20 baby items you're told you need but you don't actually need

[daisy2212]

I agree with most of these (nappy bin was the WORST buy of all for me), but don't take my wipes from me!!

Also, if you take reusable wipes out with you and use them, how do you get them home again if you haven't got any nappy bags?



metro.co.uk/2016/06/06/20-baby-items-you-will-be-told-you-need-that-you-dont-actually-need-5916377/

[Thelastusername]

The reusable wipes I have come with two bags for going out. One you put the clean wipes in and the second is for the dirty wipes after you used them.

However, I have disposable wipes for when I'm out and about and just use the reusable ones at home, otherwise it's a faff.

[CMOTDibbler]

I used reusable wipes. I had one ziploc bag of clean ones, one ziploc bag for used ones - as I used reusable nappies, the pooey ones etc were in the nappy bag, so the wipes bag was used over and over

[FellOutOfBed2wice]

A lot of these I agree with but you'll never take my nappy bags, wet wipes or pram!

[welshweasel]

I love our nappy bins and wipes, agree with most of the others. But everyone's different and if it makes your life easier then go with it!

[splendide]

From that list I used wipes, pram, nappy bags and baby bath. Oh and I have a change bag that is really just a bag but it clips to the pram in a clever way so worked better than a normal bag for that reason.

We used to bathe DS in front of the fire in the living room it was lovely.

Changing tables seem a bit nuts to me - I always just had the mat on the bed until he could roll then used the floor. But if you've got loads of space why not I guess!

[Swearwolf]

The nappy bin one I think depends on your living situation - just chuck it in the outside bin? I live in an upstairs flat, I'd have to either leave the baby and toddler for at least five minutes to do that, or trek them down the stairs, across a car park and somehow open the huge heavy communal bin. Flats also get smelly really easily, so a bin with two layers of insulation makes a huge difference!

Any of these things are going to be useful to some people...

[RiverTam]

Change table was brilliant, I have a bad back so the less grovelling around on the floor the better, plus it provided additional storage which was useful.

In all I'd agree with about half of those. But each to their own, eh?

[NickyEds]

I love wet wipes and nappy bags. I could not have managed without my pram (I would definitely be lost without my double). I 've never really understood the hatred of baby baths, they save you having to fill the big bath every time. I also loved my baby chair. Dd loves light up, noisy v tech toys. When ds was very little he was losing weight and very jaundiced, it was important for me to time his feeds and count his poos. I generally find lists like these insufferably smug.

[katienana]

Agree with some of it but feel like these lists are almost meant to make you feel.guilty for spending money on your baby! I can't imagine not having a pram.

[Sierra259]

We used our baby bath for nearly 2 years - far more economical with water than getting enough water for them to sit in in the big bath. Wouldn't give up my pram or wipes either. Nappy bags are great for out and about (especially for soiled clothes, or where you're asked to take nappies with you). I do agree with most of the others though - especially the shoes!

[ElspethFlashman]

You'd have had to wrench my changing table out of my cold dead hands.

[unlimiteddilutingjuice]

Most of these I agree with but I couldn't be without my wipes and my pram.
I get that prams are expensive (that's why I have a crumbling early 90'd model from the charity shop) but just a sling is going to be impractical for a lot of people.

[2nds]

I agree with a lot of these ESPECIALLY number 1

[TinyTear]

That article is really grating...

1. changing baby on the bed - gives me back pain. the changing table is at a better height
   
   
2. some of us live in a flat and can't just go down 4 flights of stairs for an outside bin which doesn't exist...
   
   
3. once they start weaning - great as the smell is worse - not needed before 6 months
   
   
4. 6. 8. 10. 11. 12. agree
                     
5. depends on the child. dd1 used her baby bath until she turned 2, she loved it
   
   can't be bothered to follow every point...
   
   don't like the way it's written though... "chuck it on the bed" why not place it carefully down?
   it's like BLW people - they always chuck food on the highchair tray, they never give it to the child

[MrsUnderwood]

I agree with some and not the others. Top and tail bowls are fucking pointless things. Also I had a changing table for DD but not for DS- we just use an old towel on the bed and keep a little basket of essentials for changing under the bed.

