'Must haves' you never used

lazygal

Found another bundle of muslin cloths when tidying up a drawer. I must have had baby brain on my third and not realised I never used more than a couple from babies one and two. Just not something we needed many of.
Also found a baby cup and spoon set a friend swore by and gave me in the back of a press, unused. We just used normal sippy cups and our own teaspoons.

Made me wonder about all the lists of 'essentials' and unused baby stuff in home across the nation.

jlm29

Babies are such a money spinner. I bought a steriliser on my second. Gave it away in the box. Moses basket I bought for my eldest, but never used on the other three. Bumbo seat- bought second hand, used a bit on three babies, but wouldn’t bother buying if I had my time back.

I actually find it’s often other people who buy stuff as gifts that they feel are “must haves” but everyone’s “must haves” are different

bee06

Steriliser and bottles “just in case” ... on baby no 2 now and never needed.

The prom bit of the buggy ... neither baby will stay in it the nosy feckers hate staring at the ceiling.

Cots! 2 of the fecking things, neither of them used for the purpose they were intended.

Lizardlegz

Bumbo seat (the mamas and papas one). Baby shoes (before baby is even walking???!!!).

Actually even clothes for that matter before 6 months. Lmao! Mine were in sleep suits for the first 6 months!! Lol lol lol

fits

Cots! Great for storing blankets.

jlm29

fits wrote: »

Cots! Great for storing blankets.

I have four cots between here and my mothers house. Two of them (one in each house) are used for storage

Cash_Q

We were lent one of those fancy chairs that sways/rocks baby, plays music etc, she sat in it once. Bog standard bouncer was much handier.

Booties - useless, just fall off

Soothers - she didnt want one and not going to even try this time with new baby (I may eat my words on this lol)

Ollie the Owl - crap, didnt help, just annoyed us

Bottle warmer - useless (Nuk one anyway), never worked well. Redundant once we got a Perfect Prep anyway.

Hand mitts - I hate them, we accumulated loads. Even with sharp nails I think babies need their hands free, just me personally I know others swear by them.

Loveinapril

Bottle warmer. Much handier to just stick the bottle in a pot of hot water.
Similar to above, mits and booties were just a hassle. Same goes for 'cute' outfits.
We also never used mobiles, they were just clunky and I hate that plinky plonky sound.

Moses basket, booties, cute outfits, special swaddling yokes and six out of the seven little hats I was given :P I also have a boxed up sterilizer, never used.

fits

Multimam compresses. Expensive things but I never needed them. Lucky!

JustAThought

Partner!!

Unknownability

Soothers.

kylith

Was on a FB group earlier where a woman was asking about nose suckers and rocking chairs, neither of which I used. Or muslins, bumbos, or probably a lot of other stiff on the 'must-have' lists. I guess I'm quite basic in a 'women have been having babies for millennia in literal mud huts' kind of way. Moses basket, sleep suits, cloth nappies, couple of toys; that was about it.

fits

Re Muslins for my twins I never used them at all on one boy but went through gazillions with the other. Probably a thing not to buy in large quantities unless you know they are needed.

heroics

Lizardlegz wrote: »

Bumbo seat (the mamas and papas one). Baby shoes (before baby is even walking???!!!).

Actually even clothes for that matter before 6 months. Lmao! Mine were in sleep suits for the first 6 months!! Lol lol lol

Both ours lived in the bumbo for ages. Especially the oldest one.

Clothes same here baby grows all the way

Lucky Lou

Newborn jeans. Like who puts a new born in jeans! Mine spent the first 6 mths in babygros bar the odd outing!

appledrop

Bumbo seat. Used once he hated it.

Bottle warmer. He was never bothered what temperature the bottle was.

Now I had a reflux baby so had about a million muslin clothes that were on the go all the time my most essential item!

Every baby is different. Id say get the basics + then buy more depending on your baby.

kandr10

Lucky Lou wrote: »

Newborn jeans. Like who puts a new born in jeans! Mine spent the first 6 mths in babygros bar the odd outing!

I see you and raise you jeans at any age on a kid. Or is it just mine refuses them!

Cash_Q

Lucky Lou wrote:

Newborn jeans. Like who puts a new born in jeans! Mine spent the first 6 mths in babygros bar the odd outing!

I loved jeans on my baby lol, they were more like jeggings, really easy to put on and take off. I always loved putting clothes on her from about 2 months though, I just feel babygros are pyjamas and like getting her 'dressed' for the day but it's all personal choice isnt it.

Digs

+1 to the muslins! The raving people do about them I was sure I was missing something, never ever used them. Even with last baby who spat up a good bit I just used a hand towel.

