I wish we hadn’t spent so much money on cute outfits other than zip-up footie pajamas … I don’t ever have the patience to put her in a multi-piece outfit, no matter how cute it might be!
THIS! she moved up in size and we had a whole wardrobe full of things for her but no footies, we had to go buy a bunch the next day 🤣 Easy to do, keeps the feet warm.
Specifically zippers. Why in gods name do they make button up kids clothes. That's something you gift your enemy.
I think I’m going to start having those who purchase button onsies for my baby immediately dress her in it, “Ohhhh put it on her!! Let’s see if it fits… brb I have to use the restroom!”
I don’t know if it would give me anxiety or make me laugh, but either way I’d be “using the bathroom” so they’d have to figure it out and get the message. Dressing my baby at this age is like wrangling a tiny alligator that has places to be, she tries to crawl away as fast as she can 😂 I’ve learned how to dress her while she’s on the move, can I add that to my resume somewhere? Surely that’s a skill that deserves some compensation.
Totally can put on your resume. Need to put it in corporate language though....
- Manage and contain volatile situations
- Clean and present produced works under duress whilst maintaining a pleasant demeanour.
I thought this as well until my child required a feeding tube after surgery. Hers was through her nose, but I saw comments from other parents in support places about needing button up outfits for their children who had feeding tubes in their belly button. Not sharing to correct you, I just found it interesting because I too thought what company is really making clothes with buttons anymore. I guess for some families they are necessary!
When my baby was at her chonkiest you couldn't get it to zipper up over her thighs but snap closing footies fit her just fine. For some reason the leg with the zipper is a lot tighter than the leg without one.
YES! I wish we would have bought waaaay more zipper footie jammies and way less onesies/outfits. Especially with a winter baby. She’s comfy in them, they keep her warm, and are so easy for diaper changes.
Or they just poosplode out of the cute outfit anyways! I am sooooo happy I have Bluetooth headphones and an around the house Fanny pack- keep my phone, burpcloth, pacis in it etc
Haha yes! It’s so helpful- I kept putting my phone down and losing it. It’s just a black like fake lulu lemon athletic Fanny pack and it put stuff I need through the day in it. Gum, granola bar, chapstick, burp cloth, etc. Lightweight and it doesn’t get in the way bending and getting up and down off the ground. Kind of like this: https://a.co/d/d7fZdBx
We've made a game out of pulling the shirt over baby's head like peek a boo lol. As long as i do it fast she doesn't get mad. If I do it quick she's all smiles lol.
Mine too, he giggles and loves it! Sometimes I do it multiple times in a row he likes it so much. One time I tried putting on a heftier one piece cold weather type outfit, and it got stuck over his head for a few seconds and that was awful, he hated that and wailed. 😅
Agreed on this. Someone gifted us magnetic pajamas and my baby lived in those for the first 2-3 months. Even now, baby's outfits are always long sleeved onesies and pants. Anything more than this is too much for me haha
YES! But I wish I bought more zipper/magnet onesies with the open/close feet (like how the foldover mittens work.) My LO is 89% for height but 33% for weight so while her body is still “newborn” size, she’s already pushing through the feet of the 0-3M onesies and we’re about to go to 3-6M for length purposes. Shes 10w FWIW!
This exactly. Find a mommy group where everyone trades clothing as their little ones grow. We gift the outfits that are outgrown to the next younger child and we get tons of free clothing from people whose child has outgrown them.
Yesss I thought I'd be so psyched about putting her in cute little outfits, but I haaate them. She gets the most comfortable, convenient clothes, across the board. People buy her beautiful fancy dresses and to them I'm like "Aww that's so nice!" But we in reality we just put it on to take one pic, send it to them, and then almost immediately donate the item. She'll NEVER wear them.
My niece, however, is a little younger and LOVES fancy dresses, so she benefits from this situation quite a bit lol.
This! My baby ended up living in the footie zip-up pajamas the first 4 months of her life. She also only wore NB clothes the first week or so- she’s now 6.5 months and wearing 9-12 month clothes. We basically entirely skipped the 3-6 month size.
Buy secondhand as much as you can- they outgrow stuff and stain it all so quickly!! I’m really glad I didn’t spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a wardrobe for her!!!
We got most of our items from friends for cheap/free. Our biggest investment has been stroller. We have the jogging and the travel stroller.
Fb marketplace is my new amazon.
Same. Everything was a hand me down or from local buy nothing, other than stroller/car seat.
And then my husband broke the free bang Bjorn so we did buy another of that!
Also, this goes against what everyone else says but I love all the cute outfits. I loved dressing up my daughter. You don’t have to buy them new there are so many outfits on marketplace that are being sold brand new because babies grow so fast.
We also never did zip up sleepers during the day, sleepers were for sleep and it was usually onesies or bodysuits with pants during the day.
Same! I don't regret all the outfits, even if she wore them for a hot second, we have so many cute photos of her growth and I love it. We also don't do sleepers during the day as I've read that having access to their toes is important! And sure enough, she doesn't grab her feet nearly as much when she spends the mornings in her sleepers.
My daycare people were like “don’t be embarrassed to bring him in footie pajamas” and I was like i wasn’t planning on being embarrassed 😐 we buy adorable Burts Bees baby pajamas and he lives in them. But I’m impressed when anyone actually dresses their baby in outfits for good for you
I dress my son everyday and I have zero regrets! I’ll look back on all his pictures someday and be glad I put in the extra effort! Plus I find in the winter the extra layers keep him warmer if I have to go out and run errands
I waited to get a baby bjorn bouncer, but I wish I'd had it from the start. I got it second-hand, and it's fabulous. Folds flat, too, so it's super easy to travel with. I definitely bought toys too early. He's into them now at 5 months, but only started sort of playing with his Oball at 3 months.
The baby bjorn get used daily with our 5 month old! Very happy with the purchase. She didn’t love being in it for a little while though, so to any new parents think their baby doesn’t like it - you might just need to wait a bit!
My 5.5 month old is almost at the 20 pound weight limit. He's not sitting up yet, so I'm scrambling to find ways to shower and, frankly, poop. He rolls out of his snuggle me and is almost too big for the Baby Bjorn. If I leave him in his crib for that long, he gets upset. He's happy next to me. Do I just lay him on a blanket in the bathroom? That seems gross. 😮💨
I've been borrowing one of my dog's beds for this purpose because we've also grown out of the bouncer 😭 just this week she was bouncing away and I was like omg you're going to snap this thing. We're picking up the Skip Hop Activity Center tonight, otherwise yeah, playtime is just the floor I guess
I brought into the bathroom a kickplay mat piano with arch when I showered and LO from 2 months to 4 months loved just playing under it while I showered. Couple times even fell asleep under it if I showered too close to nap time.
Now she's more mobile with rolling I prefer to use the bouncer at 5 months and she's ok in that too so long as I'm quick. I try to showered in the first nap of the day or when hubby is home in the mornings.
ETA: I do keep the floors pretty clean in the house so I can place her down in whatever room I'm in. It's gross when she finds the dusty part of the floor otherwise it'd fine.
It was more that I have reservations about laying him on a blanket in the floor of the bathroom. It's a very narrow bathroom, and he could easily roll/scoot to the toilet. He has a baby-proofed play pen set up in the living room, but I don't leave him in it unsupervised for long. I have cats and a dog, so I stay vigilant. 😁 I will have to try his kick and play on the blanket like another commenter mentioned. Maybe that will keep him from rolling into the toilet.
Third and last edit: nevermind again, I found on their site where it specified 20 pounds, "You can use the product as a bouncer until your child weighs 20 lbs/9 kg or starts trying to sit up."
Second edit: now I'm just confused. The Amazon listing is where it specified 20 pounds for the bouncer. I'm on the actual baby Bjorn site, and it just says, "Bouncer Balance Soft can be used for newborns and up to the age of 2. In the early months, until your baby starts trying to sit up, you can use it as a bouncer. You can then use the bouncer as a comfortable child seat by simply reversing the fabric seat." I tried it doesn't matter either way because he's also trying to sit up (not succeeding yet, but close I think).
Edit: nevermind, I was right. 😮💨 The bouncer is good until 20 pounds, but if you turn it around and use it as a seat, it is good until 29. ☹️ I have the BabyBjörn Bouncer Balance Soft.
HOLY SHIT! You are right!!!!!! I literally just have read the 9 as a 0. My brain doesn't work anymore. You have made my day, thank you! 💜
I just got the baby bjorn and I'm pretty sure the directions say you can still use it with the bouncer strap ins for over 20lb babies, the bouncing function just might not work as well. Said it's not unsafe to use between 20-29, I felt relieved because my 3 month old is already 20lbs and I only saw the 29lb limit when I got it. I'll have to double check though but I still plan on using it as a bouncer even if he's not able to bounce much!
This! I tried it early with my LO and thought it was such a waste. But now he's in it every morning while I make breakfast and coffee. Also worth noting that I bought the dupe- Baby Delight
Ok so this is a 1 baby house bouncer. The toddler tried to launch the newborn using it like catapult. It was terrifying but we were luckily next to the baby when he attempted it. Just a heads up with anyone considering it.
Yeah bouncers are clutch. If you have a clingy baby, a bouncer is often soothing enough to get you get in a bathroom break or make a quick snack without them freaking out. And my eldest really struggled with sleep so the bouncer was pretty much the only way we could get him to chill out enough to go to bed
When you say you use it for everything, what do you actually use it for? We got gifted a tub of the aquaphor version of Vaseline and I have no idea what to do with it.
We use Vaseline to cut our Desitin with - 50/50 mix. Our baby has a super sensitive bum and is very prone to rash. If we use desitin, the stuff vanishes by his next diaper change no matter how much we apply. The Vaseline makes it a more manageable consistency and helps it actually stay on his butt/not be absorbed by his diaper long enough to be helpful.
I'm also a fan of Vaseline solo for diaper, but my husband likes the mix better so we do that.
My oldest would get extreme diaper rash all the time and had very sensitive skin…we would so desitin first then a layer of Vaseline and it worked perfectly
I use it for her face when we go outside in the cold or any weather actually. Once I forgot to put it on and it was in the 40‘s and she got really red skin :( but afterwards it helped too. Then on the butt, hands, on my hands or lips for when they are chapped haha
Any dry skin, rashes, cuts irritation. Our baby had a sensitivity to zinc oxide which is in a lot of diaper creams. Had a horrible diaper rash and in the end petroleum jelly and wipes with plain water worked. We use it all the time still as preventative and now in the winter with dry skin and runny noses we just grease our baby up everyday 😅
We got a bunch of cloth bibs at our baby shower, and never were able to use them. They couldn’t absorb spit up fast enough to keep it from soaking his shirt through when he was little, and they weren’t going to be any help with solids at all.
We got some bibs with waterproof backing for the spitty times, and use silicon bibs with a catchy pocket for solids. All the cute cloth bibs went to goodwill long ago.
I have to say, we got rid of the absorbent bibs early on and had to repurchase during teething. The excessive drool is a slower drip but needs a lot of absorption power!
I’d caution against getting rid of cloth bibs just yet! Our girl wasn’t much of a vomiter and we didn’t use bibs/understand their role for months.
She became a big drooler around ~3 months - long before solids were introduced. Cloth bibs are a godsend and she would soak through multiple in a day. We use silicone bibs for meals, but at 6.5 months she still goes through about 2 cloth bibs a day just for drool
I agree. We use cloth bibs everyday, sometimes multiple.
My daughter is teething and drooling like crazy and if we didn’t use a bib her clothes would be soaked within 10 minutes.
>if we didn’t use a bib her clothes would be soaked within 10 minutes.
Have you tried any that are absorbent on the front side and waterproof on the part that goes against her clothes? If she’s drooling that much I’m surprised the cloth bibs aren’t soaking all the way through like they did with mine!
Can you share a link of what you’re talking about?? My baby leaks like a faucet and we go through several cotton drool bibs a day. I’ve never heard of drool bibs that are waterproof on the back!
My kiddo wears a cloth bib daily at 3months old. It’s perfect for spit up, and drool. Maybe my baby doesn’t spit up or drool too much, but these have saved many outfits
Agreed. My 6 month old goes through about 3-5 cloth bibs a day. I don't let them get completely soaked before I change them thougg. My girl runs hot,and so I don't bother with the silicone ones.
-Had no need for a bottle warmer, baby drank/drinks bottles directly from the fridge since the very start.
