OK, experienced baby-raisers, let’s help parents-to-be sort through the mounds of crap sold for babies these days. What product did you absolutely have to have? What product did people tell you you absolutely HAD to have but it turned out you didn’t need at all?
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Necessary- baby carrier, boppy (helped a lot with tummy time and sitting up when her muscle tone was low, and feeing), zip-up blankets for sleeping, Mylicon gas drops.
Surprisingly not needed- exersaucer, stroller (but I only have one little munchkin), changing table (the floor works fine, as does the top of the dryer), crib.
I was wondering the same thing! My partner and I are expecting a baby and we are tyring to avoid collecting junk that we don’t really need. I have been looking for answers to this very question. Any other ideas?
I’m hoping to get a variety of answers to this, but a few other ideas:
Get as little as possible at first and wait until your baby’s preferences emerge. Some babies want to be held or put in a sling all the time; a special baby chair would be wasted on them. But others don’t like to be held all the time and like to see what’s going on; they love the chairs. Some babies are fine without swings; for others (like mine from ages 7-12 months) it’s the only way they’ll nap. Why shell out all that money if your baby isn’t a ’swinger’? Babies who sit up early can go directly to booster chairs and skip over the high chair stage.
Things we never had nor needed were: wipes warmers, diaper stackers, a special baby tub, a mat for under the high chair (It takes just as much time to clean the mat as the floor!), a super-fancy car seat, expensive electronic toys that talk to babies in an annoying voice.
Thanks Shrijnana! I think some of these things I’m just going to have to figure out the hard way, but a LOT of the advice I’ve gotten from you and other parents is already invaluable. Thanks, for real.
Mine never liked the swing or the bouncy seat - she always wanted to be held in the sling. I never had a diaper stacker, and I never bought one of those mats under the high chair for that reason! Mine didn’t use her highchair until about 7 months and won’t even go into the high chair now at 14 months without having a tantrum so we use a booster seat (it was way cheaper to get it used for $10 and would have been just as good all along). I’m sure I can think of more useless things…
I’m not sure, but based on what I’m hearing here and elsewhere, I feel like we won’t really need:
A wipe warmer
A diaper stacker
A bottle sterilizer
A special bathtub (although maybe something to keep the baby on a soft surface in the bathub)
A matching bedding set (with the bumper, etc.)
Special washcloths (won’t any nice ones work fine?)
What I am wondering is: Baby stores/books tend to recommend a crap-load of layette. Do we really need 6-8 onesies, 6-8 gowns, etc? Do we really need a ton of bottles, too (for when she is using the breats pump or later bottle feeding)?
Can’t we justhave a few bottles that we rinse out and re-use?
I actually did use my special baby bath when Adele was little. But, I bathed her in our singled bowled kitchen sink then or on the counter at my folk’s house (in the tub). Once she got big enough to sit up, I bought an inflatable one off of Craigslist for $5 (it’s a Babies R Us brand one) and we LOVED it because you could save water by only filling it up and not the whole tub. It was also cushy since it was totally inflatable.
I also like the baby-size washclothes and use them a lot just because i feel like my regular sized ones are so big and bulky, especially for a newborn. I keep some now in the kitchen beside the sink to wash off Adele’s face after she eats (we don’t use paper towels) as well as in the bath. I bought the really cheap ones too and they are holding up.
I did go through onesies with Adele and her explosive poop. I was using disposables then and that is probably why. I’ve heard cloth diapers keep those to a minimum. But we did at least 2-3 outfit changes a day. A good place to look for inexpensive used items are children’s consignment stores. The one that I used to live by had a ton of that stuff that looked brand new for a great price.
And add travel system to the list of useless things…although we tend to use our stroller for it a lot now only because I want to get my money’s worth out of it, but it isn’t my favorite stroller. I could have saved that money and got the better one I liked (which I ended up doing anyways!). We also tended to not leave Adele in the carseat if we could help it. I was known to take the sleeping baby out of the car and put her in my sling and usually she’s go back to sleep.
Sorry to take over, Shrijnana, I just decided to randomly check out your blog again today since I had time and saw this:)
Thanks for all your suggestions, Autumn. I’m sure lots of parents-to-be are finding them very helpful.
6-8 onesies… believe it or not, yeah. Babies go through a lot, and if you have fewer you’ll be doing a lot of laundry. Same with PJ’s. They can go through 2-3 pair per night depending on their digestive system.
I do like the special baby washcloths because they are smaller and softer, but they don’t need to be expensive.
But, onesies and washcloths are big baby shower items, so it’s probably best to hold off buying those until after that.
What a great idea for a post!
I didn’t use the crib until I changed it into the toddler bed. I hardley ever used bottles. I never got around to using the outfits that had multiple pieces, too much work. I used tons of onesies and one piece outfits (especially with feet). I almost never used infant sized shoes. I regularly shopped at gently used clothing stores.
I have a no-electronic-noise-making-toys rule in my home. If its going to annoy me than my child will have to put up with me being annoyed and thats not fair
We used lots and lots of binkies. Or some people call them pacifiers. Like previously mentioned, some kids like certain things while others dont. We used lots of cotton hats and cotton diapers used as burp cloth’s. Once people know you have a baby you get lots of hand me downs- which is great!
We used quite a few sippy cups, bibs and fairly indestructable plate/bowl ware (my toddler occasionally threw hers). I had/have too many childrens clothes. Also toddler books are the best and last forever.
