Waste of Money Baby Items

NicoleNielsen59 · November 2013

What items did you buy/receive that you realized were a waste of money? The one i'm hearing most about is the wipes warmer. TIA!

TheLittleRedM · November 2013

Hmmm....we didn't buy it but we never use the bouncy seat we were given. But lots of people have babies that really like them so I can't say they're waste of money, just not for us.

Mirror to hang from the car seat handle. DS loves his mirror on his kick and play but could care less about the one hanging from the car seat >.<

Huggies diapers. Waste. Of. Money.

Burp cloths. I shouldn't say all burp cloths, but the smallish ones that you get because they're cute? Useless. We don't cloth diaper, but we bought some really basic cloth diapers and use those or a receiving blanket for cleaning up spit-up.

I can't think of anything else that we bought or received that was a waste of money. ..

HFrizzle · November 2013

Matching baby bedding, baby towels & wash cloths, special laundry soap for baby clothes, bottle warmers, wipe warmers, cutesy baby shoes.

tashad18 · November 2013

We were given tons of Huggies Newborn diapers. They leaked terribly. Waste of money for those who bought them.

Cutesy burp clothes (we use gerber cloth diapers)

Excessive amounts of blankets, wash cloths, and hooded towels. You really only need a few of each. I was given all of these or had some from DS1, but I definitely have way too many.

Wipe warmers IMO are a waste because then your baby just freaks out when you are not home and a cold wipe touches his butt.

Backseat mirror that hangs on the headrest to see baby. It didn't connect correctly and broke in half while adjusting it.

scruggsa · November 2013

I would agree with pp. Huggies newborn diapers leaked everytime. Little burp cloths are worthless and don't hold spit up. Cloth diapers or hand towels work much better.

noelani42 · November 2013

I agree with most but like the wipe warmer...and she doesn't have a problem with cold ones when were out...I think it makes MOTN changes smoother...I also had to go out and buy a bottle Warner so I don't agree with that either...we do have way too many towels and blankets but use all of our washcloths

the mirror for the car is useless for us too...

pb&jojo · November 2013

Boppy...I never used it.

Carnation77 · November 2013

DS loves his wipes warmer! Swing and bouncer ended up being a waste for us because he hates them. But how were we to know?

I think the most useless items are baby hats. Maybe we're bad parents but we never used any of them.

kcs7 · November 2013

Flat nippled pacifiers. Extra swaddle blankets ans swaddle blankets that are too small. Changing table cover. Hooded towela and baby washclothes.
I didn't buy any but was gifted a lot of nb size clothes. Would have been a waste to buy roo since he never got to wear even half of them before not fitting already.

But we LOVE
Sleep sacs
Snugapuppy swing
Ergo baby carrier
Round nipple soothie pacifiers
Boppy pillows
And I do like our wipe warmer quite a bit. I'm an odd one out I guess.

egw9457 · November 2013

Baby shoes, excess newborn clothes (many still have the tags on them and most she only wore once), baby laundry detergent (all the clothes got washed with the family laundry after the first few days)

RoosterWrangler · November 2013

DS hasn't worn mittens at all. I just keep his nails trimmed and he's never scratched himself.

slh6363 · November 2013

We received tons and tons of blankets, also swaddle me's since there is really only one we use. All of the bigger items we actually get a lot of use out of (pack n play, rock n play, bouncer, swing). We use them all!

jadeorchid21 · November 2013

Nipple shields. DH bought a bouncer that rocks and the baby doesn't like it. I told him to get the swing which is more money but he likes the motion of swinging. We have WAAAAAYYYYY too many receiving blankets so we just use them as burp cloths since we got none of those. I think that is it. I heard those wipes warmers and bottle warmers were a waste as well.

HBirdie · November 2013

I TOTALLY disagree with baby washcloths and towels being a waste. Baby washcloths are softer and thinner and I like them much more than our fluffy washcloths for our baby's baths. And we have this awesome hooded towel with a tie around the waste and it's so nice for after baths. I want another one but it was a hand-me-down and I have no idea where to get one like it.

