My Worst Baby Buys

I am sure that some of you can relate that when you are a first time Mum, it is easy to go a little overboard when it comes to buying baby things!

Sleep equipment and bedding, feeding equipment, different sized clothes, comforters, toys, baby carriers, nappies, wipes, travel systems, and lots more! It was all a total minefield to me, and extremely overwhelming. So much so, that I literally just bought the lot. And regrettably so. A lot of the things were a waste of money as we didn’t have a need for them, or they just didn’t work for us.

I was told time and time again throughout my pregnancy that I was buying too much, and that the baby market makes new mums feel as though they need EVERYTHING. And they weren’t wrong. I realise that now!

So here is a list of some of my worst baby buys! (Disclaimer: What didn’t work for us, may work for others. This is a list of buys that either we didn’t end up needing or didn’t work for us personally.)

1.Dummies

These are something we purchased after Jaxon was born. I had always planned on exclusively breast feeding for at least six months, however, that didn’t go to plan. That is  a whole other blog post entirely! So with breast feeding being the plan, and dummies possibly causing nipple confusion etc, we didn’t intend on using one. However, with me combi feeding, a dummy became an option. Jaxon took to them for around a month and then refused one very suddenly and hasn’t taken one since! I suppose you could call this a blessing, however there have been times in the early hours, or in the day time when he doesn’t want to nap, that I think back to the times where the dummy would be a god send and a real comfort to Jaxon. I purchased a silly amount, there are a lot more where these came from!

2. Blankets

There is just no need for the amount of blankets I own. Jaxon slept in a Sleepyhead Deluxe until he was 6 months old, with a blanket. I only used two or three at most. Once he outgrew his Sleepyhead, he was then in a sleeping bag. Now in his big cot, he is still in his sleeping bag. The only time he has a blanket is when he is in the car in his car seat, or out in the stroller. I mainly use two gorgeous crocheted blankets that were made for us, a lovely Aldi blanket which is beautifully soft or a fleece Laura Ashely blanket which we also received as a gift. All in all, I must have at least twenty blankets folded in a box under the bed… Oh, and some in the airing cupboard too for good measure! I am sure they will come in handy though over the years.

3. MAM Easy Starter Bottle Set

At one week old, Jaxon was diagnosed with reflux. When he was around one month old, we opted for the Anti Colic MAM bottles which apparently also work well for reflux. We got the Easy Start Set that came with:

• 4x 260ml anti-colic bottles.
• 4x 160ml anti-colic bottles.
• 1x 0-2 months soother.
• 1x soft spout.
• 1x bottle handle.
• 4x sealing discs.
• 4x slow flow teats.

For £35, I think that this was really good value for money and we did make good use of the smaller bottles, however we did find that compared to the Dr Browns bottles, they didn’t help Jaxon with his reflux symptoms. I have heard amazing things about these bottles though, and they have helped reflux babies I know, however for us, they didn’t benefit.

4. AngelCare Nappy Disposal Bin

I could fit in 8-10 nappy bags at most, and with it being advertised that it eliminates odours, I was disappointed to find that it actually didn’t. We used this for about a week and just started using our bin in the kitchen! This actually did eliminate smells better with using fragranced bin powders and with obviously taking the bin out every evening.

5. AngelCare Heart Monitor

This is such a brilliant idea for a product and I was adamant that we would need one. I really do love the thought of being alerted if baby has stopped breathing in the night. It is great for giving a new mum that peace of mind that she needs. However, I purchased this on one of my crazy baby shopping sprees, without thinking about the fact that we were using a Sleepyhead Deluxe AND a Next2Me Crib!

For those of you that don’t know, The AngelCare Heart Monitor is a sensor pad that goes underneath the mattress and detects when there hasn’t been any movements from baby in a certain amount of time. It is very sensitive so it picks up the baby breathing etc. This wouldn’t work with using a Sleepyhead though as that is essentially two mattresses when used in a crib, and the Next2Me Crib being attached to our bed meant that it would pick up our movements too, so would not be accurate and would falsely alert us all throughout the night. I was actually confident after the first couple of nights that with sleeping so close to Jaxon, with how lightly I slept in those early days and with good old motherly instinct, that I would know if something was wrong. So this was never used and is sat in a bag in the wardrobe!

6.  Wireless Video Baby Monitor – Amazon

This has to be the worst buy so far. I could charge this over night and the battery would still run out after half an hour. I could deal with that though. The main reason why I recently sent this back is because it would constantly beep very loudly for the whole time it was on, saying that the temperature is too hot. The temperature in the bedroom is always 18 or 19 degrees, which I feel is not too hot for baby, and is the suggested temperature on the SIDS guidelines. Unlike other monitors, there is no way to turn the temperature notification off, nor is there as option to set up your own temperature setting on the monitor.

 

So there you have it, a list of my worst baby buys! I hope that you found this useful. If you are currently expecting ladies, please don’t feel that you have to buy EVERYTHING! The baby market, I feel, makes you feel that way.

Have you any baby purchases that you regret buying?

Thanks for reading fellow Mamas

xoxox