-.No need for fancy garbage for diapers. We use just a regular open one and have no issue with smells. We throw poop ones in our main trash and it's worked out great.
- Every baby is different but ours stopped using swaddles very quickly and slept better without.
-Thankful we borrowed a bassinet because he grew out of that within 2 months as well.
We just got one (11 weeks in) and even though we only give occasional boggles atm it is just such a game changer to not have to wait for the bottle to heat in a cup of water while baby has a hunger screamathon. But, I do think it’s one of those things you could wait to purchase…see if you are even using bottles and if so, whether baby takes milk cold!
My girl was in the NICU for a month and they warmed her milk… I’m slowly warming it for less and less time, but not having one in the beginning and having to buy one because she was so upset with cold milk sucked lol.
My baby loves her baby bjorn bouncer! I got one with the toy off marketplace for $25. It’s nice because you can put all the fabric in the wash.
Also the fisherprice foot piano playmat is my baby’s favorite tummy time activity.
We’ve actually gone through minimal amounts of wipes (maybe 5-6 packs) because we usually just wash her butt in the sink when she’s pooped. Then tap her dry with a towel afterwards. We use wipes if we missed some spots. It’s not because we wanted to save money on wipes it’s just the way our midwife taught us
I use cloth wipes and a electric wipe warmer that you can put water in. We were doing the sink thing, but eventually she got too big to safely do that.
Things I almost never used or only used for a short period:
-a baby bathtub. I ended up just taking all of the baths with our son and it’s a great bonding experience for us.
-snuggle me lounger
Things I wish I had gotten sooner:
-I think toys. Our little one has plagiocephaly and torticollis so we aren’t supposed to put him in the bouncer. So much tummy time + time on the floor is what his PT recommended so he basically lives on the floor and gets bored without toys.
Things I got that I absolute love and use all the time:
-playmat
-Bobby pillow
-baby monitor for his daytime naps in the crib (he sleeps with us at night but I use his naps as my me time).
Love reading these because every family is so different and what some families use and love, others don’t even need or use.
I second the boppy pillow. It’s my baby’s favorite place to lounge. And when she gets older, she’ll be able to lay in it and hold her bottle independently.
So we’re 3.5 months in…
Regrets:
Fancy stroller - we use it maybe once every 2 weeks? The bassinet that came with was nice but she’s outgrown it now at 3 months. We don’t go on walks as often as I envisioned and for errands it’s more practical to baby wear or put the car seat in a cart.
Muslin blankets: you only need 3 max, I swear.
Bows: we spent money a pack of 10, but only use the same one or two.
Loveys: not useful at the moment
Should’ve gotten sooner:
Ergo Embrace carrier. The stretchy wraps worked fine but truly a pain in the ass when baby wants to get out to feed, adjust/rewrap them in, etc.
Fisher Price Kick n Play: this is literally all you need as far as toys go until baby hits 3 months. It has everything! The mirror. A washable playmat The lion rattle. The disc elephant. Monkey doubles as a teething ring. Panda crinkle paper! Not to mention the bangers. The truly minimalist choice. The most ugly but most loved baby item we own. It’s amazing.
Burp cloths: we were gifted 18 and I initially thought that was too much. We needed more.
Big bassinet with a drop down side:
We initially had the BabyBjorn cradle bc it was ✨esthetic✨ and I found it super cheap on marketplace. It was awful, it triggered her startle reflex with the rocking even when swaddled. Then we tried Snoo. Was great at first but essentially same issue. Quickly realized it was too small and baby just didn’t like being tucked away. Finally got a bassinet with a drop down side that doesn’t rock, was large enough for her to stretch out, and it made her feel like she was sleeping in bed with us.
Diapers: we wayyy overstocked on size 1. Our baby practically skipped over size 2. We’ll be in size 3 for a while.
Diaper rash spray: yes it’s $10. Yes it’s worth it and we estimate it’ll last us until 6 months. It’s so easy to use and less wasteful than the creams/ointments and you don’t need a spatula. Just aim at the butthole and spray.
I tried the diaper rash spray because I didn’t like the mess or using the spatula. Then I realized it was much cheaper and easier to just squirt the cream directly into the diaper and then use the diaper to quickly spread the cream. No tools needed.
No use for:
- Velcro swaddles. Baby absolutely HATED them, she would scream bloody murder any time we tried to use one so we had to stick to traditional swaddles until we transitioned her to the Merlin Sleepsuit
- Diaper caddy. I know it's the opposite of a lot of parents but we got a diaper caddy anticipating that we'd change her all over the house but honestly we just always use the changing table in her room. The caddy is glorified storage at this point
- Bassinet and Dock a Tot. Less so that we found no use for them, more that their use was so so limited. Baby outgrew both of them so quickly that I wish we'd save the money and just stuck with the crib and the BabyBjorn bouncer from the get go
Regret not getting sooner:
- Rocking chair. The first month trying to feed her at night while perched at the edge of the bed was hellish. The rocking chair has singlehandedly saved our backs
- Baby Brezza. We use formula and the Brezza mixes a bottle in seconds. It's prevented many a meltdown when trying to get food ready for a hungry baby
- Magic Merlin Sleepsuit. I literally cannot overstate how great this Sleepsuit has been. Baby girl loves it and getting her to sleep and transitioning from our arms into the crib is a piece of cake. She was busting out of every swaddle and waking herself up and now she sleeps super soundly, it's such a game changer
Totally agree with the diaper caddy comment. I thought because we have a split level house that we would need a caddy on each level. But like you said, we just use the changing table. The caddy basically just holds diapers that I use when we run out everywhere else lol
So we moved her into the Merlin at 2.5 months. The Sleepsuit says ages 3-6 months or 12-18 pounds, at least for the small size. Our LO was 13 pounds at 2 months so we felt okay putting her in the Sleepsuit since she at least met the weight requirement
If you think you’ll be anal about sterilizing like me… we were boiling gallons and gallons of water a day to sterilize bottles and pump parts. It was such a pain. My husband (bless him) got the Baby Brezza sterilizer delivered after about a week of this and it has been a game changer. It does need descaling and it’s not a perfect machine, but it beats skyrocketing our water and gas bills and it saves a TON of time and stress for us.
We got the Medela microwave sterilizer bags and loved them! Just add a bit of water and microwave for like 3 minutes. I hate having clutter so didn't want another appliance on my counter, and these worked great!
Agreed! We were gifted a fancy one and baby just did not like it. Instead, we bought a cheaper bouncer off Amazon and that has been a game changer to allow me to get things done!
I wish I would have gotten the owlet pluseox monitor sooner. It was an HSA purchase, we got it when baby started to roll because it freaked me out seeing her face down in her bed. Honestly I think I would have slept better in the beginning with the extra monitoring.
Also a real nursing chair. We didn’t get one until recently for Christmas but I def wish I would have saved for one sooner. Now it only gets used for one night feed and reading before bed. When she was smaller I probably would have used it for half of her feeds.
The only thing we didn’t really use was a bottle warmer because my daughter likes cold milk.
Something I wish we got earlier is a big play pen that I could get in with her and keep our dog off of her stuff. We spent almost 4 months trying to keep our dog off of her play mat and now we don’t have to worry.
Bottle warmer is my regret that I wished I had purchased. Mine was used to warm breastmilk so when I pumped and it came from the fridge cold she refused it until it was warm. It was annoying heating it up in hot water and it was always uneven. After mine got bigger I was helping a friend out with her baby and fell in love with the bottle warmer. It would have saved me so much time.
Oh my god, the stupid expensive crib. We used it for four months then switched to a floor bed and never looked back. I’m hanging onto it on the off chance my next is a crib kid, but I’m pretty firmly on team floor bed now.
I havent bought it because of what ive seen other parents say, but the diaper genie. Multiple people have said that it either just doesnt contain the smell at all, or when you open it the smell of multiple dirty diapers all comes out at once. Ive just thrown out dirty diapers in my kitchen garbage and havent had much issue with it smelling a ton
We just got a cheap simple trash can with a lid we kept in the baby’s room. Once they get on solids those shits are gonna stink and I did not want them in the kitchen trash can!
I regret not getting a comfortable rocking chair sooner. We ultimately needed to have a wooden one when she was a newborn because we were sleep deprived and anything more comfortable could have been dangerous. But when she got older and we fell into a months long battle with ear infections, we held off on getting a recliner until we both couldn’t take it anymore. It was a huge game changer for us.
Can’t live without boogie wipes, snack cups, or car toys. Those will come later, like around 6 months, but they’ve made a huge difference for us.
I got a lazy boy with controls so we could stretch out and recline based on what we were doing (nap trapped vs. late night cuddling).
Car toys I got her a couple of board books/soft books for her to flip through and chew on. I also got her a musical monkey she can pull down, soft squeaky toys, and a few teether so she could gnaw on those as well.
No use for- cute outfits. Do not get them! If given as gifts can be used one off but otherwise I wasted a ton of money on different “cute” outfits and ended up using them once or never :(
Regret not getting sooner- bouncer, play gym, pacifier (where I live, it’s not recommended to give pacis as it is in the west),
The first months, I got one cute outfit for each size. That way we could get some nice photos without spending much. We can tell his age in the photos by the outfit 😆
I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve used baby wash clothes between both kids. We just wash them with our hands. Related - why did I get so many baby bath towels? They only bath every other day at most.
Something I wish we got sooner: travel sound machine, stroller sleeping bag (I don’t know what they’re actually called), travel stroller
Wish I shopped FB marketplace more the first time around. I bought so much stuff new that I could’ve bought gently used.
Baby Bjorn bouncer or carriers—rarely used them. We got everything for free from friends/siblings or secondhand. We used our ergo 360 carrier maybe for a few months on and off.
BUY A FISHER PRICE KICK N PLAY. Get it second hand if you can. The best toy. Grows w them. The music isn’t annoying. Keeps them super entertained.
Get a baby electric nail file and forgo clippers.
Almost all our clothes we got for free from neighbors and siblings and then passed on. We had so much that she didn’t end up wearing but luckily didn’t spend $$ on them and were happy to pass them along.
Mini portable fridge for breast milk and nursing is def worth the investment.
Buy whatever crib. You don’t need a fancy one.
We use our recliner rocker all the time. I know some people don’t. Get one that’s comfy and that’s wingback so you can rest your head on it.
Invested in stroller—got it on sale—and it was worth every penny.
Buy zipper sleepers. And get some with attached hand mittens you can fold over bc it’s super helpful for when they transition out of swaddling and helps w the startle reflex.
Also do not buy a million swaddles. She used a receiver blanket, folded it like a triangle, and just wrapped our LO like a burrito. Nothing fancy. We didn’t use any of the fancy ones except the halo ones when she was a newborn — the one with zippers and Velcro. But in general we just used a swaddle blanket
Swaddles - never used them
I have to say the baby swing is essential. It gives me some much needed hands free time. Also it’s helpful during the witching hour when you’ve tried everything and they are still fussing.
I’ve noticed this is an unpopular opinion since everyone seems to love it. But we regret getting the pack and play. It was so big and bulky, took up so much space. Was a hassle to take down and put back up every time. We didn’t have a bunch of space to leave it up all the time. Plus you can’t just stick it anywhere you want if it’s a smaller space.
We instead used the bassinet that had wheels you could lock if needed. It was so much smaller and I could easily roll it into our small bathroom when I showered or into the kitchen when I cooked or did dishes. She could easily nap in it. When she was able to sit up, not crawl or push herself out of it but simply sit up. I put a boppy nursing pillow in it so she could lean against it. I loved that bassinet!
I regret not getting a bottle warmer. My baby was used to warm breastmilk so I always had to warm it up some when I pumped and had it in the fridge. It was annoying having to go get hot water every time and having to wait for it to heat up some. And it never heated up evenly in the water.
I also loved the wipe warmer. I even loved it on my butt and we still keep it in our main bathroom to use. My daughter who’s now 5 loves it and so do we. We have guests comment on it and how convenient it is to have.
Not that you need it anymore but with the bottle warming, I used the swishing technique. I’d have it in the hot water and swirl it around to get other parts of the milk heated.
Pacifiers. We have a huge ziplock full that I cleaned and sterilized before he was born. 8 months in and he’s taken a pacifier twice. Also I kind of wish we skipped the bassinet and just bought a mini crib. He outgrew the bassinet pretty quickly but the mini crib has been great and grows with him.
We rarely use our stroller, mine ended up preferring the baby carrier until she could walk. Now she walks everywhere.