+1 to baby jeans! I actually hate seeing babies in “real clothes”. Love them in babygros.

Moses basket was just a glorified storage unit on all 3 of mine, they all hated it, don’t think either of them had one sleep in it. Preferred sleeping on us/slings the first few months.

Video monitors. Don’t see the appeal at all. Regular old radio one has been going strong 7 yrs in this house! We briefly had a video one (bought into the hype!) and it freaked us both out so returned straight away. I don’t dispute people love them but would disagree every time people say they’re essential. Not much is really when it comes to babies.

greenttc

it just shows you that new mothers should never pay too much heed to threads like these, there was another one i wrote in a few weeks ago that was the same topic. All babies are so different!

I used millions of muslins and still do, we have them everywhere! they are currently fierce handy for tying round toddlers necks while they have a ice cream or for drying their feet after paddling in a stream.... we just have little stashes of muslins in the car, in the kitchen, in the buggy, in my bag, everywhere! cant live without them!

bumbo, we loved ours, was super handy when you wanted to get something done in the kitchen and the baby could sit up and play with things on the little tray and you didnt have to worry about stepping on them if they were lying on the ground, we just got ours second hadnt and have sold it on again cause its a big lump of plastic but they are very strudy

multi mam compresses, oh my god so expensive but they were my saviour, i had so much nipple pain i couldnt have lived without them!

for me, nappy bins, we bought one for upstairs and downstairs and they were never used, we ended up just going straight to the bin outside. I know others who swear by them though!

changing table, you read about how they arent needed everywhere but i didnt listen. I normal chest of drawers with a changing mat would have done the trick and would have had a longer life in our house!

I agree with the people not needing clothes and how babies live in baby gros but it was nice to dress them up for visitors and going out sometimes, especially when its your first child.

for any soon to be new parents reading this, you cant by what i or anyone else is saying to get or not get. if i was atarting out again id get the essentials, something for them to wear, sleep in and be fed with, after that, if you can hold out, wait and see what you think you need when the baby arrives and then get your stuff.

Digs

@greenttc I agree with you! I think that’s what this thread shows rather than a “must have” thread, how so much of this stuff is marmite. Like soothers, someone above never used them but they’ve been essential for all my 3! One mans coal is another mans gold!

I would never tell anyone not to get anything or that they have to get something, you just tend to find what works for you really. Two friends (Who don’t have kids) asked me recently what to get new parents and the only thing I could say with confidence was Just Eat vouchers

scarepanda

Ah! I love muslin cloths! Used them for wiping up spit up, cleaning faces, as the cloth in the bath, bibs, buggy covers, nursing covers (I used a shield with no1 and always felt uncomfortable with getting it on and baby latched without being covered, then it came off) and everything in between!

The only needs are somewhere safe to sleep, travel, nappies and basic clothes and obviously food. Everything after that is optional and up to each parent. Even similar items can make a huge difference. We were given and ergo 360 on no1, I could never wear it as it was so uncomfortable. But then I got a lilebaby baby carrier, basically the exact same shape/type of straps and its so comfortable.

shesty

Muslins had mixed success here, but they weren't used after about 9 months of age.

Leggings, jeans, anything with tight waistbands in newborn size -a disaster for my very windy babies, so never used them.

Mitts, booties-still have tags on.

Any toys that talked, sang or made noise....very minimal in this house (we don't believe in them, is the main reason for that !!!).

Bumbo - had a brief loan of one for number 1, it lasted about 4 weeks, until she started twisting up and out of it to see what was going on behind her.Never bothered after that.

Storage boxes for soothers, or chains to hold them onto clothes - nope.Soothers themselves though - yes, definitely.

Buggy toys...you know the things you hang out of buggies for babies.Brief success for number 1, then decided not to bother after that - realised they are happy to sit and watch the world go by without needing constant entertainment.

The things you learn!

shesty

Digs wrote: »

@greenttc I agree with you! I think that’s what this thread shows rather than a “must have” thread, how so much of this stuff is marmite. Like soothers, someone above never used them but they’ve been essential for all my 3! One mans coal is another mans gold!

I would never tell anyone not to get anything or that they have to get something, you just tend to find what works for you really. Two friends (Who don’t have kids) asked me recently what to get new parents and the only thing I could say with confidence was Just Eat vouchers

And possibly engage the services of a cleaner for the first few weeks anyway.....

Digs

shesty wrote: »

And possibly engage the services of a cleaner for the first few weeks anyway.....