For us...

-We haven't used the Boppy yet (I use the MyBreastFriend for BFing which I much prefer), though we might for propping him up on.

-Changing table/changing pad/cover- we usually use the living room floor

-Small burp cloths. Pointless. Receiving blankets are the way to go for spit up rags.

-Pacifiers that are not Soothies.

-Lots of our newborn diapers didn't get used because he grew out of them quickly.

-Seat cover that goes underneath the carseat. We were gifted this. Maybe if I really cared about my car interior, but I don't, and when we had it under there, it kept sliding out and getting in the way while we were installing the carseat.

-The Kimono style shirts and plain white onesies. We have so many cute clothes, I can't bring myself to put him in a plain white onesie and we have tons (hand me downs).

-Baby lotion

Things we LOVE and wish we had more of (or actually did buy more of):

-HALO Swaddle Sleepsacks. Amazing.

-Muslin swaddle blankets (like A&A or similar)

--Soothie Pacifiers

-SwaddleMe sleepsacks (like the Halo ones but thinner)

-Burt's Bees baby soap. Smells so wonderful and leaves him feeling so soft!

-A&D diaper rash ointment. We were gifted lots of diaper creams, this is my favorite one because it actually works.

Naena · November 2013

Baby shoes, they are so cute but a complete waste.

BabyBrooks5516 · November 2013

Pointless: Bottle warmer, wipe warmers, bottle steralizers (esp if your breastfeeding)

Awesome: Newborn boppy lounger (we used this all the time the first 6 weeks), boppy, wubanubs, Rock N Play, swing, Halo sleep slack (only way we found worked transitioning to the crib).

Mom38673 · November 2013

We love the wipes warmer for the MOTN changes. It does help there. Plus, little man pees everytime a cold wipe hits his butt. Baby detergent is a waste. All Free and Clear is just fine. Baby towels are not needed, but I do like the baby bath cloths. Totally agree with Newborn clothes. They maybe wear them a week.

BelhurstBride · November 2013

HBirdie said:

-Seat cover that goes underneath the carseat. We were gifted this. Maybe if I really cared about my car interior, but I don't, and when we had it under there, it kept sliding out and getting in the way while we were installing the carseat.

Plus it voids the safety of the carseat...

Bunnyfer · November 2013

We have so many blankets...I live in FL and most of them are to heavy or to small. I think I will start using them for spit up wipes. Never thought of that.

We have a ton of bibs...so far, unused. We have probably fifty baby washcloths...I say forty of them still unused. I love my hooded towels though. I also never used any hats, mittens or the Pjs with the open bottom..LO prefers the footed ones. We got good use of newborn clothes as she is a little baby. To be honest, most of the cute dresses she has are going unused. At home she is in a onesie all day and Pjs at night

vulpini · November 2013

burp cloths - we use them, but I get more use out of a receiving blanket

size S/M SwaddleMe - he grew out of these pretty quickly

Miracle Blanket - way too much fabric to wrap

Moby Wrap - way too much fabric to wrap, can't use out of the house because it drags on the ground during the wrapping process, LO didn't like it

Boppy - DS always slid down between it and my stomach and it felt like I was slouching over to much. The My Brest Friend is much more comfortable.

HBirdie · November 2013

BelhurstBride said:

HBirdie said:

-Seat cover that goes underneath the carseat. We were gifted this. Maybe if I really cared about my car interior, but I don't, and when we had it under there, it kept sliding out and getting in the way while we were installing the carseat.

Plus it voids the safety of the carseat...

