When it came to shopping for Elle’s arrival, we were very careful not to go mad and buy all the pointless things, but it’s REALLY HARD not too – especially when every shop and blog offers you an easy to tick-off checklist of stuff you can’t get through the first six months without (and trust me, with a lot of it, you most definitely can)…
We’ve shared our own version of newborn baby essentials and I know I’m probably biased, but it’s actually quite a sensible list of things you will find truly useful. However today is all about the ridiculous things we purchased that weren’t remotely helpful and that still sit in our bathroom cabinets or chest of drawers gathering dust.
For me there’s two…
Scratch Mits – You’ll find them on every single newborn essentials list. They DO NOT stay on. Newborn babygrows have integrated scratch mits that you can fold down anyway. Don’t bother buying them – however cute they might look.
The Snot Sucker – For those lucky enough not to have encountered this vile contraption, it’s like one of those little pipette things you used in Science class at school to suck bugs into a little chamber. Except now you get to do it with snot. Hooray! Let’s just say I attempted this once. It was gross, totally ineffective and I never did it again.
So, did you purchase anything pre baby that you didn’t use at all once your bundle of joy had arrived? Any weird surprises for things you ended up using loads that you never thought you’d need? It can be completely overwhelming shopping for a newborn baby, so let’s help the RMF readers who are about to have their first…do join the chat in the comments box below the post!
Image by Carrie Lavers Photography
Ha friends raved about that snot thing! So we got one and it was useful providing you were near it when it was needed. After numerous times of forgetting where the bloody thing was I had to take a deep breath and do so,etching really disgusting that I’d read about: O was beside herself with snot blockage when we were in bed one morning and I didn’t know where the snot thing was, had to take a deep breath and suck the snot out myself. EEEERRRRLLLACCCCKKK can I has a mummy baj for that?! At that point I knew I was definitely a mum!
Ewwwww Claire, you deserve a medal for that, not just a badge! I was going to do a post on the gross situations you end up in as a parent sometimes, that would definitely be a good place to start!!! xxx
Snow suits for newborns. I spent ages looking for the perfect snowsuit and he never wore it. I had a March baby and there was plenty rain and wind but it was much easier to put him in a cardigan and hat then as many blankets as nevcessary. I was paranoid about him overheating and blankets allow you to adjust as you move from outdoors to indoors without waking the baby. You also can’t use the snowsuit in a car seat.
Yes layers are definitely much easier Jess, I totally agree. We had a strange relationship with our snowsuit – Elle actually slept in hers (!) Obviously I wouldn’t recommend this, but it was the only way she would sleep and so from about 3-10 months she’d go to bed in it. It wasn’t plastic coated and she slept in our room (which is very temperate as we live by the sea) so felt it was safe for her. She really likes to snuggle in and nest when she sleeps and so I think it felt really safe for her. But we never actually used it when she was out and about in the pram, so I’d second just going with blankets and cardis! xxx
we had a baby at the end of april and started snowing the next day, admittedly live in Aberdeen so obviously depends where you live but we defo needed to buy an emergency snowsuit which is hard in April!x
We had a gro egg, that changes colour depending on the temperature of the room so you know the little one is safe.
We also had an August baby, and live in a very well insulated new build. Needless to say it only ever glowed red, but obviously there was no way I could cook the Summer down, so it lasted two days. Definitely not worth the anxiety!! You know if it’s too hot and you need to remove a blanket…instinct is so much better than a silly egg!!
Karen this is such a good point – I think all these contraptions can make us second guess our instincts and at the end of the day, YOU always know best when it comes to your baby xxx
Scratch mitts are absolutely the most pointless invention in the world, ever. I didn’t actually purchase them for our first, but we were given a few pairs which never saw the light of day. I don’t think I ever even used the built in ones in the babygros.
We have a snotsucker, and I have used it, but definitely wouldn’t describe it as an essential. The Calpol vapour plug in is better at unblocking little noses, and is significantly less retch.
