Couldnt imagine not having one.
a special "tummy time" mat - used once
one of those padded things for her to sit in in shopping trolleys- never used
newborn clothes- she was a summer baby so just ended up in nappies and a singlet
a bottle warmer (my son was emb so i bought it for my daughter) she didnt bottle feed until 13months its still unopened
rain cover for my pram never used
SO MUCH clothes
sterillerizer (i used one for my son but it died on my last use so my mum bought me a new one for my daughter but as she didnt have bottles or dummys its been used maybe 3 times and i just boil my ds2 dummys)
theres so much stuff weve given away because we just didnt need or use it
A sterilizer - we were told there is no need to sterilize bottles OR dummies anymore. Used it only a few times
A bassinet for our pram. It looked lovely but DD wasn't a fan - at all. We did use it but a capsule would have been a far better investment as we could still attach it to the pram and there would have been no need to wake DD when transferring her from the car.
Tizzie Hall's book 'Save our Sleep'. I know some swear by this book but I read only the first chapter and knew it wasn't going to work in our family - ever!
TBH, I didnt buy buy them but was given them..
Baby bath- only ever used it 2-3 x, then it got stored, DP would have a bath/shower with him or I did, much nicer!
bottles/steriliser~ I BF, only ever used bottles 2-3 x on the odd occasion that I did express.
Nappy wrapper~ I though this seemed like a fantastic idea in theory, but the $$ for refill cartridges were prohibitive as was the fact that BF baby poo doesnt really smell that bad anyway :) didn't get used after a few weeks.
Definately the baby bath and stand. I think we used the bath 3 or 4 times with DD and only once for the twins, we ended up getting a reclining bath chair for DD to use in the "big" bath and got heaps of use out of it. As the boys are winter babies they get Top and Tail most times and then put in the "big" bath for a good wash. The stand is in DD's room being used to hang up her sleep suits and dressing gown.
Bassinet and stand - DD slept in hers for about 6 weeks until we transferred her to her cot. I found the bassinet was too small for her as she would break free from her wrap and thrash her arms around and hit the sides of the bassinet and wake herself. Would have just been easier to set up a portacot for her when she was sleeping in our room.
Someone mentioned the bassinet attachment for the pram. I agree!! DD1 hated it so we sold it along with the 3 wheeler jogger pram we hardly used either!
A bath seat - both kids used the baby bath until they could sit properly and then transferred into the big bath
Bottle warmer for the car charger - seemed like a good idea but only used it once
A recliner/rocker - neither of the kids liked it and wouldn't lie in it
Nappy wrapper! In theory it was great with two in nappies to contain the stink but just so expensive.
I also got a sterilizer with dd2 as I borrowed one with dd1 but she refused to bottle feed.
Bassinet attachment for the pram, bub was in the ergo all the time & hated lying flat!
I brought/was given so much I didn't need/use it was crazy.
- Baby bath
- Way way way too many clothes
- tiny wraps/blankets
- too many toys
I could go on for ages, LOL!!
Breast pump. Sent straight from Satan. I was pumping when I should have been sleeping or doing anything else. And had nothing to show for it.
Why do we waste so much time expressing? Isn't boob stimulation the baby's job? I wonder how women in 3rd world countries possibly get by without all these things (not).
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Teething Rings - both girls teethed from an early age but WOULD NOT touch them :(
Clothes, Clothes, Clothes - the girls have SOOO many clothes, i have 3 stripey bags FULL of clothes just to size 0.. Grr
I'm sure there are more things, just can't think of them.
Grobags
Play pen and mats
so may carriers (should have waited til bub was here)
Oh yeah this one too ----- my copy ended up in the fire place, starting our fire was the most helpful thing it ever did for us :rofl::
WRAPS! that was another thing, I ended up with ,I kid you not, a big green garbage bag full of them, the cheesecloth type, white,mostly but every freaking colour of the rainbow! I did use a few of them, constantly on rotation for about 3 months but now WTH do I do them???
The Cot! Thankfully it was a hand-me-down, and it did make a great place to dump the washing I never seem to keep up with!
I was given a bottle (just in case) that never got used.