Really? The certified carseat tech that helped us install our seat said it was perfectly fine. We just opted not to use it.
The little monkey strap covers, on the other hand, she did say could be unsafe. We were also gifted these, guess I should have included that on my original list.

youtubebeauties · November 2013

Mittens. Those damn things are worthless.

kimberlymacrae · November 2013

We use our mittens to keep our LO hands warm, not to avoid scratching. For the first three months their circulatory system is pretty weak so socks and gloves for us! We have found that certain brands do not stay on as well as others. But nothing than an extra stitch won't fix

PB102012 · November 2013

Wash clothes for baby, hoodie towels. I wash LO with my hands and her soap, and the hoodie towels might work when she is older (I will buy them in her size), but for now our bath towels are more absorbent and keep her warmer.

rissa06 · November 2013

A lot of this stuff is dependent on which baby and child.

For example, the first two kids, hated the swing, but our NB loves the swing. he takes naps in it.

dish washing baskets . We hand wash everything, so they were pointless.

Wipes warmer. To me the wipes didn't feel warmer

For the first two kids, never used the mittens, but for DS we use the mittens. he has very bad food allergies and it stops him from itching his face too bad.

For the first two kids, we used the bottle warmer. They were formula fed babies and we would warm the RTF formula. DS is a BF baby and when we need to supplement with formula or unfreeze pumped milk we don't need it.

The baby sterilizer. We just used a big pot of water.

Receiving blankets, if we were to use them for swaddling. We actually used them to double up on the changing pads.

papsan. The kids were not crazy about the vibrating chair.

bumpuser10024844 · November 2013

I think I'm a little different than most.

We use our swing daily. We have a RnP and bouncer that we use as well. We have NEVER used our Pack n Play. And I honestly don't ever see us using it in the future, but we opened it and put it together already, so I don't think we will be taking it back. It was a gift, though, so I don't feel like we wasted our money.

I use my boppy daily.

I love the baby wash cloths and hooded towels.

I don't personally use the bottle warmer because I BF, but LO's great grandma watches him at our house while we work and she uses it daily. She also uses the small burp cloths for wiping up milk on his face because the bottle nipples can be too fast for him. I usually use receiving blankets for spit up, though.

I have a bunch of bibs that I have never used. Maybe I will use them when LO starts solids?

I love the aiden and anais swaddle blankets, but I think I have too many. I usually just use them as a cover when I BF in public

Also, I use the changing table often. DH has never used it, though. Maybe once.

Oh, and baby powder is a waste, and I have a ton of it. Most of it came from the gift sets with lotion, soap, and desitin. I use all of those often.

mamato3girls · November 2013

We are pretty much minimalist so found a lot to be a waste.

Stroller-I never used it, I've always worn my tiny babies. I never really started using the stroller until I had multiple kids and then it was for the older toddler, not the newest one.

Infant carseat-they use it for a few months before it was too heavy for me to haul around with them anymore. We ditched it after our first and went straight to convertible seats.

A "nursery"-my kids have slept in our bed until they were past 2, we never used the changing table or glider, we did sidecar our crib with our first two

the dishwasher basket

bottle brush

bibs

a diaper bag-I found I much preferred a backpack that was not meant to be a diaper bag

flannel receiving blankets-we only used the A&A muslin ones

hooded towels

rotekja · March 2014

mod edit: spam

Chicks21 · April 2014

AFwifelife said:
I disagree with the NB clothes. DS was in them for a little over a month. We barely had any and had to go to the store to get more. It really all depends on how your LO is shaped and how big they are.

I had the same problem. I only had four outfits and that is barely enough for two days with the way she spits up and poops.

Chichigo · April 2014

I didn't ask for a bouncer but it was one of the used items my cousin gave me. It is the only way LO will allow me to put him down.

I also used newborn clothes for over a month but didn't buy any-received user from friends.