Oh- and I loved my rocking chair/glider thingy. Until it started squeeking and no matter what we did we could not get rid of the squeek so we sold it at our tag sale. I’m on the hunt for another used one…
Wow, Anna! We have a no-electronic-noise-making-toys rule in our house, too. That’s exactly what we call it, too. We said we’d tolerate getting up at 4 AM daily when she was a baby, and 5 AM as a toddler, but we drew the line at electronic toys! People give them to us anyway and they go straight to Goodwill. But babies like things that make noise, so we had some Lamaze and Infantino toys. They have crinkly bits and nice-sounding chimey things when shaken.
You’ll get a lot of good advice in the comments here: http://ourowncreation.wordpress.com/2007/08/31/help-a-girl-out/
A pushchair (stroller in USA?) was essential for me as I have a bad back and could not carry Thomas far in a sling after he was about three months old. I got one that had the full lie-back option and this was useful when he couldn’t sit up yet and also useful now he’s nearly two years old as a daytime nap option. Maclaren techno - I could do an advert for that company.
Lots of bottles and a steriliser kit was also essential for me as I couldn’t breast-feed (long story) Tip: get bigger sized bottles from the start as the small ones are outgrown quickly. Obviously you have to keep changing the teat/flow size as they grow.
The first sleeping crib (if you use one at all) is outgrown so quickly I would not buy one new - try to get it second hand or the cheapest one on the market. I believe my mother used nicely lined wooden drawers! If you want a cot next to your bed it is possible to get ones that adjust to the adult bed/mattress height and have an optional bar on that side - and you could in theory use one of those from birth until they wont get out of your side of the bed
Similar story with the first car seat - lasts about four months? Get a cheap but safe one or avoid cars for a few months.
Yes - they do need lots of all in one outfits and baby grow bags (but make sure they’re not too hot for your room/climate).
Feeding chair - really useful, doesn’t matter much what type you get.
Lots and lots of little plastic tubs for freezing food, taking out to the park etc. Plastic bibs (easy to clean - only need one!) and plastic sippy cups, bowl, plate and kiddie-safe cutlery useful.
A door bouncer was Thomas’s favourite entertainment and exerciser from about four months to a year old, but might not suit every child.
Things I found useless and/or cumbersome: Baby baths (sink is fine until they can go in the bath with you), a baby-walker (the type they sit in)
If I think of more I’ll write again.
Hi Shrijnana! I just added you to my blogroll.
I’ll tell you what we didn’t need, and we are on kid #3:
1)Got the crib for baby #1, and have never used it. It is in storage getting dusty.
2)No need for baby changer — just takes space.
3)Baby tub was never used either, we gave that away.
We still have way more “stuff” than I wish we did. Someday I need to really clean out the surplus. It is amazing how little you really need to get by, isn’t it?
Before I had my first daughter I was sure she would be small but I was surprised with a 9lb baby, and my second little girl was 8 1/2lbs. They have both stayed in the 95% for weight and height. So some baby items I hardly used since the grew so fast.
Here are the list of my must haves:
-A boppy I love my and if you plan on breast feeding it is a must. Take it to the hospital/birthing center when you have your baby.
-A good light weight stroller that reclines, with a cup holder.
-I used a baby tub for my first daughter till she was nine months old. It was quick to fill and used hardly any water.
-4 to 8 bottles if you plan on breast feeding and want to pump or supplement. Every mom needs a break every now and then.
-cloth diapers make great burp clothes
-Exosaucer was a life safer for me when I wanted to do dishes or clean and didn’t want my little one on the floor.
Waste of money
-changing table
-Baby dresser any dresser will do
-diaper stacker, wipe warmer
-newborn clothes, my kids never fit into newborn size they went to straight to 0-3mo. I suggest buy 0-3mo and if you have a small kid have the grandparents or close friend pick up some smaller clothes for you.
-sling/baby carrier unless you try it on first and get a really comfortable one which will cost more.
-toys that can be used for a very short amount of time. I try not to buy very many toys because my girls receive a lot on their birthdays and at Christmas time.
Hi, I really like your blog and added yours to mine.
I’m late responding as I just read this but I thought I would post as my answers are a bit different.
For us the large crib was a godsend. It took him longer to fall asleep but then he slept longer in it than when we fell asleep with us. We kept him in it until he was almost three. He was a good sleeper until he went into his big boy bed. Since then (and he’s five) if he wakes in the night he comes immediatly into our room - ready to start his day - he can’t go back to bed.
I loved the diaper changer as I have a bad back and having it so high really helped. Also for storage it was very useful to have everything underneath.
We went through a ton of onesies and baby wash cloths. I like the baby wash cloths - I still buy them - because they are smaller - so you can use four in a day but still be doing less laundry than one adult size one.
He did not like infant swings or seats and once he walked (at 10 mos) he hated the stroller. So I would say - cheap stroller and hold off on others till later.
He was given many electronic things that really didn’t bother us much. When they began to I just switched them out.
One thing not mentioned was breast pump. I went back to work at 3 mos and I pumped every day at work. I bought and industrial strength
with a nice carrying case. It was very fast and easy. I pumped 18-20 ou a day. It allowed me to breast feed much longer than I otherwise would have.
One of the nicest gifts we recieved was a lambskin thing. Just the fuzzy wool on one side of the hide. We still use it in the winter in the car. As a baby he loved it and he still does.
Things we couldnt’ live without - a HUGE selection of books (even though we have three libraries to supplement. And lots of things to make music with including pots and pans.
Kristine