I think our most pointless purchase was a travel cot. It’s been out of the box once. I have no idea why we thought we needed it – if you’re away, most places provide them anyway. I wish now we had just bought our own travel cot mattress to bring with us, as they always seem very uncomfortable to lie on. I’m hoping to get some use out of it once no. 2 arrives in September though – I’m thinking it might work for keeping my 2 year old from killing the newborn! 🙂
Lolling at ‘significantly less retch’ hehehehehe. And I agree on the travel cot, Elle always ends up in our bed whenever we’re away as travel cots are so uncomfortable!!! Buying a mattress sounds like a much more sensible plan xxx
I think it depends if you have a scratchy baby or not. Our elder would wake up like I’d put her to bed with a tiger, so they really were essential for us (and yes – just buy sleepsuits with them integrated) but second born didn’t scratch her face at all, even though I was extremely well prepared for it.
First time around I thought that muslins were a massive con. Second time I had a very sicky baby and I suddenly understood why they’d been recommended to me so many times!
It’s amazing how different they are! Elle is a dribbly child and had to wear those soft cotton/towel backed bibs until she was almost two, whereas other kids don’t dribble at all. I can’t believe you got away with no muslins for your first, that’s crazy! xxx
Same …my baby looks like he sleeps on sandpaper. It’s been so hot that the baby grows with built in scratch mitts were a no go. So I bought scratch mitts & they have saved his face. They got too small very quickly, but were really useful during the daytime while it was hot.
Also, yes to muslins….thousands & thousands of muslins
We’ve actually used our travel cot as a bedside cot with both of our babies. It fits by the side of our bed and both babies slept in it better than in a Moses basket and it meant that when our first was moved into a cot in her own room she was already used to sleeping in a cot on a proper mattress. Hopefully the same will happen when our second moves into her nursery in a few months. I completely agree about getting a proper mattress as the ones which come with the travel cots are really uncomfortable.
We bought a gro night light bulb. Bloody useless!! We used in the main light in our bedroom and then in Felixs room. The night Light bit was so dim that you could see nothing in the room!! The fact you had to turn the light on and off and in again for the main light drive me to distraction! It is now in the cupboard!
HEHEHEHEHE Vicky, this brings back memories of attempting to creep away from a sleeping Elle in a dark room and trying not to stand or anything or make a noise in case she woke up again….
Honestly Fern, walking around in the dark would have been better!
I’m not sure if it was because of the lampshade but it was such a low light. We went back to the quite bright night light we had which made no difference to his sleeping but meant we didn’t crash into anything or the bay wake up with our giant faces millimetres away from his when checking him!
Hah, I’m with Karen on the Gro Egg. Useless and also smug and annoying – especially in the summer when it’s hot – if it’s 28C outside, I can’t make it 18C inside, stupid egg!
My biggest waste of money was bottles as KP refused to ever use them. This stressed me out as I felt like he *should* be taking one so I bought basically every single type under the sun (I was such a total sucker for the “perfect for your breastfeed baby” marketing LIES). He never used any of them and he has now gone onto the Munchkin miracle cup which he completely LOVES (as well as lots of boob milk still). I don’t quite know why I was so panicked about him taking a bottle – it was a bit annoying for the first couple months as I couldn’t really leave him for longer than a couple of hours but he was quickly able to go longer stretches and then we were weaning him by six months. And I’ve now got a cupboard full of useless bottles in my kitchen!
Kate I know so many BFing mums who have struggled to find a bottle that works for them, despite all the marketing claims! At the time it feels like you’ve completely lost your freedom, but you’re right, the weaning time soon rolls around and then they can use a sippy cup, or even a spoon. Those bottles might come in useful when he wants to play babies – Elle’s old bottles are now used to feed her dollies…
And this poor egg is having a hard time today 😉
Haha Kate I was exactly the same with my first baby and gathered an impressive collection of pretty much every bottle brand out there – my husband used to roll his eyes every time a new one appeared and I’d be like “all the reviews say that breastfed babies take this one!!” Not my baby. Never. She plays with them now she’s older though to feed her dolly! With my second baby I cared much less whether he took a bottle or not. He did when he was tiny but started refusing and I just accepted it and decided not to revisit my ‘try every brand’ obsession again! 🙈 x
I agree on the scratch mits, waste of time. The other thing we bought and barely used is something that I know lots of mums rave about though – a nappy bin! One of those Angelcare disposal type ones. I just don’t find it necessary and it sits unused! I use nappy bags each time I change a nappy (if it’s just a wet one I’ll leave the bag untied and fit 2 in there, if it’s a dirty one I tie it up straight away) and chuck them by the back door until I’ve got a minute to nip out to the bin with them. I find this works fine for us and I’m not sure I like the idea of all the dirty nappies sat in the nappy bin for ages 😷 I know it’s supposed to lock away smells too but I didn’t find this to be the case once my daughter was eating proper food – yuk! I know some people love them but for me I just prefer taking them out to the bin the same day, or straight away if it’s a bad one 🙈
The other thing would be overly fussy outfits for newborns – babygrows all the way! X
We didn’t have a nappy bin either, but then we live in an apartment and it would just have been one piece of baby equipment too far! And yes, totally agree on fussy outfits, a lovely thought but so impractical xxx
We bought a rubber duck that said ‘hot’ on the bottom and turned white when the bath water was above optimum baby temperature…supposedly. Except it always seemed to be saying hot even when not in the bath water, so it just confused and annoyed me! Like mentioned above, it was one of those tools that stops you using common sense, nothing wrong with the elbow dip test to check the bath temperature! I’ve put my daughter in a bath and had her splashing around happily only for a friend to stop her child joining the bath because she hadn’t checked the bath water temperature with her thermometer…so we really can become over reliant on these things!
