As an s/o of the MM post earlier today about things you wish you never bought, it occurs to me that what I really care about right now is what baby gear you all wish you never bought (or if someone else bought it for you, that you'd exchanged it for something more useful).
I am trying to put my registry together just as a shopping list for myself, since I will not have a shower, and am feeling really tentative about, if not picking the right stuff, at least not blowing $ on the wrong stuff. I'm not in the position of, "eh, register for it and see if somebody buys it."
So, want to help a FTM out? What baby gear do you wish you'd passed on?
Post by timorousbeastie on Jul 30, 2015 20:09:18 GMT -5
Swing - DD was iffy about it. She didn't hate it, but it never really put her to sleep, either.
Moby wrap - I was never comfortable that I tied it well enough that she wouldn't fall out; as a result, I never used it. (Although in recent months, I have used it to tie her to a chair when I didn't have access to a high chair, so it hasn't been a total waste)
Bottles and pacifiers - DD wouldn't take either, and I wasted soooo much money on them. I bought a bunch before she was born, not realizing it was possible for a baby to hate bottles or pacis. Then, once I earlier she wouldn't take the ones I had, I bought every possibility out there trying to find something that would work. Nope. I should have save my money. Definitely only get one of a particular type of bottle or pacifier until you know what works for your baby.
We barely used the swing at all. But I don't regret it, because when your baby is screaming their ever loving head off, you want to TRY ALL THE THINGS to make it stop.
I didn't like the FP space saver high chair and sold it pretty quickly.
Post by cricketwife on Jul 30, 2015 20:15:22 GMT -5
This will vary by person and baby., but......
Bouncer -it was a hand me down but never used Bumbo, also a hand me down, never used Bassinet, another unused hand me down, lol --definitely don't buy these things! Nose friieda -- I'm the outlier here Jumperoo - another outlier, but my kid didn't like it Pack n play -didn't buy one, but never missed it
We loved the Swing My Brest friend Boppy lounger -- I thought it was such a non necessity but someone gave me one, OMG, best thing ever!
The bumbo had very limited use for us because ds's legs were too fat to fit in the holes. I would at least wait and see on that if you were thinking about getting one. Also people sell them frequently in CL.
Ditto. My friend gave me theirs and we used it maybe 8 times.
Yeah, I trying picking my mom friends' brain on this too. You're going to get widely divergent answers here. It's frustrating but it's impossible to know what your kid (and you) will like til she's here. For this reason, I'm trying to borrow, get hand me downs, and bumpy used for as much as possible.
Post by Velar Fricative on Jul 30, 2015 20:19:53 GMT -5
This is a hard question for me because stuff we wouldn't have bothered with *could* have been helpful if I had a different baby. We were in a 1BR apartment and that forced us to be relatively minimalist anyway. But I will say the following weren't helpful for us:
Small portable swing - she didn't hate it, but it didn't keep her soothed for very long either. K'Tan - she hated it Miracle Blanket and other swaddles - she was never swaddled after Night One at home Reusable pouches - I was too lazy to make baby food
Bouncer -it was a hand me down but never used Bumbo, also a hand me down, never used Bassinet, another unused hand me down, lol --definitely don't buy these things! Nose friieda -- I'm the outlier here Jumperoo - another outlier, but my kid didn't like it Pack n play -didn't buy one, but never missed it
We loved the Swing My Brest friend Boppy lounger -- I thought it was such a non necessity but someone gave me one, OMG, best thing ever!
See I haaaated the bobby lounger! In a very sleep deprived moment I put C in it on our (short!) toilet in the bath and she fell off. It scared the shit out of me and I couldn't ever find a good safe place to use it after that. I ended up donating it.
The floor? We used it on the floor.
but Susie, this is a perfect example that there are totally differing opinions on baby gear. And I loved the Moby. It was our go-to for when all else failed to stop him crying. It had a very short life span,but like Brie said, when they are crying, you want to try all the things!
Post by water*drop on Jul 30, 2015 20:22:34 GMT -5
I would have rather given up every single one of my worldly possessions than given up the swing with DD but could probably live without it with DS, so I think swings, like a lot of baby gear, depend on your particular baby. Unfortunately, there's no way to know that in advance.
Same for bottle warmers - DD was a bottle refuser and would only take bottles that were SUPER warm. DS is also pretty picky about bottle temperature, but I hear a lot of babies are willing to take cold/room temperature bottles.
We did not need our bumbo at all. DD didn't care for it, and DS's legs are too chubby for it.
Post by awkwardpenguin on Jul 30, 2015 20:23:18 GMT -5
I agree with @starry, there's so much conflicting advice about baby gear. So far the only real fail is the cosleeper. I don't regret trying to make it work but we bought a RNP at two weeks and haven't looked back.
We traded the Breastflow bottles for bottle tops that screw on to the Medela pumping bottles pretty quickly. We only bought three to start. Definitely only get a few bottles because you don't know what you and your baby will prefer. We also traded Soothie pacifiers for Mams, but she takes both now.
We tried to register for a fairly minimal set of stuff. I wouldn't mind PMing you my registry if you want.
Mine varied between kid. DS loved the freaking swing and I used it daily. It calmed him down soo quickly. I never used it with DD as she is just a calm baby.
Both my kids loved the bumbo, but they both are pretty tiny. DS (2) can still fit in it when he wants to be like his sister.
I hated the ergo. One, I can't snap it by myself. Two...omg do my kids put off a lot of body heat! Much too hot for me. Also, I'm short so it fits awkward for me.
Never liked/used a boppy and the diaper genie smells sooo bad after a year.
Oh, Diaper Genie was unnecessary and broke pretty quickly. The rest was just stuff that didn't work for my baby, but isn't like objectively unnecessary stuff. I avoided a lot of the more extraneous stuff (like wipe warmers, etc.) because I'm a cheap asshole anyway. LOL.
I love our diaper genie! I still use it daily.
Me too! What do you do with poopy diapers, @bunnybean? Our whole house would stink if we didn't have the genie.
Post by teatimefor2 on Jul 30, 2015 20:39:59 GMT -5
Not useful: Swing Bottles Pacifier 'Grass' drying rack Creams for you and baby - wait and see what you actually need K'tan - loved it, but wore it three times, I have big babies
Loved: Bouncer Jumperoo Playmat A diaper bag you LOVE - mine was a splurge ($400 or so), it's almost three years old and used everyday and looks fabulous. Love it and worth it.