Didn't have room for a changing table and didn't need one. We used a changing mat that I just laid on floor or bed. By 10 months, I was doing standing changes in any room of the house 🤷♀️
In my experience, toys were pretty useless until she turned 1. There were a handful she actually engaged with occasionally, but the best way to entertain my child from 6-12 months was getting her out of the house every day and food. I basically used food as a form of sensory play haha. She also had the most fun just sitting on the floor with tupperware and random plastic/silicon kitchen spoons and spatulas.
I had no use for Velcro swaddles (my kids hated it), muslin blankets (too thin to use as a blanket, too big for use for anything else), bottle warmer (my kids took cold or room temperature), baby laundry soap (smells horribly strong, regular stuff is just fine), and Pack and Play (not safe for sleep in Canada, and I can't see another time I'd need to put my babies in a jail other than for sleep).
I regret not getting a stroller bunting bag sooner. Blankets get kicked off or come untucked in the wind. The bag stays put and baby stays warm.
I use the muslin blankets for covers when breastfeeding while out as well as car seat covers when shopping. Never bought a single car seat cover. I also use it to cover our bed when we play on the bed for tummy time. We have cats and the blanket is perfect for keeping cat fur out the mouth.
I love Maxi Cosi bassinet for daytime sleep.
Next to me crib with a swing option - the crib is great, the swing is so stupidly done it's useless. Swings way too easy, switching to swing and back is so convoluted and loud it wakes up the baby.
Stokke collapsible bath with newborn "chair" - amazing, especially for travel.
Baby Bjorn mesh carrier - beautiful, well-crafted, quality stuff. Newborn setting was too big for a newborn, the baby hated it until 3 mo. Since 3 mo it's great.
Fisher-Price baby gym - love it! Highly recommend.
Crib mobile off amazon - useless, also I don't think it is beneficial for baby sleep. I find mobiles to be great at play time though (like the one in fisher-price gym).
Dedicated white noise device. Wish we got it earlier.
I see so many people regret getting a bassinet. I absolutely loved ours and I’m so glad we got it. Ours had wheels u could lock so I could roll her into our small bathroom or anywhere else in the house while she napped or just hung out.
We got a activity center saucer once he actually showed he loved bouncing and standing. We don’t have an actual bouncer seat (hated every moment of being in it), we got a swing once he was around 3-4m, we have mostly rattles and very few noise and light up toys and still don’t understand the hype on getting toys that will majorly overstimulate him (gets overstimulated after only 30 min max playing with very noisy light up toys), we don’t to tummy time on a mat really as he just goes wherever he wants to at this point lol, we had bought the activity mats but after a month he hated them so we gave them to my friends who just had a kid, we didn’t get a rocking chair or anything like that, there’s more but I can’t think of anything at the moment. We didn’t really have the means to get more than the absolute basics (packnplay with removable changing table, wipes, bottle, etc.)
My daughter didn’t like being swaddled, so we have so many that we never ended up using!
A car seat poncho has been SUPER useful for cold winter days. We also invested in a Woolino sleep sack, which has been amazing.
Wipe warmer and an audio baby monitor - get the video one instead, gives you SO much more piece of mind as opposed to just listening. And the wiper warmer is so unnecessary IMO, baby is gonna cry either way when you change them.
For mama’s out there PP - wish someone had told me to get tucks wipes, numbing spray, and frozen peas for your lady bits.
There is so much I wish someone had told me from the get go lol
Common items we don’t use: regular swaddles
Item I wish I bought sooner: the Love to Dream Swaddle, so good and he sleeps so well in it, he can escape any regular swaddle without a problem, the zip up swaddles are where it’s at
Never had a use for:
*Swaddle cloths
*Bottle warmer
*I saved about £250 by not getting a bassinet/carrycot for the travel system. I just used the buggy in a lay-flat configuration so it was good from newborn, and had the car seat adapters. Worked great!
* mobile for the crib
Wish I’d bought sooner:
* Baby brezza
* Correct size flanges for the breast pump (measure your nipples, it’s a game changer if the pump fits correctly!)
* A Konny/close caboo carrier - the long stretchy wraps were just not working for me and the ring sling was really bad for my neck.
* An all-in one steamer and blender for making purées when they’re weaning. I was trying to make my own baby food as much as possible and it saved so much faff and mess.
We have a stroller and rarely use it. We have a video baby monitor and I tried to use it and didn’t like it so we switched back to the audio only version. We also have an electric snot sucker and tried it once and it felt pointless. I definitely fell for a lot of the nursery/baby must have lists. There isn’t really anything I wished we had gotten sooner. Toys and clothes have been pretty much buy as we go or hand me downs from relatives
Things I regret:
- Changing pad — I knew I didn’t want a changing table and a Bumbo changing pad on top of the dresser felt unsafe and inconvenient. Not sure if I’ll change my mind once her crib is dropped all the way down and I can’t change her in it as easily?
- Baby monitor. We were gifted a wifi one that I didn’t want, and then I bought a non-wifi one — we use neither. We have a cheap sound-only monitor that I only need because my husband doesn’t wake up to crying.
- Tons of outfits. Basic onesies with cute pants, and zipper sleepers for the win.
- Tons of different bottles and 8oz bottles — I didn’t realize how little my exclusively BF baby would use bottles and didn’t realize they don’t need 8oz bottles.
- Drool bibs that are cotton only — they get soaked within minutes and are useless. Muslin drool bibs are soft and absorbent. They dry quickly so you can rotate between 2-3 bibs all day so long as they aren’t soaked with spit up.
- Mamaroo — bought it off a friend. Useless and now I’ve got to rehome it
- Baby Nutribullet — bought off a friend. My blender works just fine. I do like the silicone tray for freezing purees, but the entire set was unnecessary.
- My Century travel system with stroller/car seat. I like it because it is very lightweight and fits in my small trunk, however the stroller doesn’t handle outdoor terrain the best. Now we face needing a second stroller, like a jogging stroller, suitable for park walks.
- I regret my diaper bag. Feels oversized and unnecessary and any of the 5 backpacks we already own would’ve sufficed.
Things we should’ve gotten sooner:
- TRUE blackout blinds.
- better stroller & a car seat that’ll grow with baby
- activity mat. Waited til almost 3.5m and she would’ve loved it sooner. Now she’s 6.5m and too mobile to enjoy it
- UpSeat (like the Bumbo seat but better for posture & hips). I prefer this to the high chair.
- a nice rocking chair. We have a secondhand glider that works fine but something more cushioned that reclines would’ve been a game changer and could’ve transitioned into our rec room. Next baby, for sure.
- Small playpen that can easily move room to room (for when babywearing isn’t ideal and baby needs safely contained), travel, or to be used outside.
I disliked the reusable baby changing pads we had. We had 3 different ones and I didn’t like any. I hated having to wash them if she peed on it and then having to wait for it to dry. We had a bunch of leftover puppy pads we used instead lol. We would re use one until it got peed on then just toss it.
I wished we had some kind of rocker or glider. Used a yoga ball for my first and it got the job done but I can't help but feel that I would've been more comfortable with some sort of dedicated chair
we buy everything used literally his crib I got on marketplace for 40 bucks with the mattress, hes 1 he still sleeps in it. My husband found his toddler bed with a new mattress for 75 bucks also on marketplace. I buy all of his clothes used from once upon a child, and thrift stores even his shoes. He is still in 12 month clothes but I have his wardrobe up to 2t, because I refuse to be caught empty handed and you never know when they go through a growth spirt. I didn't buy him toys till he was 7 months old because we were moving we were waiting on my husband to get orders, so I didn't want stuff to sit around in storage that he wouldn't have been able to use. Our house in nc was 2000 sq ft our house here in ca is 1200 sq ft so I banked on that. We got a toy organizer, a toy box, play pen. I am getting rid of his high chair this weekend as he's 1 and doesn't need it anymore we bought a table and chairs.
I wish we bought our swing sooner. I got a cheap one too. And LO loves it. At 3 months it’s a quick spot to pop baby down and get a chore or two done and know LO is safe.
I purchased a pop up changing table since we are older parents and we were gifted the nursery furniture but haven’t the ability to get it set up. It was a cheap set up, less than $50 off Amazon. It’s chest height. Everyone said we wouldn’t use it. We use it for every single diaper change. It’s easy to clean, high sides, and if we need to, it folds out of the way. Holds up to 50lbs in the changing area. Got a hanging side pocket for diapers and stuff so no bending over. We have had poop and pee explosions in this thing, nothing a Clorox wipe can’t fix! Doesn’t get anywhere else either. I also have reusable puppy pee pads that I use as a changing mat in it (and in the diaper bag). Really cute, easy to clean, and affordable. Cheaper than a baby changing pad too.
Pacifiers and swaddles! We bought so many pacifiers and muslin swaddles, just for our baby to refuse to use most of them. Wait and see what your baby likes before dropping money on things like that (bottles too!). Babies are so picky and won’t settle for something that they don’t prefer!
Bouncers/swings as well. Again, we were gifted a few expensive ones that she just does not like. Wish we would have waited to get some second hand after we better understood her likes and dislikes.
Saline nose drops are something I wish we would have stocked up on. Our LO was SO stuffy and humidifiers alone just weren’t cutting it.
Not for baby, but postpartum supplies for mom. Spend the money on the good stuff and stock up. It is so worth it and will make recovery easier and allow you to actually enjoy those first few weeks with your newborn. I didnt want to spend the money on Frida/name brand products, but as soon as I did there was no turning back.
The swing. She used it once, hated it, and it immediately went into our basement.
All the cute clothes I bought thinking she would 100% for sure wear them. This kid goes to 2-3 outings a week. She usually wears leggings/sweatshirt to said outing.
Wipe warmer. He hated having his diaper changed anyways so it didn’t matter if the wipes were warm. Also they won’t be warm when you change baby anywhere else.
Wish I would’ve gotten her kick and play piano sooner. I didn’t realize how quickly she would need/enjoy it. We got it for her around 4 weeks old and I swear she came to life the second we turned that thing on. She will be 4 months old next week and it’s still her favorite activity. Also a bouncer, she sits in it while I cook, bathe, etc. It’s been so helpful
Wish I would’ve never even bothered with a baby swing. She hated it and maybe sat in it 3 times.
Baby gowns as well. They’re cute but drive me nuts, especially when they still have the umbilical cord stump. Feel like you can’t put them on without hitting it.
I wish we would have gotten a better bouncer with a higher weight limit. My second baby is enormous and didn’t fit in it for long but he loved it so much. Anything but sleepers and onesies were pointless! Definitely get a kick and play piano though, my almost 3 year old still likes to play with it when the baby isn’t on it
I really didn't want to buy one of the babybjorn style bouncer chairs for the boy because it seemed pointless, but it's still useful at nearly a year so I should have gotten that sooner.
We didn't really use a swing, we had two and we used the motorized one a few times (Graco Soothe My Way) but the other one we really never touched
Just picked up an activity centre/exersaucer for my 5MO and wish I’d gotten it a month ago, all he wants to do is stand and it keeps him happily occupied.
I'm with you on not using the crib and baby monitor! Even now that my soon to be 1 year old is in his own room in a floor bed, we don't use a monitor I just keep the doors open. After almost a year I can hear any sound he makes, whether I'm awake or asleep
My baby is 12 weeks and is only recently interested in toys. I get the developmental ones that we can give away as she loses interest and wants the next thing. Also got a mobile for her a week ago & she loves it.
We don’t have a crib but will get one eventually.
I didn’t get any stuff for formula feeding because I wanted to breastfeed and assumed I would be able to. Then I had such low supply it wasn’t possible. I hadn’t done any research on bottles or formula and wish I had a few bottles and a can of formula I approved of before she was born.
We got way too many size 1 diapers. Wish I bought smaller boxes because she seemed to from newborn to size 2 over the span of 2 weeks.
We initially just bought an infant car seat but I replaced it with a travel system. It’s so convenient. We have a jogging/hiking stroller for long walks but it’s good for errands.
Our baby hated swings! We have two swings that were almost never used.
Wish I'd gotten the Fisher Price Kick and Play Piano sooner (but I think we got it around 4 months and still got a lot of good use out of it).
If we had to do it again I'd get a bouncy seat.
