Now that we've had some time: what stuff from your registry could you have skipped?

eyenigh

I hang out on the Nurseries and Baby Gear board a lot because I love stuff and I'm a sucker for new things to try. I don't like crap for the sake of having it but I am by no means a minimalist! I read a lot of posts from people building registries asking "Is this necessary?" or "Did you ever use this?" As a stuff lover, I'm often very surprised by some responses. I get the feeling some people think that their babies should have nothing more than a boob and a blanket! Well, maybe two boobs.

Anyway, I was streamlining and putting away outgrown clothes and assessing all the toys and activity things we had and realized that out of all the baby stuff that we've received or amassed so far, there's almost nothing that I didn't use or feel like I didn't get my money's worth out of (not counting clothes-- I expect to lose a lot of money there and I don't care!).

If I had to pick one thing that I wouldn't ask for again, it would've been the bouncy seat. My son kind of hates it and as soon as he could sit in something else while I took a shower, he did. However, I would've never known that before I had him so I don't exactly consider it a wasteful gift.

I think my most surprising things that I use a lot are swaddle blankets (we didn't really even swaddle!) and bibs. I heard so many people complaining about having so many bibs and never using them but my drool monster goes through several a day. It's nice not to have to do laundry all the time.

What have been your least favorite and favorite things now that you've actually had time to see what your baby likes and needs?

 

cassiehansen

I thought I would go crazy if we received another blanked for our LO. However, I use most of them all the time. She goes to daycare everyday with a blanket and we have hardwood floors so she's always laying on something. They've really come in handy. The only time I use our Bouncy seat is when she's outside and she never really liked her swing (but I picked that up second hand).

countrygrl5533

We received almost nothing from our registry so I had to buy it all myself.

We got way more blankets than we need (did register for those though).

Bouncey seat and swing were live savers for me. I didn't get things like a wipe warmer or anything.

Probably, my baby carrier. I use it rarely. It hurts my back so I don't bother with it. We rarely are in a situation where holding her or putting her in the stroller aren't easy options. I only used it to hold her when going outside to hang the laundry. Now I just wait until she is napping to go do that.

gothgrrl

Pacifiers and the brand of bottles we intially registered for were big wastes for us...DD didn't care for anything past the pacifier given in the hospital, and she seemed to do better with a bottle supplied in a diaper cake my cousin made for us.

gothgrrl

Pacifiers and the brand of bottles we intially registered for were big wastes for us...DD didn't care for anything past the pacifier given in the hospital, and she seemed to do better with a bottle supplied in a diaper cake my cousin made for us.

 

gothgrrl

Pacifiers and the brand of bottles we intially registered for were big wastes for us...DD didn't care for anything past the pacifier given in the hospital, and she seemed to do better with a bottle supplied in a diaper cake my cousin made for us.

 

gothgrrl

Pacifiers and the brand of bottles we intially registered for were big wastes for us...DD didn't care for anything past the pacifier given in the hospital, and she seemed to do better with a bottle supplied in a diaper cake my cousin made for us.

gothgrrl

Pacifiers and the brand of bottles we intially registered for were big wastes for us...DD didn't care for anything past the pacifier given in the hospital, and she seemed to do better with a bottle supplied in a diaper cake my cousin made for us.

 Also,

gothgrrl

Pacifiers and the brand of bottles we intially registered for were big wastes for us...DD didn't care for anything past the pacifier given in the hospital, and she seemed to do better with a bottle supplied in a diaper cake my cousin made for us.

 Also, swaddle pods

gothgrrl

Pacifiers and the brand of bottles we intially registered for were big wastes for us...DD didn't care for anything past the pacifier given in the hospital, and she seemed to do better with a bottle supplied in a diaper cake my cousin made for us.

 Also, swaddle pods were

gothgrrl

Pacifiers and the brand of bottles we intially registered for were big wastes for us...DD didn't care for anything past the pacifier given in the hospital, and she seemed to do better with a bottle supplied in a diaper cake my cousin made for us.

 Also, swaddle

raspberry_bride

We registered for the Bumbo seat and I rarely use it.  Although it has become more useful now that we are feeding her solids and going away on weekends.  I also registered for a bottle warmer which I have yet to use.  Mostly because I hardly ever give her a bottle, but I thought I would register for it in case BF didn't work out.  Now that I have given her some bottles I know that they can easily be warmed up using a bowl and hot water.  I am glad no one got us the set of bottles that I registered for.

aeh72

While I know many people love them, I hated the Boppy.  I should have listened to the people who told me a regular pillow will do, and then only bought the Boppy if that didn't work. 

