Useless extra stuff

trucksntutus · March 2016

hey STM+'s, I'm just curious as I'm setting up my registry and my shower is around the corner what is some stuff that you wouldn't recommend? Just useless extra things you don't really need to bother with. I've gotten comments on things such as wipes warmers are a big one that aren't really needed. Any suggestions? There's just so much stuff!

Y0urm0m · March 2016

Honestly every baby is different. What works for some may not work for others. I never had a bouncer or a baby bathtub and I won't buy one for this one either.

You just don't know until they get here

PugsandKisses · March 2016

Bathtub is a waste IMO.
I am a rarity, I adore my wipes warmer. I got a $35 one with DD. We use it every day. Both my kids love their wipes warm and hate cold ones. I prefer it warm too, especially for make up removal.

I also thing hooded towels for infants are a waste. Once they are toddler, yes.

Bathrobes too. Cute in store, pain the the butt in real life.

Allison7 · March 2016

I loved by bathtub because DD hated baths until she was about 11 months old. The less water I had to sit her in the better...so this just goes to show you that every baby is completely different. Some people swear by the rock n play, but we did fine without one (we had a bouncy chair and a mamaroo).

The one thing that I didn't register for was clothes and I got mountains of them anyway - so my suggestion is to NOT put clothing on your registry.

Oh, and the special detergent for babies is completely unnecessary. Everyone in my family including has dry, ultra sensitive skin, so use whatever detergent that you normally use. We didn't get DD special detergent and she just used what we do and was totally fine.

PugsandKisses · March 2016

@allison7391 is dead on about clothes and the laundry detergent.

jenkeale · March 2016

I never understood paci and toy wipes. It's really not hard to wash them.
Also, we never used receiving blankets as blankets, but as burp cloths. If we hadn't been gifted so freakin many and had regular burp cloths, we would not have needed them at all.
Our pediatrician's office oddly enough didn't recommend any of the bath soaps designed for babies because of the ingredients, but we still went with a "natural" baby wash. You also have no idea how your baby's skin will react to anything topical, so don't go overboard on a specific brand of soaps, diaper cream, etc.
Agree the little robes are cute, not practical and will only be used for a photo op.
I bought a diaper bag for myself and one for my husband. Complete waste. We always use mine, even if he's taking DD because it's always packed.

betheliz · March 2016

Even though DS hated cold wipes, the wipes warmer was a no go for us because it had to be plugged in and we didn't have a convenient outlet.

I *thought* that hooded towels would be a waste, but i received some as gifts and actually really liked them. They make it easy to wrap up a baby quickly and get all the important parts covered.

Some of the biggest flops we had were cute organic toys like unfinished wooden teethers or pastel stuffed animals. DS was only interested in colorful plastic toys. Mirrors, plastic rings and oballs are huge hits.

And I was completely naive about books. I didn't realize that books would be torn and chewed on for years. Board books as opposed to regular hardcovers or paperbacks are essential.

PhoebeJune1984 · March 2016

*We never got any of the toy or pacifier wipes either.
*Also didn't have bottle warmers (they only heat from room temp to warm anyway).
*We used baby detergent for a little bit, but only because I was obsessed with the smell. But after I got tired of paying for it, we just went with All Free & Clear because it is fragrance free and such.
*We stuck to one diaper bag, although I almost bought one for MH, I am glad that I didn't.
*I found burp clothes pointless...they were so thin and didn't really absorb anything. But we did love using Gerber cloth diaper pre-folds (you get like a pack of 6-10 depending on where you buy them). They absorbed a ton.
*I wish that I would have registered for the little closet labels (you hook them on your hanging bar, and they have different sizes listed like "NB", "0-3" and so on). We got clothing of all different sizes, and it was hard to keep them organized. I ended up making some out of cardboard, but I wish that I would have had the plastic ones.
*I agree with the body soaps...DD was washed with Johnson & Johnson products at the hospital and broke out with baby acne horribly. For the first two months, her skin was horrible...it was covered in acne and red around the pimples...it looked like she had chicken pox and I hated when her picture was taken because of it. My sister bought some Burt's Bee's baby wash and within two baths, her skin cleared up and was fine. Which meant that we couldn't use Aveeno either (also made by J&J). So I would register for different brands of soaps, so you aren't stuck with 100 bottles of one brand, only to find out it does work for your baby. I did a ton of couponing before DD was born and it was all J&J products. I ended up having a lot to give away at other people's showers!
*We loved our Fisher Price Whale Tub and used the crab out of it until she was sitting in the sink for baths.
*Robes are ridiculous
*We also did without the cart baby seat covers, infant carseat canopy (I bought one, then never used it), bottle sterilizer, Bumbo chair....

