If you had to start over with baby gear, what would you purchase this time around? What would you avoid?
What did you consider to be an absolute waste? What were your absolute essentials? I know that each baby is different, and they’ll each have their likes and dislikes.
My essentials:
Graco Swing
Bouncy seat
Boppy pillow
sleep sack (wearable blankets)
Mother-ease One-Size Cloth Diapers, Diaper Covers and liners
Graco Travel System
Safety First Booster Seat (high chair)
Medela Pump in Style
Bundle Me Baby Bunting
Kiddopotamus &Co. Cozy Baby Carrier Cover
Gerber cloth diaper burping cloths
Moby Wrap (front carrier)
Medela steam clean bags
Kiddopatumus swaddler
Bumbo chair
Baby Genius music cds
Wastes:
Gerber Burping cloth-doesn’t absorb
Gerber Receiving blanket
Medela Single Deluxe breast pump -broke after 2-3 weeks
Medela orthodontic nipples
Gerber mittens-keeps falling off
Baby bath tub
Target’s own line of diaper bags-fell apart quickly
Bottle warmer for car
Bottle warmer for kitchen
Infantino Sling Rider-baby’s head kept getting tilted and body kept contorting to weird position
I wouldn’t worry about a Bumbo. I would go ahead and get the pink carseat and stroller that I really wanted instead of worrying that I would have a boy for my 2nd child. I would get the same bouncy seat for sure. Everything else I would do the same.
Edit:
Okay, must haves
Bouncy Seat (absolutely the best gear we had)
Mobile with the swirls that we kept at daycare
Jumperoo
Exersaucer
Fisher Price Aquarium Bath Tub
Duck Bathtub
Baby Glider
Boppy (I really needed it at the hospital, too)
Bassinett
Wasn’t worth it:
Bumbo
Wipe warmer
Should have picked a different travel system
Lansinoh double breast pump
Walker (by the time her feet could touch the ground on the lowest setting, she could almost walk herself and had no interest)
The changing table was great for 6 months, but didn’t really use it after that.
The Diaper Genie was great when I used the changing table, but it hasn’t gotten used since. Maybe I should bring it to the living room. haha
WOW this is a good question….well lets see I would do everything the same!! I would get all the same things I got the first time around I would do the same things too!! I would just change around the colors you know if I had a boy LOL but yeah I don’t think I would change anything really : )
I have a Graco Travel System. It’s purple/gray. I hate the stroller and the carseat right now. It was a very popular item when we registered for it. But the carseat strap on the left constantly seems a bit too lose but we’ve tried & tried to fix it but can’t. And the stroller itself is annoying. It has harness straps. They are WAY too loose on my daughter and again, especially the left side. I hate when you want it in a more upright position you have to play with it to get it even. And getting to the basket is way annoying. Thought it was the best thing at first. Now I don’t like it but am stuck with it. It’ll do for now.
That’s about it for me.
I probably wouldn’t get alot of 0-3 months and newborn clothes I had waaaay to many my daughter never even wore some of them.
I know what i’d avoid
Diaper pail. No use. Just as easy to toss it out in the trash can outside. And the pricey refill bags? No thank you.
Changing table. No use. Most people have a pack n play with a changing table on that, so that works just as well. Anyway, when baby starts rolling and becoming more mobile, the floor or sofa work just as well, and tends to be a bit safer.
Companies who make baby gear try to target new parents who are fooled into thinking their baby needs this fancy DELUXE bouncer, or this fancy baby toy.
If only i had put the money i spent on fancy baby gear into a college account, my son would be well on his way to a great education.
with our daughter we didn’t really have a lot of money so everything that we brought we researched and only brought things that we really needed. a lot of the thing we have now we are saving for the next baby. we will buy a new swing, and clothes but i think that is it. good question
I could not get by without the pack n play. So handy! We use it downstairs for baby while her room is upstairs. We use the changing table part all the time. Much easier to do that standing up.
I never used all the “receiving” blankets I got but this baby didnt spit up much and thats what I always used them for.
I would not bother with a breast pump unless you are going to try to pump so you can go back to work. I found them to be bulky and hard to use. If you are determined to keep baby only on breast milk then get a hand operated one- less expensive.
The intercoms are great!! So easy to listen in on baby while still in another room.
I’d get the wipe warmer, for sure–first time I thought it was silly and then learned that you don’t want them waking up during late night changes because of cold wipes.
I would also invest in a somewhat nicer infant car seat–one with a handle that is actually easy to hold while carrying a gigantic 20 pound baby around; I think that’s worth the extra money.
I wouldn’t bother with so many infant toys the first few months–babies seem to be happy with anything (like a wooden spoon) you have lying around (as long as it’s safe) and we ended up with piles of rattles and other things that my daughter never played with.
Last–I wouldn’t bother with the crib aquarium thing–she never slept in the crib and that thing just kept her awake.
Well I still love my diaper genie my son is 8 months old. No nasty diaper smell at all. the bounch chair he loved for about 4 months, loved it, the rainforest jumparoo lasted 4-7 months totally worth the 70 bucks. The only thing with my little guy that I would have avoided is the stupid play mat. He hated, and still hated the stupid thing. Oh the bottle warmer is great in the morning, and the middle of the night. No worries about over, or under heating a bottle. Oh get pack and play, they are great things.
i would get agains:
twilite turtle she luved it from strt & still does
wipe warmer in fact i would get 2
travel system, @ first we thought we went over board we got the one w/temp and time but we dont take them for granted now, its nice not to have to take baby out of seat to put in stroller
jumperoo
digital moniter, no cordless phone feedback or in(summer with 2 cordless chargeables)
i wish i had gotten a arms reach co-sleeper you can turn them into a play pen later my sis talked me out of getting one and i wish i had got it. baby wouldnt have anything to do with bassanet and so we ended up with her in our bed(nursery too far for comfort)
what i wish i had not wated $ on:
slings tried 2 ,Hot sling & Moby she hated both tried out a friends peanut still no go get a carrier link baby bjiorn or snugili
bassinet
swing
any type of swaddler ,she didnt want to b swaddled after 2 weeks and we had all these buntings swaddle blankets ect