which vitally important baby purchases turned out to be a complete waste of time and money for you?!

[Ilovekittyelise]

having just seen the thread about the uber-pointless top and tail bowl, it reminded me of the first time mum frenzy of buying so much rubbish that never got used. thought it might be fun to start a list, which might even save a few pennies for a few first time mums!

im going to kick off with newborn hat * 3. my son had so much hair he had a sweaty baby head.

[flowerygirl]

Haha my mum insisted I get a top and tail bowl and I've never used it once! Pointless purchases include any clothing for a new born that does up at the back...

[FinallyGotAnIPhone]

I think for every person who says they bought something and it was pointless you'll find plenty of others who thought those products were absolute necessities save the top and tail bowl obviously - what a croc of shit those are!.

E.g.
We never used our baby monitors!

However I couldn't get enough of swaddle blankets (swaddled both DDs for about three months).

Now most people I know couldn't live without their baby monitors and gave up on swaddling early days.

[TooTryHard]

Haha. This.

www.amazon.co.uk/Munchkin-Fresh-Food-Feeder-Colours/dp/B004QQ5HMU/ref=sr_1_5?s=baby&ie=UTF8&qid=1388700584&sr=1-5&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

Wtf was I thinking? Pfb obviously.

[WitchOfEndor]

A monitor. Top of the range. We soon realised that we could hear DS from anywhere in the house!

[FinallyGotAnIPhone]

On a serious note though and in addition to flowerygirl's post any clothes with buttons on as opposed to poppers go straight to the charity shop in my house. Buttons on clothes for babies.... Clearly designed by someone who has never had a baby.

[TooTryHard]

Yy finally. And anything with a hood on.

[TheRobberBride]

Agree it's a matter of perspective.

I got good use out of the top and tail bowl but never used the baby bath.

Couldn't have managed without muslins but the swaddle blankets were a waste of money.

In retrospect I don't think I'd have bothered with an expensive travel system. I'd just have bought a really good stroller (a Baby Jogger probably) and used that from birth.

[IHatePopUpTents]

Anything that only had poppers around the nappy, I honesty thought I had dislocated a few limbs trying to get her in one as a baby and decided to cut it off to spare my sanity...

[plannedshock]

Monitors, baby shoes (not bought by me) anything with poppers or buttons at the back, buttons in general,

[DaddyPigsMistress]

Somebody gave us a baby wipe warmer. They declared it an essential piece that they would of 'died' without

Fools and their cash

[FourFlapjacksPlease]

Nappy wrapper bin thingy. I have no idea why I thought I needed one.

[Ilovekittyelise]

oh yeh the monitor [cringes]. we could hear the baby, but at least it was useful for my inlaws when they were listening to our conversation (which WAS bitchy, and WAS about them......)

[joanofarchitrave]

Baby bath? presumably designed for the days when nobody had an indoor bathroom or any heating in the bathroom except one of those radiant heaters at the ceiling. Useless in most modern houses.

Top and tail bowl quite helpful for us as we had no running water upstairs.

Breast pump. I'm unfortunately one of those women who spends 40mins pumping to get not quite enough milk to cover the bottom of the bottle.

Travel system. Car seat was quite useful, otherwise wish I'd got a secondhand 80s pram.

[Beamur]

So many things!
Baby monitor, noisy mobile thing, baby bath (especially if you've had a cs), the travel system (luckily a 2nd hand gift as it was awful).

[Beamur]

Oh, and the Moses basket and stand and most of the bedding. All I used were grobags.

[Ilovekittyelise]

i also meant to say there were items we found useful, but needed less of, like cellular blankets and sheets; there wasnt nearly as much shit everywhere as we expected!

[MostlyCake]

Breastfeeding pump - like joan I could barely express 10mls after 30 mins. Likewise extra bottles with lids only (no teats) to store all the gallons of milk I would be expressing.

Angel care monitor with a sprung mattress - doesn't work with an air gap....luckily we could take the monitor back!

[BobPatSamandIgglePiggle]

Snow suits - too much faff.

Muslins - put one under DS' head to save changing the sheet but couldn't figure out other uses for them. My best friend says she used them for 'everything' though!

Hooded baby towels. DS was prem and tiny but still grew out of them quickly. Didn't see the point

Steriliser - Milton in cold water was better

Baby blender - totally shite!

[TheCrackFox]

Johnson's baby lotion. Never did find a use for it.

Baby monitor. We lived in a small 2 bedroom flat. What on earth obsessed me?

Top and tail bowl.

Nappy bin. Just stank. Much easier to put used nappies straight into the outside bin than the horror of emptying the nappy bin.

[Artandco]

See we used top and tail bowl for years. We used reusable nappies so I would put warm water in one half and then would put the dirty nappy in the other half. Finish cleaning babies bum/ new nappy then take top and tail bowl into bathroom to empty.

Never used a baby bouncer/ jumperooo/ walker. Didn't have much space in flat so didn't buy, figuring we would buy if needed. Both babies were happy laying on sheepskin when tiny and they sat with pillows around as they grew.

Never brought a plastic baby cup/ bowl/ plate either. Only childrens cutlery. Neither have been throwers of stuff so just gave them regular small plates and a glass. Friends think we are Barmy! But in 4 years ( x2 children) nothing is broken

Never used a baby changing bag ( just mat in normal bag), no baby lotion/ oil, no bottles, no blankets ( baby sleeping bag in cot, footmuff in pram)

[EugenesAxe]

Breast pads. Shit latch due to probable TT, non-existent supply. I used to feel so sad when friends described their jets shooting out if their babes disengaged unexpectedly. I bought about 3 or 4 boxes. Just don't buy any until you have a need. Mine mainly soaked up blood and I quit quite quickly...

[joanofarchitrave]

Bloody hell, muslins useless??? I use them for absolutely everything and ds is almost 10! When he was a baby I used them on my shoulder for messy operations - shaded him from bright lights while feeding - used one as a window shade in a car on holiday; when he was older I cut them in half and put them round his neck as dribble catchers; these days I use them as general cleaning cloths, and to let fruit drip through for jelly... I wish I'd bought them decades ago!

[noblegiraffe]

I got bought a load of weaning stuff. A fricking mouli.
I did BLW and it's gathering dust in the kitchen cupboard.

[SpicedTeaAndXmasCakeOrDeath]

Never used baby lotion or muslins either, not entirely now (2 kids later) what their purpose is?? Wouldn't be without jumperoo though! And loved putting them in big thick snowsuits knowing they'd be warm enough... Horses for courses I guess although a nappy wipe warmer is ridiculous!

[yummychocolate]

Breast pump- same reason as pp. I even got a second pump thinking there was something wrong with the pump but no it was a supply problem.

Baby rocker- a cheapy bouncer was used a lot more.
I used top and tail bowl a lot during the cotton wool and water bottom cleaning phase.