whataboutscience · March 2016

We also loved our bathtub. DD would still easily tip over from sitting until about 10 months and didn't understand that her face shouldn't go in the water.

-Her robe was useless.
-Also, it depends on the baby, but DD hates her swing, so I'm glad we had a portable, inexpensive one and not a huge thing.
-We got a ton of fleece, fuzzy blankets that were too hot for swaddling and couldn't be used safely for sleep. DD started using them in bed at 1, but no clue what they were supposed to be used for with a baby. Once in a while we through one on the grass to play outside on.
-We got way too much baby lotion. We don't do daily baths as they aren't recommended, so her skin wasn't really dry. We still have never had to buy shampoo or body wash at 18 months for that matter. We got a couple huge bottles and it lasts a long time on a small person bathing 3x a week.

xc1148 · March 2016

Like everyone said, every baby is different, but it's easy to eliminate the "extras". Wipe warmers...you are having a baby in july, so the wipes shouldnt be too cold to begin with. same with bottle warmers...my baby did fine with cold milk/formula/water etc. If your baby doesn't, you can always buy one later but why start out with all the extra steps.

Honestly, simple is better. You need diapers, boobs/formula and that's really about it. Build from there, you can ALWAYS buy stuff later.

oneliloaktree13 · March 2016

Hi, I had a horrible reaction as a baby to regular detergent, even if I'm the one odd baby that had a reaction. Still had a reaction, an adorable scales looking lobster reaction. However, wouldn't have known that if my mom didn't start with normal detergent. Reactions do happen.

@PhoebeJune1984 wasn't there a thing just out about Johnson and Johnson making kids sick or something or they found cancer causing things in their formulas. I don't buy them because they test on animals but the cancer thing made me side eye a little bit.

slorbets · March 2016

Are video monitors worth the extra expense, or is a traditional monitor sufficient?

holly142 · March 2016

I agree that every baby is different! DD had really sensitive skin so we only used California Baby super sensitive shampoo and body wash (love their ingredients!) and gave away the other kinds we had. I loved our baby bathtub and used it for a long time. I also loved baby towels but didn't use hooded ones or robes. I make my own laundry detergent so I didn't need to worry about buying a special kind.

DD was in physical therapy so that opened my eyes to how many popular items aren't actually good for baby. The bumbo isn't good for baby's posture. We had been given one. I only used it to prop DD up for photos but never left her hanging out in it. I wouldn't register for one. Many baby carriers are also bad for posture (think original Bjorn). I was thankful I had a Boba! Also, many cute baby shoes are a waste. Brands like Stride Rite, Pediped, and See Kai Run allow toddler's feet to move naturally. All the cute cheap shoes I was given weren't used.