My useless items:
Pampers diapers and wipes
Swing
Multiple pacifiers-he refuses every brand I tried.
Mittens
Baby bathtub- I used it for awhile but won't bother with future kids.

workitmom84 · April 2014

We had terrible luck with Huggies diapers, too. Leaks and blowouts, fun! The circo blankets from target are cute, but baby is five weeks they are already small to do much with. Gerber onesies, size 0-3 months, are already too small after one wash. My baby isn't big, either. We do, however, use our Dr Brown bottle warmer. I couldn't breast feed, but pre-make bottles and have them in the fridge. It takes about three minutes to warm them up, rather than who knows how long we were taking with hot running water. At three in the morning, minutes feel like hours.

chevronseven · April 2014

I've only read the first page but haven't seen anyone mention a diaper genie. I'm having DS this summer and got one as a gift, but others have said I won't use it and should exchange for something else. Anybody here have any thoughts on it?

pmattingly927 · April 2014

pacifiers, sterilizer, swaddles (we do better using receiving blankets, which I could never have to many of. I use them for lots of things), mittens.

pmattingly927 · April 2014

I was told diaper genies are a waste too, but received one and love it. It's just really convenient to have next to where you change diapers most often and just throw them in. Also, you can use regular trash bags if you want and it still works!!

LoriLee14 · April 2014

livelaughlove88 said:

I've only read the first page but haven't seen anyone mention a diaper genie. I'm having DS this summer and got one as a gift, but others have said I won't use it and should exchange for something else. Anybody here have any thoughts on it?

I used mine a lot for the first 6 months but then he started to slow down on the amount of diapers he used per day and they started to smell different because of the introduction of solids.

After that we went to putting them into plastic grocery bags and taking the trash out after every poop (about once a day)

kalette · April 2014

We really never used receiving blankets with DD, or the bottle warmer we were gifted. The bumbo was okay, but she totally uses it more now at 2 (as a toy) than she did when she was 3-5 months....

aprilbeachbride · April 2014

DD is 7 weeks old and she still fits in newborn clothes and diapers, so those were definitely not a waste for us. Luckily we received a lot of the snap/zipper nb pjs as hand-me-downs and she wears them constantly! For us socks were a waste since they won't stay on her small feet. We've received a lot of heavy blankets (fuzzy, crocheted, or fleece ones) that we haven't used yet but may when she's older and playing on the floor or for travel. We did not buy a diaper genie, just toss them in plastic sacks & take them out once a day or two. I'm sure we'll start using all the ton of bibs we got when she's teething and drooling everywhere, but now we like the gerber or carter's burp cloths as she doesn't have a problem with reflux or spit-up luckily we don't need heavy burp cloths.

JBen0813 · May 2014

OUr DAughter loves the wipe warmer and we have the transport wipe warmer! I think that all the johnson and johnson we got was a waste!

tatum13 · May 2014

I bought a Dr. Brown's bottle warmer and actually love it! I throw the bottle in, change the diaper, and about the time I'm done, the bottle is warm and ready to go. I hated waiting for the running water to warm the bottle and don't want to have to use the microwave in case of an emergency. We have a smaller house and baby's room is right down the hall, so I actually use my changing table every time. I like having a cover - it's much softer than the pad itself. If I had a bigger house or a second level, I would probably not use it as much. Halo sleep sacks are great. I also love baby washcloths (much softer) and baby towels -- the hood is so nice to keep baby warm after a bath. I've found Vaseline on baby's bottom after each diaper change helps prevent diaper rash in the first place. Plus, every baby is different! Certain seats and toys one baby loves, another dislikes.

My doctor said Johnson and Johnson are actually the worst baby wash's and lotions out there with all the added ingredients --- and I got a lot as gifts! I haven't used any. I use Aveeno instead.

bpatrick0809 · May 2014

Our angel has loved and we have used everything! We need more changing table covers since he decides he needs to pee everywhere all the time. The only problem item we had was huggies new born diapers. He always peed through them at night.

KariB509 · May 2014

I like my wipe warmer. Not a necessity but nice. I'd also disagree with hooded towels. DS is 3 and still uses a hooded towel.
Definitely the dishwasher basket. Don't need a ton of receiving blankets...I have like 10 and really only need probably two. Changing pad cover. First time I changed DS on it, he pooploded all over it. Don't need 500 bibs or pairs of socks either.

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