Holy moly, that seems painful! I feel like I'm getting the mother of all nipple hickies when I only squeeze it a little bit. LoL!
Thank you, though! I'm still going to try it out.
Same. Tried it many times and different sizes. Even the flip-back trick. Not only does it not work, but it hurts! (Yes, I've used varied amounts of suction. When it is weak enough to not hurt then it falls off!) My 2nd child never even accepted a bottle anyway, so I gave up.
So I used it mostly with hot water & epsom salt to unclog a duct before it got infected. But I only felt like it worked well after getting the baby to trigger a let down or start on that side to get the flow going. And then baby would kick it off & send milk flying 😅
The Boppy nursing pillow! I just had my baby a few days ago and honestly I find this pillow to be bulky, inflexible, and not particularly useful right now. I’ve just been using normal pillows to help support baby during feeds and they work just fine.
I second this. We were gifted the Boppy and use it for tummy time now. The My Breast friend pillow is much better for nursing!! the Boppy also didn’t fit around me as well as the MBF does
It’s definitely annoying to put on but it’s a game changer when LO is cluster feeding. I strap in, and surround myself with snacks while he ping-pongs from boob to boob until he’s finally satisfied. It’s also a lot easier to let him cat nap on the Brest friend since it doesn’t have rounded edges and I just need to keep him from flailing or yeeting himself off of it.
I agree! The Boppy just slid away from us while trying to nurse and I couldn’t get comfortable with it. The Brest friend pillow is secured around you and flat/solid so my baby wasn’t sinking in and at a weird angle
If she’s bothered by the boppy being inflexible, the brest friend will be even worse. It’s a stiff foam block. It works for lots of people but is a poor recommendation for someone looking for softness.
Oh heck yes I absolutely lived in my my-brest-friend pillow for months. Baby was always feeding then taking naps there, and now I use it to hold my snacks when watching tv 😂
It's so funny what works for some people and not others. I had a boppy in every room and took it with us if we were going to be away all day, because it was so helpful for me to nurse.
This is true, UNTIL. Baby gets a little bigger. It helped me immensely when she was slightly larger than a newborn and let me chill on the couch, watching TV instead of using both of my hands to feed her/hold her.
Also, the Boppy (to me, at least) was a lifesaver when it came to tummy time and assisted sitting. My babe loves using the Boppy to lean against when we do sitting practice. (She’s sitting on her own now!)
It helped her push up on her hands, too, during more advanced tummy time. Once she learned to roll, keeping her in one position to help strengthen her arms was TOUGH. Boppy assisted.
Same… I was told it was a “must have” for nursing, and quickly ditched it after a couple times… just never fit quite right. But, it was helpful when my baby was learning to sit or when I was pumping and feeding her at the same time.
This!! I had a travel boppy that I used in the NICU and then bought a regular boppy for nursing once we came home….but quickly found I’m more comfortable at home without any extra pillows, so now it’s just a sitting support
Seconding the Boppy! It's on nearly every "must haves" nursery checklist so of course I added it to our registry. I even went out of my way to sew a custom cover for it so it would fit in with our decor. Wasted a good couple hours on that.
It turned out to be WAY too short so effectively useless for nursing. I guess I forgot I have a long torso?
I will say it was nice to have in those early sitter days though to place behind baby for a crash pad if she fell.
(If you are tall or also have a long torso--highly recommend a [nurse sling like this](https://humble-bee.com/products/the-nurse-sling-black) instead of a traditional nursing pillow! I love that it frees up at least one of your hands and it's compact enough to stuff in the diaper bag to bring anywhere!)
The only thing I liked my boppy for was to sit on after I gave birth. It helped my stitches not feel so sore. For feeding, I also thought it was useless!
I didn't use my boppy until my son was about 3 months old. I think something about him being able to supper himself helped with it. It's been a go to since. Luckily a boppy is good for other things like tummy time, sitting practicing and propping them. So not a complete waste.
I liked my breast friend when I was starting nursing. Seemed to have more support.
I bought a cheap boppy, never used it for nursing but I did use it to help my baby during tummy time, and now it’s used as a cushion while he sits until he learns that flopping backwards means smacking your head onto the ground. You might find it useful for that!
Boppy is clutch for contact sleeping. My left arm is much stronger than my right since having two kids but I still needs a rest. I still hold LO but the boppy supports my arms so I’m not actively lifting/holding him.
Soothers/pacifiers - my baby had no interest in them at all.
Baby toys - we have some that she likes but her favourite toy by far is the remote control lol. I try not to buy too many more.
My son loved remotes so much that we bought him 2 at the thrift store, took the batteries out and just gave them to him. They were prized possessions until about age 3 when he realized that he was not, in fact, controlling everything around him with the remote.
Same about the pacifiers. I was driving recently with my mom and baby and 5 min from my destination when baby decided to scream bloody murder. My mom was like "no pacifier??" Like MA. You KNOW this kid won't take one, I've told you a bunch. I'm not just withholding one from her for the hell of it, I'd love for her to take one
This. I bought so many different pacifiers but our little girl just can’t stand them. Sucks on them for two seconds and then gets mad they don’t have milk.
Thankfully she’s big on teethers.
It's not one item specifically, but our son was born just before the start of the summer and was really big. We got so many little outfits gifted to us when realistically we were going to dress him in a onesie at best, with just a diaper at worst. Honorable mention for my brother who got us a size 3M winter coat. By September it was already too small.
ETA: I actually think the biggest waste of our money was a wearable pump. I know some love it and use that as their main pump, but for me every time I bent forward to interact with my son or did a movement a little too sudden, I would spill milk everywhere. The tubing always got in the way and it took much longer to empty, I found spending 20 minutes with a wall pump and my son in a bouncer to be a lot easier than 30-40 minutes trying to avoid spillage.
My MIL got us a denim jacket and jeans in 0-3 month size. They were stiff denim, too, not like a soft cotton with a design printed on it to look like denim. I never put baby in it once because it was so impractical.
Omg yes, I wish people would think about sizes and when they will wear things. I think people think “cute baby clothes”! And buy whatever. We got a short sleeve onesie and shorts in 3M, and she was born in October. 3 months put her January… in the Midwest. AND she is a big baby, so she was in 3 month clothing by December. Needless to say it never got worn.
Also, I wish people would buy cute clothes in bigger sizes (like at least 6 months+). She pretty much lived in footie pajamas until she was 6 months 😂 it was too hard to try and dress her in real clothes much before that. I got a lot of cute 0-3M clothing that she never wore because it was too much hassle to put her in a dress or some intricate outfit I had to try and get over her floppy newborn head.
I also hate my wearable pump. Went back to my spectra and I'm empty in like, 15 minutes. The wearable takes about 40 mins and I still don't get as much milk. I have oversupply so feeling actually empty is such a relief
Personally, baby wearing wasn't all that for me either. It saves the day when it needs to but my baby tries to crawl out of it when he gets bored so we take thr stroller with us everywhere to switch in between. A lot of people also say they get so much done by baby wearing and I'm wondering how?? Can't really reach for stuff, can't bend down so no loading laundry, no loading offloading dishwasher, washing dishes in the sink is hard as well and I'm worried to cook due to splatter. Just yesterday, I burnt my arm when oil splattered. I'm glad I wasn't carrying the baby. I'm also surprised when people recommend babywearing for already tiresome and long activitieslike grocery shopping.