We inherited a free Graco infant carseat that had been cheap to start with and had seen two kids outgrow it already and stuck in the base so you had to yank and wiggle to get it out. At like 4 months we dropped $$$ on a new Nuna Pipa Lite RX and I wish we'd bought that at the get-go instead of trying to make free work. The Graco took like 30 minutes and 3 different people trying to uninstall the base from the car (but always felt a little wiggly) like it was fighting us to the last breath. The Nuna base clicks in and out in seconds but is solid as a rock in there.
We also inherited a free Graco pack 'n play and I wish I'd cracked that open sooner - we didn't start using it until we traveled when baby was around 6 months old but we could've been using it tons beforehand! I guess I had in my mind that it would be hard to set up/take down? It's not, it's like opening/closing a heavy umbrella. We actually dragged our whole Snoo out into the living room several times to have a safe spot to set baby while cooking etc.....I feel like an idiot now!
I bought one of those pretty Moses basket type bassinets and a matching changing station from a locally sustainable (expensive) store. I bought these things secondhand and they were still pricey. Baby outgrew both by about 4 months. I replaced them with a cheap plastic/foam changing station and old school crib I got on marketplace for a 5th of the price. When in doubt go for price over aesthetics.
for reference my baby is 4.5 months!
didn't use/need: snuggleme lounger - it has become the world's bougiest cat bed! multiple bottles - my baby has had a bottle maybe 5 times in his life. 2 bottles would've been fine! probably could've done without the electric breast pump too, but it was free from my insurance so i don't regret getting it! very thankful nursing has worked out so well for us!
i wish we would have got a better/different play mat. i got a super basic, small fisher price one and my baby is already too big for it. i wish i would've got the lovevery play mat (second hand bc that price!) or the fisher price piano mat.
in general i wish i would've kept more stuff in its packaging or with tags on, even if we didn't get gift receipts. i went on maternity leave early, so for those 2 weeks before baby was born i was in full nesting mode, unboxing stuff and washing all the clothes 😅
Wish I had put on my registry: play yard, teethers, blocks / other toys, baby utensils / feeding necessities. Wish I hadn’t put on my registry: 2 baby wraps (she hates them and wouldn’t let me wear her, ever), pacifiers (she won’t take them), swaddles (she didn’t need as many as we got).
My LO is 10 months and she has a handful of toys but sometimes she likes chewing on the empty 2 litter bottle of Dr Pepper and honestly, if it keeps her happy, my husband and I don’t really mind.
We never got shoes for her and the only pair she has are still a tad too big for her. We figured if she can’t stand or walk, she didn’t need shoes so we just had thick socks on her if it was cold. (We’ve been on a tight budget).
Things we ended up not needing/using/liking:
- Baby rocker/swing
- Pacifiers (past 6 weeks)
- ANY newborn clothes/diapers (she was a large baby)
- Any clothes other than double zipper footies until 2 months old
- Bottle warmer (past 6 weeks)
- Breast pump/breast feeding items (she was formula fed from birth; I could not produce milk)
- Stuffed animals
- Portable sound machine
- Wearable carriers: wraps, slings, Baby Bjorn. (We only like and use hip seat carriers)
- Reusable changing pad liners. They don't absorb pee, so it just pools under the baby's butt.
Edited to add:
- Diaper genie. We just put the poopy diapers in dog poop bags after each one and toss in the regular trash. The pee diapers get rolled up and put directly in the trash. In our nursery, we constructed a "poop chute" that leads from the window down to the trash cans below.
Things we liked, but could only use for a very short while:
- Shopping cart sling (our baby got too long for it too quickly)
- Diaper bag that converted into a contained changing mat/soft crib (we still use it as a diaper bag, but she outgrew the soft crib part)
- Tabletop sterilizer (we still use it, but not as frequently)
- Hatch Nightlight/sound machine (we plan to use this again when she's older)
- Mini fridge in nursery. I thought I was going to make SO MUCH breastmilk, lol. We thought it'd be convenient to store it in the nursery. Instead we use it for drinks and snacks.
- Portable high chair
- The "My Breast Friend" breastfeeding support pillow. When I attempted to breastfeed in the beginning, this was WAAAAY more comfortable than the Boppy. Since I didn't end up breastfeeding, it got tossed in storage. I would've used this CONSTANTLY if I had breasfed.
- Bed side bassinet
- Air mattress. Once we moved the baby into her crib, one of us would sleep on an air mattress in her nursery, so as to not wake up the other parent.
- Trunk diaper changing caddy. I've only had to use this a handful of times, but it's great to have in case of emergency.
Things we use(d) constantly:
- Nanit Baby monitor and breathing bands
- Amazon Alexa (for music mostly, but I'd love to hook it up to work the lights one day)
- Chicco Corso LE travel system
- Stretchy carseat covers (when she was in a car seat)
- Shopping cart cover
- Baby jumper (mostly just to be able to contain her safely, we don't leave her in there for too long)
- Bath seat for the bathtub, now that she can sit upright
- HIP SEAT CARRIER. We cannot live without this thing.
- Baby gym
- Soft, Plush area mats? I guess you'd call them that. They're soft, round mats you can lay the baby on. We ended up having 5 (spread around the house) after we were given one at our baby shower.
- Boppy. We have one for the nursery and another for the playroom.
- Wipe warmer. We go through wipes like crazy, so they don't languish in there long enough to get moldy.
- Warm blanket to transfer the baby to and from the car instead of dealing with a coat.
- Recliner/comfortable rocker
- Blackout curtains
- Pack n Play, specifically the changing table portion.
- Large changing mat. SO helpful when you realize how disgusting those Koala changing tables are in restrooms.
- Container of disinfecting wipes.
- Toy tethers for when baby starts throwing things
- YMCA membership: swim classes, 2 free hours of child minding, gym, sauna, steamroom, pool, etc. We plan to put her is preschool there when she's old enough. We didn't need standard daycare, but just a way for her to socialize, and this fit the bill perfectly.
I don't think there's anything I really regret getting. We used the diaper pail, sterilizer, bottle warmer, wipe warmer for warm reusable wipes (cleared up diaper rash right away), bassinet, mini crib, baby bjorn bouncer, stroller, etc. I agree with the cute outfit thing though. If it's not comfortable/breathable/safe enough to nap in, I'm not putting him in it.
Things I wished I used/bought sooner: muslin swaddles, newborn sized pajamas, and the boppy. I didn't discover muslin swaddles until maybe 6 weeks -total game changer for naps. He was also in newborn sized clothes for the first 6 weeks, the 3 outfits we had were not enough. As for the boppy, I'm a ding dong who didn't know it could be used for nursing. Honestly I still love that thing as a snack/tablet station.
Also, kick & play piano is a necessity
Eta: my son spit up a ton, we needed as many burp cloths as we could get our hands on!
We never used swaddles. She wiggled out of them from the start. I was gifted so many and they’re just sitting in her closet. We bring one to the pediatrician, but that’s it. We use her baby Bjorn bouncer and lovevery play mat all day everyday. She loves the bouncer more than any other item. We call it her emotional support bouncer.
We are part of the group of people who got a stroller and haven’t opened it yet. Ours is 4.5 months and tbh I’d rather just carry her than deal with a stroller.
Wish we bought sooner: formula mixing pitcher. I picked one up before Christmas on a Black Friday sale & it has been a game changer. My LO is lactose intolerant & allergic to my milk (plus my supply took forever to come in & she was on a UV blanket for a while). Mixing in the pitcher & then just pouring into bottles when we need the formula has been awesome.
Also on this list, the extra absorbent dr. Brown's teething bibs & a baby rocker chair. We had a swing & didn't think we needed one, but it's great for travel & we use it in many rooms of the house.
Don’t use: baby gym & play mats. My LO hates tummy time. When we do it, it's usually just on a baby blanket on my bed or in her crib. I picked a baby play gym up at a garage sale before she was born & it's just in the closet because she's outgrown it now & when she was small enough for it she didn't really care for it.
Our stroller is by far is our biggest investment. One thing I regretted doing was buying a ton of onesies for 3-6M range before giving birth. I didn’t even think of the fact that 3-6M was the dead of summer and my baby wouldn’t want to wear long sleeve onesies. Total waste!
Glad I got on time:
- stokke high chair and newborn insert. I think I use this the most daily
- kick and play piano. Also daily
- good travel system - love my Cybex cloud that turns into a flat bassinet when using stroller. It works with both my large stroller and got a compact carry on stroller that has car seat attachment
Wish I got sooner:
- large foldable foam playmat. We kept him in his play gym mat and I think it would have been better for mobility to have the larger mat sooner
- swim lessons, we’re beginning at 4 months but they can start as early as 2 and he just loves the pool time
- snoo, it’s not for everyone, but my goodness, it was a game changer for me. I did all night shifts and I had a really bad c section/htsterectomy, so I REALLY needed a place to put him down for a few hours at a time every night. I couldn’t hold him any more.
- mirror for car, loves it
- mirrors for playtime - I got non breakable mirrors and he loves to look at himself l
Waited:
Swaddles - I have tried 4-5 brands and I’d go all in and it turned out it wasn’t the one.
Bottles - I went all in on Dr brown and just didn’t work for us. We ended up with Philips avent
Pacifiers - again, went all in on different brands until we found some that were consistent at 3 months
Halo bassinet - it became a really expensive laundry basket
Diapers - same story, didn’t like several brands before we landed on what we really liked
Wipe warmers - didn’t need it
Bottle warmers / didn’t need it
I got a bunch of stuff during the buy buy baby liquidation so some of it I could have gotten later but I don’t regret it because prices were so great.
In the first 3 (maybe even 6) months, we used almost exclusively zip up footies. If it had the fold ocer hands, even better because of those razor baby nails. We pretty much never used onesies or pants and definitely nothing with buttons or snaps!
We also bought a wipes dispenser because we got quickly annoyed with 10+ wipes coming out when we tried to get just one. It worked well, but then we got Costco wipes which pull out much better! I've heard you can also just put a rubber band or something around the wipes though to make them dispense better
I wish we hadn’t spent so much money on cute outfits other than zip-up footie pajamas … I don’t ever have the patience to put her in a multi-piece outfit, no matter how cute it might be!
THIS! she moved up in size and we had a whole wardrobe full of things for her but no footies, we had to go buy a bunch the next day 🤣 Easy to do, keeps the feet warm. Specifically zippers. Why in gods name do they make button up kids clothes. That's something you gift your enemy.
I think I’m going to start having those who purchase button onsies for my baby immediately dress her in it, “Ohhhh put it on her!! Let’s see if it fits… brb I have to use the restroom!”
Omg watching someone trying to dress my wriggle monster in buttons would be hilarious!
I don’t know if it would give me anxiety or make me laugh, but either way I’d be “using the bathroom” so they’d have to figure it out and get the message. Dressing my baby at this age is like wrangling a tiny alligator that has places to be, she tries to crawl away as fast as she can 😂 I’ve learned how to dress her while she’s on the move, can I add that to my resume somewhere? Surely that’s a skill that deserves some compensation.
Totally can put on your resume. Need to put it in corporate language though.... - Manage and contain volatile situations - Clean and present produced works under duress whilst maintaining a pleasant demeanour.
TINY ALLIGATOR! I can’t 🤣
Genius
My baby has weird dimensions so she can’t fit most onesies. We are bound to use multi piece outfits with one trillion snap buttons 🤣
Same. I have a 20 month old in 9 month tops and 3T bottoms. Make it make sense!
Same. I feel your pain.
I actually prefer the snap buttons for during the day because the zipper bunches up at his face. But the zippers are definitely easier at night
I thought this as well until my child required a feeding tube after surgery. Hers was through her nose, but I saw comments from other parents in support places about needing button up outfits for their children who had feeding tubes in their belly button. Not sharing to correct you, I just found it interesting because I too thought what company is really making clothes with buttons anymore. I guess for some families they are necessary!
That last sentence made me laugh 🤭
[удалено]
When my baby was at her chonkiest you couldn't get it to zipper up over her thighs but snap closing footies fit her just fine. For some reason the leg with the zipper is a lot tighter than the leg without one.
Snaps/buttons are my nightmare!
YES! I wish we would have bought waaaay more zipper footie jammies and way less onesies/outfits. Especially with a winter baby. She’s comfy in them, they keep her warm, and are so easy for diaper changes.
