Useful baby items

[CarrotCake44]

What's the one baby item/equipment/accessory you can't live without and the one which you thought you needed but never use?

Muslins squares - amazing for everything always

Baby bath - used once

Cheeky wipes - reusable, soft towel-like wipes used like wet wipes. I thought cotton wool or wet wipes would be fine. These are so much better - we were getting through so many wet wipes which was expensive, ecologically unsound and meant I kept worrying about running out. Really recommend.

Hakka pump - good to stick on the other boob when expressing, to collect as much milk as possible.

Sleepyhead - amazing for daytime naps or to put the baby down in the same room as you. Only realised this was a gap we needed to fill when we got home from hospital.

There are too many to list that were super useful but one random one that springs to mind was the bouncy chair. DD was a terrible napper as a small baby and did a lot of her naps in the bouncy chair in front of the TV, at least that way I could sit down, watch telly and have a brew whilst I struggled to get her off to nap. The chair was actually over 20yrs old as my DPs had it for my younger sibling!

One thing that was useless was a foam baby bath insert thing that a relative gave us. You're meant to lay the baby on it and they float on it in the bath. DD hated it and would scream and it's awkward anyway as you can't bathe their back side like that anyway so still need to move them around a lot and you don't really want to leave them floating around a bath tub like anyway.

Basket downstairs with wipes, nappy bags, cream and nappies in it.

Bouncer chair was a life saver; both upstairs and downstairs so you’re not carrying it up and down all the time. Play mat in both places was useful too. Plus a box with nappies, wipes and cream downstairs.
Baby bath was in no way useful

Sling was fab. Bassinet for pram useless, switched to seat with newborn insert on day 2 as baby slaloming on being pushed down irregular London streets.

At different points, different things been most useful:

A disco ball my cousin have me, the lights could buy us an extra 10mins in bed, it once have me an hour and half nap when I was shattered.

Cheeky Wipes - they wipe better than disposable, cost saving and eco friendly.

Bouncy chair - nap without holding!!!

Jumperoo - awake but letting me do small jobs.

Rubber ducky - just because she loves it

Hey Bear you tube channel - as she got but older dancing vegetables had power to stop a meltdown. I never planned on screen time but sometimes it's survival.

Sling - used constantly for 2 children from 10 weeks to about 3.5 years each.

Muslins - everyone says you need tons of them. Never really used mine but I was lucky neither were very sicky. Especially useless were the giant ones. Was given a pack of expensive ones and gave them away unopened.

And the fact that responder one said muslins were the essential item and I had them on the never used list an hour later just shows how different everyone's experience is and how difficult it is to predict I'm afraid.

Need=a gravity bouncy chair, a sleep nest for sofa naps
Don't need = a baby bath

I was coming on here to say bouncy chair was useless for us, my DD hated hers 😂 a white noise machine has been my holy grail would 100% recommend!

Best - shnuggle baby bath, perfect prep and all the TV subscription services

Worst - travel system (love the buggy but I've put the car seat on the chassis about 3 times over nearly 4 years, should have saved the cash), next2me - it's just a place to put washing.

Ooh and we still use her baby bath now and she’s 11 months, never had a bath without it.

@DappledThings

And the fact that responder one said muslins were the essential item and I had them on the never used list an hour later just shows how different everyone's experience is and how difficult it is to predict I'm afraid.

Totally agree as we had a baby bath with a sling thing in it that we really liked 😂 and I've got most of the muslins I had for DD1 back out of storage and they've washed up as new as they didn't work very hard (another not very sicky one). I've put the plain white ones in my jam making kit, there's so many of the damn things! I think we had way too many bibs as well but i haven't looked in that bit yet...

We didn't even consider a sleep nest product because of the Lullaby Trust SIDS guidance, didn't have a Moses basket as everyone said they were a waste and we managed just fine with the pram bassinet for downstairs naps. Have got a Moses basket for this baby though as want her to have a defined space that our older DD can understand if baby is in that she's to be left alone...

@8dpwoah I definitely used and appreciated the Moses basket (and baby bouncer) loads more second time round. So handy to have places to put the baby safely out of the way of little hands!

Stretchy baby sling - couldn't live without

Muslins - didn't need at all. This might be because I didn't have sicky babies and didn't leak milk but the only thing I found them useful for were wiping up my tears!

Muslin cloths - DS is 3 now and I’ve still got them to hand.

Yes to the comments that everyone finds different things useful!

I'm surprised to see so many people saying they found the baby bath useless. We used it for years, particularly with DS1 who had an emollient in his bath, so we could have a higher concentration of emollient in the water and deeper.

Baby Bjorn bouncer was the best thing we purchased, we have used it every day and our baby is seven months now. I've also used the Snuggle baby bath every day, it's been great for us.

I also couldn't have been without the Sleepyhead and Moses basket in the lounge in the early newborn days, just to have spaces to put the baby down and for day naps.

Also agree an extra nappy mat and nappy caddy for downstairs is very helpful!

Moses basket was a bit of a waste but he did look cute in it. With hindsight I’d have just moved into DS room with him (which is what I did after 4 weeks anyway because he is crazy long).
Baby bath: I didn’t get one but I tend to bath with DS. So much easier.
Muslins: I’m not a massive fan to be honest but if you do bother definitely go for the larger ones rather than the standard size. I mainly used them as receiving blankets.
Changing bag: get a changing wallet instead of a full bag. I can fit 4-6 nappies, wipes, nipple balm, nappy rash cream and nappy bags in mine. I then have a separate dry bag for a change of clothes. Goes in the pushchair basket or my regular bag. I’ve used the full size changing bag once: when we went swimming. I found it so cumbersome I wouldn’t bother again.

Oh, we only change DS in the bathroom. I wouldn’t see the benefit of a separate nappy caddy. We made a decision that all nappy changes would happen on the same place. In the same way I don’t poo in the living room 😂

Essential - bedside cot (but just convert a normal one), sling.

Don't use but thought I would - haakaa/breast pump, cloth nappies.

Actually I barely used the sling with DS2 but found it invaluable with DS1 and DS3. Not sure why this is...

Pumping turns out to be useless for me. I make enough milk to grow them but not one drop extra

I didn't ever use a changing bag until I had a toddler and baby together. Now it's necessary - I didn't need it for one non-pukey baby.

To all those saying they didn't use a baby bath, how did you bathe baby instead? Especially when less than 3 months old?

Need: baby bjorn bouncer, I could never be without it, baby loves it. Baby bath for us, we have one with a sling seat thing. Travel system- we don't attach the car seat to the chassis too often but it is very useful if baby is napping and we don't want to disturb.

Didn't need: not much tbh. We never used muslins for their intended purpose as we don't have a sicky baby but we use big ones as light blankets and crappy smaller ones to put under baby's bum during nappy changes to soak up any accidents when out and about. Oh maybe don't stress about toys when they are very young (12 weeks and under) as mine wasn't interested. Black and white sensory cards are good though.

To all those saying they didn't use a baby bath, how did you bathe baby instead? Especially when less than 3 months old?
Angelcare bath seat in the big bath. My parents and PIL bought baby baths and I tried to use them when staying but couldn't get the hang of it. You can't let go of the baby so have to do an awkward holding slippery, wet child with one hand and try to reach sponge or anything else with other hand.

I think I was doing it wrong! But we started taking the Angelcare seat with us when travelling, so much easier.