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.

Forgot to say that Nappy addict is right.

My ds hated things going over his head. Vest things with diagonal poppers and babygrows with poppers from neck to toe are the best bet. Zips break and poppers to the waist make for fiddly changing.

olive oil good for pooh but i just used water for wet nappies.

what are poppers to the waist?

tummy tub is absolutely crap.
bibs and scratch mits pointless.
however loved my moses basket - even though he grew out of it in six weeks, it was invaluable to put baby to sleep anywhere in the house, he would sleep in the carrycot.
a good pram is well worth the cash.
you don't need half as many clothes as you think.

sorry - 'wouldn't' sleep in carrycot.
close baby sling - rubbish.
Wait till they are born before you buy things, it will give you places to go after the first two weeks staying in mooning over baby time

weird that he wouldnt sleep in the carrycot but would in the moses basket.

Sorry, made it sound like I was cramming my poor child into too small vests. I really wasn't, but the poppers on the bottom are there to hold the vest down (I presume) which they did, but this caused her shoulders to get chafed - it wasn't like I was yanking them down to do them up.
Also I was given some second hand vests by sister/friends/etc and they all looked stretched, so that would indicate they do get pulled to a certain extent.
Whatever, I was just saying that vests that fasten down the middle are easier - and more comfortable for the baby.

got you now lol. ds always had the ones with the poppers at the side and then normal vests.

never seen vests that fasten down the middle where do you get them from?

I bought so much useless stuff when I found out I was pregnant, then I came across attatchment parenting and realised all I needed was some clothes, close baby carrier and some breast pads for leaky boobs! No cot, pram, steriliser stuff etc.
Our second is practically gonna need nothing new!

-cotton vests and bodysuits + blankets
-moses basket and grobag or swaddling blanket
-basin/bath
-cotton wool/cooled boiled water/olive oil and nappies
-breastpads and lansinoh
-travel system and baby hammock

All the rest you can buy as you go if you feel you need it.

Scratch mitts are a complete waste of money.

A DVD-RW that lets you pause live TV is THE best piece of baby kit you can buy.

oh, and anything with black and white stripes "to stimulate newborns" is a marketing con aimed at fleecing first-time parents. My DD ignored the expensive mobile I bought but was mesmerised by the vent on the air conditioner.

Mothercare do fasten down the middle vests, though they are sometimes difficult to find among all the other vests, and the staff seem to keep moving them. But I've achieved 0-3, 3-6 and 6-9 mths sizes there. They just have 3 dots of velcro down the centre.
My sister lent me some wrap over and popper ones made by a company called 'Petit Bateaux' but I don't know where she bought them. They did have crotch poppers too, but I just didn't bother popping them up, tucked them into her tights instead.

I have tried every nappy on the market and was surprised to find that Lidl's own brand toujours are very good and reasonably priced.

phelia if they are on the website could you do a link cos i can't find them.

We used scratch mitts until my daughter was really quite old - M&S did up to 9-12 months and she was scratchy back then but seems to have grown out of it. Petit Bateau have lots of shops in London and their baby/child underwear is of the absolute best quality but not cheap.

its all personal. it depends on life style and buying sensibly. shop around.

i love my pram and travel system. i find it so useful. when i walk i take the pram. use the carrycot for daytime naps downstairs. use the carseat on wheels quite alot. (but within the advised time frame)
at six months it changes to pushchair foward or rear facing. lightweight, great manouverbility (sp?).
the only expensive thing we bought, n a unisex colour. so its an investment for the next one too.

my friend has the same pram. her ds hates the carrycot.

my baby loves bathtime. likes swirling around. hates bath support seat, as he can't swirl around and isn't covered enough by water. bought both very cheap.

my friends baby hates baby bath but loves bath support in the big bath.

i use socks on my ds (to go with outfits bought as gifts, as i only buy baby grows!) bought a pack of newborn ones in gap sale for £1 for 3.
so shop around.

if you need scratch mitts and haven't bought any, use socks.

i use bibs and muslins.
bibs because my ds put hands on his face and in his mouth and a muslin just gets in his way. also when i move him to burp him the bib goes with him, saves looking for the muslin when he spits up.
muslins are very useful too.
so bought 1 pack of each. as cheap as possible.

didn't use monitor at first at my newborn went everywhere i did!
but use it alot now he's bigger and sleeps for longer period.

borrow or buy cheap (new or recycled).
and buy smart. so things you're not sure about that can be resold for good price. (e.g slings)

do your research. impulse buys will cost you!!

and something baby's grow into. my ds hated his bouncer at first. now loves it! (btw he's 3ms now)

Nappy Addict

Petit Bateau have been around for ages and they are great quality: my mum gave me some of the vests that I wore as a baby - they still looked like new 30 years on when I used them for my DS, despite loads of washing!

BUT they are expensive: if you are near it, it's worth trying their factory shop at Bicester Village, or getting other people to give you stuff from there as presents

Beware also, their sizing is tiny. My DS was pretty small and I still always found that he needed a size up from his age.

I bought one of those bucket things to bath them in. SHITE. Proper shite. Tried using it a few times with each child - RUBBBBISSSHHHHH. Only thing it was useful for was throwing up into while I was in labour!

www.petit-bateau.com/ but they don't have an online store that delivers to the UK - lots of new gear on ebay though.

The worst thing to spend your money on when your pregnant is unisex clothes, seems like a good idea at the time being all prepared but when LO arrives all you want is to make them look like a wee boy or wee girl in appropriate colours!

We are still using our monitor and dcs are 7.5 and 5.5 YEARS. Keep it plugged in on landing so acts as a night light for using toilet and means we can close door downstairs and watch TV while still hearing them if they have a nightmare/get sick. Would almost be tempted to buy another if it broke.

thomcat - do you mean the tummy tub? why was it crap?

Hmmm waste of money items...

Pouch sling - DS hated being scrunched up in it, thankfully the one we got was a fleecy one and we now use it as a blanket. Worth buying after your baby is born to find out what sort of positions they like.

Baby memorabilia, diaries etc - never used. Best of looking at and interacting with your baby rather than writing everything down, just remember to take LOTS of pictures

Baby monitor I find invaluable as it means I can watch TV/hoover/listen to music when DS is asleep and not be paranoid that I can't hear him.

Baby bath also very useful - saves lots of water, but he can still be floating in it (that's why he didn't like the bath support jobbie)

Breast pump a godsend in those first few days when my milk came in. I now express exclusively, but that's a different story!

At the end of the day, most things you can get from a 24 hour tesco/asda if it's an emergency.