Baby talc powder.
Our three things:
Baby bath insert seat (newborn type one)
Baby monitor (AKA anxiety-ridden stress machine in our house lol)
Nappy bucket (MCNs are so cool they dont need soaking :)).
baby bath seat - impossible to use and so much less fun than just getting in the bath myself with baby
baby monitor - we lived in such small houses we learnt to use our ears instead, and they don't require the wasting of electricity!
Nappy Bag - I got a fancy one that matched the pram and had a pull out nappy changing mat, but ended up using a backpack which was so much safer to carry whilst juggling babies/prams/etc.
Three things we didn't really need for DS:
Baby bath insert thing (we always held DS as well in those first few weeks, instead of drying it just went mouldy, and then the baby bath was outgrown in a couple of months)
Sling (what an uncomfortable, hard to put on piece of material! Plus, DS hated being in it. However, I'd definitely try another type of carrier, maybe an ergo, next time)
Breast pump, bottles, sterilising equipment (no use at all for a fully bf baby and it takes up a whole shelf in the kitchen!)
Baby monitor - we co-slept and then had the cot in our room.
Breast pump - hand expressing was way better for me, not that my baby has a clue what to do with a bottle.
Oh, and hiring a baby capsule was a waste of money. We got it so baby could stay sleeping if we had to get out of the car. HA! As if she ever slept in there (or anywhere!) in the first place! If I knew, I'd have gone straight to rear facing carseat, which she loves.
Funny, some of the things mentioned were life savers in our place.
The only thing that didn't get good use at our place was the "baby/nappy bag" - I found it much easier to chuck what we needed in my hand bag or a backpack.
I went too nuts as well and then packages from relatives interstate flooded my doorstep :lol: Some garments still have tags on. I wish I stuck to the list of stuff NEEDED.:
3 million breastfeeding tops. One of the singets with built in bra work just as good under a regular T-shirt/shirt than a fancy shmancy top with a good $100 added to the price.
I gave a whole heap of wraps & un-used baby blankets to my DD for her dolls, the rest went to the Salvos:
Breast feeding pillow - my GF bought it but it is really hard and plain uncomfortable to use.
Lots of baby blankets - I tended to use to same few but I ended up with heaps
Singlets - I used body short sleeved suits (Although I use singlets/tank tops for DD now, but she is 4yo)
For DD3 -
Angelcare Monitor & Cradle - Both of these because DD3 has never wanted to sleep anywhere else than in with us. She was born in our bed so it makes sense that she would want to sleep there too ;)
Pram Cocoon - I don't know what came over me when I bought it. It has never been used in the pram and was used once inside the house just to test it out. Massive waste of money.
The cot definitely, cost something like $700 and barely used it. DS2 hasn't used it once.
A bouncer, DS wouldn't go in it
Close baby carrier - both my boys hate it, which is very annoying. DS1 also disliked the ergo, am hoping DS2 will accept it, otherwise I've wasted a lot of money on carriers
The bathing items i didn't use much. The laundry sink was fine...
After Baby #1 i figured out you could go a little overboard with clothes and blankts. Buy Baby #3 i kept a lot of things in packets or with tags on and only took them off when i knew i was going to use them. The things i didn't use i returned and purchased something else for my child i knew they needed or would use.
Tough one. What was used with DD1 was not with DD2 and vice versa. I actually found all those things on the list useful at some stage, if they were a lifesaver for even only 3 months, they were worth it.
Snug in a bug - barely used it, interesting concept, but not for us.
Baby bag - picked a nice back pack one, but the thing was heavy before clothes going in it, used it for awhile.
Clothes - some bad choices there and probably spent way to much money.
Breast pump - should have gone straight for the electric double, rather than the manual which gave me RSI. I did need a pump though.
Every child is different and your needs can change.
Things I didn't have with ds that i wanted for ds were a baby bath/ change table combo (that I love) and a breast feeding chair (that I love).
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Can't believe so many hate their baby bath. I use it all the time and still and DD is 6mths next week. Don't think there is anything that I brought that doesn't get used. And we didn't get much when she was born so nothing really we didn't use.
