Useless baby-related equipment

[Umberta]

This is a light-hearted thread... just want to ask for examples of things you don't recommend that parents buy!

My DH and I are slightly worried that in trying to be prepared, we will fill the house with useless junk before our baby is born, and then never use it haha. So I'm consulting the collective wisdom of MN

Eg an ex colleague received a "baby wipe warmer machine" as a gift and hardly ever used it, turns out cold wet wipes are fine 😂

Most things you can do without. My tip is to not buy in advance and only once you realise it would be useful.

Also, you can store wet wipes in airing cupboards if you want to take the chill off them.

What a fantastic idea! Jumping on to get advice too. I'm 19 weeks and seriously overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that I could potentially buy

Nappy bin.
‘Nice/fancy’/any outfit that has to go over a baby’s head because they will go crackers
Baby towels
Baby wardrobe

Baby bath. Just put them in with you or just add a few inches of warm water to the normal bath.

Outfit for a baby with buttons at the back.

Top and tail bowl
Baby flannels
We bought mainly as and when we needed it and were given a few bits second hand, so wasn't too bad. Was glad that we hadn't bought a baby bouncer, as DD hated them, and preferred to lay on the floor under her jungle gym thing

It’s incredibly personal OP. If you read any equipment thread anywhere, you’ll inevitably see people insisting you need dozens of muslins. I bought some and honestly, over two babies, never used them. I had no occasions on which a largeish flimsy cloth was useful for me. Other people (virtually everyone) rave about them for all sorts of reasons but honestly, I never seemed to use them.

Likewise, I adored my big heavy expensive travel system that I used for years and walked thousands of miles with. And had very little benefit or use from a sling.

Generally don’t buy too much before the baby arrives but browse the shops/websites and think about your preferrences so if you do find you need X Y or Z, you already know where to get it and which version might suit you best. When sleep deprived, choice can be overwhelming!

Things I didn't find useful were:
Egg shape room thermometer thing!
baby sound/movement monitor
Nappy bin
Dont buy baby toiletries (you generally get loads as presents, same applies to hats, scratch mits and blankets)
Bumbo seat
Baby bath

Don’t buy too much until baby is born. For a new baby you just need vests and baby grows, Muslins, wipes, nappies, a hat, snowsuit, pram/travel system and somewhere safe to sleep. We got a snuz pod which was fab and a Moses basket for downstairs.

We really wanted a perfect prep machine incase we couldn’t breastfeed but we didn’t need one until baby was 5 months so I’m glad we held out. Although if you’re planning on formula feeding they’re a godsend.

Remember pretty much everything can be ordered on Amazon prime, and picked up from big supermarkets. People love to help after a new baby so if you feel that you need something ask someone to pick it up for you :)

Also Facebook market place was fab for things we weren’t sure we needed but wanted to have like a bath seat, play gym etc. And in reality they’ve only been used for a few months by another baby.

Newborn/0-3 baby clothes apart from the odd thing.

All mine are in vests and sleepsuits for the first few months as you change them so often and a lot of outfits look really uncomfortable.

Was glad that we hadn't bought a baby bouncer, as DD hated them, and preferred to lay on the floor under her jungle gym thing

DC1 was the same but DC4 would vomit profusely every time he lay down on the gym but was happy enough in the bouncer which saved a lot of washing!

Nappy bin. They're fine for size 1 but as soon as nappies grow slightly they are filled in a day and the replacement bags are expensive.

There are so many things on this thread we couldn't have done without and we're pretty minimal (not many items of clothing for baby, no changing table, not too many toys etc) - just goes to show it's all subjective. Top and tail bowl is an essential imo.

Unnecessary stuff in my opinion:
Changing table
Newborn 'outfits' (sleep suits and vests all that's needed)
Baby wipes (we used cotton wool then cheeky wipes)
Breastfeeding clothes (existing tops with a vest underneath did the job for me)
Probably loads more!

Take this thread with a pinch of salt op, what's pointless to some is essential to others!

Oh baby toiletries! My nearly 3 yo still has JJs from when she was born! She didn't grow any hair till she was 2 so we've tonnes of shampoo.

I had a perfect prep machine that I never used as despite being adamant I didn’t want to breastfeed, guess what I ended up doing

Any item of clothing that requires ironing was also a waste as I never ironed them, yet didn’t put the baby in them because they looked too crumpled.

