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/

No wet wipes?!! But they are £3 for five packs in tesco. It's not exactly breaking the bank! And I have saved a fortune on make up remover/cleansing wipes, cleaning products since we started buying them. YOU CANNOT TAKE MY WET WIPES!!

Also, pram. Don't use it often but once DS was bigger lugging all 11kg of him in a sling plus a rucksack was not fun!

If you have twins, add back in the pram (good luck carrying two babies in a carrier after 3-4 months - yes I have tried), the baby seats if you want to bottle feed at all, the baby bath and support (so you can keep an eye/hand on the one while bathing the other) and, TBH, the electronic toys as well. Lots of the equipment is essentially another pair of hands, and I agree you might not absolutely need it with one baby (although why not get it anyway, if it makes it easier?) it makes life a damn sight easier with two.

I hate these articles. I always feel like the subtext is "silly woman, why spend £14.99 for a baby bath stand that will make your life easier for half an hour every day for the first 5 months of your baby's life? Your time is worth FAR less than that!"

Scratch mitts are a must!

My baby scratched his face to bits within an hour and when they are newborn their nails are too soft to cut... And those nails near their eyes!!! Ouch!

Given a previous thread about wet wipes and the campaign that Mumsnet is going to support, it's probably appropriate to mention here that wet wipes useful as they are are not flushable whatever the packaging might say and you should dispose of them in bins. I used to put them into the middle of the used nappy before I balled it up.

I use washable wipes and nappies, but wouldn't be without nappy sacks for when I use disposables or when DD had pants issues when toilet training! I don't want to put a stinky poo filled nappy straight in my kitchen bin or in my wheelie bin without wrapping it, especially if it has leaked.

We did use DH's messenger bag as a change bag because it didn't look like one, you can use any bag you want really.

We also used our baby bath loads as it was quick to fill and DS was soon too big for the sink. Our bath is downstairs so we could fill the baby bath in the upstairs shower room and bath DS in his room.

I think the trick is to borrow as much as you can to see what you'll use and what you won't. Everyone will be different depending on their circumstances.

I don't think I -could- would want to do without a pram, scratch mitts, nappy sacks or wipes.

I loved using a carrier with DTs, but even if it had been possible to wear them both at once, there were definitely (hot and sweaty) days when it was better to have them in the pram.

Scratch mitts probably aren't necessary, but it took me ages to build up the courage to snip my babies' nails.

I'm sure you can get 'round using nappy sacks and wipes, but they are are handy when you're out and about!

1. Change table

the back issue

14. Pram

As I remember telling friends at the time, a car is just a pram for big people (or alternatively, a wheelchair for the ablebodied). If you don't happen to have a big-people pram you may well feel the need to invest in one for the baby.

We got a secondhand IKEA changing table off Freecycle when I was pg, and I remember thinking 'I bet this goes straight back on Freecycle within a couple of weeks.' Cue an EMCS, can't bend comfortably or get down onto the floor, and the ability to change the baby while standing suddenly becomes vital. You don't need an expensive changing table, but you may find a basic one comes in pretty handy.

Baby wipes are the best! We use them to clean tons of thing. And I agree with the poster on the nappy bags. If you live in a flat it's not always possible to run downstairs and throw our pooey nappies. That would involve putting baby in sling, going down flights of stairs and so on. Much easier to just put the nappies in a bag and clear out once a day

I'm surprised that baby nail clippers didn't make that list as they're always flagged as useless, but I've just caved and bought some as I'm sick of trying to trim the nails on a wriggling infant using nail clippers. As my DM says - if there's anything that you can do / buy which makes a mother's life easier, do / get it

I had a pram both times (second hand both times) because I walked for miles with both babies. I lived in a city and public transport was a faff so I was quite happy taking them out in their pram.

I used wet wipes when out but I had a top and tail type bowl which I stored cotton wool pads in one side with sudocrem and used the other side for putting warm water in. I still have the bowl and my youngest is nearly 11. I used it in the bathroom for storing bits and bobs.

I used nappy sacks as I was in a flat.

But both babies came in the bath with me from the start. It was just a lot easier and I loved having that skin contact with them in the water. I had bought a baby bath for DD1 but used it once. It was just too much hassle trying to fill and empty it and then it took up far too much space. I bought one of those seats which have suction pads and once they got too wriggly to hold and could sit up properly I plonked them in that and I sat at the other end.

Both had bouncy chairs too which were a godsend when you are trying to cook and need them near you but not under your feet! They would happily sit and watch the washing machine go round while I pottered.