What *dont* I need to buy?

[BlueBee]

Hello. We are expecting our first in August, loads of people have suggested what we need to get etc but what did you buy that you now realise was a waste of time? What don't I really need?

Room thermometer

Top and tail bowl - spent far too long trying to remember which end I'd used which!

Breastfeeding clothes. All those hooks gaps and straps get in the way. Like pp said stretchy vest to pull down loose top to pull down.

Any kind of BF cover. The combo above is actually more discreet and easy than a fuck off "OY LOOK OVER HERE I'M DISCREETLY BREASTFEEDING" cover.

Baby shoes. You'll never put them on. Ditto scratch mitts they just fall off.

Tiny little puree portion holders to use for weaning. Though saying that whilstI never got puree in them they do now make good paint pots

Cotton wool balls. They disintegrate in water and get stuck to baby's bum. Get the flat round pad version instead.

Fancy nappy creams. Buy shit loads of sudocream and apply liberally.

A memory book. You will never fill it. It will remain half full and subsequent DCs won't even get that far just to add the guilt!

A photoshoot before 6 months. Until they can lift their heads up they look like potatoes.

Any highchair other than the ikea Antilop for £20.

One of those baby monitors that senses breathing too. That way madness lies. I didn't even use a monitor at all with (poor, overlooked) second baby.

The ear thermometer thingy.

I used / still do the gro-egg but it's a glorified room temperature dial. I like to know how hot/cold it is so I can make sure DS has the right sleeping bag on.

Agree about sleep suits for the first 6 months.

Gina forde contended little baby book.....no no no!

(Changing mat on the floor is all well and good if you dont have to have Csection, have good knees, hips and back, but any dodgy muscle-skeltal probs or after C-section you may be wishing for a changing unit but second hand ones are great and they have a multitude of uses once baby is too big for them!)

Shoes for babies. Total waste of time. They wear tights, onesies and sometimes socks. Never shoes.

Headbands for baby girls. For the same reason. Someone said on here (a looooong time ago) that headbands make babies look like demented easter eggs.

If people ask what clothes to buy for a gift, say vests. You always need more. DD2 got given 4 brand new cardigans, plus 2 or 3 more passed on from a friend, plus the 4 or 5 I already had from DD1. Too many cardigans!

Of course all gifts are lovely, but if someone asks you may as well avoid getting too many duplicates.

Oh and at least 2 of the people who bought cardigans this time, bought them for DD1 too. Of course you can't expect someone to remember what they bought years ago, but if someone had checked with me first I could have said what I needed!

A cot bumper, there is research to suggest it reduces airflow around the cot, obviously not good for baby, and as they get older it can help them climb out if the cot, so not necessary at all.
This goes for any type of bedding and nursery decorations too, the baby won't mind if their room doesn't have a matching mammas and Pappas border, framed pictures, cuddly toy and curtains.
Baby sponges or flannels, a piece of cotton wool, the pads being easiest, works well for washing and is much more hygienic.

Everyone is so different!
We didn't get a special nappy bin but I wish we had one! Even emptying every day it gets smelly

Changing table is essential for me as now at 9 months have had to move to the floor to stop him rolling off and my back kills.

Baby bath made first bath easier and saves water. A bath support was brilliant for when in the big bath (he also used to sit in it when I had a shower rather than bring bouncer in) we had a second hand angel care one and lasted a long time.

The problem is, an essential for one baby will be another babies utter nemesis. I'm currently on #3 and, for example, DC1 LOVED a baby swing, ditto playgym. DC2 HATED both.
With both I considered a changing table the height of unnecessary items... I'm buying one this time to save my back ;).
DC1 screamed head off in sling, DC2- the opposite.
I found a top and tail bowl incredibly useful with DC1, then I couldn't find it for DC2 but will buy one this time.
Baby baths- didn't use one with DC1, used one with DC2 as I could then bath him at counter top height (C section birth) and it cost all of £5
Any moderately expensive purchases (sling, seats, gyms etc) KEEP the BOX, you can always sell them on!

Fancy pretty dresses if its a girl. The skirts just ruck up at the back and means baby gets a cold back.

Same goes for frilly knickers to go over the nappy. Just means one extra layer to peel off when there is a poonami

Mobile for nursery. Fricking annoying and gets in the way.

what's different about top and tail bowl? I would be too lazy for bowls and cotton wool anyway, but couldn't you just use a normal bowl, do top first and tail later?

We found a changing table useful for quite a while - it saves your back. But I agree about the baby bath - we used it a couple of times per child but not enough to justify the expense. One really crazy thing we bought was a travel cot - it was offered to us cheaply somewhere when I was pregnant with DS1 and we assumed we'd find it useful. DS1 never even slept much in his proper cot, we co-slept and he certainly would never have slept in a travel cot (which was also heavy and a pain to put together) in a strange space. It was a complete waste of money. I also preferred to use a normal bag as changing bag with minimal stuff inside, rather than the great big changing bag with pockets and pouches everywhere.

