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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

What *dont* I need to buy?

159 replies

BlueBee · 22/04/2015 20:23

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?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
griselda101 · 24/04/2015 00:32

ask your mates to give you things... I ended up with so much junk it took me a year to get rid of it!!

here's the stuff i had left over a year later:

  • talcum powder (don't use it, not good for baby)
  • breast pads (must have used about 5 max)
  • disposable pants (I think they give you a pair or two at hospital free then you can use pads when you get home - but make sure you buy the maternity pads as they are well worth it).
  • cot bumper (safety hazard)
  • hundreds of clothes i was given (also almost not worth buying newborn as they grow out in a week or two)
  • slippers I bought for the ward (never wore them)
  • nappy cream (you honestly don't need excessive amounts)
  • bottles if you're planning to breastfeed (never used them)
  • hand breast pump (was rubbish)
  • feeding bras are rubbish and uncomfortable
5YearsTime · 24/04/2015 03:17

Whereas unlike griselda I have just undone my really comfy feeding bra, changed breast pads, in the last 24 hours I've got through about 8-10 and used bum cream on baby.

Flip flops did me for my extended stay on the ward, especially as I got giant swollen feet from sitting and standing beside my baby's incubator.

HazleNutt · 24/04/2015 08:45

Yes, with breast pads and maternity pads, I also listened to MN and stocked up. Barely used either, didn't leak much and only needed normal sanitary pads after a couple of days. Still have most of what I bought - good DC2 is on her way! So get some, but don't go crazy before you see what you need.

Orangeisthenewbanana · 24/04/2015 08:52

Cute baby outfits for 0-3 month, even 3-6 months Newborns are so floppy (and explosively poo-y) that vests and babygros are so much easier.

Agree with shoes until they can walk.

We used our baby bath loads however - much quicker to fill and saved a shed-load of water.

mrsmeerkat · 24/04/2015 08:53

I have two under 18 months

A baby bouncer- they only last so long. I would buy the infant toddler rocker. Still being used at 18months

A travel system. I didn't use the carrycot for long as babies were 90 percentile in height or get something that will convert into a double

A co-sleeper. Buy an ikea cot and hack it into a co sleeper .. I am here beside ours. It's great

Totally agree with taking back clothes. I returned them for jeans and jackets and stuff for one year plus. Saved a fortune. Still getting the benefit from them.

Capol etc- you can buy generic brands

Didn't really get much benefit from all of the electronic toys etc. dinosaur alphabet toy etc. toddler didn't look at teddies prefers tubberware or whatever !! Charity shops have toys in perfect Nick.

mamapants · 24/04/2015 08:58

I wouldn't get an infant carseat again but an extended rear facing seat that can be used from birth.

mrsmeerkat · 24/04/2015 09:04

Sorry it's a fisher price toddler rocker

Artandco · 24/04/2015 09:10

I like top and tail bowls. For reusable nappies they are great. Water in one side, dirty nappy and wipes out in other whilst you finish sorting baby. Then you can take water and dirty nappy/ wipes to bathroom to sort / rinse/ tip away.

Baby car seat - get an extended rear facing lasts 0-4/5 years. Baby shouldn't stay in car seat longer than journey anyway so no point having feature of clipping to pram, and become incredibly heavy very quickly to carry on arm with baby in.

Don't buy bouncer/ swing/ rocker before baby is born. You may find you don't need one so waste of space and money, if you do find you want one depending on baby temperament you can buy after. We waited and found baby was happy enough on Mat on floor until gone 6 months ( when they are too old for bouncer safely anyway)

Don't buy later loads of weaning stuff. Baby blending machines? Just use a fork or regular £4.99 hand blender. And a teaspoon of fine instead of loads of baby spoons. Neither of mine threw plates/ bowls either so we just used normal China ones. Wait and see if you need to

Artandco · 24/04/2015 09:11

Oh and we just washed babies in sink lined with a towel. Perfect height and size, and takes up no extra space

misssilverwings · 24/04/2015 11:42

My boss ( childless, 73,) bought for our first baby in 2009, a blue mink stole, mink head and feet attached ( how useful I thought, was it for the baby to fondle, or for me to wear whilst I breastfed??) and a blue cashmere romper suit plus cute bonnet, from a boutique in Paris.

Babywore it once, screamed cos it itched, and poo of course leaked all over the cashmere thus rendering the expensive gift a worthless waste of time and money!!!

Oh but its the thought that counts!

Anone else get an other similraly useless gifts ?? !!!

Artandco · 24/04/2015 11:43

Miss - cashmere shouldn't itch, and washes fine on cold. You shouldn't have thrown away.