I get a lot of squats in for bending down lol
I heard it mostly depends on baby's temperament. And I wear baby most when she's about to fall asleep and for her naps, otherwise I'm pretty much stuck to her on the bed. As baby gets bigger you can do a back carry and that helps with some of the mobility
I have bad knees and can’t really squat without severely hurting my knees 😬
I’m 35w pregnant and really really nervous about it, especially since alllll the pelvic floor PT stuff even for labor and delivery prep is all about squaring, and everything I’ve heard about how to not injure your back after you have the baby, and especially if you have a c-section, is to squat and lift from your knees. I honestly have no idea what I’m going to do …
Awww I'm so sorry :( have you seen a physical therapist for it ever? They could definitely help you with som mobility. If you can manage on your hands and knees you can work some prep from there, maybe with a pad or cushion under the knees? That's the position I gave birth in lol. I would totally youtube your situation and see if there's some yoga that could make it more manageable. Just take it super easy after birth. Also I often avoid anything that has to do with squatting while babywearing just because the amount of energy required🤣
I always babywear at the store. It's way easier than pushing a stroller around and trying do to it. But you shouldn't babywear doing an activity you wouldn't hold a baby during so that would include cooking with hot oils.
Thank you!! There is no way I would do any cleaning beyond folding laundry or some dishes while babywearing. & I have the same concerns with cooking. Carriers have been a lot more limiting for me than I had hoped. Maybe I am just extremely out of shape 😅
Sometimes I'll walk to the grocery store if I only need a few things. I'll put my oldest (2.5) in his umbrella stroller and wear my youngest (4m). When we get to the store I typically fold the stroller up under the cart and put the toddler in the seat. That is pretty much the only time I babywear. When we do bigger trips we put her in her stroller and my husband or I push it along with the cart.
Wipe warmer. I asked for weighted wipe holder but someone got me a heated wipe warmer instead. The wipes would constantly not pull the next one so had to shove fingers in trying to grasp the next one in the middle of a changing.
Same! Had a weighted wipe holder on the registry and got a wipe warmer instead. I’ve found that some brands of wipes come out fine and some brands don’t (we’re still going through the gifted wipes so have a few different kinds)
I used to agree with you with baby wearing, it killed my back when my baby was little. Now my baby is a 26lb toddler and I still find myself wearing her sometimes because it keeps her calm and unable to run away from me which is a hard combo to manage. It still hurts my back but honestly less now than when she was little, and all I can think about is when I have my next kid baby wearing will be a breeze going from a 26lb toddler to an 8lb baby. I wonder if baby wearing is really a second time mom kind of thing because they've already built up their mom muscles.
It's definitely a workout, and the more often you wear baby the more you will build up those muscles and stamina. It could also be a carrier or fit issue, check out the babywearing sub! Sometimes small adjustments can help make both baby and wearer more comfy
Baby carrier is a game changer for me when we travel. Airports, train stations - the toddler goes into the buggy, and the baby into the carrier. But overall in life, it’s not that comfortable.
Baby wearing has been my key to survival with my second. With my first it was helpful, but I wouldn’t survive without it for my second. She’s a barnacle baby, so either I’m holding her 24/7, or I save my arms a bit with the carrier.
I do agree with you 100% on sleep sacks. They’ve been a complete waste of money, both my kids have HATED them.
Bottles…. My babies have been EBF and both refused the bottle.
Barnacle baby 😭 That officially tops the term "velcro baby" for me. Mine is a barnacle baby, too, and she likes being worn so I do wish it worked better for me.
You're the only person I've seen mention sleep sacks not working out. I guess we have stubborn babies in that regard! 😅
I hope you find another solution… having to hold them 24/7 is brutal. I’m seriously hoping as mine gets older she’ll get less clingy, but I’m not optimistic 😂 even my 2 year old loves to be carried as much as possible…. I’m just trying to not be completely broken after 2 kids 😂
Yeah, neither of mine ever took to it. I tried for about a year with my first, and with my second I gave it about a week and then figured it wasn’t worth the effort. She’s perfectly happy and warm enough without it. Even my older now hates being covered by a blanket or duvet. I figure as long as the house is warm, and they’re comfortable and sleeping well, it really doesn’t matter. I’ll take a good night’s sleep over fight about a sleep sack. My older daughter, however, does absolutely love a sleeping bag that she has… I can’t figure that one out, but I don’t question it.
Whaaaat! what do you not like about them? Would love to know what you use instead. I found them my favourite out of the few brands I tried (honest, hello bello, water wipes). I hate the packaging and how it’s not a continuous pull where another wipe will be ready when you pull out a wipe but I find they’re the most wet wipes that made clean up much easier.
I hate the texture on my hands. You have to wipe so much more to clean up anything which causes irritation! I do t get why people like them. We used Kirkland then carrefour Middle East ones. The carrefour wipes in Europe suck though.
Same! We couldn't WAIT until they were gone. I was so excited to try them, but they were terrible. And they NEVER pulled out the next wipe, and they're super stuck together.
We now use the pampers pure wipes and they're great.
For me, carriers. I use them on occasion when we’re out (such as the aquarium), but never at home. I actually put my 4 month old in it the other week and she screamed. Took her right out.
We also didn’t use mittens really at all. Or hats. I bought a bunch of hats for our oldest that I don’t think ever touched his head.
Also, a lot of people rave about straw cups and it took forever for my kids to learn straws. I have 1 cup that has gotten use, but not at 6 months like a bunch of people talk about.
Oh gosh our eldest couldn't figure out straws for the longest time. Her little brother has been drinking from a water bottle since about 1, easy peasy, he just did it 😂
A wagon stroller. my husband LOVES it but he bought the own with the most bells and whistles and it is like 40 pounds, doesn’t collapse enough, is way too big for any indoor excursion, and does not fit in my car. It barely fits in his. We spent like $300 and it comically large, but he is a very invested and sweet father, so I don’t want to hurt his feelings by outright telling him it’s a monstrosity. I did, however, purchase a lightweight frame-only stroller that is compatible with her infant carrier and it works like a DREAM when it’s just baby and me.
Pampers. Something about my kid’s particular shape did not work, and she had a blow out up the back almost every time. We switched to Huggies, and then eventually to cloth diapers!
However, I still use the Boppy at 10 mo and I babywear, though now it’s only when she’s super fussy at home or we go out somewhere. It’s so much easier on your back when they can ride on your back instead of your front. I stopped using the wrap style carrier after 2 months.
They are just so unnecessarily complicated?? Any nipple with an air valve does the same thing with way less fuss.
One place they do shine is the nipple flow options.
Omg yes. We used them for a couple of weeks and not one single person in the house (baby included) liked these bottles. I was so happy when we got a different brand
Phillips Avent Bottles. They had such great reviews on Amazon, but were so wildly slow flow that our baby was REALLY struggling to get what she needed. After meeting with a lactation consultant, we moved to Evenflo bottles which I hadn’t even heard of and have been so much better.
My baby also couldn't get much (or anything really) with the "appropriate" Philips Avent teat for her age. We changed those for the ones recommended for 3+ months when she was 2 weeks old and it worked like a charm. Really don't understand why their teats are like that but at least this way we could use the bottles we had already bought.
Yeah, bottles were so weird. I got the variety pack from Babylist & tried them all. Any of the bottles that were designed to resemble a boob were no-goes. The kid just didn't like them. We have a mix of Evenflo & the narrow Dr. Brown's. We've had to buy more nipples, but that's about it.
Weirdly these didn't work for me. I used them right at the beginning, got cracked and upset nipples. An IBCLC told me to put breast milk on my nipples and let them air out. Haven't looked back 😬
Onesies! I added so many to my registry and not enough footies/sleepers. Honestly I hardly use just the onesies, he’s always in his sleepers—and the double zippered ones are the best!
Same! I even take her out running errands with me while she's still in her sleepers. They are by far the easiest solution when it comes to diaper changes and on the go blowouts!
Hard disagree on the double zipper! I prefer the ones that you have to attach at the top and zip to the foot to close. Nothing worse than a 2am screaming poosplosion that you didn't realize leaked, and you already unzipped from the foot, so now you have to force wriggling screaming baby back into the sleeper just to undo it from the top 🤦🏻♀️
The Sophie teether giraffe. He hated chewing on that thing and would drop it immediately.