You’re deifnitley my kind of friend Shesty!

shesty

I am in the lucky position of being able to afford 40eur every couple of weeks for a nice lady to help clean the house (I do it the in-between weeks - well. not since March obviously.) I never take it for granted that I can afford that mind you,it's a total luxury. Although I admit, I don't spend money on lots of stuff that many other people do....my priorities just seem to be different.:o

seamus

Lizardlegz wrote: »

Bumbo seat (the mamas and papas one). Baby shoes (before baby is even walking???!!!).

Actually even clothes for that matter before 6 months. Lmao! Mine were in sleep suits for the first 6 months!! Lol lol lol

Baby clothes probably the big one here. Especially newborn and "up to one month" clothes.

3 weeks later, half of them don't fit anymore and you've got two drawers full of stuff you haven't used and won't use.

I think there's a certain market for new parents who like to dress up the baby like a doll and change outfits every 2 hours. We only change when they puke or poo on them.

We bought a buggy board this time around for the 3 year old to stand on during the school run, but of course now there is no school and she'll be way to big for the buggy board by September. Luckily it was the one from Lidl and not the insanely expensive one.

Aside from clothes we've generally done OK. Soothers have always been used, as have sterilisers. Muslin clothes are an absolute essential.
We bought a convertible cotbed on the first which has served us well all the way through

We bought a Baby Bjorn on the first which got used twice I think; didn't see how it was any better than the pram. It didn't really get used at all on number 2.
It's been a lifesaver this time around though, it's allowed us to take the other two on walks up the mountains without having to push a pram too.

Nickibaby*

+ newborn clothes as baby is more comfortable in babygrows. Also shoes before baby can walk

Getting minimal use from the crib at present but the next to me is a big hit

For me the tommee tippee machine as decided to breastfeed also PHN advised she seen a lot of babies with stomach issues as a result of using it as spurs build up in the tubing and cannot be cleaned properly

appledrop

Its funny how different they all our. Our little boy adored his moses basket. Hated the crib or cot at start probably because he was so small being preterm that he liked the cosiness of it.

Also unlike everyone else I got brilliant use out of newborn stuff because he was small. I actually had to buy more. I didn't have enough because everyone told me not to buy too many but in our case we needed it!

I can't believe some of you don't use muslins. At a conservative estimate I use about eleventy billion a day. I use them for everything though.

Also a useless item (to me) was a bf shield thing. For a start, I don't think it's something that people need shielding from and also a I have a light cotton shawl that's a million times easier and more comfortable to use for privacy.

mojesius

-Soothers
-Manual/hand breast pump (useless contraption)
-One of those baby positioning cushion things. Bought one before reading about all the SIDs risks
-baby swing, daughter hated it. Got her a vibrating bouncer for a third of the price which she loved. Thankfully we borrowed the swing as opposed to purchasing it
-Dresses before she could walk. Nightmare for her trying to crawl in.
-baby swimming togs. She mostly wore a neoprene nappy at swimming

kylith

I gave away my boppy after 2 days; found it awkward to use. I found that a pillow did the job better and was easier to wash.

Pistachios & cream

God I was so lucky, my sister kept all her stuff so I never had to worry about ‘essential gear’ bar food, clothes and nappies. We also had to buy more muslin cloths and still find them fierce handy. Easily use 2 or 3 a day, cleaning up little messes and using them to protect her clothes at feeding time.

The one thing I did buy that I regret was the changing bag. Now I was insistent that the bag be a neutral looking bag so bought the pacapod saunton and I’ve barely used it. Now it does come with changing and feeding pods which are brilliant but the bag itself is so heavy that I just throw the pods into a soft tote handbag I own and it’s perfect. My sister also had a pacapod so she gave me a pod that was bigger then my ones and I often just use this as a mixed feeding and changing bag in the early days when I didn’t need a cooler bag for food. It fit the essentials and was so much handier to pop on the pram than the changing bag which had loads of crap I didn’t need in it ‘just in case’.

Irish_peppa

Big nappy changer press / unit. It was used a handful of times mostly change nappy on bed. Its now a glorified shelf:rolleyes:

bee06

Irish_peppa wrote: »

Big nappy changer press / unit. It was used a handful of times mostly change nappy on bed. Its now a glorified shelf:rolleyes:

God, I’d be lost without my changing unit! Has all the cloth nappies, wipes, her clothes in one place. We have ours in our kitchen so every change is on it too.

Cash_Q

bee06 wrote:

God, I’d be lost without my changing unit! Has all the cloth nappies, wipes, her clothes in one place. We have ours in our kitchen so every change is on it too.

Yeah I'd be lost without it too, ours is downstairs and we have a mat on top of a little bookcase upstairs too. I did some on the bed when she was first born but my back used to be in bits after. Ours will eventually convert to a chest of drawers and sure it has everything in one place now too.

lazygal

bee06 wrote: »

God, I’d be lost without my changing unit! Has all the cloth nappies, wipes, her clothes in one place. We have ours in our kitchen so every change is on it too.