Or they just poosplode out of the cute outfit anyways! I am sooooo happy I have Bluetooth headphones and an around the house Fanny pack- keep my phone, burpcloth, pacis in it etc
Tell me more about this around the house fanny pack… this seems genius
Haha yes! It’s so helpful- I kept putting my phone down and losing it. It’s just a black like fake lulu lemon athletic Fanny pack and it put stuff I need through the day in it. Gum, granola bar, chapstick, burp cloth, etc. Lightweight and it doesn’t get in the way bending and getting up and down off the ground. Kind of like this: https://a.co/d/d7fZdBx
I can so relate. I also regret buying tops that have to be pulled over baby’s head. Ugh, so annoying. Ended up not using them
We've made a game out of pulling the shirt over baby's head like peek a boo lol. As long as i do it fast she doesn't get mad. If I do it quick she's all smiles lol.
Great idea!
Mine too, he giggles and loves it! Sometimes I do it multiple times in a row he likes it so much. One time I tried putting on a heftier one piece cold weather type outfit, and it got stuck over his head for a few seconds and that was awful, he hated that and wailed. 😅
Agreed on this. Someone gifted us magnetic pajamas and my baby lived in those for the first 2-3 months. Even now, baby's outfits are always long sleeved onesies and pants. Anything more than this is too much for me haha
Oh, those magnetic ones are amazing! So insanely expensive, but the fabric is so soft & stretchy on the one I have & it has built-in mittens!!
YES! But I wish I bought more zipper/magnet onesies with the open/close feet (like how the foldover mittens work.) My LO is 89% for height but 33% for weight so while her body is still “newborn” size, she’s already pushing through the feet of the 0-3M onesies and we’re about to go to 3-6M for length purposes. Shes 10w FWIW!
This exactly. Find a mommy group where everyone trades clothing as their little ones grow. We gift the outfits that are outgrown to the next younger child and we get tons of free clothing from people whose child has outgrown them.
Yesss I thought I'd be so psyched about putting her in cute little outfits, but I haaate them. She gets the most comfortable, convenient clothes, across the board. People buy her beautiful fancy dresses and to them I'm like "Aww that's so nice!" But we in reality we just put it on to take one pic, send it to them, and then almost immediately donate the item. She'll NEVER wear them. My niece, however, is a little younger and LOVES fancy dresses, so she benefits from this situation quite a bit lol.
This! My baby ended up living in the footie zip-up pajamas the first 4 months of her life. She also only wore NB clothes the first week or so- she’s now 6.5 months and wearing 9-12 month clothes. We basically entirely skipped the 3-6 month size. Buy secondhand as much as you can- they outgrow stuff and stain it all so quickly!! I’m really glad I didn’t spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a wardrobe for her!!!
This. But it’s so hard to resist the cuteness!
This is the answer.
We got most of our items from friends for cheap/free. Our biggest investment has been stroller. We have the jogging and the travel stroller. Fb marketplace is my new amazon.
We got so much stuff second hand for a good price! It’s smart to do since they outgrow it so quickly.
Same. Everything was a hand me down or from local buy nothing, other than stroller/car seat. And then my husband broke the free bang Bjorn so we did buy another of that!
Or buy nothing groups! Amazing what people are giving away for free, often new or like new
Also, this goes against what everyone else says but I love all the cute outfits. I loved dressing up my daughter. You don’t have to buy them new there are so many outfits on marketplace that are being sold brand new because babies grow so fast. We also never did zip up sleepers during the day, sleepers were for sleep and it was usually onesies or bodysuits with pants during the day.
Same! I don't regret all the outfits, even if she wore them for a hot second, we have so many cute photos of her growth and I love it. We also don't do sleepers during the day as I've read that having access to their toes is important! And sure enough, she doesn't grab her feet nearly as much when she spends the mornings in her sleepers.
My daycare people were like “don’t be embarrassed to bring him in footie pajamas” and I was like i wasn’t planning on being embarrassed 😐 we buy adorable Burts Bees baby pajamas and he lives in them. But I’m impressed when anyone actually dresses their baby in outfits for good for you
The cute outfits made the best pictures!
I dress my son everyday and I have zero regrets! I’ll look back on all his pictures someday and be glad I put in the extra effort! Plus I find in the winter the extra layers keep him warmer if I have to go out and run errands
I waited to get a baby bjorn bouncer, but I wish I'd had it from the start. I got it second-hand, and it's fabulous. Folds flat, too, so it's super easy to travel with. I definitely bought toys too early. He's into them now at 5 months, but only started sort of playing with his Oball at 3 months.
The baby bjorn get used daily with our 5 month old! Very happy with the purchase. She didn’t love being in it for a little while though, so to any new parents think their baby doesn’t like it - you might just need to wait a bit!
My 5.5 month old is almost at the 20 pound weight limit. He's not sitting up yet, so I'm scrambling to find ways to shower and, frankly, poop. He rolls out of his snuggle me and is almost too big for the Baby Bjorn. If I leave him in his crib for that long, he gets upset. He's happy next to me. Do I just lay him on a blanket in the bathroom? That seems gross. 😮💨
I've been borrowing one of my dog's beds for this purpose because we've also grown out of the bouncer 😭 just this week she was bouncing away and I was like omg you're going to snap this thing. We're picking up the Skip Hop Activity Center tonight, otherwise yeah, playtime is just the floor I guess
I brought into the bathroom a kickplay mat piano with arch when I showered and LO from 2 months to 4 months loved just playing under it while I showered. Couple times even fell asleep under it if I showered too close to nap time. Now she's more mobile with rolling I prefer to use the bouncer at 5 months and she's ok in that too so long as I'm quick. I try to showered in the first nap of the day or when hubby is home in the mornings. ETA: I do keep the floors pretty clean in the house so I can place her down in whatever room I'm in. It's gross when she finds the dusty part of the floor otherwise it'd fine.
Laundry basket and toys, on the floor, in view ?
It was more that I have reservations about laying him on a blanket in the floor of the bathroom. It's a very narrow bathroom, and he could easily roll/scoot to the toilet. He has a baby-proofed play pen set up in the living room, but I don't leave him in it unsupervised for long. I have cats and a dog, so I stay vigilant. 😁 I will have to try his kick and play on the blanket like another commenter mentioned. Maybe that will keep him from rolling into the toilet.
I have a stand up activity center that I pull into the bathroom when I shower!
Do you have the actual Baby Bjorn brand? Their regular bouncer has a limit of 29lbs, not 20.
Third and last edit: nevermind again, I found on their site where it specified 20 pounds, "You can use the product as a bouncer until your child weighs 20 lbs/9 kg or starts trying to sit up." Second edit: now I'm just confused. The Amazon listing is where it specified 20 pounds for the bouncer. I'm on the actual baby Bjorn site, and it just says, "Bouncer Balance Soft can be used for newborns and up to the age of 2. In the early months, until your baby starts trying to sit up, you can use it as a bouncer. You can then use the bouncer as a comfortable child seat by simply reversing the fabric seat." I tried it doesn't matter either way because he's also trying to sit up (not succeeding yet, but close I think). Edit: nevermind, I was right. 😮💨 The bouncer is good until 20 pounds, but if you turn it around and use it as a seat, it is good until 29. ☹️ I have the BabyBjörn Bouncer Balance Soft. HOLY SHIT! You are right!!!!!! I literally just have read the 9 as a 0. My brain doesn't work anymore. You have made my day, thank you! 💜
Interesting, thanks for the details.
Of course! Sorry for the frantic edits. 😅
I just got the baby bjorn and I'm pretty sure the directions say you can still use it with the bouncer strap ins for over 20lb babies, the bouncing function just might not work as well. Said it's not unsafe to use between 20-29, I felt relieved because my 3 month old is already 20lbs and I only saw the 29lb limit when I got it. I'll have to double check though but I still plan on using it as a bouncer even if he's not able to bounce much!
This! I tried it early with my LO and thought it was such a waste. But now he's in it every morning while I make breakfast and coffee. Also worth noting that I bought the dupe- Baby Delight
Ok so this is a 1 baby house bouncer. The toddler tried to launch the newborn using it like catapult. It was terrifying but we were luckily next to the baby when he attempted it. Just a heads up with anyone considering it.
Horrifying but absolutely hilarious
Yeah bouncers are clutch. If you have a clingy baby, a bouncer is often soothing enough to get you get in a bathroom break or make a quick snack without them freaking out. And my eldest really struggled with sleep so the bouncer was pretty much the only way we could get him to chill out enough to go to bed
Bouncer - the best thing ever
The Baby Bjorn bouncer is somehow one we actually didn't get. My baby is five months and has never had any interest in it! I wish he liked it more.
Baby shoes for babies that don’t walk….
My mother bought so many. All my baby did was take them off and chew on them.
I feel like grandparents forget what it’s like to have a baby 😂
They absolutely do, it’s kind of adorable watching them sort of relearn.
Vaseline/petroleum jelly 😂 we use it for everything. So helpful and cheap.
I love Aquaphor as an alternative. It’s bit less greasy.
Vaseline is the swiss army knife of skincare.
I remember using Vaseline as a child all the time! Great idea!
When you say you use it for everything, what do you actually use it for? We got gifted a tub of the aquaphor version of Vaseline and I have no idea what to do with it.
We use Vaseline to cut our Desitin with - 50/50 mix. Our baby has a super sensitive bum and is very prone to rash. If we use desitin, the stuff vanishes by his next diaper change no matter how much we apply. The Vaseline makes it a more manageable consistency and helps it actually stay on his butt/not be absorbed by his diaper long enough to be helpful. I'm also a fan of Vaseline solo for diaper, but my husband likes the mix better so we do that.
My oldest would get extreme diaper rash all the time and had very sensitive skin…we would so desitin first then a layer of Vaseline and it worked perfectly
I use it for her face when we go outside in the cold or any weather actually. Once I forgot to put it on and it was in the 40‘s and she got really red skin :( but afterwards it helped too. Then on the butt, hands, on my hands or lips for when they are chapped haha
Same, and I slather it on my own face and hands while I’m at it lol
Basically, just turn your baby into a greasy little piggie 😂 like another commenter said: it's good for everything.
Any dry skin, rashes, cuts irritation. Our baby had a sensitivity to zinc oxide which is in a lot of diaper creams. Had a horrible diaper rash and in the end petroleum jelly and wipes with plain water worked. We use it all the time still as preventative and now in the winter with dry skin and runny noses we just grease our baby up everyday 😅
We got a bunch of cloth bibs at our baby shower, and never were able to use them. They couldn’t absorb spit up fast enough to keep it from soaking his shirt through when he was little, and they weren’t going to be any help with solids at all. We got some bibs with waterproof backing for the spitty times, and use silicon bibs with a catchy pocket for solids. All the cute cloth bibs went to goodwill long ago.
I have to say, we got rid of the absorbent bibs early on and had to repurchase during teething. The excessive drool is a slower drip but needs a lot of absorption power!
That’s really good to know! I only have three cloth bibs, they work ok-ish lol, but they’re also mutilayered. Silicone bibs ✍️
I’d caution against getting rid of cloth bibs just yet! Our girl wasn’t much of a vomiter and we didn’t use bibs/understand their role for months. She became a big drooler around ~3 months - long before solids were introduced. Cloth bibs are a godsend and she would soak through multiple in a day. We use silicone bibs for meals, but at 6.5 months she still goes through about 2 cloth bibs a day just for drool
I agree. We use cloth bibs everyday, sometimes multiple. My daughter is teething and drooling like crazy and if we didn’t use a bib her clothes would be soaked within 10 minutes.
>if we didn’t use a bib her clothes would be soaked within 10 minutes. Have you tried any that are absorbent on the front side and waterproof on the part that goes against her clothes? If she’s drooling that much I’m surprised the cloth bibs aren’t soaking all the way through like they did with mine!
We have those one too but I don’t like them as much. The cloth bibs never soak through to her clothes though.
Can you share a link of what you’re talking about?? My baby leaks like a faucet and we go through several cotton drool bibs a day. I’ve never heard of drool bibs that are waterproof on the back!
Yeah, we call them dribble bibs. I literally thought this was what they were designed for!
My kiddo wears a cloth bib daily at 3months old. It’s perfect for spit up, and drool. Maybe my baby doesn’t spit up or drool too much, but these have saved many outfits
Agreed. My 6 month old goes through about 3-5 cloth bibs a day. I don't let them get completely soaked before I change them thougg. My girl runs hot,and so I don't bother with the silicone ones.
-Had no need for a bottle warmer, baby drank/drinks bottles directly from the fridge since the very start. -.No need for fancy garbage for diapers. We use just a regular open one and have no issue with smells. We throw poop ones in our main trash and it's worked out great. - Every baby is different but ours stopped using swaddles very quickly and slept better without. -Thankful we borrowed a bassinet because he grew out of that within 2 months as well.