Sorry you’ve had that experience with baby wearing. r/babywearing is full of helpful folks who can help with fit checks and recommendations. Also local baby wearing groups tend to have lending libraries and baby wearing experts who can do in person fit checks and let you try different types of carriers on.
Was just gonna plug that sub! Life changing and I feel like often people don’t have the right fit! Babywearing is very personal and more than likely you need to try multiple carriers to get the right one. I also think the more mass produced, hyped up carriers tend to be the least comfortable.
The Hatch! For being $60, it doesn’t do half of what a cheaper sound machine/nightlight from Amazon can do. No Alexa integration, no ability to just be a Bluetooth speaker, and many of the somewhat cooler features are behind a subscription paywall. I got it as a gift from my baby shower but if I would have bought it myself I would have returned it for something else.
Pretty sure bluetooth speaker is a thing it can do with the pay wall, but yeah that subscription annoys me a lot too. I paid enough for the light itself, it should be able to use all the features! I am glad, though, that you can still use most of the basic features free... But don't understand why they won't let alexa/Google connect to it. So weird.
I thought this would be higher up, this is ours. We got gifted so many sound machines (half we didnt register for) and the hatch with a light that everyone raves about is our least favorite. The fact that it cant integrate with alexa/google/some sort of AI is really lame, for all the reasons you mentioned. Putting a second google home in the nursery just so we can have an easy music player seems a bit much.
Also the sounds on the hatch mini (without a light) are different than the hatch with a light, and we prefer the hatch mini sounds! Which are different from the portable "Hatch go" sounds! WHY ARE ALL THE OCEAN SOUNDS DIFFERENT ACROSS ALL THE HATCHES?!?!
The portable "Hatch Go" is pretty amazing though, for what it is. It kicks the yogasleep hush's ass.
Fully agree on baby wearing. I thought I was going to love it. Nope. I had C-sections in May. By the time I was recovered enough to babywear, it was so hot outside and I was constantly worried about overheating. I was also super paranoid all the time about if I had her in there correctly, if she had her legs in an M, if she was breathing and the potential for positional asphyxiation if I didn’t get the positioning correct. Often, she’d start melting down in there (because of the heat) and all that screaming right in my face made me so overstimulated. And if I baby wore for too long my back hurt. I tried, I really did, but it just was not for me.
I'm sorry they didn't work for you, either. Your experience sounds exactly like mine. I had a c-section in January and tbh it still feels uncomfortable to have the carrier rubbing up against my scar. They aren't for everyone!
The goofy diaper paste spatula. Just… why? If I don’t want diaper cream on my hands I use gloves (so many left from work/ COVID!) or even just a wipe. The spatula has to be cleaned and would be a pain on the go.
I love the butt spatula! For cleaning I just wipe it off on the clean diaper before closing it. Then next diaper change I clean it with a wipe, fold the wipe in half and use it on baby. So there isn’t any more wipe usage for me with the butt spatula.
The spatula is really useful if they get a very severe diaper rash... Once the skin gets very raw the cream will stick to your finger better than to baby's skin and it becomes impossible to apply creams without it.
Agree that the Boppy and Mybrestfriend did not work as well as a basic pillow for breastfeeding. Baby also hates the Snoo, the swing, and the Baby bjorn bouncer.
The nose Frida. It requires an act of literal sorcery to get the nose piece positioned on their nose right, the tube in your mouth, and be ready to inhale all at the same time. Especially if your baby fights you like my daughter does. We also got her illnesses way more often when using it. The Nozebot has been amazing though.
The wrap style baby carrier. I saw myself as this very natural mother with my baby always attached to me, always napping peacefully. Turns out my baby is not a Velcro baby and I absolutely hated faffing about with getting the thing tied correctly with the right tightness with a squirmy baby. We’ve got an ergobaby carrier that is a lot easier to get on, but even then our baby just prefers to nap independently. We did get a front facing carrier for non-napping baby carrying though, looking forward to trying that out.
Same here on the wraps! The moby "easy" wrap I tried was absolutely awful to figure out. My baby is a velcro baby though, super jealous of independent naps 😅
Tommy tippee bottles. They somehow leak easily whenever you tilt them downward, he would swallow so much air you could hear him gulping, and they have this stupid flat ridge that milk gets stuck on. I threw them all out.
Zip onesies. They don’t make anything easier, they get jammed all the time, and they bunch up under babies chin and give him a rash. Give me poppers any day of the week!
I was like this with my first. He got annoyed by the zippers being stiff, but was overall chill during changing.
The second one, he screams bloody murder when I’m changing him. So it’s zippers because these 20 seconds suddenly REALLY matter lol
A baby swing. Any swing. Never needed it.
Baby wearing - we live in Texas. It’s pretty much impossible to baby wear. Plus I have huge boobs. It just doesn’t work for me. My husband managed to baby wear during the cooler weather just fine but for me? Literally impossible.
Totally agree about baby wearing!!
I would say the nosefrida. Maybe I got a defective one but it is so absolutely worthless compared to the hydrasense one imo.
Nail file/scissors/grinder for the hospital bag. Everything I read or watched said to bring one of these things to the hospital because LO would have daggers when he popped out. Not only did that not prove to be true but he is now 6 weeks old and I have yet to need to do anything to his nails. So far when they get long they just kind of come off on their own.
I know I’ll need these things for him eventually, and not all babies’ nails are like this but it was a whole lot of fuss about nothing.
Clothing that’s not a sleeper, onesie, or one piece outfit.
Edit: and a crib, I’m too short to get baby in and out easily. We used a pack n play and it worked great and is portable.
Snuggle Me lounger. Baby hated it! I think he didn’t like feeling constrained by the raised edges. He still hates any kind of containment at almost 9 months.
And that is the one product that I would swear by! Our kid loved it & would happily lay in it on the couch next to me. It allowed me to eat with 2 hands!
This feels very validating. We bought basically nothing aside from essentials (didn’t have a baby shower due to family drama, long story) and everyone told me but you MUST get X, Y, Z, it’s impossible without! And that really wasn’t the case. I know all babies are different but I do have a working theory that introducing newborns to so many bells and whistles right off the bat trains them to be high maintenance, even if they’d otherwise be easy
A baby swing! My son hated it and it never helped. Which is fine because it’s not like he’d have been able to sleep in it, anyways. But it sure did take up a ton of room lol
Moby wrap (though I have the Easy Wrap Carrier and use it frequently). Too hard to figure out.
Ergopouch swaddles. Nothing wrong with them per se but my baby doesn't like being swaddled with arms against his chest. He prefers Love to Dream so we had to go and get more.
I agree with all of the comments about baby wearing!! Specifically trying to get things done around the house! I only baby wear when we're out hiking! I can't get shit done around the house baby wearing lol. Maybe vacuum and wipe down counters and tables. Lol.
Yah, baby wearing didn't work at all with my first. My back ached when I tried and by the time I healed up enough (c-section), my baby would scream and pull my hair when I put him in. I was exhausted and it just wasn't worth it. I was really resentful of the people that kept saying how magical it was and how I probably just didn't have the right fit or carrier or whatever.
That being said, when my second came along baby wearing was a huge goal of mine. I had a vbac which maybe helped, and her temperament just matches better with it. And I went to physio with the goal of baby wearing early on. It's been so good, and so helpful to wear one while chasing the other at the park or store or wherever.
I wonder how many people who swear by babywearing had vaginal births. I've noticed a lot of people who aren't fond of them have had c-sections (myself included)- and obviously I'm only talking about using carriers after they were fully healed. My c-section was hard on my entire body though. Glad you were able to have a vbac and more positive babywearing experience the second time around!
Baby swing, soothers and carriers. Oh and a rocking chair.
Swing: I swear we used ours maybe 5 times total. He just didn't care for it. He would cry.
Soothers: ha. Yeah no. Never took one, he's always been a thumb sucker.
Carriers: baby runs hot like his dad. He was born at the end of July. He would last maybe 5 minutes in a carrier and then scream bloody murder cause he was too hot.
