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10 Baby Items We Really Didn’t Need

As first-time parents, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the latest and greatest products for baby. We all want nothing more than to streamline this thing called parenthood and we want our children to be the best that they can possibly be starting from the womb. There are lots of products with great intentions, but often times they don’t work out for our lifestyle. Jayden is now 4, so this post is a long time coming. Let me share with you some of the items that we ended up with, but found we didn’t need them.

1. Maternity Clothes – I lived in yoga pants through my whole pregnancy. Maternity pants never fit me right so I never bought them. I did have a few novelty maternity shirts for giggles, but I got by wearing larger shirts and flounce styled shirts that tied up in the back.

2. Special Swaddlers/Blankets – We received tons of swaddle blankets and special swadders, but our little guy absolutely did not dig being swaddled. He would always wiggle his way out of them, so they became burp rags.

3. Nursery Crib & Bedding – We had planned to move a few months after Jayden was born, so we never set up his nursery. We moved into a smaller space and ended up turning what should have been Jayden’s room into an office. We had gotten so accustomed to co-sleeping, that we didn’t really have a need for a nursery. The convertible crib that my mom purchased for us was recalled and she was able to obtain a refund. We held on to the nursery bedding in hopes that we’d need it for baby #2, but we have become so anti-nursery, we doubt we’ll ever use it.

4. Prenatal Curriculum – I had this device that I would wrap around my belly and use for about 40 minutes at a time. It played subsequent thumps like those of a bongo drum. The tempo would increase for every week of the pregnancy. The thumps were to simulate a mom’s heartbeat and those heartbeats would somehow make baby smarter and more alert. Well, I used it a few weeks before it about drove me crazy. It’s really hard trying to do anything that involves thinking with a thumping device strapped around your belly. There goes Jayden’s chance at being Einstein, eh?

5. Baby Kick Counter – At first, I thought having a baby kick counter was a great idea, but it became such a chore to use. It became just another thing to do. Jayden kicked, kicked, and kicked some more. He earned his nickname Boogie early, so I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

6. Baby Care Timer – After being bothered countless times in the hospital to record every little thing that Jayden did on a chart, I knew that I was not going to use the digitized version. Record each time he nursed and pooped? You know how often that was? Exactly. This reassured me that he was functioning as a healthy newborn.

7. Bottle Warmer – I thought that I would do more pumping than nursing and I thought Greg and I would share the responsibility of feedings. But after warming up bottles in hot water warmed up on the stove, I saw the bottle warmer as just another thing that took too long. And after seeing how easy it was just to offer up a boob at night, I never used a bottle anything again.

8. Diaper Pail – After running out of the initial pack of bags that came with our diaper pail, we never used it again. It cost more to buy bags specifically for a diaper pail than a regular garbage can. And that’s where the diapers lived from then on, in a separate garbage can. When we started cloth diapering, we put them in a garbage can too. Edited to add: We revisited the Diaper Genie Expressions pail with baby Kiki.

9. Head and Knee Pads – When Jayden began to crawl, we thought knee pads would come in handy. They’d keep him from beating up and scuffing his knees. When Jayden started walking, we thought he could use some noggin’ protection since he had a few incidents where he bumped his head. Both items got tossed around the house and we used them all but twice and he is fine.

10. How To Parent Books – We got quite a few how to parent bibles. I was totally overwhelmed by these books that I never made it past the first 3 pages. I am a go with the flow kind of mama. There is no right or wrong way to parent and every child, situation, and circumstance is different. I. just. couldn’t.

What baby products have you found you didn’t have a need for?

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Drea

Monday 28th of May 2012

great list. Although diapers pails are a must if you cloth diaper ;-) - but I agree with disposables its not needed.

Taite lived in a packnplay too btw. We moved 2 mo after he was born - so he slept in a living room until abt 6 mo... and after that he just stayed in the packnplay until 16 mo or so- then moved into a normal twin sized bed. Owen did get crib bedding this time :) - but I think the new baby will just use the packnplay. Since Owen shows no signs of wanting to use a big bed :) and i never ever warm a bottle! :)

Sheena

Monday 28th of May 2012

Once we saw how simple and EASY it was to keep baby in our room, that was a wrap. We may never have a nursery and that's ok. They grow so fast anyway. I've been having fun decorating Jayden's big boy room. The decor will last him through his tween years. I'd rather decorate for something more long term. When we cloth diapered, we put them in a stainless steel trashcan with the step-to-open thingy, lol. Worked perfect!

Stesha

Monday 28th of May 2012

Diaper pails and bottle warmers were the least used items in our household too. They were just unnecessary; especially the pail. I just tossed the diapers into our outside garbage can. I also lived in the same 3 pair of leggings for most of my last pregnancy. I'm not ashamed to admit that:)

Hugs and Mocha, Stesha

Sheena

Monday 28th of May 2012

I felt so salty about the bottle warmer. It was a gift and I felt bad for not using it. Those diaper pails fill up so quick, they are no use. The wipes warmer almost made it to the list too, only we did use it briefly in the winter because he'd scream if cold wipes touched his lil buns.

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