which vitally important baby purchases turned out to be a complete waste of time and money for you?!

[Ilovekittyelise]

having just seen the thread about the uber-pointless top and tail bowl, it reminded me of the first time mum frenzy of buying so much rubbish that never got used. thought it might be fun to start a list, which might even save a few pennies for a few first time mums!

im going to kick off with newborn hat * 3. my son had so much hair he had a sweaty baby head.

[Headlikeafuckingorange]

Tummy tub - used twice and now toy storage.

Snowsuit - too bulky and dd hated having her limbs pulled through.

We were given loads of baby toiletries and they've never been used.

I wish I hadn't spent so much money on a big Storksak changing bag. More often than not I bung a nappy, some wipes and a muslin in my normal handbag!
Scratch mitts. Probably the most useless thing for us! Never used them as I didn't like DD not being able to get at her fingers.

Best things -
Tuppence and Crumble star shaped fleece which is so much better than snow suit
Aden and Anais big bamboo muslins. DD was born in August and they were the perfect lightweight blankets. We still wrap her in them now at 4 months. Bonus points for being really soft and pretty too.
Muslins in General have been used to death for moping up sick and tucking in my bra during feeds. Plus DP is very PFB and uses them to delicately pat DDs bottom dry after using wipes !
Washable wipes are great, so glad I got some of them. They are no extra faff really as they go in with the regular clothes wash. We've got Cheeky Wipes. Didn't get on with reusable nappies though.
Sleepyhead pod - expensive but has really helped DD sleep well, especially in the early days when even the Moses basket seemed massive.

[ananikifo]

I plan to tell my pregnant friends not to buy scratch mitts, not only because they don't stay on, but also because they're pointless. DS has never worn them and never hurt himself. I would hate to have his beautiful little hands hidden all day!

[Thurlow]

Dash, I have heard it comes in useful during chickenpox. However I'd rather buy it then that have the bags of the stuff we have shoved in random drawers at the moment!

[Tomkat79]

Tommy Tippee bottles worked a treat for us combining breast and bottle feeding....the teat covers more of the face exactly how a boob would!

[delbee]

My pointless purchase was definitely a changing table. It was upstairs, so had go up every time. In the end I changed dd wherever ie sofa, dining table with the changing mat. It is now used as a toy storage

[Scaredycat3000]

The essential's lists always make me laugh Always much the same as the useless lists. As people have said already what one person loves another will hate.
The only things you need are,

You will need something to catch the poo/wee in, for me that was disposable nappies until they were big enough for washables. My only extras were nappy sacks and baby wipes. Anything else for me was binned, I had mountain's of cotton wool.

Something to dress the baby in, for me that is cheap sleep suits. I had so many unworn 'proper' clothes that went to charity after two children. If you couldn't lay them on the layed out flat clothes they didn't wear it. Bloody socks, it appears my children were born with 3-6 month size feet, besides sleep suits have feet! My DC weren't exploding babies, I only needed bare minimum of clothes.

Something to carry baby in. I so wish I'd used the home made stretchy sling for the first 4/5 months, I didn't need a buggy looking back for that time. It also meant I didn't need lots of warm clothes as they had lots of layers and warmth from the wrap. Obviously a car seat for car travel is essential.

Something to feed the baby with, I had loads of crap for BF DS1, pumps, bottles, warmers, freeze bags. DS2 always direct from source, much easier. Then BLW for both, bibs just left a clean patch where it had been.

Becoming a parent has left me very cynical. At your most vulnerable point in your life you get bombarded with lists of things you need, and the chances are you don't. These lists are from shops, NHS, internet, yours friends and family. Some well meaning, some trying very hard to make money. It seems to me we forget babies are individuals even from birth, one size does not fit all.

I'm wondering how my sister is getting on with her newborn. I hope he likes his bath that was perfect for his her. She really didn't seam to understand it isn't all about what she wants.