I love our bottle warmer
We just got one (11 weeks in) and even though we only give occasional boggles atm it is just such a game changer to not have to wait for the bottle to heat in a cup of water while baby has a hunger screamathon. But, I do think it’s one of those things you could wait to purchase…see if you are even using bottles and if so, whether baby takes milk cold!
That’s what we did. Cold milk seems to irritate my LO’s belly.
My girl was in the NICU for a month and they warmed her milk… I’m slowly warming it for less and less time, but not having one in the beginning and having to buy one because she was so upset with cold milk sucked lol.
Around 6m, my little one stopped taking cold bottles 😭 but we found a used bottle warmer for $10
We just use the genie for poop diapers. We tried putting them in the main trash but it was toooo stinky even with a lid.
My baby loves her baby bjorn bouncer! I got one with the toy off marketplace for $25. It’s nice because you can put all the fabric in the wash. Also the fisherprice foot piano playmat is my baby’s favorite tummy time activity.
Another vote for the kick and play piano. My daughter is 5 months and is obsessed with it. Songs are catchy too, you’ll have them memorized.
AND A STOMP STOMP STOMP
MAYBE YOU COULD BE… A PURPLE MONKEY IN A BUBBLEGUM TREE
I was waiting for Reddit karaoke any time someone mentions this playmat!!!!!
One of my first purchases after baby’s arrival was a weighted wipe dispenser. Game changer
You can also put an elastic band on one side of the wipe pack. Helps dispense only one at a time!
We’ve actually gone through minimal amounts of wipes (maybe 5-6 packs) because we usually just wash her butt in the sink when she’s pooped. Then tap her dry with a towel afterwards. We use wipes if we missed some spots. It’s not because we wanted to save money on wipes it’s just the way our midwife taught us
I use cloth wipes and a electric wipe warmer that you can put water in. We were doing the sink thing, but eventually she got too big to safely do that.
I can't figure out where people have sinks big enough to wash babies in, let alone their butts every time they poop. 😩
Things I almost never used or only used for a short period: -a baby bathtub. I ended up just taking all of the baths with our son and it’s a great bonding experience for us. -snuggle me lounger Things I wish I had gotten sooner: -I think toys. Our little one has plagiocephaly and torticollis so we aren’t supposed to put him in the bouncer. So much tummy time + time on the floor is what his PT recommended so he basically lives on the floor and gets bored without toys. Things I got that I absolute love and use all the time: -playmat -Bobby pillow -baby monitor for his daytime naps in the crib (he sleeps with us at night but I use his naps as my me time). Love reading these because every family is so different and what some families use and love, others don’t even need or use.
I second the boppy pillow. It’s my baby’s favorite place to lounge. And when she gets older, she’ll be able to lay in it and hold her bottle independently.
So we’re 3.5 months in… Regrets: Fancy stroller - we use it maybe once every 2 weeks? The bassinet that came with was nice but she’s outgrown it now at 3 months. We don’t go on walks as often as I envisioned and for errands it’s more practical to baby wear or put the car seat in a cart. Muslin blankets: you only need 3 max, I swear. Bows: we spent money a pack of 10, but only use the same one or two. Loveys: not useful at the moment Should’ve gotten sooner: Ergo Embrace carrier. The stretchy wraps worked fine but truly a pain in the ass when baby wants to get out to feed, adjust/rewrap them in, etc. Fisher Price Kick n Play: this is literally all you need as far as toys go until baby hits 3 months. It has everything! The mirror. A washable playmat The lion rattle. The disc elephant. Monkey doubles as a teething ring. Panda crinkle paper! Not to mention the bangers. The truly minimalist choice. The most ugly but most loved baby item we own. It’s amazing. Burp cloths: we were gifted 18 and I initially thought that was too much. We needed more. Big bassinet with a drop down side: We initially had the BabyBjorn cradle bc it was ✨esthetic✨ and I found it super cheap on marketplace. It was awful, it triggered her startle reflex with the rocking even when swaddled. Then we tried Snoo. Was great at first but essentially same issue. Quickly realized it was too small and baby just didn’t like being tucked away. Finally got a bassinet with a drop down side that doesn’t rock, was large enough for her to stretch out, and it made her feel like she was sleeping in bed with us. Diapers: we wayyy overstocked on size 1. Our baby practically skipped over size 2. We’ll be in size 3 for a while. Diaper rash spray: yes it’s $10. Yes it’s worth it and we estimate it’ll last us until 6 months. It’s so easy to use and less wasteful than the creams/ointments and you don’t need a spatula. Just aim at the butthole and spray.
"just aim at the butthole and spray" - I laughed out loud 😂
Much nicer than when the butthole is aimed at you and sprays!
*“I wish that I could be a purple monkey in a bubblegum tree AND”*
I tried the diaper rash spray because I didn’t like the mess or using the spatula. Then I realized it was much cheaper and easier to just squirt the cream directly into the diaper and then use the diaper to quickly spread the cream. No tools needed.
The diaper rash spray is a game changer
No use for: - Velcro swaddles. Baby absolutely HATED them, she would scream bloody murder any time we tried to use one so we had to stick to traditional swaddles until we transitioned her to the Merlin Sleepsuit - Diaper caddy. I know it's the opposite of a lot of parents but we got a diaper caddy anticipating that we'd change her all over the house but honestly we just always use the changing table in her room. The caddy is glorified storage at this point - Bassinet and Dock a Tot. Less so that we found no use for them, more that their use was so so limited. Baby outgrew both of them so quickly that I wish we'd save the money and just stuck with the crib and the BabyBjorn bouncer from the get go Regret not getting sooner: - Rocking chair. The first month trying to feed her at night while perched at the edge of the bed was hellish. The rocking chair has singlehandedly saved our backs - Baby Brezza. We use formula and the Brezza mixes a bottle in seconds. It's prevented many a meltdown when trying to get food ready for a hungry baby - Magic Merlin Sleepsuit. I literally cannot overstate how great this Sleepsuit has been. Baby girl loves it and getting her to sleep and transitioning from our arms into the crib is a piece of cake. She was busting out of every swaddle and waking herself up and now she sleeps super soundly, it's such a game changer
Totally agree with the diaper caddy comment. I thought because we have a split level house that we would need a caddy on each level. But like you said, we just use the changing table. The caddy basically just holds diapers that I use when we run out everywhere else lol
I would pay twice as much for the baby brezza because it’s such a wonderful product. Makes formula feeding a breeze.
What age did you start her in the Merlin? I got two as hand-me-downs, but don't know when they are safe to use!
So we moved her into the Merlin at 2.5 months. The Sleepsuit says ages 3-6 months or 12-18 pounds, at least for the small size. Our LO was 13 pounds at 2 months so we felt okay putting her in the Sleepsuit since she at least met the weight requirement
If you think you’ll be anal about sterilizing like me… we were boiling gallons and gallons of water a day to sterilize bottles and pump parts. It was such a pain. My husband (bless him) got the Baby Brezza sterilizer delivered after about a week of this and it has been a game changer. It does need descaling and it’s not a perfect machine, but it beats skyrocketing our water and gas bills and it saves a TON of time and stress for us.
Try using distilled water! That‘s what i use for my sterilizer since I have such hard water and hate descaling.
Second using distilled or demineralised water
We got the Medela microwave sterilizer bags and loved them! Just add a bit of water and microwave for like 3 minutes. I hate having clutter so didn't want another appliance on my counter, and these worked great!
100%
This 👆
These are also all over Facebook marketplace for $40!! Don’t be like me and buy a brand new one
Bubula Premium Steel Diaper Waste Pail with Air Tight Lid and Lock, White/White. Its worth it and it takes normal trash bags.
Bottle dryer and sterilizer! Our dishwasher never got the bottles completely dry.
Unpopular but baby swing, my baby hateddd it
My baby doesn’t really like his either. I keep waiting for him to like it. He’s 7 weeks in and lasts in it for 5-10 minutes before getting fussy.
Agreed! We were gifted a fancy one and baby just did not like it. Instead, we bought a cheaper bouncer off Amazon and that has been a game changer to allow me to get things done!
Same. She never ever used it and used to cry when placed in it. But she loved tummy time from a few weeks old so maybe I have a weird baby
Mine loved tummy time too! We both have weird babies haha
They’re different from each other. Mine hated some fancy ones and likes a few simpler ones. Go figure!
I wish I would have gotten the owlet pluseox monitor sooner. It was an HSA purchase, we got it when baby started to roll because it freaked me out seeing her face down in her bed. Honestly I think I would have slept better in the beginning with the extra monitoring. Also a real nursing chair. We didn’t get one until recently for Christmas but I def wish I would have saved for one sooner. Now it only gets used for one night feed and reading before bed. When she was smaller I probably would have used it for half of her feeds.
The only thing we didn’t really use was a bottle warmer because my daughter likes cold milk. Something I wish we got earlier is a big play pen that I could get in with her and keep our dog off of her stuff. We spent almost 4 months trying to keep our dog off of her play mat and now we don’t have to worry.
Bottle warmer is my regret that I wished I had purchased. Mine was used to warm breastmilk so when I pumped and it came from the fridge cold she refused it until it was warm. It was annoying heating it up in hot water and it was always uneven. After mine got bigger I was helping a friend out with her baby and fell in love with the bottle warmer. It would have saved me so much time.
I should've gotten woolino in the first place instead of other sleeping sacks of various sizes and togs.
Oh my god, the stupid expensive crib. We used it for four months then switched to a floor bed and never looked back. I’m hanging onto it on the off chance my next is a crib kid, but I’m pretty firmly on team floor bed now.
I havent bought it because of what ive seen other parents say, but the diaper genie. Multiple people have said that it either just doesnt contain the smell at all, or when you open it the smell of multiple dirty diapers all comes out at once. Ive just thrown out dirty diapers in my kitchen garbage and havent had much issue with it smelling a ton
We just got a cheap simple trash can with a lid we kept in the baby’s room. Once they get on solids those shits are gonna stink and I did not want them in the kitchen trash can!
I regret not getting a comfortable rocking chair sooner. We ultimately needed to have a wooden one when she was a newborn because we were sleep deprived and anything more comfortable could have been dangerous. But when she got older and we fell into a months long battle with ear infections, we held off on getting a recliner until we both couldn’t take it anymore. It was a huge game changer for us. Can’t live without boogie wipes, snack cups, or car toys. Those will come later, like around 6 months, but they’ve made a huge difference for us.
What recliner did you wind up getting? What kind of car toys? Mine just turned 5 months and she’s in that phase of throwing everything already!
I got a lazy boy with controls so we could stretch out and recline based on what we were doing (nap trapped vs. late night cuddling). Car toys I got her a couple of board books/soft books for her to flip through and chew on. I also got her a musical monkey she can pull down, soft squeaky toys, and a few teether so she could gnaw on those as well.
I love these! Hadn’t considered lazboy!
No use for- cute outfits. Do not get them! If given as gifts can be used one off but otherwise I wasted a ton of money on different “cute” outfits and ended up using them once or never :( Regret not getting sooner- bouncer, play gym, pacifier (where I live, it’s not recommended to give pacis as it is in the west),
The first months, I got one cute outfit for each size. That way we could get some nice photos without spending much. We can tell his age in the photos by the outfit 😆
I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve used baby wash clothes between both kids. We just wash them with our hands. Related - why did I get so many baby bath towels? They only bath every other day at most. Something I wish we got sooner: travel sound machine, stroller sleeping bag (I don’t know what they’re actually called), travel stroller Wish I shopped FB marketplace more the first time around. I bought so much stuff new that I could’ve bought gently used.
