To ask what baby item(s) we shouldn’t waste money on?

[Mummytooobe]

What did you buy but never used or thought was pointless?

We were looking at picking up a Moses on marketplace but by the time we’ve done that and bought a new mattress, we might as well have bought an entirely new one. Happy to do so but not if you didn’t use it.

What DIDN’T you use?

On our must-have list we have:

• Brand new mattresses for all baby sleeping places
• Ultra safe infant car seat (looking at the Avionaut or Maxi Cosi models)
• Supportive baby carrier like the ergobaby
• Compact buggy for after 6 months

We have also picked up a second hand Mamaroo swing for very cheap, so we’re pleased with that. Planning on breastfeeding so not getting any bottles or prep machines unless we need to.

What don’t we need? Please de-influence me!

We didn’t use a changing table, baby bath, bath seat and borrowed bits that we wouldn’t use for that long such as a bouncer etc.
Bought a cot, car seat that worked with our pram/travel system but also were given loads of clothes etc so did buy a few but not many. Vinted is great these days for kids bits.

Didn’t use Moses basket - just proper cot at home (small flat) and pram attachment if put and about it at friends’ etc

My essential was an electric breast pump (even if you go for an absolute basic single one). A friend passed hers on to me before I gave birth (it was a medela mini I think) and even though I EBF both my children there were a few bumpy patches, especially when my milk came in the first time, and I was so grateful to have it on hand - it was a lifesaver. Also the Clare Byam Cook book “What to expect if you are breastfeeding and what if you can’t” (pick up a second hand copy). Wouldn’t have been able to ebf without those two things!

Embrace Vinted and Facebook Marketplace.

Don’t buy a new travel system. Every single parent I know has gone through a few different buggies. We have 3! Get yourself something universally well liked like an Uppababy Vista off Facebook Marketplace for £150 ish so you can sell it on again. Get a new infant seat, and any pram car seat adapters that are suitable for Maxi Cosi are “universal” and will fit Cybex seats and many others.

Stokke Tripp Trapp chairs are worth considering. They sell a newborn set so you can hopefully put baby down whilst you eat your own dinner. Again… Marketplace is your friend!

Million Muslins everyone says you need, never needed them. Maybe if you have oily baby but we only use fours as thinner blanket in pram in summer. So 1-2 were plenty

Never had Moses basket - but had a next to me crib and cot as got older
Never even bought a bottle warmer, high chair, changing table, sleep grow bag, white noise machine, specific toy comforter, top and tail set.
Instead we had gumbo chair, changing mat on floor, blanket, baby bath

You don't need as many clothes as you'd think or blankets for that matter, if I could change that I would just buy plenty of sleep suits and baby grows, few clothes and a coat. And probably only 3 blankets or so, I did need bibs and muslins though! Very dribbley and the spewing up milk. Also a muslin on top of the changing mat on the floor is a bonus.

Loads of muslins. Seems to be a must have but even with a very sicky baby there's only so many you need. We had 3/4 unopened packs.

Baby bath - completely unnecessary (unless you don't have a bath!)

Travel system. In hindsight I'd have just got a good car seat (we transitioned to a 360 one very quickly anyway) and a small pushchair (highly highly recommended joolz aer). I've just given my travel system pram to charity, it looked brand new and still no one wanted it.

Blankets - I was gifted 15 when my 1st was born, wish I hadn't bought any myself!

As far as I can remember (mine are older teens) the only things you need are; a cot, a basic changing mat, a V shaped cushion if breast feeding and bottles and a steriliser of bottle feeding, a Moses basket or carry cot is useful when they’re tiny if your bedroom can’t accommodate a cot, car seat and pushchair. A sling is handy if you have a clingy baby, but not essential. Obviously clothes and nappies for the baby.

everything else is personal preference.

Different people will find different things useful. My first objected to all swaddles and sleeping bags but they've been great for my second. Euan the dream sheep helped my first sleep but my second appears to get no benefit from it.
I never used those tiny mittens for either of them, and fancy fiddly clothes in tiny sizes didn't get worn.
I bought way too much in the way of breast pumps, bottles etc before my first and didn't end up using any of it til I went back to work and was expressing for her to have milk at nursery.
Ultimately everything can be amazon primed or bought at the 24hr tesco if you really do need it!
The only thing I was glad I bought in advance thjis time round was stuff for me postpartum - the Frieda mom bottle and some prontosan made a huge difference to my healing after I had a tear with an SVD, and I had lactulose and painkillers at home in advance too and theyd be useful regsrdless of if it's a c section or vaginal delivery .

Pram bassinet if you have one. Sleepyhead or sleep pod on the sofa for supervised naps. In the carrier, and most likely on you for a lot of early naps! By the time mine was reliably not sleeping on me for naps, she’d long outgrown the Moses basket!

To be fair those star blankets were very useful and cheap on vented 😅

I breastfed my first until she was 2 and 3 months in with DD2, and still don’t have a nursing chair. I think a lot of baby stuff falls into the category of “nice to have if you want it and can afford it but not actually essential”. There are plenty of things on here I’m reading that would have been nice but we’ve coped without! All babies are very different so what works for one won’t work for another, to an extent you need to play it by ear and see how your LO gets on. My DD1 loathed all forms of swaddles, despite me buying every type under the sun, so I wished I’d just waited.

