What did you buy that you didn't need.....

[cleoismycat]

......before the arrival of baby? My friend has some NCT homework on this question so this is sort of cheating by asking you all!

thanks

A baby bath - after the first go it just seemed easier to use the kitchen sink (helps that it's a big ceramic one probably) or the big bath.

A baby carrier/sling - was just uncomfortable and all my ideas of merrily doing the housework/cooking/ etc with a contented baby sleeping against me were a crock of shite.

Any baby clothes for the first few months other than babygros - they were too fiddly to get on and off and a pain to have to iron after washing for the 10th time a day. I would buy one or two 'best' outfits if you must, but otherwise stick to the babygros!

PS just remembered that with baby no.1 I bought all the bottle feeding paraphanalia 'just in case' I didn't manage to breast feed or my boobs suddenly dried up. I never used any of it. And it was daft anyway considering we lived five minutes away from a 24 hr supermarket

3 cots here :o DD1 wouldn't entertain the idea of sleeping in one and DD2 looks to be cut from the same cloth.

Baby bath. Pile of shite.

About 8 of the slings I have. Ended up with one slung we both lived and now dd2 loves it too.

Enormous cot mobile that would have killed dd1 if it had fallen on her. It was so heavy that it was totally unstable on the cot she wouldn't sleep in.

A cot. I know, who'd have thought it, but neither of my two ever spent a full night in it.

We didn't buy much else initially (pram, baby carrier, changing mat, top an tail bowl, car seat, Moses basket) but we did use them.

Ah, just read up-thread and see plenty of people would have thought it, re. the cot. Good to know I'm not alone!

A cot

Top and tail bowl

Dirty nappy wrap bin thing

Change table with bath in it - change table was good but bath underneath was so low it was back breaking.

Expensive high chair - ikea antilop was so much better.

Travel System. Fucking hated the thing. Ended up with a maclarean which was brilliant.

About 12 Moses basket sheets and blankets
I only needed two-three at a push.
Used big Ikea funky muslins for carrycot sheets and a folded muslin under her head in moses basket.

20 muslin sheets- needed around 5 including the under the head ones.

Bibs - bandanna bibs much better.

Fabric bath support -hate baby bath but it's easier,quicker and less screaming on both parts.

Scratch mitts

Light hats.

Booties- PITA.

DD is 5 months and is still (just) in moses basket, so worth the money in our case.

Thank you for asking OP because it gives me a chance to rant FUCKING RIDICULOUS POINTLESS BASTARD GRO EGG THERMOMETER. 20 quid I'll never see again to tell me if it feels cold or hot.

I was 38 years old when I had DS. I KNEW if it felt cold or hot. Why did I think that the presence of a child would rob me of this crucial life skill natural ability???

Breathe Enjoy.

Baby bath. Filling/emptying it was too much hassle.

Used actual bath. I just ran it quite shallow and held DS with one hand and cleaned with other then used plastic support when he got a wee bit older. Or ran it deep and got in with him. Or just stuck his bum under the sink tap if I couldn't be arsed with the whole bath thing!

Moses basket. DS hated it. He was either held or put on a playmat when awake and held or slept in our bed when asleep!

Sling (3 of them, to be precise, tried baba sling, a Chico one and the baby bjorn one). Bloody waste of money, stupid baby brain! DS wanted actual arms or nothing!

80% of stuff we bought we never used. Cot, pram, bottles, sterilizer, top and tail bowl, baby bath, nipple shields, bibs, gro egg thing.
Sling,night light and sky tv/I phone for mammoth breastfeeding sessions and broken nights were definitely the best buys!

cleo do I know you? I'm going to nick these

cartons of formula, bought too many muslins, baby wipes, disposable breast pads, lilypadz, smallest size baby clothes (DS was 10lb 6oz), cot, adapter to put maxi cosi car seat on phil & teds buggy, 'shoes' for DS before he was about 9 months.

I also bought all of the bottles because I didn't plan on breastfeeding for long. Even bought the 3month+ and 6month+ teats to go with them. Really must get rid of those...

I've actually found the things I initially didn't use came in handy later.

The snot-sucker wasn't needed while DD was tiny as she didn't get any colds. But as a toddler, she started catching them and HATED having a snotty nose, so it came in handy then (I wouldn't use it in public though - ew!).

I got one of those Baby Bjorn bouncy chairs, thinking DD would either nap in it or be content to sit in it while I did things around her....hah! I was despairing at the waste of money until aged 20 months, she suddenly took an interest in bouncy chairs and now she adores using it like a human catapult..... ahem.

at Enjoy and her egg thermometer.