I never used a wipe warmer or bottle warmer and don't plan to this time.

kellz14 · March 2016

FTM question... The only reason DH and I were looking at a bottle warmer was that it claimed to heat up bottles quicker and more evenly. But I really hate having those extra single-purpose gadgets in the house taking up precious space. For those who didn't use one and heated your bottles, did you just immerse it in a pot of hot water or something else?

coffeeandcupcakes · March 2016

A lot of the daycares I've been visiting have been using crockpots

Brittnic531 · March 2016

DD had reflux so I would go through SO MANY burp clothes which saved me from constantly changing her clothes... but we had no way of knowing that until she was already here. I used one of the baby baths that was more like a seat in the bath and I hated it. It wasted so much water and just wasn't comfortable to use for me, so I ended up showering with her until she was able to use the Munchkin inflatable duck (which was gifted and not on my registry). I will also add that I love the hooded towels even now but it's definitely a personal preference I think. Her non hooded towels don't cover her as well IMO. We never used a bottle warmer because I didn't want to have to wait for a bottle to get warm when she's screaming in the middle of the night. I just used room temp water and she didn't have any problems. We FF so it might make a difference if the baby is BF. Daycare would use a crockpot to warm it up to room temp from the fridge (I had to bring her bottles pre-made) and it has to do with the different safety codes they have to follow. I love my video monitor and there was a good thread on it if you search. We have a small house so we could've easily not gone that route, but it helped me to know when to go in and intervene and when she was ok. It'll be nice when we transition to a toddler bed here soon too. I didn't register for clothes because people love to buy clothes, plus someone told me that you may find something as you register but it might not be available when you have your shower because of seasonal changes, ect. DD has eczema and I still use Cetaphil baby which I love but every baby reacts differently. There's a lot of controversy with J & J so you might want to do some research. With laundry detergent I have always just gone with Free & Clear/ gentle detergent... which helped with her skin issues as well. Finally, I never got a wipe warmer because I heard it was a waste and don't miss it. If I think it's too cold, I'll wad it up in my hand for a second to try and take the chill off.

Too lazy to tag and sorry for the run on paragraph.

PugsandKisses · March 2016

kellz14 said:

FTM question... The only reason DH and I were looking at a bottle warmer was that it claimed to heat up bottles quicker and more evenly. But I really hate having those extra single-purpose gadgets in the house taking up precious space. For those who didn't use one and heated your bottles, did you just immerse it in a pot of hot water or something else?

My kids used cold or room temp water. I had a filter on my tap at just went from there. They never had 'hot ' or 'warm' formula.
They were breast feed at first but I had no issue from switching from tap BM (not pumped) and formula.
I do know mom's that once they got started on warm formula, their children refused anything else.

jenkeale · March 2016

We love our video monitor because I can see if she needs me to come in the room, of is just fussing in her sleep.

For warming up breastmilk, I found that when I pumped into storage bags rather than a bottle, those bags warmed up quickly submerged in warm water.

givemepenguinss · March 2016

A note about registering for clothes: you definitely don't need to, people will buy them anyway, BUT it's good to have clothes on your registry so people can get a sense of what you like. You'll get a few rogue tutus or baseball uniforms, sure. But maybe not as much.

BettyRu · March 2016

A basic packnplay is super useful... There is NO need for all the extra add ons. Oh and choose a solid sheet if you are using a pacifier, I couldn't differentiate the damn flower pattern from the paci at 2 am, 4am, 6am... Jk (not jk).

xc1148 · March 2016

slorbets said:

Are video monitors worth the extra expense, or is a traditional monitor sufficient?

Depends...how big is your house? Do you worry a lot? Also I've used mine when my daughter could sit up with toys but not move yet, I could go to the next room and still see her.

Something random to keep in mind....babies are freaking hilarious. We have some great memories watching my daughter do random yoga/crawling things while she was awake. That alone was worth the extra $40 for the video.

foxa319 · March 2016

Bottle warmers, bottle sterilizers both a waste of money and counter space ESP if you plan on breast feeding. We used the hot water from our keurig in a mug to heat bottles faster than a bottle warmer! And just bought the medela steamer microwave bags to sterilize. I've got a crap ton of binkies that were never used, mommaroo my son never liked being in, liked his swing much more. Barely used the basinett either- ds had reflux and we got a rock and play instead.

video monitor is great and we loved our 4 mom's infant tub!

whataboutscience · March 2016

We are happy with just an audio monitor, but I think that depends on your personality. I am not a worrier. I've done research before on the J&J stuff. From what I understand/remember, they have changed their formula because people were scared but the old stuff wasn't actually harmful either. I think online hoaxes and "natural" companies exaggerated what really happened there. Look at the source and the date of the info before you believe anything.