My favorite things - A&A and Carter's swaddle blankets.  DS loved to be swaddled and the Carters were great early on and the A&A good for when it got warmer.  And, now that he doesn't get swaddled anymore, we use them for stroller blankets and to lay him on so when he's drooling like crazy, at least it's on a clean blanket and not the rug.  Speaking of drool, I'm with you on the bibs.  We have TONS and I use every single one of them. 

The other thing I love is our PNP. We got a really nice one that has the newborn napper and changing station. It was awesome for the early days when we spent so much time in our family room. Now, he just uses it for a regular PNP and we'll take it with us when we travel for a crib so we will get a lot of use out of it.

Last things that I did not like - I went through a phase when DS hated tummy time so I bought all sorts of "tummy time" toys, mats, etc.  Total waste of money, except for our FP Penguin mirror, which DS loves.  He just needed more time to get used to tummy time.  One day, he just started doing it on his own and we didn't need any Boppy tummy time pillow or Whoozit mat to encourage him.

manda1129

I hardly ever use my baby bjorn carrier, i have never used my pack and play but im sure i will once shes older? and I just had to have a bumbo...shes not a fan of it, and the my breastfriend feeding pillow and I only used it once cuz it put pressure on my csection. I also got a ton of diaper rash cream and have not had to use it.

My surprising fav baby item that i HIGHLY recommend are the nasal moisturizing swabs by arm n hammer...OMG i love them! They get those dried boogie right out and clear her nose. I wish i had registered for 100s of boxes lol

MrsJetSet

I totally agree with you on the NBG board!

We also could do without the bouncer. We put it away a month ago because I was tired of it sitting unused in the living room.

Our favorites are our aas and the rnp and now our ergo.

We were given a hand me down bottle warmer that I stuck in dds closet and forgot about until she was a few mos old. It is just as easy to warm up bottles in a cup of water so I wouldn't miss it if we didn't have it. Never got a wipe warmer and don't miss it.

kaleb87

We registered for diaper rash cream, never had to use it. (Thank goodness) We also registered for a bjorn carrier, and dd hates it. She screams nonstop if we try and put her in it. I also really wanted a boppy pillow, and it hasn't been as handy as I hoped. I'm a little disappointed.

lulling

My son did not like the swing.  Also, we got the Puj tub which was great but he outgrew it too quickly.  He also did not like swaddles that held his arms down.  We also got the fluffy insert that you put in the carseat and never used it.

 

Although I am kind of a minimalist so we really didn't get that much stuff.  For instance we didn't register for Bumbo, Boppy, wipe warmers, bottle warmers, sound machines, Bjorns, jumpers, basinette or a full sized high chair. 

MariJ1008

I thought we had WAY to many bibs and blankets...but after a couple months I realized we didn't have enough! So I would say you can never have to many bibs or blankets, they get dirty fast! We got ALOT from our shower, and used just about everything and honestly we have been fortunate enough to not have to buy anything for DS...everything we needed so far, including toys and diapers we got, so we were super grateful. And even the stuff we got double, I kept, and we leave at grandparents house, for example the playmat gyms, we have one at our house, and both grandparents because he loves to play on those, and we got two space saver high chairs, so we kept one and took one to my dads (he babysits) So I would keep some stuff that was doubled before returning, because if LO ends up loving it or needing it, it's easier to leave at someone's house than carrying it back and forth.

The one thing we didn't use were the swaddle blankets.....but that's because DS was so tiny (4lbs 11oz), it was super easy to swaddle him in a blanket, and we didn't swaddle for a very long time, only first couple of months. So I gave all of my swaddle blankets to my friend who had a baby a month ago and she loves them.

But so far we have liked and used everything we got for DS and he has too

MariJ1008

aeh72:

While I know many people love them, I hated the Boppy.  I should have listened to the people who told me a regular pillow will do, and then only bought the Boppy if that didn't work. 

My favorite things - A&A and Carter's swaddle blankets.  DS loved to be swaddled and the Carters were great early on and the A&A good for when it got warmer.  And, now that he doesn't get swaddled anymore, we use them for stroller blankets and to lay him on so when he's drooling like crazy, at least it's on a clean blanket and not the rug.  Speaking of drool, I'm with you on the bibs.  We have TONS and I use every single one of them. 

