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.

tall beaker comes with flask and fits over the top.

eiher ask for cold water in the cafe if we've stopped. or i have taken out
some water in small plastic bottle too.

i don't actually need that much cold water.

(but i carry a small carton of formula, in case of emergency!)

but the flask also saves me going downstairs and boiling the kettle in the night.
(hear baby trying to wake up. roll over, make feed, put in beaker that already contains cool water, let it cool while change baby or sometimes cool under bathroom tap)

(you can use the flask to carry hot water to warm up cool milk too)

Waste of money-
-Bottle warmer (went on ebay after two days of use).
-Bumbo (hate to say it as I was desparate for one but it was pointless)
-baby rocker- lots of my friends loved theirs but ds didnt particularly like his
-baby shoes, just don't!!
-scratch mitts, ditto!

Not a waste of money (for me anyway!)

• Nappy bin (just don't let it get stuffed and it doesnt smell and just saves you going out to the bin every few hours)
• Flask for boiled water
• Cot top changer (about £20 from Mothercare. Brilliant as it saved the space of buying a separate unit and also you can then change your baby at the correct angle as opposed to the baby being sideways.. I still struggle with this when I am out!)
• My M&P pramette, love it and ds very comfy in it. Folds up nicely for travelling and lies back for when ds nods off but twas a gift so can't complain about price
• My quinny zapp- ok so my pramette doesnt actually fit in my little car but this does and so it is snugly holed up in my boot all the time for when nipping out and about as opposed to going for long walks from home or on when on holiday (when I would use the pramette).
• muslins, still use them now for all sorts of things.
• feeding chair in ds's nursery (Mine is a cheapish Ikea Poang with footstool. Lovely and comfy for feeding and even now ds (14mths) has his last bottle with me before bed on it)

Definitely a sling. Cost £40, and my DD hated it. Ever seen Norman Wisdom trying to put up a deck chair in that film? Well, that was me trying to rig up that bloody sling. Ebay awaits (although my sales patter will be gushing

ah i see so you pour the hot water out of the stainless steel bit into the bottle, add the powder and then put cold water in the plastic bit and put the bottle in the water. perhaps they need to advertise it as a bottle cooler, not a bottle warmer

jojo - what do you mean about changing baby at the correct angle?

I think jojo means you can stand by the baby's feet instead of at her side. Which you can do with a changing table of course, depending how you position it!

oh ... i always change ds with him side on. is that wrong?

No, just depends what you find comfortable!!

Waste of money
Changing bag (always use a rucksac or handbag)
baby bath - always got in the bath with DS, thus getting us both clean, and I got a nice long bath

Best buys

Stokke changing unit - huge, so easy to change on, and loads of storage
Ring sling
Reusable wipes - clean everything with water, much nicer than disposable wipes
Lanisoh

co-ordinating bedroom sets unless you want to change the curtains/lightshade/lightswitch/wallpaper everytime baby is sick on the blankets and they soon grow out of expensive baby sized furniture

any toys for newborns- they dont play,they just eat,sleep and poo

newborn sized clothes- they grow out of them too quickly and ppl will buy them 4 u anyway,just get vests and babygros

most bath stuff- i found it easiest to just take baby into bath with me

if alot of ppl are likely to buy gifts 4 u consider making a 'baby list' (like a wedding list) of the things u actually want to avoid useless and duplicate gifts (3baby slings and 2bottle warmers [hmmm] )

CMOTD, can I just invade and ask whether you used baskets or anything in the stokke changing table? I quite like the look of it (someone else is paying, I hasten to add!), but think I'd probably like to put baskets or something on the shelves - what did you find?

I heart this thread!

Yes, I bought wicker baskets that have a calico lining - 4 of them, so his nappies, vests, clothes, and socks/bibs/vest extenders are in separate baskets. We keep spare sheets/muslins/clothes at the back behind the basket. Wipes/creams/wipe solution and nappy wraps live in the side containers, so everything is nicely to hand for you, but not for them

DS is 22 months, and still fits comfortably on it, and its much easier to change him on there that the floor. The side rails means that they can't roll off easily too.

We do have the Stokke cot too, and it is beautiful - am just about to put it to its lowest setting and take the side off to make it a first bed.

i actually like having a baby bath.
but bought one for

Thank you CMOTD!

