have you bought anything that was a waste of money

[pud1]

i am now 23 weeks and am having to start to think of all the things i will need and the cost. has any one got any tips on things they thought they would need but didnt. i feelt hat there are so many things that you could be fooled into buying.

pretty much anything your mother didn't use. ie bottle/wipe warming devices, those revolting nappy bins, cctv systems to monitor every move.

Any smelly lotions or bath stuff for a newborn. I liked using it on my own hands but really all you need for the baby is water. They don't get very dirty.

Sooo much

baby bath - new washing up bowl
bottle warmer - too slow
nappy bin - a normal bin emptied daily

Not too many clothes - babies grow really quickly! Better to buy as you go. They really do not stay "newborn" for very long.

Oh yeah and don't get tempted by a ready-packed hospital bag. I didn't buy one but saw one for sale at the Baby Show and thought - what a waste of money! It was full of things you really probably won't need and not any of the things you probably would want.

yeah recently bought a cooker from ebay and the dorr fell off first time we used it

BabyBjorn carrier (but the sling & Ergo were well worth the money - I got those after I realised the babybjorn was a con)

Didn't buy much else really - it was all pretty minimal.

Most of it you don't need! If you can bear it just buy the very bare minimum and then get stuff once they're born and you then have a better idea of what you will need.

Items you think you might need but aren't sure, see if you can borrow. Eg, baby baths, moses basket etc. We even borrowed a pram and ended up buying one after he was born which was better suited to our needs cos once ds was there we knew what kind we needed.

You really need very very little for a tiny baby - honestly! (The only thing I underestimated needing was muslin cloths cos ds was sick - A LOT!)

Good luck!

I thought about one of those nappy bins, untill a friend said - why would you want dirty nappies in your house for a week, just put in nappy bag put it straight outside, no nasty lingering pongs....

Do you have friends/siblings that have had children who could give you things?

My sister gave me some sample bottles of shampoo etc to take into hospital.

If you can be bothered a lot of companies will send you samples that you can take in with you. Go online and have a look, i put in 'shampoo samples' loads of well known brands came up.

TeaDr1nker

borrow as much as you can. people will be delighted to off load baby crap stuff on a new mother. let family buy stuff they really want to.

The main things the baby will need to start with:

• something to eat - so boobs (free) or bottles etc
• somewhere to sleep - we bought a moses basket for next to the bed which DS was in for 3 months and we were given a 2nd hand cotbed so just had to buy matress and bedding
• nappies - using cloth now but disposables for those first few weeks, cotton wool and water for cleaning up
• clothes - again we got given loads new as gifts (esp with a first baby) and picked up bagfuls of other peoples handmedowns as well

Then you can start thinking about moving the baby around, so sling, buggy, pram etc. But remember that the shops will still be open once your baby is born, so you can pick up things as you need it.

Btw, congratulations on your pregnancy

lol @ shops will be open. soooo true.

Don't buy a moses basket. Use the carry cot bit of your pram inside a cot.

Don't spend £££ on a pram - get something basic and spend more on a stroller after 3 months.

Don't buy Pampers/Huggies - Tesco own brand nappies are best.

Things I bought/was given and used in first three months:

• Maxi Cosi car seat and a little fleece blanket to keep her toes warm (baby born in November)

• Moses basket

• Baby Bjorn sling (the superior version )

• Baby Bjorn bouncy seat

• playpen / playmat

• radio baby monitor (lived in very big house when daughter was born)

I never used a carrycot pram - I always carried my baby in a sling when I went out.

this is really helpful, i was starting to get my irrational first time mum head on whilst looking at websites.

Baby monitor. Complete waste of money, unless you like in a humungous mansion with wings then you will be able to hear your baby cry.

Musical mobiles

Scratch mitts (never ever used them even once).

Oh those super twisty non pong nappy bin thingmies.

We didn't have a pram/carrycot thing, only ever had one buggy which lays flat so suitable it from birth (hence the Moses basket).

Some of the things that people bought me that I have never used:

• Smelly pink nappy bags
• Disposable bibs
• Shoes for tiny newborns
• Jeans ditto

Oh, a little bath support - washable towelling that slipped over a frame - very, very useful for bathing your baby in a big bath without doing your back in / drowning the baby.

A baby dressing gown to pop on in the morning over his/her babygrow.

Little slippers to keep his/her toes warm when wearing a dressing gown.

If you have a cat, DO NOT be suckered into buying a cat net. Your cat will take one look at the baby and will move out for approximately six months. Your parents and PIL will harp on constantly about how cats smother babies, but you should be confident in the knowledge that this is a load of guff.

Also agree re. scratch mittens and tiny baby shoes - complete waste of money.

• swinging crib

- liners for inside the changing mat to make it warm and cosy (??!!) - anything smelly by Johnsons - cotton wool balls - huge big Graco travel system pram (bought a Techno XT when DD1 was 6 weeks) used the car seat though.

policywonk - agree about cats and babies, I never found any of mine near a baby. Apparently the cats stealing babies breath/smothering them/smelling the milk is an urban myth, I read somewhere there has never been one reported case of a cat killing a child.

I definitely needed stratch mitts for DD1 she tore her face to shreds without them, only problem was she was a July baby and livied in a vest and stratch mitts for the first month as it was so warm, keeping the stratch mitts on was a nightmare. DD2 never needed them at all.

scratch mitts
bibs
weird spongey thing with cut out baby in it for bath - the only time we put him in it the water had been in it for about 5 mins and was cold, DS screamed and weed, poor thing!
top n tail bowl

did i mention bibs? pointless!!

bibs, just never ended up using them
bottle warmer, took too long to warm
changing unit, had to have one but never got used.

definalty second tesco own brand nappies they are fab.

I used socks instead of scratch mits..they stayed on much better, scratch mits just kept coming off.