I think there's a lot to be said for just waiting until the baby is born for most things - some things are great, but you don't know that until your baby is born. Dummies, bottles, formula (if you are unsure about feeding), breast pump, etc. are all things that can be bought quite quickly when baby is a couple of weeks old and you feel you need them, rather than trying to peg out everything in advance.

It very much depends on each family as we did use our top and tail bowl (could have just used any old bowl, but did need something).
Things that were wasted:
electric bottle warmer (we ff)
a fabric wraparound sling (was such a faff have borrowed baby bjorn for #2)
baby dresses - loads of people bought them as they look so lovely but she just lived in baby grows for the first 6 months ish.

It kind if depends on you though. For example we got an expensive travel system and dd is still in it at 2 years. She has napped in it every single day of her life pretty much and we do a lot of dog walking. It's been our star buy.
I'm not rushing out to buy anything for dc2 though as I now know that you didn't need to get everything before hand! Just see how you get on!

Feel like should add our changing table was top of a chest of drawers in nursery with a lip on so will be used for that even now don't use to change baby!

we got a second hand changing table, that can be converted to normal chest of drawers later, very practical. We find it very useful, certainly saves your back, and we also change his clothes there, not only nappies.

Something that we used, as we had it, but I wouldn't buy again - first stage car seat. DS grew out of it really fast, and even though we got a light one, in only a short while it was still way too heavy to carry around. Yes, you can use it on the wheels of travel system, but they're not supposed to be in the seat for long walks anyway. So if I would do it again, I would just get something suitable from birth to 18/25 kilos, like Cybex Sirona, and simply use the buggy or carrier when you need to take the baby out.

But as with everything, depends on the baby - mine was a good sleeper. If you have one that doesn't sleep and you have finally got them to sleep in the car seat, of course you dont' want to risk moving and waking them.

This thread is great, interesting how everyone is so different.
I love our nappy bin but was in a high floor flat, so no way I was doing those stairs after every poo after a c section! If you have easy access to an outside bin though I can see it might be useless.

This is my first as well and honestly I've hardly bought anything.

Bath tub - going to use the sink to begin with. Have bought a bath sponge support thingy, mainly because it moulds into corner of bowl.

Top n tail bowl - like Hazlenutt I don't get the point of them. Start at top, work way down.

Travel system - I spent time looking at systems. My car is wee so I've opted for a pram that is suitable from birth, lies flat. (Armadillo flip XT - expensive because it's newest model but should last 3 years) so just need car sear

Clothes - luckily I've been given a whole pile of clothes from family (pre-worn) I've just added some more vests but check out charity shops/community stores that specialise in re-using baby stuff. They seem to popping up everywhere these days!

Changing table - I'm happy to use top of dresser with a changing mat but OH really wants a proper table. So I'm trying to talk him into getting this

m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/spr/29828090/

So we can use it as bookcase once done.

Cotton wool - I HATE cotton wool. Gives me the hibee-jibees. Going to cut up towels (I have LOADS for some reason) and use them a la www.cheekywipes.com/ but my own version

Hope that helps

Personally found our nappy bin v useful (Tommy sangenic one which twists) - doesn't it get stinky otherwise?

As a pp said, I got FAR too many muslins, after being told I had to have loads! Sure get a few, maybe 5? I have about 20!

Didn't like our baby bath for DD1 much, john Lewis own brand one - my SiL had a really good fisher price one (I think) that had built in support so you don't need to constantly hold the baby - not easy when you are on your own!

I also regret buying a full bottle starter pack etc, when I ended up bfeeding for 8 months and DD didn't even like those bottles and I had to get a load more of a different type! DH still moans what a waste of money they were even now! Just buy one or two and see which ones your baby likes/best for their wind etc, like a lot of things, bath, towels etc you just don't know what baby will like until they are here unfortunately!

Agree with mobile on cot too - totally got in the way and DD didn't seem to care about it at all!!

I love having a big pile of muslins. My little one if BF and has only been properly sick once and we use muslins all that time for all sorts of things. She's only four weeks so I leak quite a lot and they are good for catching random drips/floods.

Also like the sangenic nappy bin too, although could do with a foot opening type function. Although could do with a foot opening function for when you don't have two hands free. (Although maybe a pedal bin and nappy bags would do the same thing? Not sure about smell).

We bought some of the ready made aptamil bottles and although we haven't used them, I like knowing that DD wouldn't starve if I got stuck somewhere!

Vast amounts of anything until you know you need it. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere you'll probably be able to get what you need in sorry notice.

*short not sorry

Wow this list is great, I'm going to write a 'to buy' list from it. It's all very handy. Ironically we've been given a baby bath by a friend so we do have one, but didn't buy it.

those Sangenic systems are an environmental disaster. You're wrapping a plastic nappy in yet another plastic bag making it EVEN HARDER for that nappy to disintegrate. Where do you think all that plastic goes?

Sorry for putting this on a thread like this, I know it's off-topic and you didn't ask for my views, but someone has to pipe up and say something. IT's really not okay to drown the world in yet more plastic just so you avoid walking two steps to an outside bin.