Nerdchild · March 2016

I had no idea that J&J would cause skin reactions in some babies, or that Aveeno was a J&J product (Aveeno products give me horrible skin rashes). I noticed today at Target that Cetaphil has a baby line. I use Cetaphil wash and lotion and I may just ask my doctor if he thinks my products are appropriate for baby as well.

WVUPetunia · March 2016

Also, read some products labeled "baby" or "infant" carefully. Baby Aquaphor and regular Aquaphor are the same... They just charge more for the "baby" version. Same thing when you read the dosage and ingredients of "infant" Tylenol and "children's"... They just charge more for infant for less product!

PhoebeJune1984 · March 2016

kellz14 said:

FTM question... The only reason DH and I were looking at a bottle warmer was that it claimed to heat up bottles quicker and more evenly. But I really hate having those extra single-purpose gadgets in the house taking up precious space. For those who didn't use one and heated your bottles, did you just immerse it in a pot of hot water or something else?

I just heated up a mug of water and dropped it in (if I needed to heat it), and then swirled it around so it would mix evenly. But DD only cared if it was room temp, so if it was a formula bottle, it was made with room temp water. If it was a breastmilk bottle, the bag of BM was taken out and set on the counter right after the previous feeding, was usually thawed and almost room temp by the next feeding.

hannahmp · March 2016

The thing that we found useless were those pre-shaped swaddlers. They didn't really fit right and we couldn't get him in them right. We received a Hudson 40"X 40" organic cotton receiving blanket(they are stretchy and soft) that ended up being our favorite random thing to swaddle him with. When it got spit up on it, we found ourselves scrambling to get it washed so we would have it for the night. I bought two of them this time. They are only $8.99 on Amazon.

The other item that is ALWAYS on people's "Don't waste your money" list is a diaper stacker. I am in the minority and disagree. It is handy to have it hanging on the wall right next to your changing place. Also, it helps decorate the room because I'm not all that creative. I also buy large boxes of diapers at Costco that aren't convenient to have lying around. I would keep the case in the closet, and refill the stacker as needed.

Agree with everyone else...Don't bother with the special baby detergent unless you have a bad skin reaction and need to switch. We have always washed all of our stuff together with no issues.

xc1148 · March 2016

WVUPetunia said:

Also, read products some products labeled "baby" or "infant" carefully. Baby Aquaphor and regular Aquaphor are the same... They just charge more for the "baby" version. Same thing when you read the dosage and ingredients of "infant" Tylenol and "children's"... They just charge more for infant for less product!

My husband was so proud when he discovered this! Except the children's tylenol has a different opening, so we are now using a two-step method to extract it lol. But worth the $10 savings!

givemepenguinss · March 2016

Infant shoes are useless. Cute, but useless.

whataboutscience · March 2016

@givemepenguinss I generally agree with that, but in the winter, DD had boots with Velcro around the ankle and socks never stayed on her, so it kept her feet warm.

megstervt · March 2016

Can I ask about crib mobiles? Generally I don't like the look of them, but if they're important for some reason I'll suck it up. Needed or just good for decor if you like them?

whataboutscience · March 2016

@megstervt Just kept my DD from falling asleep. We had it up for like 2 months because it was a gift from my mom. You are supposed to take it down when they sit up and grab so they don't pull it on themselves.

sboston06 · March 2016

@megstervt As a FTM, I have no idea if this is true or not but I heard they can contribute to flat spots because baby is always laying on their back staring at the mobile, rather than being able to move their head side to side. But then again, I have no idea how much newborns are able to move around anyways.

foxa319 · March 2016

@megstervt my son loved his mobile! I put him in his crib wound it up and that's how I got a shower in most days! It certainly didn't help put him to sleep just got him really excited!

oneliloaktree13 · March 2016

@megstervt I'm making my mobile but I'm not adding a music box to it.

