Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Shopping

From everyday essentials to big purchases, swap tips and recommendations. For the best deals without the hassle, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

"I wish I hadn't bought"....the things you regret you have bought

99 replies

MamanFlo · 04/04/2005 17:39

Hello supermums !

Is there things you have bought (or received as a gift) that you profoundly regret ? because it proved either totally useless or not working properly.

A friend was telling me yesterday that her travel system was a total mistake...and that she had to buy a new stroller as soon as her DD was able to sit in one...That's money out of the window...

This thread could prove very useful for anyone looking at the right equipment...

Cheers !

flo

OP posts:

koalabear · 05/04/2005 10:22

our house = huge mortgage = must work

i think we shall sell the house

Nemo1977 · 05/04/2005 10:25

baby burburry touch perfume....havent a clue why i bought it just wanted it..used it once and hated the smell and also thought it was ridiculous..lol
Now on ebay..pmsl

gingerbear · 05/04/2005 10:25

Talcum powder - I bought a huge container. Why??
Found a use for it though - take to the beach with you. When you leave beach - sprinkle on wet sandy bits - sand removed without exfoliating child's skin.

Bozza · 05/04/2005 10:45

Huge padded high chair with all sorts of nooks and crannys and non-removeable straps and adjustable heights. Now on baby no 2 straps v. dubious, food gets everywhere and have only once lowered chair and it takes up half the kitchen and does not match.

Soft toys - neither of mine really interested but people still keep on buying them. Waste of money.

Baby products. My MIL stocked us up with more of these than we can get through. She bought 4 bottles of baby shampoo when 4 yo DS was born and we are currently on bottle no 3. I remember predicting that they would last until he went to school. The talc (two huge containers) will last until he leaves home.

All in one suits were useless for mine because both put up so much protest about wearing them.

Clothes that were the wrong season bought by well-meaning relatives because they were cute or a bargain.

alicemama · 05/04/2005 11:02

Def agree with J&J products.
My sil works for mothercare and gave me boxes of the stuff and hardly used anything but they do come in handy as gifts for other new mums

LIZS · 05/04/2005 11:07

We were bought as a present from mil's friends a white thin cotton broderie anglais dress and pants set age 6-9 months. Very pretty but dd was a summer baby so should have fitted late winter/early spring although she turned out to be petite. However by the time it did fit she was crawling/cruising so not the most practical outfit and it is still on its hanger !

lou33 · 05/04/2005 11:10

hand held vacuum cleaner. No power, didn't pick anything up, total waste of money

ragtaggle · 05/04/2005 11:15

The Stokke Tripp Trapp. Looks great but bloody impractical - the food falls down the gap between the chair and the table. Plus when you want to adjust the seat it involves a major operation - a bit like making a new piece of IKEA furniture each time. And the cushion is non wipeable so is constantly in the machine...I could go on. Wish I'd just bought a high chair with a wrap around table and a wipeable seat cushion.

Also wish I hadn't wasted money on loads of pretty clothes before she was six months old! (Though it was all part of the excitment of having number one) Especially as I'm now pregnant with number two and he's a boy. He will only be in babygros until he's at least one - far easier!

vict17 · 05/04/2005 11:15

We bought, and also were given, loads of bedding for the cot and all we have used are gro bags and 2 fitted sheets for the mattress. Cot bumper was also a waste of money.
We're still using our baby bath at one year on as we only have a shower so ds goes in it at the bottom of the shower. Bumbo was also well used. We never bought a moses basket as ds went straight into his cot in his own room

Original poster

MamanFlo · 05/04/2005 11:16

DH uses talc to calm his skin after shaving if anyone interested

OP posts:

vict17 · 05/04/2005 11:19

also special baby towels with hoods on are a waste of money - we just use ordinary towels!!

welshmum · 05/04/2005 11:31

I love our Tripp trapp and it fits in well in the room. Happy with the Sangenic too and will use it for the next one.
However would like to burn the soft toys on a bonfire fuelled with all the j&j baby lotion and oil.

Tommy · 05/04/2005 11:33

I bought a pram sheet cos I didn't think my precious baby would like to lie straight in the pram - it is still in the packet - 3 years later.
I was really lucky and given a lot of stuff which I'm glad I didn't buy - moses basket in particular - mine were only in it for a few weeks.

ssd · 05/04/2005 11:55

I bought 4 complete sets of cotbed sheets as I found a baby book that said that's how many to buy!!!

I gave them all away not so long ago - most unused!

They were from the Early Learning Centre as I got the cotbed from there, and they cost over £100!!!!

norash40 · 05/04/2005 11:56

Definitely our gulfstream jet.

The 5million a year fuel bill somehow just does not seem right.

Hubby's toys.

wild · 05/04/2005 12:01

agree about towels with hoods! and pink lotion stuff.
Liked the bottle warmer though, put it on low while ds in bath to heat through. I'm sure I read you weren't allowed to microwave milk cos of 'hot spots' and of course with no 1 I believed almost everything I read
Used to spend too long looking at pictures of childhood diseases in Miriam Stoppard

Roobie · 05/04/2005 15:25

Just thought of a couple more....

One of those bath support seat thingys....wasn't even taken out of the wrapper.

A cot bed divider - kind of white barrier thing you put across the cot just below babies feet to prevent them coming out of the feet to foot position. DD ended up in a sleeping bag anyway so there was no problem letting her roam all over the cot.

starlover · 05/04/2005 15:30

I haven't regretted anything yet!
Have used everything I bought... including:
newborn clothes
baby bath
big pram
cot bedding

I have to say.. i will go out of my way to use stuff though, even if I don't want to. just because I have bought it LOL

desperatehousewife · 05/04/2005 15:36

a very expensive back pack thing to carry DS in. Only used about 3 times. too bloody heavy for me!

kama · 05/04/2005 15:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

DillyDally · 05/04/2005 16:04

A pop up travel cot that does indeed pop up but sadly doesnt pop down and I spent many a happy hour wrestling the thing back into its handy carry case.

PiccadillyCircus · 05/04/2005 16:06

A baby bath. DS hated it. And it was so heavy to lift etc. Much better was a thing like this .

Also, cot blankets and sheets. Had I realised the loveliness of grobags, I would not have bought them.

Roobie · 05/04/2005 16:12

..Piccadilly Circus, those seats are just the kind of thing I was talking about.

Funny how attitudes vary towards baby baths though .... I used mine actually in the bath so there was none of this precarious carrying around of hugely heavy tanks of water - I found it so much quicker and self contained than actually filling the large bath.

PiccadillyCircus · 05/04/2005 16:18

I did use the baby bath in the bath, but still managed to get water all over the place .

I think DS would have hated baths wherever he had them for the first few months of his life.

Have thought of more things I didn't need to buy - bootees never stayed on DS's feet, baby talc (why? But at least I threw it away when we moved house), baby lotion and an amzing supply of baby shampoo (I hope there was a special offer on at the time). I'm sure there are other things.

DS2/DD (due in September) will be lucky if they get anything (actually I tell a lie, they have got a newborn grobag, and as the bath support seems to have disappeared, I need a new one. You haven't still got yours have you Roobie? )

Flip

1 2 3 4