Your unnecessary & essential baby purchases

[Peggy O]

Another thing we LOVE is the changing table OH's brother got us at a church rummage sale for $1. I painted it and sewed a new cover for the pad, then bought some $1 store baskets for it. We use it in the living room. Nice to have a place to get her dressed without sitting on the floor (we're old....haha)

 

[vespersonicca]

Bumping this up!

 

[BabyMamma93]

ive not had my baby yet, but ive already bought something i know i wont use that much if at all.
I bought a tomme Tippee Starter kit, this included, 6 bottles-of different sizes, a steriliser, some formula powder dispensers, bottle and food warmer, bottle bags, a travel steriliser and some extra teats.
I got this as it was supposed to be £100, i had a £20 off voucher, and it was also on offer, i paid £55. Bargain!! erm maybe not,
Firstly, i was given a steriliser, exactly the same one, practically brand new, cost me nothing.. and as for a travel steriliser, what will i need that for?
since then ive decided to BF (all being well) i will be expressing and i will be using the odd bottle of FF when i go to work or when im out and about, but ive now got about 10 bottles, i dont think ill need that much?
A bottle and food warmer, apart from being able to use hot water in a jug, i was also given one of these, for nothing! and as said above, if i BF chances are it wont get used that often, and as for food, im planning on not using jarred baby food, so wont need to warm any up!!
the bottle bags will probably come in handy, but as ive not had baby yet, i cant say on that one!!
i know one thing that is good, musilin squares, ive been given cloth nappies, ill be using them under babies head, when changing, and to wipe sick/milk up!
im also going to get one of them sleeping bags, im not sure what tog i should get though yet as im due in May it should be warm, but in the UK who knows,
I know like most mums, i will have many things ive got but never used/needed, but oh well the joys of being a first time mum i suppose, we will learn for next time, maybe

 

[Roxie]

with my first child i bought all the bottles and steralizr and all that rubbish cos the health visitor told me i NEEDED it even though she knew i wasnt going to bottle feed. i was young and stupid i listened to her. well what a waste! none of it was ever used .
i had alot of things that i didnt use with my first baby though

this time around all i need to get is a new buggy, and il get a mattress when the baby is older as il be co sleeping initially

i already have gender neutral baby clothes and a cot

 

[Beanonorder]

Its actually not that easy to say what is essential and what is not. First of all it depends on what suits you - if you look through this thread you will see plenty of people saying a changing table was the best thing ever and just as many saying it was such a waste! Some are lucky and BFing goes exceptionally well so they never need bottles, others who have good plans, it doesn't work out so well.
One example for me - I listened to everyone about buying newborn sized clothes. Everyone tells you don't buy too many because its a matter of weeks and they outgrow them. I bought 5 or 6 newborn sized outfits and then, due to failure to thrive and weightloss my daughter ended up only outgrowing them at 3 and a half months!

Unfortunately there are some things you have no idea whether your baby will like or not - like a bouncy/swing chair.
If you can get things second hand, in good condition, go for it! A lot of new moms feel they have to have everything brand new.

 

[callypygous]

Just want to say thanks to all the ladies have posted. This is such a useful thread. I'm following!

 

[2have4kids]

I love this thread, I want to challenge myself to spend the least amount possible on baby things. I plan to cloth diaper (primarily because we want loads of kids) and will be creative about where I find them because new they are super expensive. Can anyone comment on cloth diapering?

I've found a really well rated double electric breast pump that retails over $100 for $30 used but perfect condition. I want some independence once baby's born and I think pumping will allow dad with valuable bonding time.
We found a really nice leather rocking chair for under $50.
Love the idea of using a slow cooker on warm for bottle warmer! I don't want a cluttery house

 

[Peggy O]

My cousin and a good friend of OH's are currently pregnant. For their baby showers we are getting them what we used most. LARGE QUANTITIES of assorted size 100% cotton zipper footie jammies! Ha ha. All the cute outfits we received as gifts were worn once or twice, till they were spewed on, and then back into jammies. Some days we went through 3 or 4 pairs. Handy.

 

[wamommy]

My cousin and a good friend of OH's are currently pregnant. For their baby showers we are getting them what we used most. LARGE QUANTITIES of assorted size 100% cotton zipper footie jammies! Ha ha. All the cute outfits we received as gifts were worn once or twice, till they were spewed on, and then back into jammies. Some days we went through 3 or 4 pairs. Handy.

Yes!!!!! My kids lived in these. The ones with zippers are especially awesome for late night diaper changes.