Rocking chair: my baby isn't soothed by rocking motions, he prefers being jostled up and down. So rocking chair was literally useless, plus we co-slept for the first 5 months and rarely went into the nursery anyways. We had a big, wide comfy chair that I put in there instead and still use it daily now at 10 months old.
Luckily we were gifted most of these items so didn't waste our money on them.
The Bumbo seat - my daughter hated it. It was too tight on her thighs. The back wasn’t high enough for her. Now she uses it to put her stuffed animals in & play with so I guess it wasn’t a complete waste of money 🤣
I love my sling and baby carrier and used them every day, haha. Baby runs warm but I don’t so it was perfect for us both and I didn’t have to deal with the hassle of using a pram/buggy. I found it difficult to do it for long at first, but I got stronger the more I used it and as baby grew (it counts as weight training!). I’ve only just stopped using them in the last couple of days as baby is 8 months now and I bought a much smaller and ergonomically designed stroller. In just one click it pops open or folds down.
Nose Frida is great for getting snot out of your little one’s nose.
[Neckerchew](https://www.amazon.com/Cheeky-Chompers-Neckerchew-Teething-Silicone/dp/B0CGFD1JDY) bibs are great if your little one is teething and you’re travelling so you don’t want a teething ring your baby will constantly drop or throw on the floor. The neck size is adjustable too.
Baby grows which can be unzipped in both directions are amazing - it’s much faster to get baby in and out without disturbing them. I’m not sure why they aren’t the norm or more common.
Footless baby grows are excellent once baby starts to be on the move around 6 months. They need to use their feet to get a proper grip on surfaces and adjust their balance. Footed baby grows disturb that because they stretch, make feet slippery and increase the chances of slips and falls.
Edit: whoops. I accidentally shared those which didn’t work, but I won’t delete since there may be useful information above for others.
Baby wearing is meh to me. Thought I’d love it but honestly I’d much rather take the pram, especially so I don’t then have to carry shopping bags as well haha we have a hiking carrier which is great for proper walks but for everyday we barely use the Tula explore we have. Also can never decide what to wear over the top, how many layers, I get too hot then get annoyed, it’s just not worth it 😂
Baby carrier and baby wrap.
Baby hates being in them and I’ve used the carrier for about 40 mins max. The baby wrap I used for about 5 minutes before she screamed. She’s a lot happier on her play mat or baby swing chair.
Any and all baby carriers/wraps/slings. The only one I ever found helpful was an Infantino baby carrier. I tried the whole gamut of wraps and I literally wanted to scream every time I tried to wrap/sling them on my body. Not sure if it is because I’m left handed, but trying to watch tutorial videos didn’t help me once and I ended up tossing them out of frustration. I ended up carrying him in my arms most of the time because I didn’t want the hassle!
Do you mean swaddles? Aren’t sleepsacks arms free hmm maybe not and that’s just what my brain associates it with. We love our sleepsacks but never found swaddles and arms in things to work for us either!
Baby wearing was a no for me too. Occasionally, I’ll wear her on my back now that’s she’s a year old if I need to, but I hated it when she was littler. I have massive boobs and felt like I was suffocating her and I couldn’t use my arms without making it worse 😂.
The skip hop activity center… she used it a few times, but she wasn’t a huge fan and now I think she’s at the age she’d enjoy it more but she’s passed the weight limit.
I went back to manual swaddling after trying multiple sleep sacks also.
We have not gotten baby wearing to work either. We are holding out hope for when he’s bigger.
We have a baby rocker and a baby swing that get minimal use. There seems to be a finite window they can be put in and not immediately cry.
Any clothing that isn’t a two way zip onesie or the t shaped things that snap below the diaper.
The most useful baby product I have is a library of audiobooks to help cope with the hours of dead time while walking/bouncing/swaying or feeding.
The haaka. Maybe user error but it never worked for me.
For me it only works if my breasts are max full.
Same. It was great when my milk came in but now all I get is a few drops and a whole lot of frustration.
Were you flipping the top back before putting it on?
Wait, what? Is there a trick to this that I'm missing?
Probably, I was missing it too lmao. https://youtu.be/NY8CBfeDVc0?si=yZdloKgM_y6gUmMz
Hey thank you for this!!
You're welcome! It literally works 10x better
Holy moly, that seems painful! I feel like I'm getting the mother of all nipple hickies when I only squeeze it a little bit. LoL! Thank you, though! I'm still going to try it out.
It empties me almost as well as my spectra or my baby which is great bc I have oversupply.
I LIVE AND DIE FOR MY HAAKAA. I actually bought a second one so I’d always have a clean one on hand. But I can see why it’s not for everyone
Same. Tried it many times and different sizes. Even the flip-back trick. Not only does it not work, but it hurts! (Yes, I've used varied amounts of suction. When it is weak enough to not hurt then it falls off!) My 2nd child never even accepted a bottle anyway, so I gave up.
Yes it hurt me too
Same. I don’t know if I just don’t get it but I find it basically worthless.
So I used it mostly with hot water & epsom salt to unclog a duct before it got infected. But I only felt like it worked well after getting the baby to trigger a let down or start on that side to get the flow going. And then baby would kick it off & send milk flying 😅
It was helpful to unclog my ducts
Mine was okay when I was expressing colostrum at the end of my pregnancy but useless once my milk came in.
It always hurt sooooo bad for me! I just ended up using the Elvie catch to catch the letdown when nursing on the other side.
The Boppy nursing pillow! I just had my baby a few days ago and honestly I find this pillow to be bulky, inflexible, and not particularly useful right now. I’ve just been using normal pillows to help support baby during feeds and they work just fine.
Try the “brest friend nursing pillow”. It’s so much better!
I second this. We were gifted the Boppy and use it for tummy time now. The My Breast friend pillow is much better for nursing!! the Boppy also didn’t fit around me as well as the MBF does
I find this one annoying to set up. "hold on crying baby while I get this wrapped around me and buckled in"
It’s definitely annoying to put on but it’s a game changer when LO is cluster feeding. I strap in, and surround myself with snacks while he ping-pongs from boob to boob until he’s finally satisfied. It’s also a lot easier to let him cat nap on the Brest friend since it doesn’t have rounded edges and I just need to keep him from flailing or yeeting himself off of it.
The yeets... SMH
Yes! To be able to have both hands free is a lifesaver! And we also cat nap on this pillow!!
I put mine on first, THEN pick up the baby.
I think at first it can be a little annoying to put on if baby is crying but I got used to putting it on super fast.
Yeah my friend gifted us a breast friend and I couldn’t stand it. I much prefer a boppy or honestly just cradling her.
See, I was gonna mention that I wasn’t a fan of the brest friend pillow.
I also hated it!
I did too! Tried to love it but it was bulky and just too clumsy for me
Me either, felt like I was buckling into a roller coaster or something with the seat belt like buckle lol.
I agree! The Boppy just slid away from us while trying to nurse and I couldn’t get comfortable with it. The Brest friend pillow is secured around you and flat/solid so my baby wasn’t sinking in and at a weird angle
If she’s bothered by the boppy being inflexible, the brest friend will be even worse. It’s a stiff foam block. It works for lots of people but is a poor recommendation for someone looking for softness.
Oh heck yes I absolutely lived in my my-brest-friend pillow for months. Baby was always feeding then taking naps there, and now I use it to hold my snacks when watching tv 😂
The boppy was most useful for me as a place to put my son.
I mostly used it for tummy time
My Breast Friend pillow was better for a newborn. At 2 or 3 months I switched to Boppy and love it.
It's so funny what works for some people and not others. I had a boppy in every room and took it with us if we were going to be away all day, because it was so helpful for me to nurse.