Guyropes · 24/04/2015 12:00

Some babies are very sensitive to different types of textile though. I was very careful with anything wool as my babies had eczema.

It does sound like miss silverwings boss was a bit impractical, and possibly a bit too fancy!

BikeRunSki · 24/04/2015 12:39

The best weanibg spoons I found were the translucent white teaspoons you get in Asda cafes.

Flingmoo · 24/04/2015 12:54

Baby bottles, warmers, steriliser, formula etc are all pretty unnecessary for most of us - like other mammals, we come with a free built in baby-feeding system handily located on your chest. Wink

SpringInTheStep · 24/04/2015 12:55

As always, when you ask for advice, you get people saying opposites!

I found the angelcare bin great because it has a tight mechanism stopping odours escaping, and holds a lot. We empty ours weekly now.

We used a baby bath for at least a year, if not until around 18 months. It was the sort that sits over the bath and has a plug you pull to empty, so no lifting of water needed. It's much easier to kneel by the bath and reach without bending over.

Definitely don't bother with babywipes or bottle warmers. In the cold winter I sometimes wet a handful of wet wipes on warm water before picking baby up to change, but in the summer everything is warmer anyway. I used the bottle warmer and found it took just as long to heat as if we'd used boiled water in a jug. Not just that but it got too hot, so I had to spend even longer cooling it down again!

I also didn't bother win outdoor clothes until around 4-6 months, and even then it was more for special occasions. But I did have a very sicky baby who kept leaking pooey nappies, so perhaps I might have felt differently if we'd had a clean and tidy baby instead! (Does such a thing exist?) Wink

I preferred the wilko steam steriliser for dummies and bottles as it is small but packs away 2 bottles at a time, and now use it for my mooncup so it's not wasted!

I found a baby monitor good too, as you really can't hear anything downstairs with the TV or radio on. We got one where the light comes on red if baby cries, so you don't have to listen to a wail if you don't want to.

I also liked the room thermometer because it acted as a reminder to check bedtime layers when I'm tired and busy. Sometimes because I am hot (puffing and panting with the exertion of fighting a screaming baby into bath and bed!) it can be easy to think the room is, but a thermometer confirms whether that's true or not. I wouldn't say j stick to it religiously, as often I've added an extra layer when strictly speaking I should wait for the temperature to drop a degree or two, but my last baby was a particularly cold one and so I had to use common senses too.

I would agree that shoes just fall off and don't get used.

I bought almost every muslin in this country, and used them a LOT.

I was also advised not to use even Johnson's lotions and bubbles, and I agree that it's best to wait until they're older. But then again, I had eczema prone babies, so perhaps we were especially sensitive skinned. We used plain almond oil as a moisturiser.

sherbetpips · 24/04/2015 13:02

bottle warmers - take ages and a bowl with boiled water in is way quicker
baby baths/plastic bath holders - john lewis do a cheap towelling bath support which is perfect and because its material it supports really well and isn't cold - leaves you with two free hands to wash baby.
www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-baby-bath-support/p619603
Any adult thing made for a baby - baby mixers? its just a mini mixer with a cute label on.

Huge high chairs - have you really got room? We got a clip on that attached to the breakfast bar, used it in restaurants too as it was so portable. www.johnlewis.com/mountain-buggy-pod-portable-highchair-flint/p579505
Nursery furniture - you do not need a miniturised version of a wardrobe and drawers - you need a full size one that they can use until they move out (and in the meantime you can shove all your stuff in it!).
Mini clothes hangers - buy one pack maximum as everything you buy will come on hangers.
any sort of blankie toy - muslim sheets are perfect, you can wash them each day rather than having some fetted toy.
Any sort of designer clothing - utterly pointless and is grown out of in 2 weeks.

Cockbollocks · 24/04/2015 13:03

Cashmere itches me so it must be a skin type thing!!!!

Baby bath products, shampoos, talc and lotions. No need for them at all (that doesn't include nappy rash cream)

BigFatPanda · 24/04/2015 13:12

Pram.
If I had another baby I would get a decent stroller, which lays flat, with a really comfy cosy toes. I used my big pushchair for about 3 months!

Changing bag
Top and tail bowl
Baby towels
Nursing bras: I used sports bras from primark saved a fortune and worked well!

