Top Ten Products that you DON'T need (Babies!)

ravingandsaving wrote: »

The least useful things I found to be were a baby walker (used twice) - bubs just wanted to be on her feet on her own terms. Travel blackout blind (never stuck to the window). Steriliser (bubs would never take a bottle). Door bouncer (only worked on her bedroom door). Newborn sized clothes (she was 9lbs at birth so never fitted into them).

DD was 8lbs 12oz and was in them for about 4 months! :rotfl:

I currently have a four month old so there are still things for me to learn as to whether they are great or money-wasters.


I agree with the article that a top and tail bowl is a waste. So was the swaddle blanket as I preferred using the sleeping bags (didn't pay for the gro-bag brand). Don't bother with a manual breast pump as one weekend of it and my hand was swollen from pumping. Buy a second-hand electric one off ebay before the baby arrives so that you don't need to emergency buy one when your milk comes in. We've just bought a second-hand bumbo but as she's only just old enough to go in it I can't say whether it's a success. Apart from these we never bought anything else on the list, so we haven't done too badly.


My regrets include Ewan the Sheep, as I haven't found him to be that great. Also my baby wasn't fussed with the swing we bought, but luckily it was second-hand off ebay. We haven't had much use out of the carrier and it was very very expensive, but it's an Ergo which is very suitable for toddlers so there's still loads of time. I've barely used a bib, they're all in a pile unused as we tend to mop up with muslin cloths, but I've heard they're great when teething as it means lots of dribbling all day. Also our pramsuits/snowsuits have gone virtually unused as they are too warm for most weathers, too warm if you are taking them in the car, fiddly to get on and due to their thickness can mean you don't do up the car seat straps tight enough. I bought a star wrap instead which was much better for when in the car seat and just transferring them from the car to inside. You only need a pramsuit if you are taking them outside for a walk in the pram and it's a very cold time of year.


Our best buys are the Perfect Prep, which is fab if you're formula feeding, the steam steriliser, the baby gym and bouncer. The sleeping bags are so great, as well as the crib which means she can stay in our room even when too big for the moses basket. I love the Angelcare monitor with pressure mat, as I was always worried about her stopping breathing in the night, and the Pink Lining changing bag (I bought the Not so Plain Jane instead of Yummy Mummy version) as it's waterproof, got a travel changing mat and wet bag, plus compartments for the bottles and nappies.

I haven't read all the other replies, because my (not so) little one is already 11 years old, so it's not that relevant to me anymore, but maybe it would be of interest to know what after this amount of time, still remember that I couldn't live without...

Firstly regarding a pram, we had a 3 wheeler, which was really good for long walks in the woods and not entirely even ground, but if you get one - make sure to get one with a swivel front wheel, the ones with fixed wheels are really difficult to manouver.

Feeding pillow - it's on offer for £9.99 in argos at the moment - absolute bargain! Even if you're not breast feeding it's really handy, and when baby is older, you can use it as support for them to sit in.

Baby sleeping bags - sometimes they have them in TK-Maxx dirt cheap, I wouldn't go spending a fortune on them, because you can always find them somewhere on offer, but they are sooo handy!

Bottle flasks are a waste of time - you're not even supposed to keep milk warm anyway... What I used to do instead, once my little one was a bit older, I'd stopped breast feeding & sterilising wasn't as desperate as when he was teeny, was to mix formula with boiled cooled water, take it with me & top up with boiling water to get the right temperature when needed. Please note though - I am not a health professional, and not in any way qualified to recommend doing this!!!

The door bouncer was an absolute saviour for us - that was about the only time my little one was happy! He cried a lot as a baby, but the bouncer seemed to take his mind off whatever was bothering him, so a few minutes of not having to carry him around was a godsend! We didn't have any suitable doorways as our downstairs is open plan, but we fitted a couple of bits of wood at the top of an arch to the lounge, to be able to clip the bouncer around. This meant I could see him from the kitchen, as well as the lounge, and it was ideal.

I also had a foam bath support that he could lie on inside the baby bath when he was little. I found this really useful as it left you with both hands free to wash him. I know you can get more expensive plastic ones, and they're probably worth it if you can find one on offer, but if not, the foam one is an inexpensive solution.

Also, we had a good blackout blind in his bedroom, so that he wasn't woken up when the sun came into the room, but also a little plug in night light, so that the room wasn't pitch dark for him either.

BabyBjorn carrier - as my little one cried a lot I used to have to carry him around near enough all the time, and the baby carrier allowed me to get on with a few things whilst holding him.

If your little one suffers with colic - roll a towel or something similar and put under the head end of the mattress to raise it slightly, I can't remember the exact logic behind it (made it easier to bring wind up I guess?) but it really worked!

If your baby room isn't massive & there's no room for a changing unit - we had a hard backed changing mat that rested on top of the cot, it was such a relief for my back, it kills having to sit down and change them on the floor.

Regarding clothes - your own & OH's bitrh weights will probably give you an idea of what weight your child might be, I'm only little & my OH isn't very tall, so 0-3 clothes were def not too small for our baby, there's no way I could have waited til 3-6 months fitted. I would say though that no babies of that age wears their clothes out, so you can buy them extremely cheap in charity shops, looking more or less brand new. Some people might not like it, but I haven't got a problem at all with it - just wash them before you use them!

Apart from that I wish you good luck with your little schmoo anyway! x

Please do not follow advice above to fold something under mattress this is a cot death risk n not recommended as stops air flow if have a reflux baby prop the cot at top end slightly by the legs something like an argos catalogue under each leg at top end works well

If you can get to Ikea, they doe really cheap quality tea towels that are better than muslins IMHO. Also their basic white hand towels were fab to put on the changing mat. I never had a chanding station, just a high sided mat on the top of a chest of drawers or on the draining board in the utility room. No risk of falling as I never left them unattended.
Get a fleece blanket and chop it into squares. You can make your own face wipes (and washable bum wipes - different colour). I used chamomile tea to wet them.