de-influencing baby gear

virginiaham · September 3

Just for fun, (FTMs weigh in too!) — what’s one thing you would de-influence from the baby gear lists out there and why? Do you have a favorite alternative or just skip altogether?

FTMs anything in particular are you curious about??

Not posting for debate as two people may have perfectly valid reasons/situations that lead them to opposite choices, but I know it was so helpful for me to hear personal perspectives/situations/priorities esp when I was a FTM sorting through the lists of “must-haves”!

thatbaintforbetty · September 3

Oooh travel systems as an absolute necessity.

I actually sold them for a while and they can be very very useful. But I didn’t have one for either of my girls. We had an infant carrier car seat and then bought a lightweight stroller at about 6 months to a year? And I had no complaints. I also think baby wearing is great and loved my sling and wrap. It’s super dependent on your situation. My kids were tiny and lasted in the infant car seat (without being super ridiculous to lug around) till a year easily. Thats not everyone’s reality though. I might get one this go around, mostly because I have a car seat I want/love and buying the system turns out to be the same price as what I did before. 🤷‍♀️ (the car seat is like a hundred bucks more expensive then it used to be😱)

I think I said this in the question thread, but bottle warmers. We never warmed a bottle (I might have raised breast milk to closer to room temp under warm running water once or twice but never had enough to freeze and barely even had any to put in the fridge for later). So that might be more a breastfed thing. For formula? Nope. Also wipes warmer, not needed. You will be on the go and without access at some point anyways.

I bought a “changing table” for the oldest but almost never used it, didn’t bother with the second kiddo. So many things I know of worked for other people that I never had/did/needed. Modulate according to your needs.

virginiaham · September 3

@thatbaintforbetty totally, my BFF taught me just to hold the wipes in my hands for a few seconds to take the chill out of them and we never did more than that.

Mine is the dedicated bedside bassinets/moses baskets, maybe not marketed as an absolute necessity but it’s funny how you start to feel like you need things when you see them over and over (just me?? 😆)…

Some of them are so pretty but babies outgrow them so quickly (and a Moses basket I bought for my son ended up molding in storage after all of 8 weeks of use we got out of it so we couldn’t even resell it). A travel pack n play with the infant insert worked great for the months we had our first and then our second in our room, and then after they moved to their cribs it just converted to a containment zone for my showers. It’s stored perfectly in their closet so it’ll be ready for this baby. Obv for co-sleeping disregard!

Side note a Slumberpod is a clutch add-on for traveling or needing to separate a sleeping space when space/options are limited.

Confession I am kiiinda contradicting myself and getting the bassinet to go on our stroller frame for this go around, since we pretty much have all of the other gear already 😝

On a serious note, I’d also add de-influencing any of the car-seat add-ons made by other companies that invariably pop up (piddle pads that go under baby, the cute car seat strap covers, infant inserts not by the manufacturer, etc.)—due to safety. Car Seats for the Littles has a good article on non-approved products for car seats with easy alternatives.

thatbaintforbetty · September 4

@virginiaham absolutely yes to the car seat add-ons! If it didn’t come with the seat..DO NOT ADD IT. It voids the warranty on the car seat, and you absolutely do not want that to happen. This applies to seat mats as well I believe. Same as with your car, if you add aftermarket parts you void the warranty.

Crazy take…I never really used a crib. We had one for DD1 and she probably only used it a handful of times. Didn’t bother with DD2. We currently do not have room for one and will have a bassinet type thing, haven’t decided exactly what yet. I’m hoping that when we move in March we will have a room for him or one for DD2 and him to share.

I did buy a snugglenest, it’s a portable baby sleep thing, kinda like a basket but it folds small and is great for travel. I definitely anticipate my parents watching him or us traveling, so the prime day sale price was worth it.

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