Quick Survey.......things you couldn't have survived without

[goldendelicious]

Quick Survey......

What are five baby buys you couldn't have survived without, were really useful and gave you good value for money?

Also list 5 things you wish you hadn't wasted your money on, and wouldn't recommend to a friend/relative.

(Sis having 1st baby and seems to want to buy the WHOLE of Mothercare - help me try and talk her round!!)

Mine are: -

Best buys
1 - Muslin Squares soooo handy for all manner of things - sick, spills, protecting sofa etc etc
2 - Graco autobaby car seat & autobase, can't tell you how valuable this was for ease of getting ds in and out of the car - godsend.
3 - Baby sleeping bag/grobag, kept ds warm and cosy and couldn't kick it off
4 - Travel changing mat, brill when out and about and you know its clean
5 - V Tech baby play gym. Kept ds amused for hours on end, we were forever changing the batteries he used it so much! Worth every penny.

Worst buys
1 - Nappy wrapper. Smells even though it claims to lock smells in and a pain to empty and change cassette. Expensive too.
2 - Snow suit. DS was boiling even in mid winter. Found lots of blankets better.
3 - Expensive moses basket. Not suggesting i didn't find it useful, just no point buying a brand new expensive one cos ds was only in it for six weeks.
4 - Baby bath. We used this twice for ds then used a bath support in the big bath. Ten times easier!
5 - Baby play nest/doughnut, ds didn't get any stimulation out of it at all, just kept toppling over and screamed to get out!

Agree with travel system with clicky car seat - had a Graco Quattro Tour Deluxe which was fab to click car seat on to without disturbing ds and a doddle to fold (one handed).

BTW i'm selling it now as have no room to store it so if anyone interested let me know!

best buys:

We used the Moses basket a lot, both for daytime naps and at night.

Avent steam steriliser (prior to that I was boiling bottles)

A padded playmat, which we used at home and when we visited friends and relatives.

Folding bouncy seat (Baby Bjorn one) which was easy to take places and had three settings so baby can lie flat and sleep or sit higher up and play.

Sling, made it easy to go out locally when ds1 was still in the buggy and ds2 up to a few months old.

Would agree that the nappy wrapper bin was useless. Also didn't need (or want) the cuddly toys that many people gave.

I have a blackout blind for ds which has been quite a good buy did anyone else have one and find it useful?

oh also meant to add that the plastic baby bath seat from birth is a godsend..used for both mine and both loved it.

snap 1baby1bump

Best:

Rocker chair

Tinylove playmat

Fisher Price Singing Stars Chorus

Graco autobaby carseat

A really cheap light stroller (from 3 months)

Subscription to Mumsnet and it's free!

Grobags (O.K. that's 7 but nevermind)

Worst:

Bottle warmer

Nappy wrapper (nappy sacks are great)

Sunhats (you are supposed to keep babies in the shade anyway)

Cot bumper (you are not supposed to use them until they are 1 for cot death reasons and you are not supposed to use them after they can sit up in case they climb out so when exactly are you supposed to use them?!

booties/ baby shoes (so unecessary and they just get kicked off all the time, just use socks)

baby bath

Oooh yes a blackout blind is good

and another of my best buys was a bigger car (with 5 doors) to fit all the stuff in

Best buys
cheap plastic feeding chair from mothercare
plastic sheet to go under said cheap plastic feeding chair
sling
sheepskin fleece (now a rug in dd's room)
Terry squares & muslins
Duplicate comforter for when one is in the wash

Worst (mostly gifts TBH)
baby bath & baby toiletries
Small outfits
Millions of soft toys
Non washable playmat

Best Buys

1. gro-bag - what a godsend - I had winter and summer ones, excellent would highly recommend!

2. Baby-bjorn baby sling - fantatstic regularly used this when shopping in tesco and for family walks later had a back pack carrier for out walking - fantastic buy

3. cot bed - dd slept in from 3 weeks and always slept well

4. Can't remember the make now - cot mobile the one that has the very brightly coloured animals and plays classical music - idea sounds pompous but it was worth the extra money as kept dd amused long enough for me to have a shower

5. plastic linking rings that you can attach toys to pram, cot, etc.

Worst buys

1. Baby bath

2. Moses basket

3. Lots of blankets and sheets before had gro bags!

4. Baby monitor - live in a new house with paper thin walls and could hear dd before the monitor picked the sound up! Also the first one had didn't realise my neighbour had the same and could hear her and her husband talking on it one morning!

5. Breast pump, bottles. Could never express and dd refused point blank to have formula until 9 months - then the new bottles and teats were no use!

Oh yes plastic feeding seat - had a cheap one too that strapped onto chair and had a little tray - excellent took it everywhere!

And a worst - play gym - toys too scary for a new born - sold it on ebay and got a washable regular mat much better!!

Thinking about it think the mobile was Tiny Love!

And yes Ponka why do they sell cot bumpers when we can't use them?!!

Worst:

Grobags (DS loathed it. Borrow one first if you can before shelling out.)
Baby bath unit with a moulded sticky-up bit in it.
Covered ice cube trays for freezing purees (we did BLW in the end!)
Tiny outfits (thoroughly agree with the poster who recommends lots and lots of vests and babygros)
Johnson's et al baby wash, etc. They all contain SLS and other yucky stuff.
A rucksack type of changing bag, requiring use of additional handbag.

BEST:

Real nappies.
Caboodle changing bag, which doubles up as a handbag
Britax isofix carseat
Windowsox (I just cannot recommend these enough for summer. £23 fantastically well-spent)
A really good nursing bra. Forget M&S. Forget Mothercare. Get yourself to John Lewis and buy one that actually supports your boobs.