Thanks Slinkie, you explained it far better than me!!

thought of a way that you can use just a normal £1 flask rather than paying £10 for the fisher price one and it also mean the bottle is ready to drink straight away rather than having to cool it down first. what i'd probably do for an 8oz bottle which is what ds has is put say 6oz of cooled water in the bottles already prepared and keep them in the fridge and i'd keep a flask of boiling water on the side (or take it out with me). then i'd use one of those tiny bottles that hold only a few oz and put say 2 oz of boiling water in and then the 8 scoops of powder, mix it and then add it to the larger bottle which already has the 6oz of cooled water in. or you could put 2 oz boiling water in a bottle add the 8 scoops of powder, shake it then add 6 oz of boiled water in but you'd have to take out a large bottle of cooled boiled water (say a 500ml pop bottle) and a baby's bottle so you could pour it out and measure the 6oz. you can't just top it up to 8 cos the powder always means it should go over iyswim. the second way means using less bottles overall so less to carry/wash up but carrying more of the smaller bottles (from the first way) might be easier than carrying around a larger bottle of cooled boiled water cos not sure if a 500ml bottle would be big enough for more than about 3 feeds and a bottle bigger than that might be awakward to take out and about.

pheeeew hope i haven't confused you all!

One of my most useless buys was a New Native baby sling... I couldn't wait to get one as I thought it would be fab but at first baby was too small and I kept thinking I was suffocating him, then baby was right size but he was so heavy and bulky for me in the sling I just couldn't seem to wear it right. Pah! £45 and I had to sell it for less than half that.

I remember reading similar threads when I was preggers but still went out and bought what I thought I needed! But I was pretty sensible. I was at how quickly they grow out of their prams and wouldn't spend so much money on one if I had my time again. Think the best advice on this thread is to remember that the shops are still open after you give birth so hang on and if you still feel that you just can't live without that glider chair or nappy bin then go for it .

Moltex oko nappies are great disposables that biodegrade unlike most which will remain for 100's of years. I second olive oil ( but def not expensive extra virgin as it stings on sensitive skin)We have used this succesfully on excema too. Congratulations!

First baby bumbo really useful. Used it loads. Second baby bumbo useless, his legs were too fat & had to be squished in to it!

I bought tons of breastpads. Did not leak at all. I know that it is fairly unusual, but you could always buy more at a later date.

First baby used all newborn clothes for ages, grew slowly. Second porker baby only wore some of his new clothes once as he grew so quickly. So have been giving his used once clothes away as presents. (am also in to recycling).

I shouldn't really comment yet, son's still only 5 weeks, but I do feel a bit 'had' by the One Life nappies we bought before he was born. We thought it would be better to save the money and buy something you can make smaller or larger with Ingenious System Of Poppers! but we've found that he's simply too small for them in the newborn fold, and he's not that weeny. So we're waiting another month or two for his bum to get bigger!

In the meantime, I discovered that the muslins I laid in 2 dozen of make fab new baby nappies, with a flushable liner and using the One Life wraps! So think before you buy an 'economical' washable nappy system, but get loads of muslins! (on ebay, where they cost a lot less than mothercare.) And Nappy Nippas rule!

Useless:
top and tail bowl
vests with poppers - my daughter hated having things put over her head, and it is tempting to stretch them down to do them up, realised she was getting marks on her shoulders where they were dragging down
Any form of socks or shoes, they just come off. If its cold put tights on
Any clothes that sit on the waist - they won't, babies don't have waists! Dresses or rompers are best.
Anything with hundreds of poppers to be dealt with at every change. Old fashioned nighties are much better - you just flip them up

Couldn't have done without:
Bath cradle - really cheap and simple metal frame with towelling cover that comes off to wash. I was lent it and thought it looked pointless so didn't use it until she was about 3 mths. So wish I had used it before, she was so much happier. Previously bathing had panicked her - in a big or baby bath - into the morrow reflex and crying all the time. I could only bath her happily with me, which was lovely in some ways, but I got a bit fed up of having luke warm baths at 6pm! She is still using the cradle at 7 mths, mostly just as a non slip place to sit, but also I can lie her back to wash awkward bits
Sling. I had both a ring and later a criss cross pouch sling (hugabub). She loves both. I find her a bit heavy in the ring sling now (15lbs) for anything except short periods, but can still carry her comfortably for hours at a time in the hugabub. Have barely used the pram we bought as sling is so much easier (totally all terrain and does not take up so much space in a shop!)
Clare Byam-Cook's breastfeeding book. Clear, simple and tells you everything you need to know. Still happily breastfeeding at 7 months and only had cracked nipples once (before I was lent the book). Buy it before D Day!
Dr Sears 'Baby Book' full of sensible practical advice that doesn't require you to force your baby into being seen and not heard before it's old enough. Babies cry for a reason, not because they are manipulating you. (Colic is different, and he discusses this too)
My mum (sorry, not for sale) who kept telling me to relax, not listen to everyones conflicting advice and just do what I felt was right. And she came and looked after me a lot during the first few weeks. What a star
Good luck!