[EmB1715]

Any lotions, bubble bath etc. Plain water baths all the way for first few months.

Snowsuits. No point.

Newborn hats. We have loads which are pointless as babies get sweaty heads. Only use one which is kind of crochet with holes for air!

Having said all that... I love our nappy wrapper bin. Works well for us and no smell escapes. We do use nappy bags too though.

Don't bother with a baby bath. I have a foam bath support to go in our bath.

[CrispyFB]

Baby monitor - unused
Top and tail bath - unused
Insulated bag thing - unused
Cloth nappy trials - unused
Labour "essentials" - untouched
"Emergency" formula - untouched (thankfully! later found out it was a bad idea to have it around at all if determined to breastfeed)

Bugaboo - hardly used (ended up with slings/Maclaren as it was such a pain to fold/store)
Crib - nice fancy one from John Lewis - mostly unused
Nursing cushions - used in the first few weeks, found a regular cushion just as good and less bulky

Swing - didn't purchase originally as thought it would be a waste but used until it wore out!
Sling - also didn't purchase originally - used loads now!

But I am quite sure the reverse is true for some people as well. It's all down to your parenting style which for many people you don't even discover until you've had the baby around a bit. You have assumptions, but they don't always turn out that way!

[abigboydidit]

Most small size clothing - especially frilly girl dresses given kindly as gifts. Both of mine lived in sleepy suits for the first few months weeks. Any bit of clothing that required ironing to look presentable (DS got some lovely shirts but I wasn't up for ironing teeny tiny collars). Any baby shoe below age 6 month. Similarly any sun hat below that age as we kept them in the shade. Bumbo seat. Bowls with suckers (none stay put). Fancy plastic bibs with a catcher pocket (too much of a distraction).

Every bloody bottle and teat ever invented to try to get DS to take one

[IdaClair]

For me the most obvious one was the pushchair. Used it less than 10 times, found it incredibly impractical, hurt my back, never dared get it on a bus. Figured I wasn't cut out for buggy pushing and sold it.

[KongKickeroo]

Moses basket. Enough said.

Packets of baby wipes. Bought in bulk and never used. (I went straight from cotton wool to washable wipes which are brilliant - I like a properly clean bum! I use a combination of Cheeky wipes and Ikea flannels, both are equally effective but Cheeky wipes are nicer and take up less room in the wash)

Those little hooded baby towels. Baby would get hysterical on transfer from bath. Forked out for a Cuddledry one in the end, so much better, and you only need one.

Baby bath. Huge and useless. Jahgoo bath support in main bath much more effective.

My advice - buy as little as possible beforehand, sign up to a trial of Amazon Family on your due date, then for three months you can get absolutely everything you need on next day delivery.

[Thurlow]

It's impossible to make a list of what is/isn't worthwhile, it all depends on your circumstances and your baby (Though I do enjoy seeing a good list and thinking "no... no... nope...").

I have refined my essential lists for new parents to a) something to dress the baby in, b) something to put the baby in the sleep, and c) some way of feeding the baby and moping up the resultant mess from either end.

Everything else - pram, bouncer, swing, sling, baby bath, the lot - should be decided on once you've had your baby a week and get an idea how you might manage things!

[Tiredemma]

Moses basket.

DD slept in it twice.

[Tiredemma]

And bulky travel system.

Went to McClaren Quest after a couple of weeks (of not being able to fit the travel system scaffolding in the boot of my little C1)

[KongKickeroo]

Oh, and there is a book called "What to buy for your baby" that is amazingly accurate. It sounds like it might be filled with pointless "essentials" but in fact it mostly tells you what not to bother with. I got mine from the library as it seemed a bit counterintuitive to buy a book telling me what to buy but knowing how good it is, I think it's worth the tenner or so from Amazon if your local library doesn't stock it. Saved me lots of money.

[snowgirl1]

Baby monitor. You can hear them when they cry.