 

[Bex84]

with my first lo the useless things we got was baby bath , I got a thing that laid in bath tub which they lay on then I would just get in with her, she preferred it and I preferred it. It was similar to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summer-Inf...id=1389267515&sr=8-24&keywords=baby+bath+seat. The other thing I never used was our changing table, actually that's a lie its used as shelf's. I always just stick the changing pad on the floor which meant it was always where I needed it rather than running up stairs for it. The best things I had were the bath thing above, my baby carrier which I used more than pram, sleeping bags, her swing and lots of sleep suits. My lo never liked the bouncer chairs always preferred her swing. I also didn't stock up on one type of nappy as some don't suit shape of individual babies. For my lo new born huggies were perfect and then moved on to little angels and pampers. I know other babies who found same type would leek for them. Moses basket was biggest waste as lo hated it.

 

[Bex84]

oh another waste was the breast pump and steamer, it took so long to express it was much easier to just breast feed and as wasn't using bottles it was easier to use sterilising tablets

 

[vespersonicca]

My cousin and a good friend of OH's are currently pregnant. For their baby showers we are getting them what we used most. LARGE QUANTITIES of assorted size 100% cotton zipper footie jammies! Ha ha. All the cute outfits we received as gifts were worn once or twice, till they were spewed on, and then back into jammies. Some days we went through 3 or 4 pairs. Handy.

Yes!!!!! My kids lived in these. The ones with zippers are especially awesome for late night diaper changes.

We loved those open bottoms 'dress' looking nighties for the night change since you can just pull them up and down.

I love this thread, I want to challenge myself to spend the least amount possible on baby things. I plan to cloth diaper (primarily because we want loads of kids) and will be creative about where I find them because new they are super expensive. Can anyone comment on cloth diapering?

I actually got quite a few of mine used through the buy/sell cloth diapers here on BNB, mostly out of the UK. I'm in Finland.

 

[DrMum]

Feel like I should add my 2 cents worth after doing a lot of reading and not much contributing haha!

Awesome amazing purchases:

Summer infant bath and shower sling type seat- hands free baby washing in safety!
Medela breast pump- double electric - I'm a no mat leave person so for me, early pumping was the key to good supply and 12 months of breast feeding
Miracle swaddle blankets and MAM dummies/pacifiers= baby who slept like a dream ( personally I have no issues with nipple confusion if that helps anyone!)
Muslins- you can't have enough, my 3 year old still has a clean one to cuddle in bed each night!
Once they are old enough to stand, a fun pod. The best purchase to date!
Icandy peach, love it love it love it. Newborn, toddler, in between. Well battered still looks new.
A new lovely mommy thermal mug. Drinking cold tea doesn't make anyone feel good.
Neal's yard baby barrier cream. Horribly expensive but a pot lasts forever and is amazing for little bums. No rashes ever. Worth it a hundred times over.
Lovely shower gel for hospital. Seriously take the best you can afford, no shower you ever take in your life will live up to that first post partum shower. Do it in style.

Total waste of dosh:
Bumbo- 10lb baby at birth= child with legs too big for bumbo, felt very mean wedging him into it!
Wipe warmer- a very effective way of drying out your wipes
Newborn denim dungarees- we were gifted hundreds. What a bizarre newborn item of clothing- the front panel bit rides up and they can't see out...
Lily padz- in theory great, self stick on no leak nursing pad things, in reality for me mastitis in one quick fix! Used once. Never again
Breast feeding ring things which you can warm up or cool down for your boobs, to date never used
Breast shells, things you stick down your bra while feeding on the other side to collect the milk which falls out. Don't bother, just pump the other side whilst you are feeding, you've got 2 hands right?
Newborn shoes. Honestly yeah they are cute, but really not one newborn I have ever met can walk.
Womb bear. They hated it then and they hate it now. "Creepy" according to my 3 year old!
Individually wrapped breast pads. You will use two at a time, each side, that's a lot of plastic to fight your way through! Johnson's multipacks every time!
Moses basket. Go for mid sized crib which fits in your room and doesn't require a MENSA membership to assemble. You're going to move it several times!
Baby gym, swing, rocking things etc. unless you are gifted them don't bother. A blanket on the floor and some toys were used way more often than any of these. Plus they are a pain in the butt to get vomit off.

Oh gosh, I should stop waffling, or contribute more often more succinctly!

Feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of the above or any new ponderings!

 

[Bex84]

oh something that was fantastic that I got lo when she was around 4-5 months was her rainforest jumperoo, she loved it and my nephew has just got through using it and this lo will have it to. Best £70 I spent, it was my lo's main first Christmas presents, it is great so you can just get the hovering done or cook something quickly and they are happy as larry. The other first toy which was a real hit was her fisher price animal train which we got her at about 3 months

 

[Peggy O]

We have the same jumparoo....it was a big help!

 

[wtt :)]

I must say the pack and play we had was great to have especially when you have a dog that keeps wanting to wake up your sleeping baby
Also, we loved the swing!