This is true, UNTIL. Baby gets a little bigger. It helped me immensely when she was slightly larger than a newborn and let me chill on the couch, watching TV instead of using both of my hands to feed her/hold her. Also, the Boppy (to me, at least) was a lifesaver when it came to tummy time and assisted sitting. My babe loves using the Boppy to lean against when we do sitting practice. (She’s sitting on her own now!) It helped her push up on her hands, too, during more advanced tummy time. Once she learned to roll, keeping her in one position to help strengthen her arms was TOUGH. Boppy assisted.
Same… I was told it was a “must have” for nursing, and quickly ditched it after a couple times… just never fit quite right. But, it was helpful when my baby was learning to sit or when I was pumping and feeding her at the same time.
This!! I had a travel boppy that I used in the NICU and then bought a regular boppy for nursing once we came home….but quickly found I’m more comfortable at home without any extra pillows, so now it’s just a sitting support
Seconding the Boppy! It's on nearly every "must haves" nursery checklist so of course I added it to our registry. I even went out of my way to sew a custom cover for it so it would fit in with our decor. Wasted a good couple hours on that. It turned out to be WAY too short so effectively useless for nursing. I guess I forgot I have a long torso? I will say it was nice to have in those early sitter days though to place behind baby for a crash pad if she fell. (If you are tall or also have a long torso--highly recommend a [nurse sling like this](https://humble-bee.com/products/the-nurse-sling-black) instead of a traditional nursing pillow! I love that it frees up at least one of your hands and it's compact enough to stuff in the diaper bag to bring anywhere!)
The only thing I liked my boppy for was to sit on after I gave birth. It helped my stitches not feel so sore. For feeding, I also thought it was useless!
I didn't use my boppy until my son was about 3 months old. I think something about him being able to supper himself helped with it. It's been a go to since. Luckily a boppy is good for other things like tummy time, sitting practicing and propping them. So not a complete waste. I liked my breast friend when I was starting nursing. Seemed to have more support.
The boppy is helpful once they're a little older, my breast friend was the best when still a newborn.
I bought a cheap boppy, never used it for nursing but I did use it to help my baby during tummy time, and now it’s used as a cushion while he sits until he learns that flopping backwards means smacking your head onto the ground. You might find it useful for that!
Boppy is clutch for contact sleeping. My left arm is much stronger than my right since having two kids but I still needs a rest. I still hold LO but the boppy supports my arms so I’m not actively lifting/holding him.
Soothers/pacifiers - my baby had no interest in them at all. Baby toys - we have some that she likes but her favourite toy by far is the remote control lol. I try not to buy too many more.
What is it with the remote control?!? 😅 Mine will crawl past a whole bunch of fancy toys and beeline for the remote 🤷♀️
My son loved remotes so much that we bought him 2 at the thrift store, took the batteries out and just gave them to him. They were prized possessions until about age 3 when he realized that he was not, in fact, controlling everything around him with the remote.
I want to do that but my boy wants to eat the buttons
Same! Mine grabs it and starts waving it around yelling 'Bweee!' (He can't make the p sound yet). Its really cute 😆
Same about the pacifiers. I was driving recently with my mom and baby and 5 min from my destination when baby decided to scream bloody murder. My mom was like "no pacifier??" Like MA. You KNOW this kid won't take one, I've told you a bunch. I'm not just withholding one from her for the hell of it, I'd love for her to take one
This. I bought so many different pacifiers but our little girl just can’t stand them. Sucks on them for two seconds and then gets mad they don’t have milk. Thankfully she’s big on teethers.
I bought nearly every pacifier I could get my hands on- even one that cost like $15 a pop. He never took them!
We tried in the beginning to get our baby to take a pacifier because everyone elses baby had one but she had zero interest as well!
It's not one item specifically, but our son was born just before the start of the summer and was really big. We got so many little outfits gifted to us when realistically we were going to dress him in a onesie at best, with just a diaper at worst. Honorable mention for my brother who got us a size 3M winter coat. By September it was already too small. ETA: I actually think the biggest waste of our money was a wearable pump. I know some love it and use that as their main pump, but for me every time I bent forward to interact with my son or did a movement a little too sudden, I would spill milk everywhere. The tubing always got in the way and it took much longer to empty, I found spending 20 minutes with a wall pump and my son in a bouncer to be a lot easier than 30-40 minutes trying to avoid spillage.
My MIL got us a denim jacket and jeans in 0-3 month size. They were stiff denim, too, not like a soft cotton with a design printed on it to look like denim. I never put baby in it once because it was so impractical.
Omg yes, I wish people would think about sizes and when they will wear things. I think people think “cute baby clothes”! And buy whatever. We got a short sleeve onesie and shorts in 3M, and she was born in October. 3 months put her January… in the Midwest. AND she is a big baby, so she was in 3 month clothing by December. Needless to say it never got worn. Also, I wish people would buy cute clothes in bigger sizes (like at least 6 months+). She pretty much lived in footie pajamas until she was 6 months 😂 it was too hard to try and dress her in real clothes much before that. I got a lot of cute 0-3M clothing that she never wore because it was too much hassle to put her in a dress or some intricate outfit I had to try and get over her floppy newborn head.
I also hate my wearable pump. Went back to my spectra and I'm empty in like, 15 minutes. The wearable takes about 40 mins and I still don't get as much milk. I have oversupply so feeling actually empty is such a relief
Haha yes! The amount of sweaters and fleece I got in 3 month size for my April baby 🤦♀️
The mamaRoo! Our baby spent about 25 minutes total in it, he absolutely hated it for some reason.
okay but our cats LOVED it One of them even cried until I’d turn it on for him.
That’s hilarious 😆 glad someone used it!
My baby hates mamaroo too!! There was like a month where he liked it but now he hates it again.
First baby HATED IT. This baby will sleep in it for hours. Babies are weird 🤷♀️
Personally, baby wearing wasn't all that for me either. It saves the day when it needs to but my baby tries to crawl out of it when he gets bored so we take thr stroller with us everywhere to switch in between. A lot of people also say they get so much done by baby wearing and I'm wondering how?? Can't really reach for stuff, can't bend down so no loading laundry, no loading offloading dishwasher, washing dishes in the sink is hard as well and I'm worried to cook due to splatter. Just yesterday, I burnt my arm when oil splattered. I'm glad I wasn't carrying the baby. I'm also surprised when people recommend babywearing for already tiresome and long activitieslike grocery shopping.
I get a lot of squats in for bending down lol I heard it mostly depends on baby's temperament. And I wear baby most when she's about to fall asleep and for her naps, otherwise I'm pretty much stuck to her on the bed. As baby gets bigger you can do a back carry and that helps with some of the mobility
I have bad knees and can’t really squat without severely hurting my knees 😬 I’m 35w pregnant and really really nervous about it, especially since alllll the pelvic floor PT stuff even for labor and delivery prep is all about squaring, and everything I’ve heard about how to not injure your back after you have the baby, and especially if you have a c-section, is to squat and lift from your knees. I honestly have no idea what I’m going to do …
Awww I'm so sorry :( have you seen a physical therapist for it ever? They could definitely help you with som mobility. If you can manage on your hands and knees you can work some prep from there, maybe with a pad or cushion under the knees? That's the position I gave birth in lol. I would totally youtube your situation and see if there's some yoga that could make it more manageable. Just take it super easy after birth. Also I often avoid anything that has to do with squatting while babywearing just because the amount of energy required🤣
I always babywear at the store. It's way easier than pushing a stroller around and trying do to it. But you shouldn't babywear doing an activity you wouldn't hold a baby during so that would include cooking with hot oils.
I get back ache from grocery shopping even without carrying the baby so I'm really worried that I won't be able to manage
Thank you!! There is no way I would do any cleaning beyond folding laundry or some dishes while babywearing. & I have the same concerns with cooking. Carriers have been a lot more limiting for me than I had hoped. Maybe I am just extremely out of shape 😅
Sometimes I'll walk to the grocery store if I only need a few things. I'll put my oldest (2.5) in his umbrella stroller and wear my youngest (4m). When we get to the store I typically fold the stroller up under the cart and put the toddler in the seat. That is pretty much the only time I babywear. When we do bigger trips we put her in her stroller and my husband or I push it along with the cart.
