When you had a new baby, what was your biggest waste of money?

[liquidclocks]

Don't know if this has been done before but can't find a thread if it has. I'm curious to know because I just seem to be tipping money down the mothercare drain and want to feel I'm not alone! Also that this thread may be useful for some mums-to-be...

Mine was a crib that I used ONCE!
Also wish I'd not bothered buying a travel system because it was too heavy, a baby bath, and the cute litte hooded towel that was so thin it didn't dry. Along with blankets because I ended up using a gro bag, the baby bjorn because couldn't get DS's legs over the top to get him in....

I could go on (and on and on) but more interested in what MN wisdom will tell me

ds1 - steriliser, bottles, milk. All bought 'just in case'. Never, ever used, thrown away after a few months.

ds2 - the cot!

baby bath. Rarely used by either.

Baby bath. Can't give it away on freecycle, even...anyone want one?

Oh & not actually bought but passed on by friend:

1. Moses basket (ds hated it, dd straight into cot)
2. Bibs. Ds still trashed his t-shirt at every meal - you might just as well accept you're going to change the t-shirt after lunch. Mad woman at snooty baby group used to have a 'lunch' bib to put over the 'ongoing dribble from teething' bib, so THAT didn't get manky...bizarre.

1. Room thermometer...swear the damn thing doesn't work...I'm freezing and it says 24 degrees!

2. Top and Tail bowl...do face first, then bum...

3. Any toys. Wee man prefers muslin squares to any toy!!

4. Baby clothes from M & S...you get better quality from Tesco at half the price!!

Very little luckily as got given so much buy my cousin. Agree that Baby bath is a waste of money but didn't have to buy one. Biggest waste of money - Baby Carrier the boys both hated it and they grew so quickly it hurt my back.

I borrowed lots of stuff when DS was born so the things that would have been a waste of money (Moses basket - he grew out of at 6 weeks), baby front pack (he was too bloody heavy after 2 months and did my back in), baby bath (again, grew out of by 6 weeks) ... weren't.
However, my biggest single useless waste of money was the Sangenic Nappy thing .... only worth it when he was breastfed (inoffensive poo smell but didn't last long sadly for us) and small (it doesn't hold that many nappies once they are out of newborns and DS was in newborns for about 2 weeks) ...
DON'T BUY ONE!

Oh gosh def tie on bibs as really can't be bothered to tie lol
Also a bouncy vibrating and musical mamasandpapas chair as it's not so bouncy. DD hates it and we ended up buying a normal bouncy chair which she LOVES.

Tie on bibs

Baby bath

Moses basket

Door bouncer used twice

Mac3 used for 20mins then returned to Mothercare

Tons of toys

Shoes for baby

dummy clip

Newborn clothes

A bebecar pushchair that cost £500, took 3 months to arrive from 2leftfeet then fell apart about 3 months later. Is currently rotting in the garage (literally!) while it's £80 replacement from Mothercare is still going strong.

Thermoscan

Nursery thermometer

Parenting books that there's no time to read

Big fancy highchair.Replaced it with a nice simple cheap easy clean easy fold ikea one.

What seems to be the case here is somethings were great for some, useless for others!!

I LOVED my graco travel system where you plonked the carseat on top of teh pram bit, I didn't like the ones with separate sections. However I had a v small baby, so she was only the size/weight of a 3 monther at a year old (13 or 14lbs) Hence it worked for me. I didn't even get a buggy intil 2nd time around!!

I bought that prince lionheart womb sound teddy bear, luckily on ebay rather than £30 new. Complete waste of time, DS howled louder when he heard the thing.

Oh and the bumbo too, DS keeps trying to escape
from it.

About £100 on assorted breast feeding paraphenalia, DS had tongue tie so bf for a week, slightly used 36Es anyone ?

Was a complete walking consumer trap but did not cross my mind not even once to buy a wet wipe heater.....

have been lucy really and the only things that have been a waste of money are too many 3-6 month clothes for dd. She is my first girl and i went a bit crazy buying almost everything i could find that was pink and a dress in 3-6 months so much so that she only had 5 dresses for 0-3 months but has a whole double wardrob crammed full of 3-6 month dresses. also shorts, t-shirts and romper suits for her, again as she is my first girl after 2 boys i have never put them on her they lay in the drawers still with lables attached awaiting next summer to flog off on ebay. at least she has worn most of the dresses and i have learnt to be more sensible with 6-9 month clothes, and did take some of the 3-6 month dresses that still had tags on back to swap for warmer 6-9 month.

Travel system (too heavy, hated it).
Blankets/top sheets (used sleeping bags).
Scratch mitts (didn't need them).
Breast pads (ditto).
Bath support thingy.
Bath thermometer.
Any clothes from 0-3 months that weren't sleepsuits/bodies (didnt' buy any, but was given a fair bit - not comfy for dd, too fiddly for me, and anyway she was a winter baby and mostly wrapped in a blanket).

Have to defend poor old baby baths! I had a c-section and found the baby bath great as I didn't have to stretch over the side of the big bath to bathe dd. My waste of money things were...

bumbo - ds hated it
Blankets for cot - by the time they were in it had switched to gro bags. Still use them a bit for nap times but I have too many!

Luckily we didn't have to buy a crib and borrowed one - biggest waste for us as DD hated it!!!

Travel cot - used it twice I think, at most.

Bedding, other than a couple of bottom sheets - DD had her Grobag on as sson as she was able

DD's cot and crib! She's 6 months old now and not spent one night in either. A crib is a completely useless invention. She was too big for it within weeks.
Also her changer. We always use the bed.
Again, all those cute must have clothes! Go for comfort every time now. If, anyone wants the cute clothes for newborns, we've got loads we're happy to sell. Still with labels on!
Bath thermometer. Saying that, it's a rubber duck one from Mothercare. We've never seen the temperature on it but it's dd's favourite toy.

Our favourites: Mamas and Papas Swing chair, she doesn't like it much now, but it kept us sane in the first few months.
Maclaren bouncer/rocker. She hated it in the early days, now we can't go anywhere without it.
Mothercare bath (one that goes across the top of the bath) saved our backs.
Bodysuits. Lots from Tesco and Mothercare.

I found my changing table invaluable! But had a c-section and couldn't do much bending for the first few weeks. And a baby bath is helpful if you are at all concerned about not wasting water.

We bought a baby sling of a slightly hippy earth mother variety and never used it, but a friend's baby loved it.

Change bag - with loads of little compartments, £40 down the drain

Sling/carrier - useless when you have a floppy back for weeks post-birth. And neither dd or ds liked it

Scratch mitts - ok not remotely expensive but still a waste of money

Teryy nappies - but have found loads of uses for them since. I think I used them for about 2 days.

what's a bumbo? (ds & dd are 18 & 16 so a long time since they were babies)

sorry if i'm repeating (not actually read full thread) but; stuff the shops still sell that mw and literature says not to use anymore - eg talc, duvet and cot bumper in pretty pattern which matches the nursery- why o why do shops still make these things if we're not to use them???

Oh god yes - cot bumpers! Ours was a present so someone else wasted their money.

Rustybear, a bumbo is like a massive potty (and is often mistaken for one!) but it is in fact a portable chair type thing. my ds liked it anyway.

bumbo

Often wondered about that meself Pete...

A bumbo is like a little moulded chair that is supposed to help babies sit up - a love 'em or hate 'em thing!

Thanks Mercy & liquidclocks - looks pretty useless tbh