The other thing I love is our PNP. We got a really nice one that has the newborn napper and changing station. It was awesome for the early days when we spent so much time in our family room. Now, he just uses it for a regular PNP and we'll take it with us when we travel for a crib so we will get a lot of use out of it.

Last things that I did not like - I went through a phase when DS hated tummy time so I bought all sorts of "tummy time" toys, mats, etc.  Total waste of money, except for our FP Penguin mirror, which DS loves.  He just needed more time to get used to tummy time.  One day, he just started doing it on his own and we didn't need any Boppy tummy time pillow or Whoozit mat to encourage him.

I never used boppy pillow either! Im glad I didn't buy one, my cousin gave me hers, and it was girly, so I bought a boyish cover for $10. But I never used it; when I was nursing, I couldn't use the boppy pillow around my tummy to hold baby up because I had a Csection and it hurt me! Once I stopped breastfeeding, DS hated to lay on it..so it's been in the closet this entire time. It's a pretty expensive pillow too, I would just recommend using a regular pillow.

countrygrl5533

Adding:

Didn't register for a baby tub and don't feel the need to have one. Kitchen sink works great. So much easier to store than those massive tubs.

Do love our PNP. Used it with the bassinet attachment the first month then we moved her to her crib. I have used just the PNP every weekend for the past month as we haven't been home. It's been great.

I rarely use the glider but use it enough to be useful. When I'm done with it, will just use it in the living room so no biggie.

diabeticmom

I absolutely couldn't live without my bouncy seat. Connor is in it all day long while I'm doing things around the house. I also couldn't live without his stuffed dice. He can site for hours playing and chewing on them.

He did not use the swing at all. Thankfully we borrowed it from a friend. Also we didn't use hallf of the toys that we recieved. 2 or 3 are fine.

MrsLynn31912

I got a bottle warmer and never used it. Okay-- I used it 3 times. We got both or our bouncers for free (one my mom had and one MIL got us from a lady she worked with for free). We leave one at my parents house don't use it often. But we use the one at my house.

My favorite is probably our jumperoo and our summer seat. He loves to hang out in his jumperoo. And the summer seat we can throw in our car and take anywhere. And we use it as a booster at my parents and ILs. Works great. I am defiantly glad I decided to get that. Although I am mad that a week after I bought it off amazon walmart decided to get it and sell it for $6 cheaper. *sigh* Oh well. It was a great investment and will pay for itself in the end!

BellaOso

It's fun seeing how different everyone is!

I have lots of "places to put the baby" because I had to outfit my office (which is on our property, but is about a football field away,) and the house. 

All of these things were extremely useful at one point in time for us or another, therefore, I loved: the swing, the bouncer, the RNP (which is already sadly outgrown and has been placed in storage for the next baby, the exersaucer and the jumperoo. These items are spread out between the office and the house so she knows the office is jumpy space and home is exersaucer space. 

I LOVED the miracle blankets for the first 2.5 months, but I think everyone knows at this point that I am the crazy Baby Merlin Magicsuit enthusiast. I will likely buy either a miracle blanket of Magicsuit for every one of my pregnant friends from now on. 

Everyone is appalled when I tell them I actually NEEDED a bottle warmer, but I EPed a lot and it came in darn handy to heat up bottles that that had been in the fridge or freezer and especially when I was working in my office that does not have hot water. 

I did not get any mileage out of receiving blankets, or newborn clothing. Those weak sad little things that baby are us call "burp cloths" are ridiculous - especially if you have a reflux baby. I still haven't used my breathable bumper, and still can't decide if I will or not. 

Also, my car mirror thing... anyone actually using theirs? It just hasn't come up. 

lulling

BellaOso:

It's fun seeing how different everyone is!

I have lots of "places to put the baby" because I had to outfit my office (which is on our property, but is about a football field away,) and the house. 

All of these things were extremely useful at one point in time for us or another, therefore, I loved: the swing, the bouncer, the RNP (which is already sadly outgrown and has been placed in storage for the next baby, the exersaucer and the jumperoo. These items are spread out between the office and the house so she knows the office is jumpy space and home is exersaucer space. 

I LOVED the miracle blankets for the first 2.5 months, but I think everyone knows at this point that I am the crazy Baby Merlin Magicsuit enthusiast. I will likely buy either a miracle blanket of Magicsuit for every one of my pregnant friends from now on. 

Everyone is appalled when I tell them I actually NEEDED a bottle warmer, but I EPed a lot and it came in darn handy to heat up bottles that that had been in the fridge or freezer and especially when I was working in my office that does not have hot water. 

