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/

DM nagged and nagged until I got a fancy change table with baby bath underneath. I had to begrudgingly tell her I love it now! We have no bath tub and the sink is too small to bathe DS in.

I use disposable wipes out and about and water at home.

I agree about shoes and bath products though, PIL keep getting baby DS shoes...I'll just tell them they don't fit as I really hate seeing little babies in shoes, they look so u comfortable.

I love our nappy bin. The baby's room is up two flights of stairs from the kitchen bin (and even further from the outside bin) so it's great.

Pram is essential IMO. DD hated the sling.

I cannot begin to imagine life without wipes. Reusable are fine for post meals but for poo, sorry but I want to be able to bin.

Electronic toys are not necessary for newborns but for older babies a few are fabulous - a jumperoo will keep a grumpy teething 6 month old happy for much longer than a basic rattle or soft toy.

Baby chair was also brilliant for keeping DC2 out of the way of DC1's stomping feet.

Other than that I agree...

I agree with most of those except the pram, I couldn't have managed DD in a sling after my EMCS and my mum liked to take her out, she wouldn't have managed a sling. We got one that became a pushchair which has been used long past when DD was too heavy to carry everywhere.
I didn't see the point of a changing table but then I was given a second hand one free and actually it saved my back and was even better for DH who is over 6'. The storage it provided was useful too.
I would love to use reusable wipes, I have never heard of them but they sound much more environmentally sound, where can I buy them?

Don't throw nappies in the kitchen bin, check with the council to see if they offer a nappy collection service

Oh yes and our bin men won't empty the bin if they see an unwrapped nappy inside so nappy bags are essential!

Am I the only one using a top and tail bowl at 19 months? I think they're great for washing bums and faces in the morning and when you go away they double up as a toiletry holder in your case. I've even got a new one to take to the hospital for our newborn as I can't leave my husband without one for our dd.

My most useless purchase was weaning equipment from plastic forks and plates to portion pots as we opted for baby led weaning and dd has always ate with adult cutlery off a normal plate. I was asked if my did wanted a teaspoon to eat scampi, chips and peas in the pub the other day i don't think I could eat that meal with a teaspoon with all the years experience I have using cutlery...

For us most of those were true but I do use disposable wipes and nappy sacks (and for a lot more than just cleaning babies) I also had a pram (although that was 1 pram, not 17 different ones, and it was a maclaren from birth buggy that cost about £200 and could easily do another child if I were so inclined.)

I had a nappy bin and it was rank and horrible. We got rid after about 6 weeks. We never bought most of the other stuff although I did get given a baby bath and top and tail bowl. I never used the bowl and rarely used the bath as the sink or normal bath with a seat in was far easier.

We have a nappy bin but one that takes regular bin liners.

We use reusable wipes half of the time because we use cloth nappies in the daytime so they go in the same wash bag, I love wet wipes though, I've bulk bought quite a few boxes of waterwipes whenever they're on offer this time around!

baby book - I filled up the one for DS and have filled up the relevant bits for the baby I'm expecting, I love looking through DS' one and being reminded of his baby days.

Pram - we have a carrier but the pram is essential if going out for long periods of time as I can't carry bags and a baby without backache after an hour or so.

Outfits - Used them a lot with ds, they don't need to be super fiddly and I actually found it easier to nappy change when I just had a tiny pair of joggers to pull down and less poppers to bother with.

Change bag - I found it very useful, especially the bottle pockets and key fob holder thingy.

no idea about bumbo as we never had one.

Changing on the bed would give me backache too - table all the way.

No baby bath but we're reusing a folding bath seat and a babydam bath divider.

Horses for courses. I didn't think much of the nappy bin we were given. I never used a bottle warmer, and am grateful that DH wouldn't give in to my pleas for a bumbo, even though I was certain it was necessary at the time.

I bought a cot top changer, which was a bit useless, and a bells and whistles travel cot which was barely used. My DC hated the sling (which thankfully had been given to me).

If you have someone who can pass things on to you, then perfect, because you have no idea if they will be something you need or not. Our stokke highchair is still being used 11 years later! I loved my change bag.

Oh, our bumbo - I regretted it when he was a baby as it was fairly useless, but it came into its own between about 18 months and two and a half years. Ds loved it and used to like to sit it to watch tv, and at the height of his haircut hating phase dh used to jam him into it in front of the night garden to hack at his noggin with the clippers.

Main thing is to wait until baby is there, especially if it is your first. You quickly realise what would and what wouldn't be useful. They don't tend to sell out, so plenty of time to order it after baby's arrival.

Love the nappy bin; changing bag is useful for all its pockets plus suitably unisex look since DH and I share; have a travel system, not pram; would have died of sleep deprivation without vibrating chair in the early months.

Didn't bother with changing table, reusable wipes (who has time?), baby book (ditto), just used clothes people gave us, no shoes till 11 months old and only worn when going outside now, some electronic toys from 9 months +.

I agree with most of these, especially the toys. DS has never been particularly interested in toys, he prefers playing with things like pots and pans and packets of noodles etc. Only now at 18+ months is he beginning to show interest in toys.