You’re so right Natalie xxx
Hmmm I think it depends on you and your baby as to what you find useful or not. Lots of the things mentioned above (gro night light, travel cot, nappy bin) I use all the time! I had one friend say to me once she thought the biggest waste of money was her pram, her baby didn’t really like it and they used slings a lot. Other bought slings and never used them because the baby hated it and much preferred the pram! I’m trying to think of things we bought that were totally useless but I think we did pretty well…the scratch mitts were a waste because even the tiniest ones were far too big for him! Baby shoes would be the other thing – I didn’t buy any but we had a few pairs given to us. What a complete waste of time Like the mittens they don’t stay on, plus babies don’t need shoes, where are they going to walk? Lots and lots of muslins in different sizes was probably the best buy – mini top and tail ones for wiping faces/bottoms, middle sized ones for sicks, makeshift bibs and covering your top half when breastfeeding; and big ones for swaddling or draping over the front of the pram to keep sun out/make a nosey baby go to sleep!
I know, baby shoes are very silly, but people often buy them for you as they are too cute to resist!!! I liked buying pretty muslins as you use them for such horrible tasks, having cheery ones makes you feel better 😉 I didn’t know you could get mini top and tail ones though! xxx
Yes from mothercare! I agree, ones with a gorgeous pattern make me happy too!
Emma I agree… def depends on what works for your family. Our travel for has been invaluable for countless holidays (we tend to avoid hotels and typically “baby friendly” places!) and at my parents house / friends’ houses several times a month. I love our nappy bin… it sits on the landing, contains a weeks worth of nappies (less the three days our son is at nursery) and gets emptied by the cleaner! AND I love our gro egg! (Gasp!!) It reassures me that I’ve dressed our son in the right number of bed clothes and whether to put his fan on!!
Useless items for us included def scratch mitts (never really understood them but guess we didn’t have a scratchy baby!) shoes for babies that don’t walk, hair bands for baby girls with no hair?! and our baby sling cos both me and the baby hated it! Oh and a cot mobile… he didn’t go into his proper cot until 5 months old and then it just distracted him and kept him awake!!
Oh Nicky I hate those hairbands for little baby girls, so silly. But yes, I do agree you kind of work out what you find useful and what you don’t as you muddle through, and it’s different for everyone! xxx
Sounds like us! We do a lot of travelling and have tended to stay in air bnb and friends houses. Also you never know what the quality of a hotel cot is going to be like, safer to have your own. We got ours second hand (actually lots of things second hand – pram, next to me cot, loads of clothes). That would be my other tip, buy second hand if you’re not sure its something you really want, its cheaper and then if it doesn’t suit you you can always sell it on.
The giant hair bands are so so odd! I think people do it so you know the baby is a girl? My mother in law knitted my son this gorgeous pink blue and green stripe cardigan when I was pregnant (we didn’t know what we were having) and he wore it loads, people were always calling him a girl though! Didn’t really worry me but I think some people get offended if you call their girl and boy and vice versa!
Travel cot. Not “for”!
Great post., Thanks so much for sharing such an wonderful well-researched list., i have been looking for some best baby essentials for my nephew .and i’m very confused on what to buy..,but these are really a great list with detailed information.. you saved so much of my time . thank you for sharing..Really looking forward to read more.