PhoebeJune1984 · March 2016

We didn't have a mobile for DD. We had one of those fish aquariums that played bubbles and music softly, but she didn't have that until she was 18mo or so. This baby has a mobile, but it is for sentimental reasons (it was a music free one, with wire and seagulls that my husband's grandpa had in his sun room, and the only thing I kept when he passed). I am going to paint the seagulls since the paint is worn thin, and then it's going to hang above the changing table pad. But we won't have any type of mobile or the fish thing attached to the crib. We use an Angelcare monitor and you can't have stuff like that on our crib or it picks up the movement thinking it is the baby.

givemepenguinss · March 2016

whataboutscience said:

@givemepenguinss I generally agree with that, but in the winter, DD had boots with Velcro around the ankle and socks never stayed on her, so it kept her feet warm.

Ah! Yes. I wasn't thinking of warm stuff. We had a hand me down pair of Velcro slipper-type Uggs, and they were perfect for winter. I was thinking more about sandals, sneakers, shoes like that.

betheliz · March 2016

if i recall correctly, and I'm not sure that I do, but i think that DS liked his mobile. I just remember being frustrated because he slept in a pack and play (and a rock and play) for months and I couldn't really attach the mobile to those. The period he actually slept in the crib but didn't reach up and grab the mobile was depressingly short.

The mobile thing reminded me that crib skirts can be pretty useless too. When your baby can pull up on the crib rail, you have to move the crib bed down to its lowest setting. We bought a fancy-shmancy skirt sized for the crib at its highest setting, and only through sheer stubbornness and my husband's craftiness were we able to shorten it to fit the crib at the lowest level. That was a lot of money to spend on a pretty piece of fabric we might have only enjoyed looking at for a few months.

juliagulia38 · March 2016

Diaper pails are a huge waste. They don't keep the smell in and then once the pail is full, the bag is so freaking heavy. If you plan to pump and freeze or put milk in the fridge, a bottle warmer works perfectly.

Diaper stacker
velcro swaddle blanket things

also once your baby gets here, you'll know which products work for them. I use Burt bees soap, all free and clear detergent, and aveeno lotion. My kids have ezcema so I try to have 'natural' products.

givemepenguinss · March 2016

STM and I had to google "diaper stacker".

Image: https://media.giphy.com/media/3xn85GODUepwI/giphy.gif

Dubs1978 · March 2016

I second the mobile as the only was I could shower! She loved watching it but we never used it at night - it was way too much party time! Also second the pre-fitted swaddlers - as never worked for us. Love the Aden and Anis blankets. My daughter is almost 3 and we still use those for her. Video monitor is very useful now for the toddler stage - but did love being able to look at her when she was sleeping.

We do love our diaper genie. We originally had a different regular diaper pail and the smell was terrible. I said I would never buy a diaper genie - but now it is genie for life.

Never used a wipe warmer or bottle warmer. I didn't want my DD to be addicted to something we couldn't replicate outside of the house!

A must for us was the baby gym that lies on the floor. DD hated the swing but could stay on her mat forever. She hated to be taken away from it. We actually used the little rings and attached / swapped out toys to make it more interesting for her.

Second the only having one diaper bag - that is the only one that got used as the other was never fully stocked. Also - the diaper burp cloths, we had a happy spitter. I think we had 60 of those stupid diapers and used all of them in the course of several days.

Our packnplay was essentially a stuff collector and place to change the baby. Convenient to have all the baby stuff in one spot but really expensive stuff holder.

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