The WORST thing you bought for baby? (What can I cross off my list...?)

[PallasCat]

Really finding the 'best things' thread useful, but I'm equally keen to cross anything off the baby shopping list that I'm not actually going to use!

So what did you buy for your baby that you've since decided was not worth the cost/space/hassle?

I'm not so much looking for bashing of particular products, more guidance on which generic items you found unnecessary in the end.

Top'n'tail bowl. Totally pointless.

Baby hairbrush - had forgotten about that until this thread - so useless, I didn't even remember I had one!

Fancy highchair. The Ikea Antilop beats them all hands down.

I did like my changing table though. Good tip is cot-top changers aren't good for boys as if they wee while on them (and they will!) it will probably go all over the cot below...

Oh a normal roomy(ish) handbag works fine as a change bag too. There's no real need to buy a special change bag. I got a cheap high street one.

We didn't get a travel system as the car seat for the pram I really wanted didn't fit safely in our car but ds woke up the moment I opened the car door so it was no major hardship.

Also bear in mind some things are brilliant with one baby and pointless with another. Dc2 absolutely loved the baby nest thing (those big inflatable doughnuts they can sit in) whereas dc3 hated it and screamed every time.

The baby nail scissors from boots were useless - used small nail clippers.

DD was a very hairy baby from the start, so I did use the little brush and comb for her, but not needed unless baby has hair!. Baby oil is useless, don't bother with that. Or bedtime bath. Agree with not needing bottle warmers, top and tail bowls (just wash the bum last!) and also scratch mitts, a lot of little baby grows have fold over ones attached now anyway.

I'm going against the grain here: DD loved her Moses basket, and I think it helped when we moved when she was a few weeks old that her "bed" didn't change. Also I could not fathom out the sling - structured Baby Bjorn type thing here, used every day for months as DD was a limpet most of the time.

That said, most of DDs stuff has been hand me down, so I have a lot of stuff I wouldn't have necessarily bought our top and tail bowl was from when DH was a baby

Nappy bin - I'd forgotten that little gem! Total waste of money.

Top and tail bowls.

Door bouncer.

Got great use out of Baby Bjorn bouncer seat though - you could adjust it as the baby grew.

Convertible cot to junior bed was another good buy - got a few years out of that, and my niece has it now.

Travel cot great for using as playpen as well as on nights away.

I loved mosdt of the stuff on here - nappy bin was great when on the 3rd floor after an EMCS, also DS loved snowsuits, found Moses and bath useful too.

Waste of money for me:
Bouncy chair - DS just screams in it.
Shoes - no need before they can walk
Most expensive stuff really, a baby has no idea about brands. Get cheap stuff and maybe invest once you know what sort of baby you've got e.g.no point spending heaps on as bouncer or sling if they don't like it. You can get these things afterwards.

Oh and books of advice on sleeping, weaning etc. They haven't read the manual!

Baby books. You will not remember the relevant passages when you actually have a question about something - easier to do a quick google. And will only worry that your baby is not doing some of the 20 items on the 'by now, your baby is probably..' list.

Seems like I disagree with most people! I found the nappy bin essential, and the nursing chair was so worth the expense, as I regularly fell asleep in it whilst feeding. I only got one the second time around and I really wish I had got it for the first one.
On the other hand, don't get a cot mobile. It just keeps them awake! Or a bottle warmer. And I found a breast pump entirely useless, but that's just me, I couldn't get the hang of expressing.

Bimbo, bath, baby born sling, breast pump, bottle warmer. Also bought too much bedding for the moses basket.

Changing unit, bottle warmer and chicco baby carrier were all useless in our house

I'm another who had a nappy bin and it went in the bin! So smelly.

Again changing table was pointless, I don't think it was ever used and was quickly gifted else where.

Door bouncer, was more hassle getting DD in and out of it than it was worth (but I did sell it on for as much as it cost, so wasn't too bad).

I will go against the grain and say I did get my monies worth out of the baby bath. Our bathroom is freezing and DD was a winter baby so she was bathed else where.