[StubbleTurnips]

Life without wet wipes?? How the fuck would I clean my bathroom without them.

[splendide]

I agree with Tiny actually, it's a really annoying article.

My life is absolutely strewn with stuff that isn't absolutely essential, so what? Also it's hilarious to think that the difference between buying all that stuff and none of it is more than a teeny drop in the vast ocean of what it costs to raise a child.

[switswoo81]

I have a changing table with nappy bin in the downstairs bathroom. All toiletries, wipes, nappies, medicines etc are there. Still in constant use after 16 months. It's always listed in these lists but has made my life easier and neater.will be used for toy storage once it's outgrown this life . Ikea finest..

I do find my pacapod very cumbersome now(was a present) is there such a thing as a mini change bag can be put into handbags?

[splendide]

I have a little mini changing bag that fits in a handbag!

www.amazon.co.uk/Skip-Hop-Pronto-Mini-Changing/dp/B00B7XUVOE/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby&ie=UTF8&qid=1465289855&sr=1-1&keywords=skip%20hop&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[MildlyattractiveBetty]

This article annoyed me this morning. You can't tell people what they need and don't!!!

I loved our baby bath and so did dd, surely it's a little unsafe to bath a child in a bathroom sink? Also the pram is essential and so are nappy bags?? Not all babies have to be dressed in plain white babygros and they can fuck off with their view on wet wipes!

I do agree with baby shoes being ridiculous.

[NotCitrus]

Some sort of baby conveyance is essential. I planned to use a sling but as I had to practise walking after months in a wheelchair while pregnant, needed a pushchair (suitable from birth). Didn't need a classic pram which I guess the article is thinking of.

I used cloth wipes which got rolled up in the cloth nappy and the lot in a plastic bag or nappy sack.

I worried about the height of the kitchen sink so used a towelling bath support. Actually we did have a baby bath - two actually - because they were given to us free and soon passed on. I suspect one was from the 70s!

[switswoo81]

Thanks splendide that looks perfect .Might sell the pacapod and buy it.cheers !

[Skiptonlass]

No pram? Mwahahaha.... Yeah right. I had spd so badly I can still not use a sling. The baby was born into a Swedish winter where it was regularly-30 in the day. It's probably fine to use a sling if you're in London based type who never has to negotiate anything more challenging than an uneven pavement but if you need several layers of wool and furs in the pram to survive being outdoors and are walking on several feet of accumulated snow/sheet ice then a nice sling isn't going to cut it. You need a pram. A hardcore pram.

We did use the changing table. I can't bend over to change him. And he does have the habit of sending up a spray that would shame old faithful. the bed is rather less wipe clean than the laundry floor.

Baby bath - yeah we used this too. Still do. Full and placed on laundry counter so baby is at correct height

Mitts and booties - see above comment about it being -30 out. Probably fine to avoid them in nipping out for a latte in Finchley but here you need them. Two friends kids got frostbite this year.

Nappy bin - well we live in a house so can put them out right away. If I still lived on the fifth floor of an Edinburgh tenement then yes, I'd have a bin.

Wet wipes are a godsend.

Now the bumbo. That was useless.

[ChocChocPorridge]

Almost all of it.. unfortunately, each kid seems to have one completely vital bit of kit that the previous ones couldn't have cared less about - just to keep you on your toes.

I don't have babies any more, but I still hanker after a wipes warmer... I don't even really know why, but it just seems like the ultimate baby luxury/frivolity.

[clarrrp]

(nappy bin was the WORST buy of all for me)

Someone bought us one when I had my eldest and it went straight back to the shop - there was no way I was having what was basically a bin full of poo sitting in the corner of the nursery.