What did you buy in preparation for having a baby that was wasted?

[HazelMaker]

For example a cot because they slept in your bed in the end.

Clothes - we had far too many of the newborn size and ds was over 9lb so they never got used. Same with nappies, I stocked up and ended up with loads left.

Soft toys - these were mostly gifts but we had tons and babies are just not interested in them.

Swaddle blanket, mine hated being swaddled.

Lots of toys didn't get played with, but you never know what they're going to like.

Muslin cloths - never used them.

Bibs for a newborn. Ended up just stuffing a clean towelling nappy under the chin

Anything bottle feeding related, including a steriliser.

An expensive pram, especially when most of the time the right sling was enough for us.

Also clothes, just due to the sheer amount, size of DC, and how quick they grew.

Why?

Cloth nappies.

For first moses basket and crib as she wouldn't be put down and we co-slept but those things were very useful for my second who slept in them.

First loved the baby swing, second went in it once or twice.

Dummies, pump, steriliser, bottles: both bottle refusers.

Puffy pramsuits as can't safely be worn in the car and are annoying to put on and off in the pram.

Muslins, bibs, steriliser and bottles that everyone insisted I needed "just in case". Baby sleeping bags, mine both hated them.

A Moses basket. Neither of mine ever slept in it once.

The ikea cot that you can sidecar to your bed, however, was fantastic. It’s a proper full sized cot, so both mine slept in it til close to 2 and/or we used it like a bed guard so they couldn’t roll off. Probably cost not much more than the Moses basket and I got a solid 4 years of use out of it.

@itwouldbefineif The head was too floppy and it was easier not to try to tie the bib round. This was the 80s so bibs might have improved now

A changing table (I bought one that could either go over a cot or on top of a table). I just put the changing mat on the floor or bed., particularly once she got wriggly.

Microwave steriliser - much easier to use a tablet in a large tub. I didn't use bottles as my baby refused them so the pump was mostly unused too! No way of knowing in advance for that.

I did use muslins though - some years on they still come in handy!

Bibs! We didn't buy any but got 4 packs as gifts, 3 of which are still in the packet 4 years later.
She was a sicky baby and we were using many muslins a day a bib was neither used nor ornament

Broadly we didn't buy anything until we needed it and that was a good approach for us

Muslin cloths. Both of mine had cast iron stomachs.

A friend also told me to buy lots of pram and cot sheets because they would leak wee and be constantly sick. Nope.

Travel cot. Ours would not sleep in it.

Apart from that I used everything we bought. Cot, pram, changing table, feeding chair, high chair, stair gates, Terry covered lay on thing for the bath, etc.

Fair enough - I just wondered why you’d put a nappy on a neck rather than a bib!

Breastfeeding stuff - admittedly I did try it all at first, but it just wasn't working for us and DC had failure to thrive, so after a very scary hospital stint we switched fully to formula.

Sling - he hated it.

We're used muslins so much (reflux) I even bought extra, pretty ones because they were basically my outfit for the first few months.

Nappy bin. Just cut out the middle man and drop them straight into the main bin 🤷‍♀️😖

It very much depends on the baby... I'd recommend only buying the very basics and then seeing what kind of baby you get.

DC 1 - moses basket, next to me crib and newborn dribble bibs were completely wasted. We also didn't need as many muslins as I'd bought. We'd been told to stock up by friends who had recently had a newborn, so I did... before I realised how variable babies are!

DC 2 - moses basket, next to me crib and sling were wasted (sling not worn that much because of pelvic floor issues following birth).

DC 3 - we've used everything (she actually slept in the moses basket and next to me crib!). She's been very refluxy, so all the bibs and muslins came in handy. Pelvic floor healed much faster, so I use the sling a lot a year in.

This is interesting! I used almost everything that's mean mentioned so far.
I didn't use a nappy bag rucksack. My little one wasn't sicky or poo-y so I only ever went out with a nappy, pack of wipes and change of outfit in my usual smallish handbag and used a muslin as a changing mat.

Pram. It was just so big and it couldn’t go anywhere. Could only take it out if I was going one or two specific places. Couldn’t get it on the bus, couldn’t fit it in the shops, couldn’t take it if I was walking to the village, couldn’t get it out of the house easily, obviously couldn’t take it on nice walks. It took up lots of space in the sitting room I just didn’t have to spare and was generally a pain. Occasionally got used if I was getting a lift to an out of town shopping centre with someone with a big enough car or if I was getting a taxi to a train station but those things happened very rarely so it just gathered mess. Sold it eventually and didn’t buy another

Sling. Totally useless and DD1 and I both despised it. Never tried it again with the next two and didn't miss it.

This

But needed for somewhere for them to be before washing. Also had a wet bag which worked fine.

I found nappy bin an essential when I've in a flat. Not needed when we moved to a house.

A Moses basket for the lounge

I never understood the point of those nappy bins that wrapped the nappy in a nappy bag for you, although I guess they'd be useful in a flat.

A lidded nappy bucket was essential when I switched to washable nappies.