Again snow suits. Look lovely but takes a lot to put a baby in one! Vest, baby grow, hat and a couple of blankets and DD was as snug as a bug.

I'm due a summer baby this time round so I'm sure I'll learn a few new things.

Sheets for a Moses basket. Use a pillowcase - you'll get a lot more use out of it.

I find snowsuits essential and it's so easy to plonk baby in, zip up, done. Can't quite picture taking a baby out in the middle of the winter in just a babygrow - mine would definitely have wiggled their way out from under any blanket.
Of course get the ones that zip all the way, so you don't have to squeeze the baby in.

I thought our nappy bin was brilliant and the baby bath, I had a section so it was easier than bending down into the bath.

The only thing that was a total waste of money was our pram system cost us well mil over £500 we used it for a couple of months then got a cheap buggy.

Medela Swing breast pump. It's a great piece of equipment, but if you're breastfeeding, it's worth establishing whether your baby will accept a bottle before you spend over £100 on a pump.

Now they werent a waste of my money as I was gifted them (by people who no doubt thought 'I hope she can at least make use of them!!) but:
Bumbo, baby bjorn sling, baby bath, shoes, sock-ons (argh!).

Beautiful little dresses. DD is mostly in sleepsuits, but I wanted to treat her to something really nice, so bought 2 expensive dresses from trotters.

Poor little thing swam in it and the tights, looked like a vicar in a surplice (not helped by daddy putting it on back to front to start with), then promptly wiggled until her tights pulled her nappy down and peed/shat all over the dress, the buggy, basically everywhere but the nappy.

Back to sleepsuits after that!

Yes, dresses! Absolutely pointless. Luckily I didn't buy any, the two I had were gifts but I felt obliged to put dd in them when the gifters visited. Tights pull down nappies and dd looked terribly uncomfortable

Baby brush, baby nail clippers (just used my teeth).

Grobags - DD hates them

Our bath has been brilliant as has our nappy bin, never had an issue with smells.

We have one of those breathing monitors, the breathing sensor part is still in the box... DD is coming up to five months and still in our room anyway in her crib, and we just haven't used it. I don't think it's entirely pointless as in some ways can offer peace of mind and in others can freak you out if they roll off it and set the alarm off.

Baby bjorn bouncer - really dull, DD not interested in it. Thankfully it was leant to us.

Things like jumperoos and playmats I would get second hand, they'll only use them for a few months.

People bought us loads of summer clothes in 3-6 months, which she is now only just big enough for and they aren't the type you can layer up for winter.

Bottle warmer - used twice and then didn't bother.

Pampers newborn - Aldis first two size nappies are just as good and so much cheaper.

Our travel system, bought because it was cheap, wasn't happy with it and ended up buying one second hand for the carrycot which was brilliant for us.

For older babies: Jumperoo, play pen... anything restrictive was met with screams! Completely useless for us.

Swaddle blanket, my babies hated them.

Never used snow suits, but ridiculously expensive footmuff, brilliant in the winter.

On the other hand, my moses basket was a god send, only used for 4 months, but I could keep baby downstairs with me, and I wasn't very strong so was really struggling coming up and down the stairs.

I used nappy bin for more than a year for each baby, absolutely brilliant (no smell, and saved me from trekking outside in the rain every couple of hours, or just overflowing kitchen bin). Will buy again.

Baby baths fab! I have 2 at the moment . One for baby, one which has been used for years to store bath toys, clean them with Milton)

worst -
cot bale
moses basket
jumpy thing for doorway
white sleepsuits (never fit properly, always looked stained)

best -
crib
leggings and vests and cardigans (dds and ds lived in these rather than sleepsuits)
really good vibrating bouncy chair

Baby monitor - we used it once.
Hip seat - never used it, it was more comfortable to just use my hip

Bumbo, sock ons, Tommee Tippee breast pump (despite spending £100 it was so useless I had to buy a better one), sock ons, Fisher Price baby gym.

But most of all, the bloody travel system. Went to a buggy at 4 months and wish I'd never wasted money on the "big pram."

A bath thermometer - there is no better bath thermometer than your elbow!