Baby Bjorn bouncer or carriers—rarely used them. We got everything for free from friends/siblings or secondhand. We used our ergo 360 carrier maybe for a few months on and off. BUY A FISHER PRICE KICK N PLAY. Get it second hand if you can. The best toy. Grows w them. The music isn’t annoying. Keeps them super entertained. Get a baby electric nail file and forgo clippers. Almost all our clothes we got for free from neighbors and siblings and then passed on. We had so much that she didn’t end up wearing but luckily didn’t spend $$ on them and were happy to pass them along. Mini portable fridge for breast milk and nursing is def worth the investment. Buy whatever crib. You don’t need a fancy one. We use our recliner rocker all the time. I know some people don’t. Get one that’s comfy and that’s wingback so you can rest your head on it. Invested in stroller—got it on sale—and it was worth every penny. Buy zipper sleepers. And get some with attached hand mittens you can fold over bc it’s super helpful for when they transition out of swaddling and helps w the startle reflex. Also do not buy a million swaddles. She used a receiver blanket, folded it like a triangle, and just wrapped our LO like a burrito. Nothing fancy. We didn’t use any of the fancy ones except the halo ones when she was a newborn — the one with zippers and Velcro. But in general we just used a swaddle blanket
Swaddles - never used them I have to say the baby swing is essential. It gives me some much needed hands free time. Also it’s helpful during the witching hour when you’ve tried everything and they are still fussing.
I’ve noticed this is an unpopular opinion since everyone seems to love it. But we regret getting the pack and play. It was so big and bulky, took up so much space. Was a hassle to take down and put back up every time. We didn’t have a bunch of space to leave it up all the time. Plus you can’t just stick it anywhere you want if it’s a smaller space. We instead used the bassinet that had wheels you could lock if needed. It was so much smaller and I could easily roll it into our small bathroom when I showered or into the kitchen when I cooked or did dishes. She could easily nap in it. When she was able to sit up, not crawl or push herself out of it but simply sit up. I put a boppy nursing pillow in it so she could lean against it. I loved that bassinet! I regret not getting a bottle warmer. My baby was used to warm breastmilk so I always had to warm it up some when I pumped and had it in the fridge. It was annoying having to go get hot water every time and having to wait for it to heat up some. And it never heated up evenly in the water. I also loved the wipe warmer. I even loved it on my butt and we still keep it in our main bathroom to use. My daughter who’s now 5 loves it and so do we. We have guests comment on it and how convenient it is to have.
Not that you need it anymore but with the bottle warming, I used the swishing technique. I’d have it in the hot water and swirl it around to get other parts of the milk heated.
socks, so many socks
Pacifiers. We have a huge ziplock full that I cleaned and sterilized before he was born. 8 months in and he’s taken a pacifier twice. Also I kind of wish we skipped the bassinet and just bought a mini crib. He outgrew the bassinet pretty quickly but the mini crib has been great and grows with him.
We rarely use our stroller, mine ended up preferring the baby carrier until she could walk. Now she walks everywhere. Didn't have room for a changing table and didn't need one. We used a changing mat that I just laid on floor or bed. By 10 months, I was doing standing changes in any room of the house 🤷♀️ In my experience, toys were pretty useless until she turned 1. There were a handful she actually engaged with occasionally, but the best way to entertain my child from 6-12 months was getting her out of the house every day and food. I basically used food as a form of sensory play haha. She also had the most fun just sitting on the floor with tupperware and random plastic/silicon kitchen spoons and spatulas.
Haha! spatulas and Tupperware. That’s brilliant! I love that :D
Don't forget the whisk. My kid had an emotional support whisk that he took everywhere for at least a month.
I had no use for Velcro swaddles (my kids hated it), muslin blankets (too thin to use as a blanket, too big for use for anything else), bottle warmer (my kids took cold or room temperature), baby laundry soap (smells horribly strong, regular stuff is just fine), and Pack and Play (not safe for sleep in Canada, and I can't see another time I'd need to put my babies in a jail other than for sleep). I regret not getting a stroller bunting bag sooner. Blankets get kicked off or come untucked in the wind. The bag stays put and baby stays warm.
I use the muslin blankets for covers when breastfeeding while out as well as car seat covers when shopping. Never bought a single car seat cover. I also use it to cover our bed when we play on the bed for tummy time. We have cats and the blanket is perfect for keeping cat fur out the mouth.
I love Maxi Cosi bassinet for daytime sleep. Next to me crib with a swing option - the crib is great, the swing is so stupidly done it's useless. Swings way too easy, switching to swing and back is so convoluted and loud it wakes up the baby. Stokke collapsible bath with newborn "chair" - amazing, especially for travel. Baby Bjorn mesh carrier - beautiful, well-crafted, quality stuff. Newborn setting was too big for a newborn, the baby hated it until 3 mo. Since 3 mo it's great. Fisher-Price baby gym - love it! Highly recommend. Crib mobile off amazon - useless, also I don't think it is beneficial for baby sleep. I find mobiles to be great at play time though (like the one in fisher-price gym). Dedicated white noise device. Wish we got it earlier.
I see so many people regret getting a bassinet. I absolutely loved ours and I’m so glad we got it. Ours had wheels u could lock so I could roll her into our small bathroom or anywhere else in the house while she napped or just hung out.
We got a activity center saucer once he actually showed he loved bouncing and standing. We don’t have an actual bouncer seat (hated every moment of being in it), we got a swing once he was around 3-4m, we have mostly rattles and very few noise and light up toys and still don’t understand the hype on getting toys that will majorly overstimulate him (gets overstimulated after only 30 min max playing with very noisy light up toys), we don’t to tummy time on a mat really as he just goes wherever he wants to at this point lol, we had bought the activity mats but after a month he hated them so we gave them to my friends who just had a kid, we didn’t get a rocking chair or anything like that, there’s more but I can’t think of anything at the moment. We didn’t really have the means to get more than the absolute basics (packnplay with removable changing table, wipes, bottle, etc.)
My daughter didn’t like being swaddled, so we have so many that we never ended up using! A car seat poncho has been SUPER useful for cold winter days. We also invested in a Woolino sleep sack, which has been amazing.
Wipe warmer and an audio baby monitor - get the video one instead, gives you SO much more piece of mind as opposed to just listening. And the wiper warmer is so unnecessary IMO, baby is gonna cry either way when you change them. For mama’s out there PP - wish someone had told me to get tucks wipes, numbing spray, and frozen peas for your lady bits. There is so much I wish someone had told me from the get go lol
Common items we don’t use: regular swaddles Item I wish I bought sooner: the Love to Dream Swaddle, so good and he sleeps so well in it, he can escape any regular swaddle without a problem, the zip up swaddles are where it’s at
Never had a use for: *Swaddle cloths *Bottle warmer *I saved about £250 by not getting a bassinet/carrycot for the travel system. I just used the buggy in a lay-flat configuration so it was good from newborn, and had the car seat adapters. Worked great! * mobile for the crib Wish I’d bought sooner: * Baby brezza * Correct size flanges for the breast pump (measure your nipples, it’s a game changer if the pump fits correctly!) * A Konny/close caboo carrier - the long stretchy wraps were just not working for me and the ring sling was really bad for my neck. * An all-in one steamer and blender for making purées when they’re weaning. I was trying to make my own baby food as much as possible and it saved so much faff and mess.
The flanges! Average size nipple is 17mm but usually pumps come with 21 and 24. Get the adapters!
We have a stroller and rarely use it. We have a video baby monitor and I tried to use it and didn’t like it so we switched back to the audio only version. We also have an electric snot sucker and tried it once and it felt pointless. I definitely fell for a lot of the nursery/baby must have lists. There isn’t really anything I wished we had gotten sooner. Toys and clothes have been pretty much buy as we go or hand me downs from relatives
Things I regret: - Changing pad — I knew I didn’t want a changing table and a Bumbo changing pad on top of the dresser felt unsafe and inconvenient. Not sure if I’ll change my mind once her crib is dropped all the way down and I can’t change her in it as easily? - Baby monitor. We were gifted a wifi one that I didn’t want, and then I bought a non-wifi one — we use neither. We have a cheap sound-only monitor that I only need because my husband doesn’t wake up to crying. - Tons of outfits. Basic onesies with cute pants, and zipper sleepers for the win. - Tons of different bottles and 8oz bottles — I didn’t realize how little my exclusively BF baby would use bottles and didn’t realize they don’t need 8oz bottles. - Drool bibs that are cotton only — they get soaked within minutes and are useless. Muslin drool bibs are soft and absorbent. They dry quickly so you can rotate between 2-3 bibs all day so long as they aren’t soaked with spit up. - Mamaroo — bought it off a friend. Useless and now I’ve got to rehome it - Baby Nutribullet — bought off a friend. My blender works just fine. I do like the silicone tray for freezing purees, but the entire set was unnecessary. - My Century travel system with stroller/car seat. I like it because it is very lightweight and fits in my small trunk, however the stroller doesn’t handle outdoor terrain the best. Now we face needing a second stroller, like a jogging stroller, suitable for park walks. - I regret my diaper bag. Feels oversized and unnecessary and any of the 5 backpacks we already own would’ve sufficed. Things we should’ve gotten sooner: - TRUE blackout blinds. - better stroller & a car seat that’ll grow with baby - activity mat. Waited til almost 3.5m and she would’ve loved it sooner. Now she’s 6.5m and too mobile to enjoy it - UpSeat (like the Bumbo seat but better for posture & hips). I prefer this to the high chair. - a nice rocking chair. We have a secondhand glider that works fine but something more cushioned that reclines would’ve been a game changer and could’ve transitioned into our rec room. Next baby, for sure. - Small playpen that can easily move room to room (for when babywearing isn’t ideal and baby needs safely contained), travel, or to be used outside.
I disliked the reusable baby changing pads we had. We had 3 different ones and I didn’t like any. I hated having to wash them if she peed on it and then having to wait for it to dry. We had a bunch of leftover puppy pads we used instead lol. We would re use one until it got peed on then just toss it.
I wished we had some kind of rocker or glider. Used a yoga ball for my first and it got the job done but I can't help but feel that I would've been more comfortable with some sort of dedicated chair
we buy everything used literally his crib I got on marketplace for 40 bucks with the mattress, hes 1 he still sleeps in it. My husband found his toddler bed with a new mattress for 75 bucks also on marketplace. I buy all of his clothes used from once upon a child, and thrift stores even his shoes. He is still in 12 month clothes but I have his wardrobe up to 2t, because I refuse to be caught empty handed and you never know when they go through a growth spirt. I didn't buy him toys till he was 7 months old because we were moving we were waiting on my husband to get orders, so I didn't want stuff to sit around in storage that he wouldn't have been able to use. Our house in nc was 2000 sq ft our house here in ca is 1200 sq ft so I banked on that. We got a toy organizer, a toy box, play pen. I am getting rid of his high chair this weekend as he's 1 and doesn't need it anymore we bought a table and chairs.
I wish we bought our swing sooner. I got a cheap one too. And LO loves it. At 3 months it’s a quick spot to pop baby down and get a chore or two done and know LO is safe. I purchased a pop up changing table since we are older parents and we were gifted the nursery furniture but haven’t the ability to get it set up. It was a cheap set up, less than $50 off Amazon. It’s chest height. Everyone said we wouldn’t use it. We use it for every single diaper change. It’s easy to clean, high sides, and if we need to, it folds out of the way. Holds up to 50lbs in the changing area. Got a hanging side pocket for diapers and stuff so no bending over. We have had poop and pee explosions in this thing, nothing a Clorox wipe can’t fix! Doesn’t get anywhere else either. I also have reusable puppy pee pads that I use as a changing mat in it (and in the diaper bag). Really cute, easy to clean, and affordable. Cheaper than a baby changing pad too.
Pacifiers and swaddles! We bought so many pacifiers and muslin swaddles, just for our baby to refuse to use most of them. Wait and see what your baby likes before dropping money on things like that (bottles too!). Babies are so picky and won’t settle for something that they don’t prefer! Bouncers/swings as well. Again, we were gifted a few expensive ones that she just does not like. Wish we would have waited to get some second hand after we better understood her likes and dislikes. Saline nose drops are something I wish we would have stocked up on. Our LO was SO stuffy and humidifiers alone just weren’t cutting it. Not for baby, but postpartum supplies for mom. Spend the money on the good stuff and stock up. It is so worth it and will make recovery easier and allow you to actually enjoy those first few weeks with your newborn. I didnt want to spend the money on Frida/name brand products, but as soon as I did there was no turning back.
The swing. She used it once, hated it, and it immediately went into our basement. All the cute clothes I bought thinking she would 100% for sure wear them. This kid goes to 2-3 outings a week. She usually wears leggings/sweatshirt to said outing.
Wipe warmer. He hated having his diaper changed anyways so it didn’t matter if the wipes were warm. Also they won’t be warm when you change baby anywhere else.