ShanghaiDiva · 24/04/2015 13:14

Look for items that can be used for a different purpose:
IKEA cot became a toddler bed and with 2 kids we got 8 years out of it
IKEA change table and chest of drawers becomes normal chest of drawers and got about 10 years out of that.
Friend gave me a lot of terry nappy cloths which were ideal for change mats, putting over shoulder etc.
IMO babies don't need shoesand just wear sleep suit type things for first few months.

soontobemumofthree · 24/04/2015 13:29

Things I didnt use

  • baby shoes - fall off
  • baby mitts - also fall off, socks stay on better but didnt really need them
  • nappy changing station (used a plastic mat under sofa most of time)
  • nappy bin, not sure why I got one but storing poo in babies room, even wrapped up, never used it as just emptied it if there was a nappy in it!
  • talcum powder - never used
  • baby wash/soaps etc - used v little, mainly washed with moisturiser or just water so took years to use up the bottles I had for DC1
  • baby oil - never used
  • monitor - had one but never took it out of box as house is was too small! could hear baby crying!
  • moses basket - i just put baby back to co-sleeper/one sided cot if asleep or was in pram/sling/sleeping on my knee. never used it

I use sooooo many breast pads, changing them at least once a day for the first year. I am jealous of people upthread on here not leaking, unless they had stopped breastfeeding?!
Also I used feeding bras especially in the first 6 weeks when the feeding is so often.

I had too many muslins, too many "outfits" - early months stuck mainly to the baby suits.

I did have a hand breast pump, steriliser and bottles the first time (I bought after the birth) due to temporary breastfeeding problems but I have since given them away and wouldnt buy again for DC4 as didnt use them for DC2 or DC3. Depends what you are planning but I'd say you can always buy them if you need them, rather than get them incase you do, or they can be a waste of money.

I did use electric breast pump to express when back at work/away on courses etc but dont get one until you are sure you need one as could be a waste too!

I did use baby bath instead of filling a whole bath.

HappyIdiot · 24/04/2015 13:36

we have a sangenic nappy bin. it is very very necessary for me, as we live in a flat over a shop with no outside space at all. our wheelie bin is stored in our hall, next to dd's pram and our coats. it is emptied once a fortnight. if I didn't wrap the nappies, the smell would get rank very quickly, especially in summer.

I can see why it wouldn't be necessary for most people with outside bins but for us, its a lifesaver.

liquidstatebacktowork · 24/04/2015 13:41

Agree with the johnsons baby stuff, makes even my skin itch so no way was I using it on DD (9 months).

I see you are due in August, DD was born early July and it was hot so she wore very little, just a tshirt and nappy most days with a sheet over her at night. She also did not wear hats after the first few days so my collection of cute hats was wasted. She was in her 0-6 month sleeping bags for less than a month as she was so long and it was so hot but your DC is due later so you may get more use out of them.

Definitely do not feel bad about changing clothes bought as presents. I never prewashed clothes DD wore (except for the second hand ones as they had been stored). And and this is going to cause fireworks I didnt bother with non bio. Hate the smell and midwife said it was fine to stick with my usual brand so long as there was no rashes appearing on DD.

DD hated the baby bath, for the first few weeks she was in the bath with one of us or if I was on my own she was in the shower with me and then I wrapped her up in her towel and popped her in the sink until I had finished washing myself (we have an over bath shower with sink unit beside). did not use the top and tail bowl either.

Do not bother with a jumperoo, get a walker instead as you will get more use out of it.

liquidstatebacktowork · 24/04/2015 13:42

oh and I had 15 muslins all very well worn and still in use today for snot and dribble.

ladymariner · 24/04/2015 14:03

Odd one out here then, but I always used Johnsons baby products, especially the talc, he smelled soooo gorgeous after his bath ( I had a baby bath too, used it every night, set it up in his nursery, it was fab).
And I filled his memory book too, and a couple of pretty large boxes....have photos, tickets, mementos of everything we did stuck in that, up till he was about 5.....( feeling very nostalgic)
And thinking about it, I always used a top and tail bowl every morning too....laid him on the baby changer, did his face with the water from one side of the bowl and his bum with water from the other side....it was just so much easier .

If I was going to add anything to this thread, it would be not to bother with an electric bottle warmer....we had one of those but it took so bloody long, in the middle of the night when ds opened his eyes and started screaming for food simultaneously!! We used the microwave (awaits flaming! Grin

nobodyknowswheremyjonnyhasgone · 24/04/2015 14:14

Our DC3 was unplanned and we'd given all of our baby stuff away after a recent house move.

We bought the bare minimum

Maclaren lie flat buggy,perfect.
Wedge shaped change mat to turn chest of drawers into a change table.
Antilop high chair.
Used Sainsburys nappies and wipes, baby shampoo throughout.

Thankfully we did still have our older DC's playmat. That was a must and would have bought another one.

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