What are the silliest things you've done or bought for your new baby? Tell ASDA Little Angels for the chance to win a £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED!

[EmmaMumsnet]

A regular topic of discussion amongst MNers is the steep learning curve that parenting entails. It’s not uncommon for first-time parents to be a little bit OTT when it comes to DC1, investing in every last toy, cream and accessory that the baby books recommend - even if this overzealousness suffers a rapid decline with subsequent children.

Here is what Asda Little Angels have to say, ‘We know how much fun you can have when shopping for your first little angel, and how easy it is to get carried away. We’d love to hear the stories behind your most extravagant purchasing missteps!’

Asda Little Angels would like to know the extra-lengths you went to for your precious first born. What unnecessary extravagances did you invest in before you started to follow your instincts and simply go with the flow?

Perhaps you carried a painfully heavy changing bag fully-stocked with ‘must-have’ gadgets on every outing, before realising that a wet wipe was sufficient in most situations. Or maybe you bleached every surface your first baby came into contact with, but by child number two reached the conclusion that a quick wipe on your jeans was probably an adequate way of cleaning something.

Whatever the passing quirk, please share it below and you will be entered into the prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

wet wipe warmer it seemed like such a good idea at the time

I bought a baby bathrobe. I thought it would be the cutest thing ever to follow the hooded baby towel.
I very quickly learnt to cut out the middle man and go straight to a sleep suit. Was I thinking that newborn DS would chill out on the sofa, holding the remote in one hand and Peter Rabbit in the other?

I have enough washing to do.

During the first night home DD wouldn't settle. So between us we ordered most of Amazon including a special beanbag bed thing which was £££. In the light of the morning we saw sense and cancelled everything, went to ASDA and bought a pack of dummies.

It's embarrassing, but basically I was a sucker for anything that suggested it would help baby's development: books, toys, CDs, DVDs, classical music, black and white symbols, la la la. Everything. What a waste of money!

We got a baby/child seat to go on a bike which wasn’t used much.

Too many pram shoes and too many headbands, considering she hardly kept them on

We bought a side sleeper crib an expensive baby monitor that we spent ages setting up but ended up cosleeping from day 1

Baby booties. Totally pointless- they get kicked off.. they get lost.. arhhh!

I want a wipe warmer!🙂. Of all the useless baby things I wasted money on, I think the hideous plastic, clip on push chair toy was the worst. My MIL laughed when she saw it and handed my DS her keys to play with instead.

Leopard print Baby Ugg boots at an outlet village - they were still 40 pounds - for my 4 month old DD. Auntie with 4 kids was looking at me askance when I bought them. Babies don't stand at that age obviously or have any support in their ankles so they constantly fell off. Ridiculous purchase.

The most odd/daft thing I bought for my baby was a sky tv remote. She was obsessed with the bloody thing, ignored all her fun developmental toys in favour of it. After much channel hopping we decided it would be easier to just buy her her own remote and be able to actually finish a program without the meltdown to try and change it back.

I still take a fully stocked change bag with me wherever I go (it includes everything from nappies to spare clothes to calpol to sanitising gel and weighs an absolute ton). Ds1 is 3 and ds2 is 7 months.

But if I’m out and have adult company, I’ll often leave Ds1 and the bag with whoever I’m with and just take a nappy and wipes with me.

It makes me smile now, I can spot a new Mum in a baby change a mile off

I think the most pointless thing I bought was the spinny tummy time ladybird thing you can get. Both kids hated it for its actual purpose so it pretty much never got used. When toddler they did enjoy sitting on it and spinning around so I guess it was slightly useful then

The only major thing I brought for my 1st was Shoes!! By 8months she had 32 pairs of shoes! Now aged 5 she still has 5 pairs of shoes and 10 pairs of dressing up shoes. My youngest hates shoes.

Denim dungarees with buttons on the shoulders, back and legs. It's such a faff to put on that my 3 month old daughter just ends up vomiting on it as soon as it's on her! Also scratch mittens - the onesies all have them anyway!

Tommee tippee steamer and blender and a huge bunch of pouches with a seal down the side so they could be filled 'easily'. They couldn't, after putting 2 teaspoons of food in they'd be full and then the food would spread into the seal. What a mess. And the steamer blender could steam about half a floret of broccoli in 3 hours. Absolutely pointless when I had a pan and a set of tubs from Asda. Not that I used them much either - Ella's Kitchen all the way!

Nappy bin - good idea, awful to empty if only for the sheer weight. I kept forgetting to buy a new cassette so it became a normal bin.

Nappy stacker which matched the nursery set and attached to the side of the cot. What's the point? The packet of nappies was in the same room seeing as it could only fit about 3 in at a time.

One of those slanty cups seeing as a sippy cup is so bad for their teeth. Used it once, made a massive mess, sippy cup all the way.

About 5 different baby bags when a normal one would have done, never mind 5.

Bottles which were supposed to mimic breast feeding - the only way to make me feel better when breast feeding wasn't possible and I don't even know why! They were still bottles with formula in, DS hated them so I bought a normal bottle and all was fine. Used the same brand with DS2.

Baby Einstein dvds, black and white books and pictures, so many craft things to make sensory bags etc.

So. Much. Money.

Tiny tiny shoes (looked very sweet) but lucky if they stayed on for longer than 2 minutes! The most unnecessary purchase ever!

Bought a fancy (and relatively expensive!) cath kidston nappy bag. Realised it was a total faff to cart about and ditched it after about a month and used one of my husbands rucksacks instead.
Bought some really pretty dresses in newborn/0-3m- never worn- my LG was in sleepsuits for about 5 months!

Blender. Waste of time! We either did blw or used pouches!

The very expensive travel system. Hardly ever used the carrycot part and the car seat and wheels attachment was a nightmare to put together and strap into the car.
It was awkward to steer and I hated it. Don’t know what possessed me!

Had to replace it with another for dc2 as I couldn’t face it again! Bought a second hand buggy and a new click in car seat

We bought an absolutely huge heavy pram that was extortionately expensive with the full range of appendages. Ended up carrying her in a sling for the first few months and barely used the carry cot!

Also got carried away buying loads of little outfits when she basically lived in sleepsuits until she was 3 months old.

Also bought one of those monitors with the fancy pad thing that goes under the mattress and a camera - she’s 6 months and it’s still in the box as she’s rarely in a different room to us and our house is so small we can hear her when she wakes up anyway!

One of those squeezy gadgets that sucks the snot out of your baby's nose when they have a cold. Complete waste of time!

There was a big gap between my eldest and middle son, and I had absolutely everything you can imagine. I had forgotten the reality of having children!
With my youngest I haven't really bought much at all, All his clothes have been hand-me-downs.

I have however been tempted to buy a wipe warmer in this freezing cold weather!

Before my baby was born I read a lot of lists online of must haves.
I brought a moses basket, a crib and a cot. We were also given a cot bed from family members. And my son ended up sleeping in the bed with me anyway and used the cot for playtime.

An inflatable travel baby bath! Never used...