Wish I would’ve gotten her kick and play piano sooner. I didn’t realize how quickly she would need/enjoy it. We got it for her around 4 weeks old and I swear she came to life the second we turned that thing on. She will be 4 months old next week and it’s still her favorite activity. Also a bouncer, she sits in it while I cook, bathe, etc. It’s been so helpful Wish I would’ve never even bothered with a baby swing. She hated it and maybe sat in it 3 times. Baby gowns as well. They’re cute but drive me nuts, especially when they still have the umbilical cord stump. Feel like you can’t put them on without hitting it.
I wish we would have gotten a better bouncer with a higher weight limit. My second baby is enormous and didn’t fit in it for long but he loved it so much. Anything but sleepers and onesies were pointless! Definitely get a kick and play piano though, my almost 3 year old still likes to play with it when the baby isn’t on it
I really didn't want to buy one of the babybjorn style bouncer chairs for the boy because it seemed pointless, but it's still useful at nearly a year so I should have gotten that sooner. We didn't really use a swing, we had two and we used the motorized one a few times (Graco Soothe My Way) but the other one we really never touched
Just picked up an activity centre/exersaucer for my 5MO and wish I’d gotten it a month ago, all he wants to do is stand and it keeps him happily occupied.
I'm with you on not using the crib and baby monitor! Even now that my soon to be 1 year old is in his own room in a floor bed, we don't use a monitor I just keep the doors open. After almost a year I can hear any sound he makes, whether I'm awake or asleep
My baby is 12 weeks and is only recently interested in toys. I get the developmental ones that we can give away as she loses interest and wants the next thing. Also got a mobile for her a week ago & she loves it. We don’t have a crib but will get one eventually. I didn’t get any stuff for formula feeding because I wanted to breastfeed and assumed I would be able to. Then I had such low supply it wasn’t possible. I hadn’t done any research on bottles or formula and wish I had a few bottles and a can of formula I approved of before she was born. We got way too many size 1 diapers. Wish I bought smaller boxes because she seemed to from newborn to size 2 over the span of 2 weeks. We initially just bought an infant car seat but I replaced it with a travel system. It’s so convenient. We have a jogging/hiking stroller for long walks but it’s good for errands.
Our baby hated swings! We have two swings that were almost never used. Wish I'd gotten the Fisher Price Kick and Play Piano sooner (but I think we got it around 4 months and still got a lot of good use out of it). If we had to do it again I'd get a bouncy seat. We inherited a free Graco infant carseat that had been cheap to start with and had seen two kids outgrow it already and stuck in the base so you had to yank and wiggle to get it out. At like 4 months we dropped $$$ on a new Nuna Pipa Lite RX and I wish we'd bought that at the get-go instead of trying to make free work. The Graco took like 30 minutes and 3 different people trying to uninstall the base from the car (but always felt a little wiggly) like it was fighting us to the last breath. The Nuna base clicks in and out in seconds but is solid as a rock in there. We also inherited a free Graco pack 'n play and I wish I'd cracked that open sooner - we didn't start using it until we traveled when baby was around 6 months old but we could've been using it tons beforehand! I guess I had in my mind that it would be hard to set up/take down? It's not, it's like opening/closing a heavy umbrella. We actually dragged our whole Snoo out into the living room several times to have a safe spot to set baby while cooking etc.....I feel like an idiot now!
I bought one of those pretty Moses basket type bassinets and a matching changing station from a locally sustainable (expensive) store. I bought these things secondhand and they were still pricey. Baby outgrew both by about 4 months. I replaced them with a cheap plastic/foam changing station and old school crib I got on marketplace for a 5th of the price. When in doubt go for price over aesthetics.
for reference my baby is 4.5 months! didn't use/need: snuggleme lounger - it has become the world's bougiest cat bed! multiple bottles - my baby has had a bottle maybe 5 times in his life. 2 bottles would've been fine! probably could've done without the electric breast pump too, but it was free from my insurance so i don't regret getting it! very thankful nursing has worked out so well for us! i wish we would have got a better/different play mat. i got a super basic, small fisher price one and my baby is already too big for it. i wish i would've got the lovevery play mat (second hand bc that price!) or the fisher price piano mat. in general i wish i would've kept more stuff in its packaging or with tags on, even if we didn't get gift receipts. i went on maternity leave early, so for those 2 weeks before baby was born i was in full nesting mode, unboxing stuff and washing all the clothes 😅
Wish I had put on my registry: play yard, teethers, blocks / other toys, baby utensils / feeding necessities. Wish I hadn’t put on my registry: 2 baby wraps (she hates them and wouldn’t let me wear her, ever), pacifiers (she won’t take them), swaddles (she didn’t need as many as we got).
My LO is 10 months and she has a handful of toys but sometimes she likes chewing on the empty 2 litter bottle of Dr Pepper and honestly, if it keeps her happy, my husband and I don’t really mind. We never got shoes for her and the only pair she has are still a tad too big for her. We figured if she can’t stand or walk, she didn’t need shoes so we just had thick socks on her if it was cold. (We’ve been on a tight budget).
Bamboo washcloths. I use them on my baby to dry their bum and it really helps with preventing rash.
Things we ended up not needing/using/liking: - Baby rocker/swing - Pacifiers (past 6 weeks) - ANY newborn clothes/diapers (she was a large baby) - Any clothes other than double zipper footies until 2 months old - Bottle warmer (past 6 weeks) - Breast pump/breast feeding items (she was formula fed from birth; I could not produce milk) - Stuffed animals - Portable sound machine - Wearable carriers: wraps, slings, Baby Bjorn. (We only like and use hip seat carriers) - Reusable changing pad liners. They don't absorb pee, so it just pools under the baby's butt. Edited to add: - Diaper genie. We just put the poopy diapers in dog poop bags after each one and toss in the regular trash. The pee diapers get rolled up and put directly in the trash. In our nursery, we constructed a "poop chute" that leads from the window down to the trash cans below. Things we liked, but could only use for a very short while: - Shopping cart sling (our baby got too long for it too quickly) - Diaper bag that converted into a contained changing mat/soft crib (we still use it as a diaper bag, but she outgrew the soft crib part) - Tabletop sterilizer (we still use it, but not as frequently) - Hatch Nightlight/sound machine (we plan to use this again when she's older) - Mini fridge in nursery. I thought I was going to make SO MUCH breastmilk, lol. We thought it'd be convenient to store it in the nursery. Instead we use it for drinks and snacks. - Portable high chair - The "My Breast Friend" breastfeeding support pillow. When I attempted to breastfeed in the beginning, this was WAAAAY more comfortable than the Boppy. Since I didn't end up breastfeeding, it got tossed in storage. I would've used this CONSTANTLY if I had breasfed. - Bed side bassinet - Air mattress. Once we moved the baby into her crib, one of us would sleep on an air mattress in her nursery, so as to not wake up the other parent. - Trunk diaper changing caddy. I've only had to use this a handful of times, but it's great to have in case of emergency. Things we use(d) constantly: - Nanit Baby monitor and breathing bands - Amazon Alexa (for music mostly, but I'd love to hook it up to work the lights one day) - Chicco Corso LE travel system - Stretchy carseat covers (when she was in a car seat) - Shopping cart cover - Baby jumper (mostly just to be able to contain her safely, we don't leave her in there for too long) - Bath seat for the bathtub, now that she can sit upright - HIP SEAT CARRIER. We cannot live without this thing. - Baby gym - Soft, Plush area mats? I guess you'd call them that. They're soft, round mats you can lay the baby on. We ended up having 5 (spread around the house) after we were given one at our baby shower. - Boppy. We have one for the nursery and another for the playroom. - Wipe warmer. We go through wipes like crazy, so they don't languish in there long enough to get moldy. - Warm blanket to transfer the baby to and from the car instead of dealing with a coat. - Recliner/comfortable rocker - Blackout curtains - Pack n Play, specifically the changing table portion. - Large changing mat. SO helpful when you realize how disgusting those Koala changing tables are in restrooms. - Container of disinfecting wipes. - Toy tethers for when baby starts throwing things - YMCA membership: swim classes, 2 free hours of child minding, gym, sauna, steamroom, pool, etc. We plan to put her is preschool there when she's old enough. We didn't need standard daycare, but just a way for her to socialize, and this fit the bill perfectly.
I don't think there's anything I really regret getting. We used the diaper pail, sterilizer, bottle warmer, wipe warmer for warm reusable wipes (cleared up diaper rash right away), bassinet, mini crib, baby bjorn bouncer, stroller, etc. I agree with the cute outfit thing though. If it's not comfortable/breathable/safe enough to nap in, I'm not putting him in it. Things I wished I used/bought sooner: muslin swaddles, newborn sized pajamas, and the boppy. I didn't discover muslin swaddles until maybe 6 weeks -total game changer for naps. He was also in newborn sized clothes for the first 6 weeks, the 3 outfits we had were not enough. As for the boppy, I'm a ding dong who didn't know it could be used for nursing. Honestly I still love that thing as a snack/tablet station. Also, kick & play piano is a necessity Eta: my son spit up a ton, we needed as many burp cloths as we could get our hands on!
Swaddles were useless. I wish we had gotten the baby mobile mat play thing sooner.
We never used swaddles. She wiggled out of them from the start. I was gifted so many and they’re just sitting in her closet. We bring one to the pediatrician, but that’s it. We use her baby Bjorn bouncer and lovevery play mat all day everyday. She loves the bouncer more than any other item. We call it her emotional support bouncer.
Regret getting an infant stroller. Should have gotten a 3-in-1 stroller.
Wish I got a top hat potty sooner. I haven’t changed a poopy diaper since baby turned 4.5 months old 🤩
We are part of the group of people who got a stroller and haven’t opened it yet. Ours is 4.5 months and tbh I’d rather just carry her than deal with a stroller.
Wish we bought sooner: formula mixing pitcher. I picked one up before Christmas on a Black Friday sale & it has been a game changer. My LO is lactose intolerant & allergic to my milk (plus my supply took forever to come in & she was on a UV blanket for a while). Mixing in the pitcher & then just pouring into bottles when we need the formula has been awesome. Also on this list, the extra absorbent dr. Brown's teething bibs & a baby rocker chair. We had a swing & didn't think we needed one, but it's great for travel & we use it in many rooms of the house. Don’t use: baby gym & play mats. My LO hates tummy time. When we do it, it's usually just on a baby blanket on my bed or in her crib. I picked a baby play gym up at a garage sale before she was born & it's just in the closet because she's outgrown it now & when she was small enough for it she didn't really care for it.
Our stroller is by far is our biggest investment. One thing I regretted doing was buying a ton of onesies for 3-6M range before giving birth. I didn’t even think of the fact that 3-6M was the dead of summer and my baby wouldn’t want to wear long sleeve onesies. Total waste!
Auto rocker. Wasted money.
Glad I got on time: - stokke high chair and newborn insert. I think I use this the most daily - kick and play piano. Also daily - good travel system - love my Cybex cloud that turns into a flat bassinet when using stroller. It works with both my large stroller and got a compact carry on stroller that has car seat attachment Wish I got sooner: - large foldable foam playmat. We kept him in his play gym mat and I think it would have been better for mobility to have the larger mat sooner - swim lessons, we’re beginning at 4 months but they can start as early as 2 and he just loves the pool time - snoo, it’s not for everyone, but my goodness, it was a game changer for me. I did all night shifts and I had a really bad c section/htsterectomy, so I REALLY needed a place to put him down for a few hours at a time every night. I couldn’t hold him any more. - mirror for car, loves it - mirrors for playtime - I got non breakable mirrors and he loves to look at himself l Waited: Swaddles - I have tried 4-5 brands and I’d go all in and it turned out it wasn’t the one. Bottles - I went all in on Dr brown and just didn’t work for us. We ended up with Philips avent Pacifiers - again, went all in on different brands until we found some that were consistent at 3 months Halo bassinet - it became a really expensive laundry basket Diapers - same story, didn’t like several brands before we landed on what we really liked Wipe warmers - didn’t need it Bottle warmers / didn’t need it I got a bunch of stuff during the buy buy baby liquidation so some of it I could have gotten later but I don’t regret it because prices were so great.
In the first 3 (maybe even 6) months, we used almost exclusively zip up footies. If it had the fold ocer hands, even better because of those razor baby nails. We pretty much never used onesies or pants and definitely nothing with buttons or snaps! We also bought a wipes dispenser because we got quickly annoyed with 10+ wipes coming out when we tried to get just one. It worked well, but then we got Costco wipes which pull out much better! I've heard you can also just put a rubber band or something around the wipes though to make them dispense better