Never used the nursing chair...

Fancy 200£ baby chair thing that I was given the baby hated, loved the £5 one from Asda my mum bought.

I agree with highchair. Our 200£ nuna one was thrown away and replaced with the 20 odd £ IKEA one. Amazing support with the cushion when weaning too. Better than the others I tried.

Bibs are very useful for 6m+ when teething!

I breastfed and in the end mine didn't take a bottle, however I bought a breast pump which came with containers for the fridge and a couple of bottles, some breast pads and nipple cream. It was a useful kit to have (from avent but there might be better ones now) and I did end up using the pump a few times, not nessacerily to feed my baby but because I needed to express milk for my own comfort. I also had those little ready made formula bottles in the cupboard in case of an emergency which we never used.

If you don't want to buy a steriliser avent also did microwave steriliser bags which are a really good idea for people who might just need to do the odd bottle or dummy. (Mine wouldn't take a dummy either, just wanted my breast!)

Lanolin nipple cream was a lifesaver. The one thing I also recommend to people is a thermometer. When your child has a temp you get asked for the exact number and have to monitor if it goes up or down with calpol etc... It's not something I ever measured for myself before I had a baby and I had to rush out and buy one the first time my child got a fever.

For my dc's moses basket, bouncy chair or any kind of swing, playmat and pram were useless as they just wanted to be on me 24 hours a day for about 6 months. I had lots of slings which were life savers.

Essentials were the star wrap, because it goes in slings so well and a good rucksack.

Pram suits were also a waste of money.

Moses basket - neither of mine would sleep in it.

Cot and expensive mattress - I ended up co-sleeping with both of mine as they wouldn't let me put them down.

Some things are dependant on the baby - my first loved his jumper-roo and would happily sit in it and watch me do housework. My second child hated it and refused to get in.

My first sat in his high chair until he was three and cried when I said he was too heavy for it and could no longer sit in it. My second climbed out of it at 18 months and had sat in a normal dining chair ever since.

A next to me crib thing rather than a Moses basket. With a loses basket you need to get out of bed to put them in, really don’t want to do that every hour or so especially if you had a C-section (which can happen even if not planned).
in the living room we used the pram bassinet and one of those jungle gym mats where they gaze up at some animals. And for DC2 a travelcot so that DC1 wouldn’t jump on him…
Wouldn’t have wanted to be without our changing table (used an IKEA Malm chest with a converter). Hated changing on the bed or the floor, awful on my back and couldn’t have done it after csection.
no to nursing chair - you’ll want to stay in bed or on the sofa or wherever you are.
cheeky wipes
we liked the travel system we had and used it with both children for a long time (although also had a compact one for travel).
also had a carrier - DC1 hated it, and for DC2 I preferred a super quick sling.
what you do need is a thermometer (one of those that take the temperature by holding it to their forehead), sleep bags, some swaddle type things for when they are too little for sleep bag yet.
we also had a packet of ready made formula bottles ready with teat. DC1 took a few weeks to get used to the breast and we needed to combi feed - at least we had some until we could get ourselves set up with all the stuff you need. And a dummy. It really helped us when DC1 just would not stop crying one night…

for me personally i didn't end up using a nursing chair and now it sits in the corner!

Also my child didn't really the baby rocker (i had baby bjorn one) Although so many people love there's.

Moses basket was a great buy! (i brought it for £30 with mattress in the aldi baby event.

Egg baby temperature was a great purchase.

Snot sucker was a life saver although pre child i said i would never use it.

the white noise machine was brilliant!

Although imo a lot depends on your baby and its nature plus your family set up.

Like i have a small space so bulky items get in the way.

We had this for baby napping in the day. Worked well because he Wass a summer baby so we could use the mosquito net and have all the doors and windows open without worrying about wasps etc getting in there.

www.pramworld.co.uk/kinderkraft-lovi-3-in-1-baby-crib-grey?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5fetBhC9ARIsAP1UMgGh4-dMwBdjUW5KSiS1eYKpu6yLSDtNwxdhLdszZzGZEHsjnQQBuvQaAr4mEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#fo_c=743&fo_k=5210d777887520ac07b834d605c9e821&fo_s=gplauk

i second the love to dream swaddles!

There wasn't anything that didn't get used as we bought v thoughtfully/carefully.

The essentials:
Somewhere to put baby down safely everywhere in the house - crib in bedroom, Moses basket downstairs, portable bouncy chair.
Sling was quite useful.
Car seat!
Pram/pushchair
Loads of muslins
Thermometer
Snot sucker/nasal aspirator
Snufflebabe

What we needed urgently but hadn't expected to but my milk failed to come in for weeks so became emergency purchase:
Microwave steriliser
Bottles
Ready to feed formula
Bottle brush

Ooh yes to snotsucker, thermometer and car mirror. I also love the little electric nail file rather than nail clippers

An old pillow or two plus plenty of old pillowcases are really useful to put under baby when you're feeding (whether breast or bottle) as it helps save backache.

Bibs
Little fabric shoes
Lots of hats
Electric nail file

Also I wish I had bought newborn clothes instead of 0-3m. Everyone told me to just get 0-3 months, but they completely drowned her until she was about 3 months old.