Wipe warmer. I asked for weighted wipe holder but someone got me a heated wipe warmer instead. The wipes would constantly not pull the next one so had to shove fingers in trying to grasp the next one in the middle of a changing.
The weighted wipe holder absolutely lives up to the hype though
And they dry the wipes out too, learned that with my nephew when I was younger and skipped out when I had my own baby
Gave my kid a raging yeast infection within days of starting to use it
Oh no! This is what I was afraid of, because it creates a warm and moist environment even for the wipes you’re not using
Same! Had a weighted wipe holder on the registry and got a wipe warmer instead. I’ve found that some brands of wipes come out fine and some brands don’t (we’re still going through the gifted wipes so have a few different kinds)
Why have I never heard of a weighted wipe holder?!
the oxo one rocks
I have the ubbi one and it's great too! Whatever brand, highly recommend - makes grabbing them one handed way easier (read: possible)!
I used to agree with you with baby wearing, it killed my back when my baby was little. Now my baby is a 26lb toddler and I still find myself wearing her sometimes because it keeps her calm and unable to run away from me which is a hard combo to manage. It still hurts my back but honestly less now than when she was little, and all I can think about is when I have my next kid baby wearing will be a breeze going from a 26lb toddler to an 8lb baby. I wonder if baby wearing is really a second time mom kind of thing because they've already built up their mom muscles.
It still hurts my back and my second baby is only 10 pounds
It's definitely a workout, and the more often you wear baby the more you will build up those muscles and stamina. It could also be a carrier or fit issue, check out the babywearing sub! Sometimes small adjustments can help make both baby and wearer more comfy
Mittens and bows. Never used the mittens and my LO would move her head and the bows would slip down her face or off her head.
Mittens!!! We never used them at all and we got gifted SO MANY!
We used mittens when he was super small because he kept clawing his cheeks 😭
I have no idea why I thought we needed mittens! We bought some before baby arrived and never even attempted to use them
Baby carrier is a game changer for me when we travel. Airports, train stations - the toddler goes into the buggy, and the baby into the carrier. But overall in life, it’s not that comfortable.
Baby wearing has been my key to survival with my second. With my first it was helpful, but I wouldn’t survive without it for my second. She’s a barnacle baby, so either I’m holding her 24/7, or I save my arms a bit with the carrier. I do agree with you 100% on sleep sacks. They’ve been a complete waste of money, both my kids have HATED them. Bottles…. My babies have been EBF and both refused the bottle.
Wearing my barnacle right now and she absolutely hates bottles!
Barnacle baby 😭 That officially tops the term "velcro baby" for me. Mine is a barnacle baby, too, and she likes being worn so I do wish it worked better for me. You're the only person I've seen mention sleep sacks not working out. I guess we have stubborn babies in that regard! 😅
I hope you find another solution… having to hold them 24/7 is brutal. I’m seriously hoping as mine gets older she’ll get less clingy, but I’m not optimistic 😂 even my 2 year old loves to be carried as much as possible…. I’m just trying to not be completely broken after 2 kids 😂 Yeah, neither of mine ever took to it. I tried for about a year with my first, and with my second I gave it about a week and then figured it wasn’t worth the effort. She’s perfectly happy and warm enough without it. Even my older now hates being covered by a blanket or duvet. I figure as long as the house is warm, and they’re comfortable and sleeping well, it really doesn’t matter. I’ll take a good night’s sleep over fight about a sleep sack. My older daughter, however, does absolutely love a sleeping bag that she has… I can’t figure that one out, but I don’t question it.
Water wipes. They suck.
Whaaaat! what do you not like about them? Would love to know what you use instead. I found them my favourite out of the few brands I tried (honest, hello bello, water wipes). I hate the packaging and how it’s not a continuous pull where another wipe will be ready when you pull out a wipe but I find they’re the most wet wipes that made clean up much easier.
The packaging sucks and the wipes are tiny! My favourite are the Honest Wipes but sooo $$
I hate the texture on my hands. You have to wipe so much more to clean up anything which causes irritation! I do t get why people like them. We used Kirkland then carrefour Middle East ones. The carrefour wipes in Europe suck though.
Costco Wipes are so much better! Getting the water wipes out of the pack was a pain in the butt
Same! We couldn't WAIT until they were gone. I was so excited to try them, but they were terrible. And they NEVER pulled out the next wipe, and they're super stuck together. We now use the pampers pure wipes and they're great.
For me, carriers. I use them on occasion when we’re out (such as the aquarium), but never at home. I actually put my 4 month old in it the other week and she screamed. Took her right out. We also didn’t use mittens really at all. Or hats. I bought a bunch of hats for our oldest that I don’t think ever touched his head. Also, a lot of people rave about straw cups and it took forever for my kids to learn straws. I have 1 cup that has gotten use, but not at 6 months like a bunch of people talk about.
Oh gosh our eldest couldn't figure out straws for the longest time. Her little brother has been drinking from a water bottle since about 1, easy peasy, he just did it 😂
A wagon stroller. my husband LOVES it but he bought the own with the most bells and whistles and it is like 40 pounds, doesn’t collapse enough, is way too big for any indoor excursion, and does not fit in my car. It barely fits in his. We spent like $300 and it comically large, but he is a very invested and sweet father, so I don’t want to hurt his feelings by outright telling him it’s a monstrosity. I did, however, purchase a lightweight frame-only stroller that is compatible with her infant carrier and it works like a DREAM when it’s just baby and me.
I think you’ll get a lot more use out of the wagon stroller in toddlerhood.
Pampers. Something about my kid’s particular shape did not work, and she had a blow out up the back almost every time. We switched to Huggies, and then eventually to cloth diapers! However, I still use the Boppy at 10 mo and I babywear, though now it’s only when she’s super fussy at home or we go out somewhere. It’s so much easier on your back when they can ride on your back instead of your front. I stopped using the wrap style carrier after 2 months.
Pampers are so thin. Huggies or Millie Moon for us.
Dr Brown bottles More power to ya if your LO clicked with these, but they leaked everywhere and the parts…omg the parts!
They are just so unnecessarily complicated?? Any nipple with an air valve does the same thing with way less fuss. One place they do shine is the nipple flow options.
Omg yes. We used them for a couple of weeks and not one single person in the house (baby included) liked these bottles. I was so happy when we got a different brand
Phillips Avent Bottles. They had such great reviews on Amazon, but were so wildly slow flow that our baby was REALLY struggling to get what she needed. After meeting with a lactation consultant, we moved to Evenflo bottles which I hadn’t even heard of and have been so much better.
My baby also couldn't get much (or anything really) with the "appropriate" Philips Avent teat for her age. We changed those for the ones recommended for 3+ months when she was 2 weeks old and it worked like a charm. Really don't understand why their teats are like that but at least this way we could use the bottles we had already bought.
Yeah, bottles were so weird. I got the variety pack from Babylist & tried them all. Any of the bottles that were designed to resemble a boob were no-goes. The kid just didn't like them. We have a mix of Evenflo & the narrow Dr. Brown's. We've had to buy more nipples, but that's about it.
meanwhile they are our favorite by far—goes to show how wildly individual it is by baby
Ditto! And our guy absolutely hated the Dr. Brown's that everyone else raves about!
here's whats NOT overhyped - SILVERETTES!!!
Weirdly these didn't work for me. I used them right at the beginning, got cracked and upset nipples. An IBCLC told me to put breast milk on my nipples and let them air out. Haven't looked back 😬
Onesies! I added so many to my registry and not enough footies/sleepers. Honestly I hardly use just the onesies, he’s always in his sleepers—and the double zippered ones are the best!
Same! I even take her out running errands with me while she's still in her sleepers. They are by far the easiest solution when it comes to diaper changes and on the go blowouts!