The carrycot bit for the pram was a waste of time as my baby hated it. I just carried her everywhere in a sling until she was big enough for the sitting up bit

I think it changes from person to person as I found a nappy bin really useful because I lived in a flat but other things my baby hated and weren’t useful. The best advice is to get things as you find that you need them and buy things second hand where you can; my DD hated a seat we got and I wasn’t worried because I’d bought it for £5 second hand but would have been gutted if I’d spent £30 on a new one

Don't need a changing table. Floor and sofa absolutely fine for changing mat.

Don't bother with a baby bath unless you get a Tummy Tub, they become bath toy tub after baby too big

Don't bother with a baby change bag. Rucksack with compartments much more useful.

No need for nappy bin, nappy wrapper and the like.

Bumbo seat absolutely not required.

PPs give good advice about waiting until baby is here before getting stuff. And get second hand if you can.

I just bought basics like baby grows, vests, buggy, cot and car seat. We did use a nappy bin for about the first year after DD1 was born because we were on the top (5th) floor of an apartment block with no lift and didn't want to be running down to the communal bins at every nappy change.

The most useless pieces of equipment I ended up with were a breast pump (didn't want to breastfeed) and a sling (couldn't get to grips with it and baby hated it anyway).

Everyone is different though. One person's useless is another's must have.

It’ll be a different list from person to person really. For us it was a bottle set thing.. little bugger would only take to mam bottles, which we found out by trial and a lot of error. We use Milton (Tesco Milton tablets) in a jug now to sterilise things because it’s always ready and you can add “mid cycle” compared to a steam steriliser.

We do use a nappy bin, but not with the fancy bags, our council picks nappies up weekly instead of having them in the main bin so that separated them off. Mine came free as an amazon deal or it’d have been a bin from anywhere cheap.

Bulk buying anything now isn’t an idea, wait till they’re here and you discover that the 100 nappies you’ve bought are the kind that either gives baby a rash or leaked on the hour.

We got a sponge thing (looks like a bear comes from home bargains for £3) you lay in the bath n plop them on, better than the sodding baby bath that’s ironically too wide for our bath with its handle bits, it’s not poo friendly but it’s £3 so it’s easily replaced.

If you have a puker muslins are the new sliced bread.. if you don’t their shitty thin cloths, get a pack n wait n see.

I think the only things I agree are crap are the gimmicky things, wipe warmers, baby food makers (not the prep but the steam n blends), baby sized furniture (clothes don’t care if they have a long dangle space) and anything with buttons on the back before they can sit up is simply the work of the devil.

But as every babies different and everyone is different there’s no right or wrong answer. Most bigger things can be sold on if you or baby hate them.

Things I wasted money on:

• expensive Dr Brown's bottles and sterilisers (breastfed)
• moses basket & stand
• loads of muslin cloths
• clothing that was not suitable / comfortable/ right size for the season
• baby carrier sling thing from mothercare, didn't work for us.

Contrary to what you’re asking, the one thing I would highly recommend is a sling! DS lived in his for months and it meant he napped whilst I got on with cooking/housework

Excellent thread... I'm 1st time preggers and spend half the time looking through totally random things on Amazon suggested, thinking 'but do I really need that!?'

My sister in law said don't bother buying expensive stacking measuring things for powder (if you're not breast feeding) she picked some little tubs up from Wilko or somewhere similar for a couple of quid that are perfect.

Also I've learned from mumnet today that a fancy baby bath costing the earth because its got a built in thermometer is also a bit of a waste of our precious money. I've found one on FB marketplace for a £5er, like new. No thermometer as most mums say trust your magic elbow 😁😇

See I loved my cot top changer couldn't kneel on the floor as it hurt my knees!! Loved this rigid plastic baby support for in the bath as you had both hands free and no hanging onto a slippery baby and twisting your back.

Tried loads of slings and just hated them, used my pram and pushchairs loads and loads.

Babygym and baby bouncer used loads too.

The 3 compartment tub for formula best £1 I ever spent.

All very individual!

I bought everything 2nd hand though so if I didn't use it it didn't actually cost me anything as sold on for I had paid in the first place.

We are on baby number 2- never bothered with a changing table. Just have a mat pushed under the sofa downstairs which we use on the floor and a box of all toiletries and upstairs change on a sheet on our bed. Didnt bother with baby wardrobe either- just got a wardrobe from IKEA and an extra rail so there are two in there and then as they get older can take the second rail out. Our first was fine in the Angelcare bath seat but the second is trying to propel herself out of it so we have got a baby bath for here. I like the Nuna leaf rocker, next to me crib, bumbo seat. But every baby is different and what works for one will not work for the other- with my first we waited until he was born to see what things we realised we needed as we went along.