I did not get any mileage out of receiving blankets, or newborn clothing. Those weak sad little things that baby are us call "burp cloths" are ridiculous - especially if you have a reflux baby. I still haven't used my breathable bumper, and still can't decide if I will or not. 

Also, my car mirror thing... anyone actually using theirs? It just hasn't come up. 

Never used the mirror either.  And, yes, those "burp cloths" are pointless.  It is like putting a tea towel on your shoulder.  A ten pack of Gerber cloth diapers from Target have been the best burp cloths! 

chrisandmonique4ever

Bouncy seat was a life saver for us! Kick n play piano and exersaucer are too! Whale bathtub is great too. of course the aden n anais swaddle blankets.

chrisandmonique4ever

Waste for us were bumbo and pnp but at least they were passed from my ds.

chrisandmonique4ever

Sry me again. best item over all was borrowed Arms reach co sleeper!!!life saver!

waste4moms swing

eyenigh

BellaOso:

Also, my car mirror thing... anyone actually using theirs? It just hasn't come up.  

Do you mean the mirror that you hang on one of the rear seats so you can see the baby when he's rear facing? If so, yes! I didn't ask for one and, honestly, never even thought of one until I realized it freaked me out not to be able to see him. I bought one new and found another at a garage sale for the other car. Now that he's older, I like it even more because he can see me talking to him, too. It's good entertainment for him. 

countrygrl5533

BellaOso:

Also, my car mirror thing... anyone actually using theirs? It just hasn't come up. 

Love mine. Use it constantly. However, we are in the car a lot. Grocery store is 20 minutes away plus we drive at least 3 hours away every weekend during July/August/September for competitions for my DH. I love that I can see her in the rearview mirror when driving or can just peek when I'm in the passenger seat.

countrygrl5533

eyenigh:

BellaOso:

Also, my car mirror thing... anyone actually using theirs? It just hasn't come up.  

Do you mean the mirror that you hang on one of the rear seats so you can see the baby when he's rear facing? If so, yes! I didn't ask for one and, honestly, never even thought of one until I realized it freaked me out not to be able to see him. I bought one new and found another at a garage sale for the other car. Now that he's older, I like it even more because he can see me talking to him, too. It's good entertainment for him. 

Yes. DD loves to talk to the "baby in the mirror." lol

Lesleyjking

Her swing is THE best thing we could of gotten and her swaddles rain machine, and wooden cradle were good ones too.

 

Things we dont use- the bouncy seat, bump, angel care monitor-total wastes of money

 

What I wish I had gotten-breathable bed mattress-I just bought it and wish I had known about it before we bought our current one

nunzchucks

I'm with everyone on the Boppy. I thought we'd use it constantly, but it's shoved between our couch and side table and hasn't moved for months. 

I could not live without my Itzbeen baby timer. I use that thing religiously! 

Irisheyes1247

A lot of the things I didn't like for DD1 were things that DD2 loved, and vice versa so I was glad that I didn't get rid of anything in between, because in the end, everything has ended up being use. DD1 loved the bouncy seat, while DD2 loved the swing. Both loved the exersaucer. I hated the Boppy with #1, but love it with #2. I used my Moby all the time with DD1, and never with DD2. Crazy how different they can be.

pattymctatty

Never used the Boppy pillow. We had it sitting out but never used it... Gerber onesies were useless too. I NEVER use those. I think I have two in the diaper bag just in case I need to change in case of spit ups.

Use all the time: blankets, Dr. Brown's bottles, Jumperoo, Bouncer, Swing, Sleep Sheep, and we used Halo Sleep Sacks/Swaddles for the first 3 months every night.

For all baby showers I'm invited to I buy Sassy toys, Burt's Bees lavender lotion, Buttpaste and Pampers Swaddlers size 1 diapers. 

gothgrrl

so sorry about the multiple posts of essentially the same words...crappy work puter!!

countrygrl5533

It's funny how different we all are. A lot of you didn't like the Boppy pillow. I still use mine every time I nurse...so multiple times a day.

And lavender lotion/body wash....can't stand it. My MIL bought some for me as part of the baby shower game gifts. Talked about how wonderful it was. Took it straight to WM and exchanged it for the vanilla oatmeal one instead. Can't stand the smell of lavender.

It just goes to prove that everyone is so incredibly different, even in their "need to have/hated and didn't use" baby items.