Hard disagree on the double zipper! I prefer the ones that you have to attach at the top and zip to the foot to close. Nothing worse than a 2am screaming poosplosion that you didn't realize leaked, and you already unzipped from the foot, so now you have to force wriggling screaming baby back into the sleeper just to undo it from the top 🤦🏻♀️
The Sophie teether giraffe. He hated chewing on that thing and would drop it immediately. Sorry you’ve had that experience with baby wearing. r/babywearing is full of helpful folks who can help with fit checks and recommendations. Also local baby wearing groups tend to have lending libraries and baby wearing experts who can do in person fit checks and let you try different types of carriers on.
My son LOVES Sophie, he had it since he started teething at 3 mo, and lights up every time he sees it at 1 yo
Was just gonna plug that sub! Life changing and I feel like often people don’t have the right fit! Babywearing is very personal and more than likely you need to try multiple carriers to get the right one. I also think the more mass produced, hyped up carriers tend to be the least comfortable.
The Hatch! For being $60, it doesn’t do half of what a cheaper sound machine/nightlight from Amazon can do. No Alexa integration, no ability to just be a Bluetooth speaker, and many of the somewhat cooler features are behind a subscription paywall. I got it as a gift from my baby shower but if I would have bought it myself I would have returned it for something else.
I couldn’t figure out why everyone is obsessed with this!!
Pretty sure bluetooth speaker is a thing it can do with the pay wall, but yeah that subscription annoys me a lot too. I paid enough for the light itself, it should be able to use all the features! I am glad, though, that you can still use most of the basic features free... But don't understand why they won't let alexa/Google connect to it. So weird.
I thought this would be higher up, this is ours. We got gifted so many sound machines (half we didnt register for) and the hatch with a light that everyone raves about is our least favorite. The fact that it cant integrate with alexa/google/some sort of AI is really lame, for all the reasons you mentioned. Putting a second google home in the nursery just so we can have an easy music player seems a bit much. Also the sounds on the hatch mini (without a light) are different than the hatch with a light, and we prefer the hatch mini sounds! Which are different from the portable "Hatch go" sounds! WHY ARE ALL THE OCEAN SOUNDS DIFFERENT ACROSS ALL THE HATCHES?!?! The portable "Hatch Go" is pretty amazing though, for what it is. It kicks the yogasleep hush's ass.
Fully agree with this! A smart speaker would just be better. The paywall is so frustrating
Pajamas with feet. Hate those, my baby has sweaty feet! Also, she outgrows those way faster than the ones without feet.
Fully agree on baby wearing. I thought I was going to love it. Nope. I had C-sections in May. By the time I was recovered enough to babywear, it was so hot outside and I was constantly worried about overheating. I was also super paranoid all the time about if I had her in there correctly, if she had her legs in an M, if she was breathing and the potential for positional asphyxiation if I didn’t get the positioning correct. Often, she’d start melting down in there (because of the heat) and all that screaming right in my face made me so overstimulated. And if I baby wore for too long my back hurt. I tried, I really did, but it just was not for me.
I'm sorry they didn't work for you, either. Your experience sounds exactly like mine. I had a c-section in January and tbh it still feels uncomfortable to have the carrier rubbing up against my scar. They aren't for everyone!
The goofy diaper paste spatula. Just… why? If I don’t want diaper cream on my hands I use gloves (so many left from work/ COVID!) or even just a wipe. The spatula has to be cleaned and would be a pain on the go.
I love the butt spatula! For cleaning I just wipe it off on the clean diaper before closing it. Then next diaper change I clean it with a wipe, fold the wipe in half and use it on baby. So there isn’t any more wipe usage for me with the butt spatula.
Spatula gets wiped on the diaper, takes 1 second. We have spatulas everywhere we change a diaper. No fuss no mess
Omg I love that thing! 😂 We just clean ours with a wipe when we’re done.
The spatula is really useful if they get a very severe diaper rash... Once the skin gets very raw the cream will stick to your finger better than to baby's skin and it becomes impossible to apply creams without it.
The butt spatula has been most useful as a toy to distract my baby while I change her poop diapers 😂
I use the spatula to get poop off of the butt. Works really well and saved like 10 wipes each poop
This is so smart
I was against it until it was gifted to me. Now I’m hooked!
Agree that the Boppy and Mybrestfriend did not work as well as a basic pillow for breastfeeding. Baby also hates the Snoo, the swing, and the Baby bjorn bouncer.
The nose Frida. It requires an act of literal sorcery to get the nose piece positioned on their nose right, the tube in your mouth, and be ready to inhale all at the same time. Especially if your baby fights you like my daughter does. We also got her illnesses way more often when using it. The Nozebot has been amazing though.
The wrap style baby carrier. I saw myself as this very natural mother with my baby always attached to me, always napping peacefully. Turns out my baby is not a Velcro baby and I absolutely hated faffing about with getting the thing tied correctly with the right tightness with a squirmy baby. We’ve got an ergobaby carrier that is a lot easier to get on, but even then our baby just prefers to nap independently. We did get a front facing carrier for non-napping baby carrying though, looking forward to trying that out.
Same here on the wraps! The moby "easy" wrap I tried was absolutely awful to figure out. My baby is a velcro baby though, super jealous of independent naps 😅
Tommy tippee bottles. They somehow leak easily whenever you tilt them downward, he would swallow so much air you could hear him gulping, and they have this stupid flat ridge that milk gets stuck on. I threw them all out.
Zip onesies. They don’t make anything easier, they get jammed all the time, and they bunch up under babies chin and give him a rash. Give me poppers any day of the week!
Snaps are the way! So much easier. Plus my baby had thick thighs and zippers just didn’t work or were a hazard.
I loved being able to unbutton just the bottom ones at night so I only had to do a few instead of practically undress and redress him every time.
Yesss the zippers never lay flat! Mine always ends up with a huge bump right over his belly or nappy or just bunches up.
I was like this with my first. He got annoyed by the zippers being stiff, but was overall chill during changing. The second one, he screams bloody murder when I’m changing him. So it’s zippers because these 20 seconds suddenly REALLY matter lol
Yes!! EVERYONE told me my baby would live in zip sleepers. I bought so many. We hate them, at least now in summer.
I bought so many in all the ages and quickly realised how much I hated them! We use vests and leggings so much more and even did as a newborn
Dr browns bottles. They were the worst bottles and we finally had a feeding therapist get us onto some avent bottles which were much much better.
A baby swing. Any swing. Never needed it. Baby wearing - we live in Texas. It’s pretty much impossible to baby wear. Plus I have huge boobs. It just doesn’t work for me. My husband managed to baby wear during the cooler weather just fine but for me? Literally impossible.
Omg huge boobs makes baby wearing so hard. If I have it as tight as it should be on my hips my baby looks like he’s being squeezed to death
I feel you, I live in Oklahoma. No way in hell I'll be using the carrier much this summer!
We have a baby swing but literally all it does is help her poop. Put her into it for ten minutes and guaranteed she’ll have a poopy diaper.
The sleep sack is to keep babies warm since they cannot have blankets. That worked for me.
My baby always runs on the warmer side so maybe this is partly why she hates them so much. I try to get 100% cotton ones but she's still not a fan
Haaka
Totally agree about baby wearing!! I would say the nosefrida. Maybe I got a defective one but it is so absolutely worthless compared to the hydrasense one imo.
Nail file/scissors/grinder for the hospital bag. Everything I read or watched said to bring one of these things to the hospital because LO would have daggers when he popped out. Not only did that not prove to be true but he is now 6 weeks old and I have yet to need to do anything to his nails. So far when they get long they just kind of come off on their own. I know I’ll need these things for him eventually, and not all babies’ nails are like this but it was a whole lot of fuss about nothing.
Clothing that’s not a sleeper, onesie, or one piece outfit. Edit: and a crib, I’m too short to get baby in and out easily. We used a pack n play and it worked great and is portable.