I throw nappies in the kitchen bin which I empty daily. I wouldn't empty a nappy bin daily because it wouldn't be full, and I don't fancy the idea of a binful of pooey nappies sitting around.

I couldn't have done without a pram though. Yes, prams are expensive, but no way was I going to lug my 8 kg baby everywhere in a sling, especially not when going food shopping!

Other incredibly useful stuff:

Bouncy chair. I wish we'd got a fancy rocking swing one as ds never bloody sleeps
Moses basket - got a modern plastic one that's now a laundry basket
Breastfeeding cushion - used constantly
Big (120cmsq) muslins
Bouncer jumperoo thing, aka 'the chair of neglect' which is amazing for popping them in when you need to get stuff done.
Baby gym thing - loves it.

I wouldn't have left the house in four months if we didn't have a pram. Ds hates the sling, I hate the sling - just Bung everything you need in the pram and head out, dos carrying a baby, a baby change bag and the shopping!

I don't agree with:

• nappy bags. We live on a second floor flat, totally impractical for me to be traipsing out to the bin all the time.
• wet wipes. They're necessary! I haven't got the time or inclination to faff about with reusable ones. And cotton wool and water does sweet sod all to get poo out.
• pram. I need a pram! It would kill me to constantly carry DS in a sling.
• what the hell is wrong with a bouncy chair??? DS loves his.

Half that stuff hadn't been invented when I had my first 45 years ago. The only one I had and wouldn't do without is a pram. A nice walk in the fresh air with baby in the pram, maybe a toddler sitting on it as well and the shopping underneath. Can you tell we didn't have a car, now that does save money.

skipton my DS will nap in his bouncy chair but not in his swing.

I didn't need the nappy bags, back in the day we had 2 dozen terry nappies but you did need a bucket to soak them in. One job I didn't enjoy was emptying the bucket every morning and washing the nappies, important to make a good job of it as very white nappies on the line was important, you would get judged if your nappies weren't brilliant white.

I disagree with the Nappy bin, we've loved ours, contains the smell nicely and ideal as we live in a flat.

Also, the baby journal, I had a bump to 1 year journal and filled it in properly, I'm like that though :D

The pram thing... well, yes carriers are great, I love my Ergo, but the pushchair is great if you go out for lunch or dinner and the baby is asleep,sitting down with the baby in the carrier isn't ideal!

Otherwise I totally agree :)

Agree with almost the entire list.

Only thing on the list that I did use was a top and tail bowl (ds is 15 now and it's still in the bathroom filled with bath toys really should get rid of it/them) but was happy using a bowl on holiday or away got the weekend.

Used wet wipes when out and about for convenience - at the time I hadn't thought of making my own reusable ones.

Never had a changing table - always changed ds on his mat on the floor, so was never worried about him rolling off.

Think I was given some nappy sacks. Again, they were useful when we were out and about but at home didn't use them. My best friend's dh (parents of 4) taught me to wrap the nappy tightly and use its sticky tabs to keep it closed. Even though we live on the first floor, I never found it too much of a hassle - put them in the kitchen or bathroom bins (both pedal bins) and emptied them frequently. no nappy collection where we were at the time

Had a pram attachment to our mountain buggy but probably didn't need it. The facility to attach the car seat was probably sufficient.

I think the baby bath got used about 4 times.

The other useless thing I got was from my SIL who has a thing about cotton buds. She gave me a big box pre birth, again with a new baby pack and again for Christmas. I get on well with her so have given most of them back as they were cluttering up the bathroom. Kept one box but at my rate of using them (box of 100, use at most 3 a year) I doubt I'll ever need to buy another one )

Well I'm going to defend the top and tail bowl. I found it really useful in the early days. My sister, who had had four children and never had a changing table, nappy bin or other gubbins, recommended it.

I used to use one half for water and cotton wool and the other half to put the dirty nappy in. We used reusables and the bowl contained the worst of the runny poo until I could get to the toilet and flush the liner down.

We never had a changing table either, just a changing mat on the floor, I preferred it because I could leave DS lying there while I fetched the top and tail bowl from the bathroom.

splendide I'm sure I saw something very similar to that changing bag in Aldi this week for £10

Here it is, not quite as nice as the one posted upthread but similar

www.aldi.co.uk/nappy-changing-kit/p/069717021307500

Agree with the majority of them but couldn't do without changing table, had a bad back. Baby bath is still used for now 2 year old, it would take ages to fill our bath, never mind the wastage of water.

Definitely can't survive without wet wipes, buy boxes of them as have 2 in nappies and for wiping up n cleaning sticky hands. Don't know of anyone who uses re usable, who has time for that with babies?

Also never used a baby carrier so pram was essential, all DC were quite clingy so if I had have used a carrier, think they would have been permanently glued to me.

Scratch mitts are great, HV said not to trim nails for 6 weeks as skin is attached to nails.

Nappy sacks used when out otherwise I just fold up n thrw in bin n if its soiled then in outside bin.

Another lifesaver for me was graco sweet peace chair, DD would nap in it.