We didn't have one for our first two but when I was pregnant with my third one was going for free on a Facebook group and I snapped it up and its super handy. Its the most basic ikea model so doesn't take much room and its handy to corall all the bits.

scarepanda

We made our own changing table with an ikea kallax unit and a diy top for it. When we moved house we made up another one for downstairs. For us it's been invaluable and wouldn't be without it. I'm not sure I'd have much interest in a specialised changing unit though. At least with our current set up we know the unit will be used afterwards.

lazygal

We have a mat on a chest of drawers upstairs and it's just as handy.

shesty

Ikea changing table here too, the slightly bigger model, godsend.Still going on the third.We actually just don't have any chests of drawers here, just drawer units built inside wardrobes, so it's handy to have.

Lucky Lou

I use my lap most of the time ;o

Neyite

It really boils down to the kind of parent you are and the type of child you have.

We didn't go mental on muslins, but the ones we did were well used.

Baby blender: stupidly noisy and a stick blender would have been far better at pureéing stuff.

Jeans and shirts and v-necked jumpers: a) It was a May baby. b) In a heatwave. c) are YOU comfortable wearing that sort of stuff sleeping or would you be more comfortable in a onesie? Since he basically napped the majority of the first 9 months, wearing his PJ's made perfect sense.

Black_Knight

Cot motion pads. We got our monitor specifically because it had it. Didn't bother setting it up in the end. 2 year later, baby 2 on the way, not gonna bother again. I heard they give false alerts a lot

We have a changing table in the laundry room and it's great to have a one-stop place for changing and storing clothes and supplies. Upstairs I use the bed and a mat, prefer the dedicated table but don't want to litter up the place too much with baby stuff. Also have a Munchkin pail for disposal that keeps everything tightly closed up and smell free that I wouldn't do without.

lunamoon

It's funny how different people like/dislike things. A lot of the stuff mentioned here are things I couldn't live without. Changing table, muslins, snot suckers etc. The only thing that we didn't get much use of was the moses basket.

maisie_moo

With my first baby due in December I am enjoying this thread!

Foweva Awone

Maternity pads ... they are so thick and so uncomfortable! I bought a few packets, but I only needed maybe 1 or 2 pads immediately after the birth. I didn't bleed very long or heavily after the birth, and normal Always pads were much more comfortable.

Didn't really need any baby lotions or powders, got some as presents but didn't really use them.

I bought an expensive baby sling/carrier but really didn't get the use out of it. He was a very pukey baby and it was a pain having to constantly wash the carrier and my clothes when he got sick. If it weren't for that, though, I think I'd have used it a lot more.

You don't need to buy sheets for the Moses basket or pram - pillow cases do the job perfectly. Again, with a pukey baby, this saved us some money as we were changing them constantly.

We definitely used the changing table plenty, and the nappy bin was essential for us.

Our biggest investment was a good travel system (Uppababy Vista) ... it's been in constant use since our baby with his younger cousins and is still going strong, six years later!!

@maisie

I needed a LOT of pads, but was able to downgrade fairly quickly to regular ones too. Mine isn't too pukey and loves being in the carrier (Babo), he's spent most of his first three months in it and I still have him in it a lot of the time just doing things in the house or while I'm working. If you have a curious dog, the nappy bin is definitely essential :P

@maisie moo - congratulations

tscul32

Disposable maternity undies. They looked awful so I just bought really big normal knickers in Penneys and treated them as disposable. Comfy cotton and cheaper than the paper yokes.
Have to say I never ever used a muslin cloth with 3 kids. Never went for a changing table either. Their clothes went into a chest of drawers like all the other clothes in the house. I had a changing mat upstairs on my bed and one downsfairs behind the sofa and they were changed on the bed/floor, or on my knee for a just wet one when they were little.
Didn't do the nappy bin either. And everything else was bought when/if needed.
My next veto was cot beds and toddler beds. Mine were in a regular single bed at 19-21 months. Guard rail one side, wall other side and a few pillows on the floor just in case. They just hated the cot.

appledrop

+1 on Maternity pads. Mad things altogether. Just get the extra long nightime always + you will be grand.

Also never understood need for big maternity pants. I just wore my normal pants in slightly bigger size. Although my friend did say its different if you have a c section you need big high ones.

I actually forgot about the sling! What a waste of money. I had a reflux baby that was always in my arms as hated been flat so I could do very little at home. So I bought a sling thinking it would be great as finally have my hands free. I lasted half a day after he pucked on me for third time!!!