What is the most useful and useless thing you had for your newborn?

[lyrablue]

I'm in the middle of making a list of things we may need for baby when they arrive but don't want to get things that we really don't end up using. I thought this would be the best place to ask for advice! So what's the most useful and useless thing you guys had for your newborn please? :)

Useful - tommee tippee perfect prep machine
useless - swaddles

Least useful: noise machine (ewan- load of crap), and swaddles

most useful: all the muslins ever, a tuppance and crumble star blanket for putting baby in the car safely/warmly if you have a winter babe, a changing station downstairs as well as up

Useful - Infantino 4-in-1 baby carrier
Useless - Tummy time pillow

Useful - rucksack as a changing bag - cheap and easy to carry.

Useless - changing table - couldn’t be bothered to go upstairs every time needed a nappy change. Used a changing mat on the floor of whatever room we were in.

Bit baby specific here!

Useless - (contrary to above post) muslins. I used maybe one or two a week. Ewan also useless for newborn stage, but invaluable in later months. Top and tail bowl also never used - just use two regular bowls. "nursing chair" in the baby's room

Useful - wireless earphones for all those feeds. Lots of cushions. Changing station

best buy - cheeky wipes - one maybe 2 wipes can clear up one poonami compared to half a packet of baby wipes you can’t get out of the packet with one hand and a baby wriggling in poo. Washable wipes easy to launder and dry (never was brave enough for washable nappies)

also like muslins, and sleepsuits with in built scratch mitts.

Toilet training seat.

worst buy - parenting books like Gina Ford, every baby is different they don’t follow the manual. Potty - toddler took one look and screamed at thought of squatting on one, went straight to a trainer seat and skipped the whole ‘where do I clean this thing out? And how do I get them on the toliet,” Phase. Repeated same procedure with other two tinies.

Useful - Tommee tippee perfect prep machine, uppababy vista pram

Useless - swaddles, both mine hated them, baby dresses and other clothes - babygrows were so much easier so mine lived in them night and day really until they could stand

I really like the sleeping bags as I was always worried about blankets going over his face. I didn't use the sleeping bags until he was about 3 months old though as I didn't realise there was an extra popper to make them smaller.

Useful

Perfect Prep milk machine. So useful we had 2. One for daytime in the kitchen and one in the bedroom that lit up for night feeds.

Tuppence & Crumble star wrap.

Muslin cloths

Useless

Swaddles

Those comforter teddies with square of fabric. He hated them all.

Outfits - bought a few & received a few as gifts. Usually ended up putting them on once just for a quick photo then back into a sleepsuit.

Useful - Muslins (get double of what you think you will need and then another 10 just to be sure you'll always have one when you need it)

Useless - we ended up with about 15 stuffed toys. Lovely but totally unnecessary.

The best thing I bought I used in pregnancy and when breast feeding. It was a V pillow. I also put it behind them on the floor when they were learning to sit up, and it was used as a ‘special’ pillow when feeling ill.
Ive still got it now, I’ve certainly had my money’s worth out of it !

Useful - muslins, baby sensory mat, cordless hoover for when weaning started!!!

Useless - nothing. We didn't buy anything until baby was here that wasn't "essential" so we only ever got things we thought we couldn't live without. It was a good motto 🤣

Weirdly I didn't mind going upstairs to do nappy changes as baby sometimes needed a clothes change anyway, but I did have a changing mat in the bedroom for in the night until about 2 or 3 months old.

Also I bought a changing table and kitted out the nursery with a feeding chair & lovely chest of drawers with beautifully folded & organised clothes. It was literally just used as a storage room got the first 7 month.

Really couldn't be bothered traipsing upstairs all the time so we had a change mat by the the coffee table we used on the floor and a tub of sleepsuits & vests in the living room to grab for a quick change. If you have a poo emergency there's no way you can run up to the nursery!

Useless: A pile of Harrington terry nappies. The fag of steeping then in Nappy-san, the bucket sitting in the bathroom, boil-washing them, etc.

Useful: Disposable nappies.

Mind you, this was the Seventies.

Totally agree about the clothes - mine only wore babygros until they were nine months.

Loved my Tuppence and Crumble star blanket - great for winter babies. Also loved the sleeping bags so I didn’t have to worry about blankets going over their heads.

i think the problem is that we have different babies and are all going to have very different experiences of what was useful and what wasn’t!
My advice would be to buy as little as possible and address problems as they come up.
A few large muslins to start, for example, as they can be used for clean ups, to try swaddling or to hang from the pram hood to block the sun, for example, but you haven’t wasted much money if you never really use them.

I had a nappy box downstairs with bum change essentials and changes of clothes in.
I never had a changing table, I always used a mat on the floor, as you can’t fall off the floor.

This is the problem with questions like this. What’s your useful I never used and vice versa!

OP my advice would be to buy only the absolute necessities to start with. There’s hardly anything you can’t get delivered within 24 hours. Even the most basic of clothes can be a waste if you end up with a surprise big baby!

Also depends a lot on your own circumstances. Lots will say a baby bath was a waste of time, but we have a massive bath and made absolute sense to just use the wee baby bath. Similarly a baby carrier might not be as useful if you drive everywhere.

My top tip to new parents is a travel mug. Keeps your tea warmer for longer and means you can have a hot drink whilst holding the baby. Game changer.

Useful - muslins, changing mats & cribs both upstairs and down to save having to move things around for night time or naps.

Useless - breast pump but only as I never expressed.

Useful: prep machine, Muslin squares, baby sleeping bags, baby gym, next to me bed, baby sleeping chair

useless: baby heart rate monitor (didn’t ever really work), manual breast pump (electric one was great), full intricate baby outfits with pinnafore and tights etc

Useless: Again, changer table. Just used a mat on the floor. Baby shoes, just got kicked off and lost. White noise machine - couldn't hear it over colic screaming

Best and useful: All the muslin cloths!!! Sleeping bags. Automatic swinging cradle, straight to sleep every time.

Foldable travel changing mat - so much smaller and less taff than having a big changing thing kicking round downstairs, and you can grab it to go out with/shove under buggy really easily

baby ‘nighties’ like a baby grow with an extra long skirt instead of 300 poppers amazing for night butt changes (and one size lasts ages).

good battery on phone! Or /and portable power pack back up - I always charged my phone overnight but once I had babies nights became peak phone surfing time/reading books on it time

no point - Moses basket, both babies never liked it and also outgrew it too fast to be worth it (we had a pram carry cot top too so many naps were in the hall while I jiggled the handle to pretend we were moving).

Useful:
Chose a pram with a bassinet that was safe for nigh time sleeping. Used this instead of a Moses basket and handy if we were away from home.
Sleeping bags. Both of mine hated being swaddled and slept much better in sleeping bag than blanket.
Baby carrier.we have a babybjorn one and it got used a lot.

Generally it depends on child though and your circumstances. I loved my changing table with my 1st,used it all the time. Hardly used it with my 2nd. My eldest loved white noise, my youngest it didn't make much difference. Also, 1 loved the bouncy chair, the other didnt. Same for baby gym playmat, 1 spent ages playing with it, the other spent very little.

I'd say not to go mad with buying stuff and then if things aren't used it won't matter so much.

Useful- perfect prep machine
Useless- muslins

Ewan the sheep gives me the f ing rage. I cannot stand that lullaby, literally sends me into a spiral of depression. I can’t explain it but I hated it.