[MrsDeanAmbrose]

Thurlow I have refined my essential lists for new parents to a) something to dress the baby in, b) something to put the baby in the sleep, and c) some way of feeding the baby and moping up the resultant mess from either end.

Sounds right. The shops won't suddenly close once baby is born. If there's something you decide will make life easier/better for baby once you've actually got that little one in your arms, get it then. Ideally, borrow first to try it out!

[TwoThreeFourSix]

I totally agree with PP that what some people hate, other people love.

Baby bath - essential for us at first as we had no bath and the kitchen was freezing (so couldn't use the sink). It was still in use when DS was 2 as it was lovely and deep, but cheaper to fill than the main bath (we'd moved by that point)

Muslins - life saver with a reflux baby. DS stopped being sick at 18 months. Muslins were also used to wipe hands/face etc. when eating.

Baby socks - I put them on outside of the sleepsuit to stop DS's legs riding up inside.

Breast pads - I got through so many I gave up and bought reusable which were fab

Moses basket - used for several months, DS used to sleep really well in it

Our most useless item were scratch mitts. Unfortunately we had about 15 pairs as loads of people bought them for us.

Other bad buy was a closer sling - just not comfy for me or DS. Will be buying a new sling for the next baby.

We mainly waited until DS was here before buying most stuff, so we had very few bad buys.

[snowgirl1]

Oh, and muslins. Everyone said 'you'll need loads '. Well, only if you've got a baby that brings up a lot of milk.

Every baby is different. Every mum (and dad) is different. What works brilliantly for others might be a total non-essential for you. My advice would be don't buy too much of anything before the baby is born. If you discover you do use loads of muslins/cotton wool/breast pads/baby lotion you can always buy more after the baby is born. And try to buy equipment second hand - that way if it turns out that it's just not for you it won't be such a big deal and you won't feel so bad about buying something different.

[Thurlow]

There are so many things on here that were essential for us - the pram, the moses basket etc - whereas the bouncer and sling were wastes of money as our baby was a very independent little thing who just wanted to be on the floor. You really do have to get to know your baby a little before you can know what will be useful.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Oh, and muslins. Everyone said 'you'll need loads '. Well, only if you've got a baby that brings up a lot of milk

Even then you don't need them, terry towelling flat nappies do everything that a muslin does but the are more absorbant more hard wearing and much cheaper.

I totally agree scratch mits are useless if you have a baby that needs them just get baby grows with them built in most do these days.

[NancyinCali]

Amazon was my friend after DD was born and I discovered things we needed rather than buy a lot beforehand.
However we didn't use: bottle warmer, multitudes of sippy cups (when she was older obviously), barely used my pump (tho will try harder with dc2), she hated the vibrate mode on the bouncy chair so a bog standard one would've been fine, wrap sling (I did use a semi-structured carrier with success though), breast pads.

I used tonnes of muslins but not until we started solids as face wipes and makeshift bibs. She wasn't a sicky baby. Still use them all the time now at almost 2.

[Ilovekittyelise]

i just thought of one splash out that was really worth it: baby bjorn bouncy chair. because of the design you can sit on sofa and bounce it with your foot at bottom with baby facing you, leaving hands free for er wine, remote control? hoping ds2 is as keen.

one thing i hated was the baby bjorn sling which luckily i got for a tenner on ebay. it really hurt my back and im thinking of investing in something different for number two, closer to body, if anyone has ideas.

[Thurlow]

See, I'd put a Baby Bjorn bouncer on a waste list, DD never took to a normal bouncer at all

One person's lifesaver is another's waste of money. I'm sure nothing illustrates how different babies are than lists of essentials!

[Ilovekittyelise]

exactly thurlow. i think its the kind of over-zealous over-the-topness that a lot of new mums/mums to be throw themselves into.....this is a criticism of myself just as much as anyone else!!! although several yearson members of my nct group still behave like this