 

[wtt :)]

Wipe warmers and all that fancy stuff was never used

 

[themarshas]

I love this thread, I want to challenge myself to spend the least amount possible on baby things. I plan to cloth diaper (primarily because we want loads of kids) and will be creative about where I find them because new they are super expensive. Can anyone comment on cloth diapering?

I've found a really well rated double electric breast pump that retails over $100 for $30 used but perfect condition. I want some independence once baby's born and I think pumping will allow dad with valuable bonding time.
We found a really nice leather rocking chair for under $50.
Love the idea of using a slow cooker on warm for bottle warmer! I don't want a cluttery house

I've found ebay and facebook swap sites to be the best places for finding great deals on cloth diapers. We use gdiapers with Green Mountain Inserts- neither of which are cheap new- but I've scored great deals used ones!

 

[supertabby]

Clothes
I would say 12 of each is the minimum for vests (onsies) and sleepsuits in the first sizes which are newborn and 0-3 in UK. Newborn only lasts a couple of weeks, maybe a month but even bigger newborns are often too small to go straight into 0-3. Long sleeve vests for winter babies, short sleeve for summer babies.

Don't bother with fancy designs, get the cheap plain white ones from tesco. They'll be sicked on plenty and cheap supermarket ones are as good as expensive ones for how long you use them, durability is not a concern. People will buy you pretty coloured cute ones anyway as presents.

Don't buy outfits - you won't use them in the first couple of months. Sleepsuits are more comfortable and easier for changes. Outfits involve wrestling things over baby's head etc. Chances are you'll get bought a heap of cute outfits that never even get worn.

Good buys
Lots of people knock nappy bins but I love ours, it's easy to use and keeps smells locked in better than nappy sacks. If we've been visiting there have been nappies that have to go straight to outside bin despite using nappy sacks. I can't imagine those ones at 3am in winter. It possibly also depends on the model, we've got a tommee tippee sangenic which is easy, drop in the nappy and turn the handle to seal it. My sil and mil have angelcare ones with a spring that feel like it's going to snap your hand off.

Muslins - lots and lots and lots. We bought 20 before the birth, then another 20 after when our reflux baby arrived (reflux is very common). Brilliant for wiping up sick, protecting your clothes, draping over you when breastfeeding in public, hanging over pram when baby sleeping etc. Don't waste money on pretty patterned ones, just get plain white.

Bouncer chair - give your arms a break and invaluable for babies with reflux as they're happier a bit upright

Breast pump - if you plan to express get a decent electric pump, manual ones are too hard and time consuming especially as you're probably expressing after baby gone to sleep when you've got chance and really you want to get it done and sleep yourself

Grobags - love love love them. Babies usually fall asleep after night feeds and transferring sleeping baby back into sheets that have now gone a bit cold (compared to your warm arms) and then tuck in blankets nice and tight, arms over top etc, often wakes baby up again. They can feed while in the grobag and then just slip them back into bed gently - voila! Also no chance of blankets coming off making baby cold or going over baby's head. They can't use them till there 10lb but well worth it.

Sling - babies like being held and this gives you chance to have both hands free while satisfying baby's need for closeness. It's nice for mummy and daddy to have that closeness too.

Infacol - drops for wind, gets up giant burps for happy babies!

Pointless purchases

Bottle warmer - container that electrically heats up water when you plug it in. So basically same as a kettle, except slower. A kettle and a jug do the same thing and you probably already own them. Only time I can see a bottle warmer being useful is in a hotel with no kettles but then a travel kettle would still be cheaper.

Wipes warmer - never bought one but I think this is the craziest invention ever. What happens when you go out and have normal temperature wipes? Cue screaming....

Bumbo - lo didn't like it, everyone of my friend's babies didn't like it. Baby will sit when he/she is ready, some carefully propped pillows will do the same job

Baby bath - take your lo in the bath or shower with you, or use the sink. You don't need a big container of water to lift and carry around.

 

[themarshas]

Favorite purchases for baby #1 (#2 on the way):
Baby Bath- at 18 months we still use it, because I find filling an entire tub incredibly wasteful.
Breast Pump (medela electric double)- worth every cent, as a full time working mom who pumped/nursed for 16 months mine got a work out and was awesome!
Burp clothes/ receiving blankets- we received tonnns of them for our shower and they got their use! They are good for everything!
Cloth Diapers- best invest we've made so far, and paid for themselves in the first 5 months. Free Diapering for baby #2!
We also got lots of use out of our swing, playmat with kick piano, and jumperoo. We received them all as gifts and our little man loved the independence of being in them so it was a win-win.
Toy box- our child has alot of toys and books (very little bought by us)! Shelving and storage items like his toy box have been lifesavers-- along with a big garage haha for all the ride on toys, power jeep, and trucks-- toys are taking over!

We didn't buy any of the warmers or a pack n play and never felt like we were missing them.