BEST
1- Sling
2- Muslins
3- Chiropractor
4- Avent Isis Pump
5- Mothercare Shawl (otherwise known as "magic blanket" in this house)
6 - WINE
7- Travelcot (probably only loved this time cos it is set up in Psychomum's lounge )

WORST
1- Baby Bath (moulded bath seat in main bath was easier)
2- Top n tail bowls

Best :
Sling
Wrapping blanket (Mothercare)
grobag
Bath support (The hard type plastic ones - a god send with DS2 as I could look afetr DS1 at the same time)
Poncho!! from Jojo Maman Bebe- You just have to get the head though. So easy compare to a snow suit.
A bouncy chair
A toddler : the best way to keep a baby entertain...

Worst :
Snow suit
Lots of clothes - they grow too fast

Best:
1 Grobag
2 Backpack style changing bag
3 Bouncy seat with toybar attached
4 Hand knitted shawl by my aunt
5 Babygros my 2 lived in them till they were about 4 months old
6 Plastic seat which has suckers for putting in the bath, enabling child to sit unaided!
Worst - all gifts BTW
1 Totally impractical blue satin pram quilt and pillowcase, with long blue ribbons which my MIL bought, after deciding that the hand crocheted blanket was "unsuitable"
2 Baby nest play thing - MIL again
3 Great big holdall/changing bag thing - MIL again
4 Bottle warmer - guess who?

I wish that those travel systems had been around when the DS was born, it would have been so much easier
3

Best

1. Plastic/waterproof backed bibs (had pukey babies)
2. Maclaren pushchair
3. bottle sterilisation thing that went in the microwave
4. Baby nest (mine loved this)
5. One of those booster seat style high chairs

Worst

1. Grobag (both mine hated them)
2. Nappy disposal thing
3. Expensive pushchair (pointless, should have just gone for a more practical maclaren)

worst buy
big pram that didnt fit in car
nappy disposal
baby toileties
nappy storer
most teats (For bottles)

best buys
nappy bag
bibs
babygrows
vests
socks
thermonter
calpol
baby milk (i breastfed till one stessful night)
microwave stearlizer (done in secs)

Best buys:

1. Muslin squares (used for sick & spills when they were babies & both boys went on to use them as comforters)
2. Dummies (DS1 was a very colicky baby & I was grateful for the few minutes relief the dummy provided!)
3. Infacol (for above reasons!)
4. Cot bed (has been used for a total of nearly 7 years between both boys) 5.Baby Dan anti tip buggy (great for shopohlics like myself, as you can hang loads of bags on handles & buggy does not tip back)

Worst buys:

1. Nappy wrapper (nappy bags do the same job & do not result in babies room smelling foal!)
2. Baby monitor, as we lived in a small house at the time & I could hear any cries without the need for a monitor!
3. Big bulky M&P pram/pushchair. It was too bulky to fit neatly in car boot & I only attempted shopping with it once. It was replaced with a buggy very quickly!
4. Baby play nest (they never looked comfortable in it & got no stimulation from it at all!)

Best buys (no order)
Mamas & Papas Pramette and car seat base
Bouncy chair (ds lived in his until he was too big for it at about 5months old)
Microwave steriliser (Tommee Tippee one, found Avent too fiddley)
LOTS OF SLEEPSUITS (much easier then outfits)
Grobags

Worst buys (again in no order)
Baby bath
Moses basket (was a gift, ds was in it less then a month)
Cotbed flat sheets (fitted ones much better)
Booties (gifts but bare feet indoors much easier)
Mamas & Papas change bag (think it cost us about £25 got a free huggies one from Boots that my parents have at their house and I bought a beach change bag from Toys R Us for £7 much much better)

best buys;

dummy's (and lots of them)
microwave steriliser
muslins/terry cloths
playmat thing
bathseat for big bath

worst buys;

nappy wrapper
cot bumper
grobags
babybath
toys

best:
Baby Bjorn, carried 3 babies to 10 mths each.
Muslin squares, endlessly useful.
Ikea high chair, £17 and so easy to clean.
Avent breast pump.
Instep nipper 3-wheeler, light and manoevrable.

Worst:
Mamas and papas high chair, a nightmare to clean and "five adjustable heights2 - why???
Baby toiletries - all you need is big bottle of baby bath.
Mamas and papas splash mat - too small to be any use.
Feeding dishes that stick to high chair - they didn't.
Too many newborn clothes.

Best:

• My pram/ travel system, expensive but used the carrycot bit for 6 months and the pushchair till 18 months, loved him being able to lie flat and not bunched up in a car seat or buggy
• muslins - still used
• grobags
• bath seat, far safer IMO

Worst:

• back carrier, bought for a cornish holiday and never used since
• baby toiletries, to this day I have never used anything other than baby bath (DS is 2!!)

oh yes ponka, baby socks and shoes so stupid.
Also top and tail bowl - what's the point of that then?
Also hated the way little outfits ride up. New baby needs sleepsuits, vests and maybe some all-in-one shortie suits if in summer. No dresses, jeans, T shirts, skirts etc etc.

remember tho it's horses for courses - I found snowsuit useful when carrying in Babybjorn.

Also we love our back carrier, have had so much use out of it (but buy a good one - ours is the £100 Bush Baby) - best if you do a lot of walking tho. Good on the beach too!

Best things:
Lindam day and night bottle warner - saved the trips down to the kitchen in the middle of the night and the cats trying to get out!
Grobags - fabulous, what more can I say
Bath support - angled bath support with a cover on, which saves you from holding baby with one hand whilst washing him/her with the other
Humidifier - dd gets croup quite regularly, so been v useful
Door bouncer - spent hours in there whilst we were able to eat lunch!

Worst things -

Too many clothes
cot mobile
baby shoes - what is the point???
Breast pump - hated the blo**y thing
Snow suit - bulky and way too hot for our winters!