For us it was:
Moses basket, stand and sheets - dd must've slept for a grand total of half an hour in it in total.
Bath support - used a baby bath or just held dd.
Top and tail bowl - bought in a moment of last minute pregnancy madness, never, ever used.
Newborn clothes - she only ever looked comfy in a babygro, so that's what she wore. Even at 0-3 and 3-6 she wore stretchy, comfy clothes, nothing stiff like jeans.
Lots of toys - dd wasn't interested for ages and just a few would have been plenty.
Wrist rattles - bought after reading a forum post on another site saying I needed them. I did not need them.
Nasal aspirator - I did use one, but the first one I bought was crap. This one was the bees knees when dd had a cold and couldn't sleep or feed with a bunged up nose.
Feeding tops from Mothercare - either I have deformed breasts or the holes are in the wrong places. I just wore normal tops and hoiked them up.

I can't bring myself to include my travel system on the list because it is a thing of beauty and I love it, but from 6 months I would probably have been better served but a fold-up buggy. But being able to attach the car seat was useful at times.

Any shoes before 9 months, bottle warmer, extra changing mat (one in the changing bag was enough), cheap sling (when replaced with a good one used it a lot), too many clothes - way too many clothes!

Other than that, I used pretty much everything: cot, baby bath, copious amounts of muslin sheets (pukey baby indeedy), breast pads, nappy bin, travel system (brill!), brolly buggy, vibrating baby bouncer (she loved it), etc..

Oh and EnjoyResponsibly - hahaha!!!

Hmm... that reminds of a duck 'thermometer' we got for the bath - it shows just cold and hot... D'oh!

Oh dear, we have bought a GroEgg! Although actually, even though the baby hasn't arrived yet, I have been intrigued to find that the house is actually warmer than recommended, so I suppose it's been sort of useful, although I could have achieved the same effect by looking at the free thermometer that came with our purchase of a sheep toy which makes womb noises which I suspect will join the list of unnecessary buys...

A changing bag. We've never used it. Everyone else seemed to have one, so we thought we needed one.

Breast feeding tops. Although I did wear them a bit in the early days before I learned about layering.

And I got a 0-3 months size warm suit thing for going out, but it was the middle of summer before DD grew into 0-3 month clothes.

I wish you could just buy a chassis that uses a car seat as the pushchair seat IYSWIM. DS hated the carrycot of the pushchair when out and about (did sleep in it for first 6 wks but a moses basket would have been cheaper) and I never used the 6mo plus chair as I'd bought a fold up Maclaren by then. Spent first 6mo in the car seat on the travel system chassis.

Baby Bjorn sling- he didnt like being slung at all and by the time he grew into it he was too heavy for it. getting a baba sling next time.

Got given a Bumbo. DS hated it but I regifted it and the recipient's child absolutely loved it

Funny to see the comments on bath supports. I would have said that was the best thing I bought (plastic moulded one). Used a washing up bowl for 2 weeks, then the support until he was 8 mo.

Sling - DD went loopy in it and tried to throw herself out.
Playmat with arch - she hated it
scratchmits and all 0-3 clothes that weren't babygrows
Mobile for cot

bottle warmer, travel system pram (even after I swore not to buy another after DC1), dummies (she hates them), cot blankets, scratch mitts, top and tail bowl, tons of cotton wool balls, snowsuit, packs and packs of breast pads and maternity pads which still fall out of my cupboard on a regular basis even though DD is nearly 1....

The GroEgg just isn't right about what's a good temp in my flat. My baby's very happy at 21 degrees AND a winter tog, sleep suit and vest. Not what the GroEgg says!

Baby Bjorn sling-DD seemed to like it, but I couldn't stand wearing it-felt claustrophobic and slightly panicky as it was tricky to release quickly.

Nasal aspirator

Baby bouncer-My fault-went for style over practicality. Opted for a wooden Bloom bouncer which was massive and far to big for DD who was 4 weeks' prem and diddy for ages. By the time she was 4 months and big enough not to look lost in it, she decided she hated it. She probably used it 4-5 times.

Scratch mittens. Never used

Night light

Bumbo-more use than the bouncer, but could have done without

A shawl-used once

wrist rattles

top and tail bowl

I actually found the bath support very useful, same goes for the baby bath. It fitted perfectly over the big bath (happy coincidence) and the bath support meant I had both hands free. Make sure you put a muslin on it though, it can get quite cold otherwise.

The travel system was a waste of money, we ended up with a maclaren. DS hated his baby gym, and also his bumbo. I also bought lots and lots of muslins and have barely used them, DS was sick only a few times.

After reading about them on MN, I decided not to buy a Moses basket, but a friend gave us one and I actually found it very useful, I would get one for the second DC too.