Probably one thing and that was baby moisturizer we were given but not using a chemical filled one on my baby. And the odd ugly outfit.
Oh wait I forgot DHs cousin brought us all boy pirate stuff (like towels and a mobile) cos DH likes pirate stuff. Ummmm she is a girl!
With DD1 we used her baby bath up and till about 2 1/2 (we got a big one and it sat in the bottom of the shower). It is now a goat feeder and before that the dog bath. So it was well worth the $20 it cost.:
Yeah I got a big one also and it sits in bottom of shower and we fill it to the brim cos DD likes it deep.:
Oh my goodness.. Where do I start!?
Ahhh the whole nursery! I created a beautiful room for our baby complete with handmade artwork, a big tree mural and paper laterns over the cot.. DS has NEVER slept in there! DH does, quite regularly, and is quite fond of his tree mural ;)
The cot. We co slept. Still do most nights. I have got it set up next to our bed as a toddler bed.. So it does get used a bit now, but thank goodness I bought the cheap one from Target not the $1300 one I had my eye on!
All the J&J stuff I was given for my baby shower. Didn't use ANY of it. It was all given away!
Half my stash of MCN's. Some that didn't suit, some that didn't fit and now DS won't let me put any of them on him!
I have more!! I could keep going!!
Couldn't pick exactly one, but the several dozen bottles of various potions, powders, lotions and whatnot you're supposed to lather on babies. We only use that anti-thrush bum cream.
The curse of the muslin wraps. Some were big enough to use as headscarves, most we threw out.
Breast pads. Was given several boxes, used two. Two pads, not two boxes.
Our baby bath actually fell apart from TOO MUCH use - baths for two babies (far too cold in the bathroom for babies), then used as a washing basket, and a boat, and a pond, and I think we mixed cement in it once. Well worth the $10 or so from Ikea!
The baby bath. Kitchen sink worked fine thanks, and wasn't such a pain in the butt to fill/empty.
This little baby sunshade/tent thing someone gave me got used once, then ditched because DD hated it.
And dummies! I tried to give DD one on about day 3 or 4 out of hospital, she gave me a rather affronted look and spat it out.
Bath - to much hassle to fill and empty. If I was going to put it on the floor, it was just as easy to use the proper bath. Laundry tub was much easier.
Monitor - anxiety causing machine - plus no much need when she was with me 24/7
Cot - not even going to bother this time. We sold our very near new cot when DS was 11 months old.
I didn't spend money on many of those things except maybe $15 on the bath seat which was never used! Thankfully we didn't buy the cot either as DS has slept in maybe a half a dozen times. Even as I type he is asleep on a double bed mattress on the floor at 10 months old, before that we co-slept. I also didn't buy a sling but have 3 or 4 of them that were given to me. Never used DS hated them. As for baths the laundry tub is 'perfect' and high so great for our backs as is our massage table which now doubles up as the change table and some times that table even triples up as an ironing table when once in a blue moon I iron the big basket full of clothes that sits under the table :rofl: I'm surprised the wraps aren't more popular? I used stacks of them and ds hated being wrapped so mine were used in bed and in his little cocoon thingo and on the floor and as a protective cover on the change table and as a little blanket to put down on the carpet if we went visiting someone, they were great to throw in the bag as they were so light and rolled up so small, they were also fantastic to use over my arm when feeding as it was summer and if I didn't have something in between ds's head and my arm it was super sweaty so the wraps were light, cool and kept everything more comfortable. Even now I have a few in the car and they are great for blocking out sun.
1. the cot. argh. DS slept in it for maybe 2 months. and the idea of them turning into a toddler bed seemed a good one, little did i know he'd be much happier on a mattress then bed, where someone could sleep next to him!
2. breast pump. i only got a manual one so not very technical but just not for me. although i should thank it because it made me perservere with feeding rather than expressing :lol:
3. blankets/wraps - ours were all given to us 2nd hand by friends which was lucky because DS just never liked being wrapped (could be that i am the world's WORST wrapper!)...he was into a grobag by the time he was 12 weeks. proper blankets were ok, just more the bunny rug things & wraps.