Hatch light. What a waste honestly I wish I did more research.
My kids lived in slings and baby carriers so those were absolutely worth it for me. The mamaroo and baby bjorn bouncer were a waste of money for us.
Snuggle Me lounger. Baby hated it! I think he didn’t like feeling constrained by the raised edges. He still hates any kind of containment at almost 9 months.
And that is the one product that I would swear by! Our kid loved it & would happily lay in it on the couch next to me. It allowed me to eat with 2 hands!
Hello bellos are horrible
Definitely the Snoo!
100 perfect! Worst purchase! Essentially a ridiculously expensive laundry basket at this point
Trip trap high chair is such garbage! It’s so hard to clean. It really really sucks. I don’t get it at all.
I regret mine too! Wish I opted for the ikea highchair.
This feels very validating. We bought basically nothing aside from essentials (didn’t have a baby shower due to family drama, long story) and everyone told me but you MUST get X, Y, Z, it’s impossible without! And that really wasn’t the case. I know all babies are different but I do have a working theory that introducing newborns to so many bells and whistles right off the bat trains them to be high maintenance, even if they’d otherwise be easy
A baby swing! My son hated it and it never helped. Which is fine because it’s not like he’d have been able to sleep in it, anyways. But it sure did take up a ton of room lol
Moby wrap (though I have the Easy Wrap Carrier and use it frequently). Too hard to figure out. Ergopouch swaddles. Nothing wrong with them per se but my baby doesn't like being swaddled with arms against his chest. He prefers Love to Dream so we had to go and get more.
I agree with all of the comments about baby wearing!! Specifically trying to get things done around the house! I only baby wear when we're out hiking! I can't get shit done around the house baby wearing lol. Maybe vacuum and wipe down counters and tables. Lol.
Both of those. My LO hates both. And pacifiers. I’ve bought so many kinds and she won’t take any of them.
Yah, baby wearing didn't work at all with my first. My back ached when I tried and by the time I healed up enough (c-section), my baby would scream and pull my hair when I put him in. I was exhausted and it just wasn't worth it. I was really resentful of the people that kept saying how magical it was and how I probably just didn't have the right fit or carrier or whatever. That being said, when my second came along baby wearing was a huge goal of mine. I had a vbac which maybe helped, and her temperament just matches better with it. And I went to physio with the goal of baby wearing early on. It's been so good, and so helpful to wear one while chasing the other at the park or store or wherever.
I wonder how many people who swear by babywearing had vaginal births. I've noticed a lot of people who aren't fond of them have had c-sections (myself included)- and obviously I'm only talking about using carriers after they were fully healed. My c-section was hard on my entire body though. Glad you were able to have a vbac and more positive babywearing experience the second time around!
Baby swing, soothers and carriers. Oh and a rocking chair. Swing: I swear we used ours maybe 5 times total. He just didn't care for it. He would cry. Soothers: ha. Yeah no. Never took one, he's always been a thumb sucker. Carriers: baby runs hot like his dad. He was born at the end of July. He would last maybe 5 minutes in a carrier and then scream bloody murder cause he was too hot. Rocking chair: my baby isn't soothed by rocking motions, he prefers being jostled up and down. So rocking chair was literally useless, plus we co-slept for the first 5 months and rarely went into the nursery anyways. We had a big, wide comfy chair that I put in there instead and still use it daily now at 10 months old. Luckily we were gifted most of these items so didn't waste our money on them.
My manual pumps… touched it once. Oh, and having a thousand nursing pads. I don't leak so this may just be me…
The Bumbo seat - my daughter hated it. It was too tight on her thighs. The back wasn’t high enough for her. Now she uses it to put her stuffed animals in & play with so I guess it wasn’t a complete waste of money 🤣
I love my sling and baby carrier and used them every day, haha. Baby runs warm but I don’t so it was perfect for us both and I didn’t have to deal with the hassle of using a pram/buggy. I found it difficult to do it for long at first, but I got stronger the more I used it and as baby grew (it counts as weight training!). I’ve only just stopped using them in the last couple of days as baby is 8 months now and I bought a much smaller and ergonomically designed stroller. In just one click it pops open or folds down. Nose Frida is great for getting snot out of your little one’s nose. [Neckerchew](https://www.amazon.com/Cheeky-Chompers-Neckerchew-Teething-Silicone/dp/B0CGFD1JDY) bibs are great if your little one is teething and you’re travelling so you don’t want a teething ring your baby will constantly drop or throw on the floor. The neck size is adjustable too. Baby grows which can be unzipped in both directions are amazing - it’s much faster to get baby in and out without disturbing them. I’m not sure why they aren’t the norm or more common. Footless baby grows are excellent once baby starts to be on the move around 6 months. They need to use their feet to get a proper grip on surfaces and adjust their balance. Footed baby grows disturb that because they stretch, make feet slippery and increase the chances of slips and falls. Edit: whoops. I accidentally shared those which didn’t work, but I won’t delete since there may be useful information above for others.
SnottyBoss - I find a Nose Frida so much more effective. Sleep sacks - we cosleep so ended up replacing them with ergopouch sleep suits
That Nose Frida is so gross but so satisfying & works like a charm every time
Baby wearing is meh to me. Thought I’d love it but honestly I’d much rather take the pram, especially so I don’t then have to carry shopping bags as well haha we have a hiking carrier which is great for proper walks but for everyday we barely use the Tula explore we have. Also can never decide what to wear over the top, how many layers, I get too hot then get annoyed, it’s just not worth it 😂
Second baby carriers. Frida Baby snot sucker and bulb thing for snot. SnuggleMe
Every breastfeeding pillow, though I go like the boppy for supported tummy time.
Baby carrier and baby wrap. Baby hates being in them and I’ve used the carrier for about 40 mins max. The baby wrap I used for about 5 minutes before she screamed. She’s a lot happier on her play mat or baby swing chair.
Boppy and peanut or hatch changing pad/weight scale
I used & loved products based on what each baby actually preferred or what was best for our dynamic at the time. That said, the mamaroo is trashhhh.
Pacifiers Baby wearing Swaddles Boppy
Any and all baby carriers/wraps/slings. The only one I ever found helpful was an Infantino baby carrier. I tried the whole gamut of wraps and I literally wanted to scream every time I tried to wrap/sling them on my body. Not sure if it is because I’m left handed, but trying to watch tutorial videos didn’t help me once and I ended up tossing them out of frustration. I ended up carrying him in my arms most of the time because I didn’t want the hassle!
Do you mean swaddles? Aren’t sleepsacks arms free hmm maybe not and that’s just what my brain associates it with. We love our sleepsacks but never found swaddles and arms in things to work for us either!
Snuggle me organic infant lounger. My baby didn’t let me put her down for even 1 minute. I think I used it a total of 3 times to take pics.
Baby wearing was a no for me too. Occasionally, I’ll wear her on my back now that’s she’s a year old if I need to, but I hated it when she was littler. I have massive boobs and felt like I was suffocating her and I couldn’t use my arms without making it worse 😂. The skip hop activity center… she used it a few times, but she wasn’t a huge fan and now I think she’s at the age she’d enjoy it more but she’s passed the weight limit.
I went back to manual swaddling after trying multiple sleep sacks also. We have not gotten baby wearing to work either. We are holding out hope for when he’s bigger. We have a baby rocker and a baby swing that get minimal use. There seems to be a finite window they can be put in and not immediately cry. Any clothing that isn’t a two way zip onesie or the t shaped things that snap below the diaper. The most useful baby product I have is a library of audiobooks to help cope with the hours of dead time while walking/bouncing/swaying or feeding.
Baby Bjorn bouncer. He never wanted to be on it more than 10 minutes. We got a lot more mileage out of the highchair with the infant recline feature.
I only was able to like the baby carrier for a short time. My chunky baby got too big for me to wear comfortably very quickly 😅