What we didn't need;

Moses basket, should've bought the bedside cot (bed extension) we used for DD2 instead, as DD1 ended up in our bed anyway, why does no-one tell you that babies belong in bed next to mum??? (but not between mum and dad, for the first 4 months or so at least)

Baby bath, nasty, horrible, difficult to use. Binned it after about 4 weeks and just bathed them in with us (they really like warmer water, luke warm stuff gets cold very quickly and then they scream) it was so much easier to hold them so they relaxed and didn't flail and cry.

Front carrier (baby bjorn type thing, none of them are "superior", they are all bad for your back and the babys) uncomfortable for both of us, got a ring sling, wonderful!!!

What we did find useful/good;

Bedside cot, a 3 sided cot that fits against your bed so that you all have plenty of room but mum doesn't have to get up to feed baby, just whip out a boob and stay lying down, bliss, no sleep deprivation in our house once we had this!!

Muslin cloths, made fabulous nappies for newborns then after about 3 months become burp cloths/dribble catchers/boob hiders.

Ring sling, I never put my pram in the car again once I had a ring sling. You can wear it all day with quite a heavy baby (18 months+), no need to man-handle a cumbersome pram through shops etc. Excellent for discrete boobing too.

Avent Isis breast pump, gives you the option to leave your baby if you want to (but why would you want to?? ) and a good way to get one is to donate to your local milk bank, they provide you with one free.

When you go to buy your pram remember this, car seats are just that, for in the car, not to be in for hours and hours, so once you have got where you are going take the baby out and either carry it in a sling or in a nice rear facing pram. Even babies of 6 months+ want to see thier mum, not a sea of strange legs and to be blasted with cold wind/hot sun as happens in front facing strollers etc.

And right now you need a copy of "Birth Reborn" by Michel Odent and "Childbirth without Fear" by Grantly Dick-Read, make sure your birthing partner(s) read them too. And then you'll approach labour feeling confident and in control, not frightened and submissive.

Enjoy!!

"vests with poppers - my daughter hated having things put over her head, and it is tempting to stretch them down to do them up, realised she was getting marks on her shoulders where they were dragging down" surely if you have to stretch them to do them up then they are too small?

i totally agree about the tights. ds wears tights in the winter instead of socks. doesn't really work in the summer unfortunately

next time i would just buy a few reusable breast pads and then wash them. i bought 2 whole boxes full but only used a few cos i didn't leak after the first week.

Waste of money:
Muslin squares: used cut up old t-shirts and towels that also can serve as heavy duty bibs if necessary.
(Also you can use old t-shirts/shirts to line changing mat to stop baby screaming from lying on a cold surface.)

Baby seat, see carseat/pushchair recommendations instead.

Baby wipes: cotton wool and baby oil is the beste bet (it works better than water and also has the added advantage of moisturising baby's bum at the same time.)

Top recommendations
Avent Isis manual breast pump. I tried various ones and this is the one that best worked. I hadn't realised how easy it was to express until I found this. Get Dad to do the late evening feed and GO TO BED. Manual so it can go work with you and be discreet... you can even express in the loo if nowhere else is available.

Travel system (carseat/pram/pushchair thingy) My baby loved being in the car seat on the table in the kitchen/front room watching me. Carseat also fitted into a supermarket trolley, making for easy mobility to and from the car.Plus the pushchair bit is ideal for day time napping and playing for the first three months.

Avent dummies with lids. I know its not done to use a dummy, but for those of us who fly in the face of accepted wisdom... the lids are dead useful and prevent the dummy getting mucky once it has been discarded by baby.

Congrats on the pregnancy and don't worry too much about what comes after. You'll be surprised at how much you'll be able to do and how much you know about your baby.... you're her/his mother after all. Enjoy being his/her number one fave person in all the world.... it doesn't last!!