Top Ten Unneeded Baby Items
Posted on: August 30, 2011
- In: Life
- 30 Comments
When I had Julia in 2007, I was blessed to have a group of moms to help me navigate the baby registry. They saved my pocketbook, and the pocketbook of a lot of family/friends, from buying ridiculous unneeded baby items. But even with my friends to help me, I still made some only-used-once purchases. I figured I’d pass along my top ten most unneeded baby items.
1. Boppy Pillow – While good in theory, the Boppy pillow did nothing for me. I had to sit in a armless, backless chair in order for it to ever work they way I think it was intended.
2. Diaper Genie – I don’t dislike the Genie just because we cloth diaper. Before we started cloth diapering, we used it and for the life of me the thing never worked. The diapers would get stuck at the top and the bags were ridiculous to take out. Maybe I’m just baby item challenged.
3. Dreft Laundry Soap – What’s the point in special baby soap? I figure a good free and clear laundry soap does the job just fine.
4. Wipe Warmers – This was an item we debated on adding to our registry. But then a good friend asked what we’d do to wipe little Julia’s bottom when we don’t have a warmer. Hmmm….
5. Shopping Cart Seats – I’m a minimalist. I can easily forget to take my purse to the store, let alone a cart cover.
6. Too Hot Ducky – Can’t you just tell the water is too hot from feeling it?
7. Doorway Jumper – We got a hand-me-down jumper for Julia. She used it all of 2 times.
8. Sectioned Plates – Perhaps we don’t eat out much. Or perhaps I just always fed the girls from my own plate. But I can’t recall using our sectional plates for either girls. Even now, at 3 and 2, they don’t use them.
9 . Soothing Sound Dolls – I do love the soothing bear that we got while pregnant with Julia. It’s really adorable. But the soothing sounds did nothing for Julia or Hannah. If you want real soothing sounds, get a good sound machine. You will use it. All. The. Time.
10. Gender Specific Nursery – Not only am I a minimalist, I’m not a fan of nurseries in the traditional sense. Sure, I love me some cute pictures and stuffed animals. But I just don’t get an entire theme for an infant. Top that off with a gender theme and you’ve lost me.
What do you think are unneeded baby items? Were any items on my list a “must have” for you?
Next week I’ll be sharing my Top Ten Needed Baby Items.
Visit Amanda at Oh Amanda for more Top Ten Tuesday.
30 Responses to "Top Ten Unneeded Baby Items"
August 30, 2011 at 8:13 am
Must haves for me were the boppy (I actually hauled it with me to church a few times, as both boys went through a stage where they wouldn’t eat without it) and wipe warmer (both boys born in Jan/Feb in Iowa & we tend to keep the house cooler, but only used it for a few months with each). I agree with the rest of your assessments, except the doorway jumper. My boys loved it, but certainly not under the “need” category!
For me, the bottle warmer never got used, as I nursed or pumped on demand, and both boys would suck me dry without leaving any extra.
August 30, 2011 at 8:19 am
Great idea for a post! A walk through Babies R Us would have anyone believing there are no less than one thousand items they MUST have for their baby, mostly unnecessary. I have to disagree on the Boppy pillow, though. I loved mine, and always buy them for shower gifts.
August 30, 2011 at 8:24 am
Wow, I agree with you completely for so many of these. Although I did use my boppy pillow often with both of my girls while breastfeeding on our sofa. But yes…the diaper genie is a total waste of money. Just get some scented diaper baggies to wrap it in until you can take it out to the dumpster. We received two wipes warmers and I never used either of them because I had an irrational fear that leaving it turned on 24/7 would eventually result in a fire. (Gotta love those new mom hormones!) I used the shopping cart seat for my first daughter and it really was a pain. For my 2nd child, I just put her in the Baby Bjorn front pack and wore her near my heart while shopping…until she was too big for it, at which point she went in the shopping cart without the special padding. The duck we used as a bath toy, but not to determine temperature. For the baby/toddler stage we just used the removal high chair tray as a plate. And from the day both of my girls were born, to this very day…every night they fall asleep to the sound of their “Lamb” hanging near their bed…with the sound of ocean waves crashing along the shore. I’m ALL for the sound machine! 🙂
Blessings,
Rosann
August 30, 2011 at 8:48 am
I was just having this conversation with my neighbor who just had her third (but almost 5 years after her second), so there are TONS of new products out! We agreed that THE list they give you at Babies R Us, etc. is so misleading for a brand new mom–too much “stuff!” BUT, our Boppy pillow was indispensible! I loved it for nursing, feeding, holding, snuggling, propping Jackson up on, and Josh still likes it available as a couch pillow 😉 LOL It is so frustrating that many items are try as you go to see if you like them… Have fun with the rest of your nesting! I don’t think I ever stopped…
August 30, 2011 at 9:02 am
Most everyone I know raves about the Boppy. We bought two, and I just really didn’t like or use them. Luckily, we got them at garage sales so didn’t spent too much money on them.
August 30, 2011 at 9:14 am
I think the Boppy issue comes down to body shape and size as well as what you’re sitting on. I hated the boppy as well, but loved the thought of it. With Gemma I got a very similar pillow called My Breast Friend and LOVED it! Better form, great support, awesome. 🙂
August 30, 2011 at 9:21 am
agree with ambre- some people love it and some hate it. my torso seemed too tall, so i had to slouch to make it work. no thanks. just tucked a homemade blanket under my arm for those first 6 weeks or so. you forgot to tell the story of how much money you spent garage saling that first day… or better yet, how much it saved! i remember that day friend!
August 30, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Dude, that was a great day! I remember Jonathan baulking at me spending $40, until he realized I saved us like $200+. I miss garage saleing with you!
9 | Catholic Newlywed (@Catholic_Wife)
August 30, 2011 at 9:37 am
I’ve been looking for something like this! I’m glad to see that nothing on here is on my baby registry! My mom did buy me a boppy…at a garage sale for 25 cents. So if it doesn’t work out, it’s not much of a loss! YOu should write a similar post with the “top ten NEEDED baby items” – as a new mom without any mommy friends, I am so lost!
August 30, 2011 at 9:44 am
Great list! I have a Boppy pillow and use it often, but not as it was intended. I prop it up on the couch and use it as a sort of lounge chair for Claire. lol And I do have a girl theme nursery (ladybugs) but plan to keep the theme for several years since we nicknamed her Lovebug. I agree that gender neutral nurseries are much more practical! 🙂
August 30, 2011 at 10:49 am
What a helpful list. Though I did and still do use the boppy when nursing Archer in his room because the chair in there has low arms and if he falls asleep it’s really hard to hold his heavy head. I also enjoyed our wipe warmer for a time and when we didn’t have it we warmed the wipes in our hands. You might feel differently about that one with a boy, cold boy parts spray. But, quick changes can help that too and I’m sure you can change a diaper really fast! I thought pee pee tee pees were ridiculous when I saw them in the store.
Thanks for sharing so excited for ya’ll!
August 30, 2011 at 11:38 am
I’m so glad you didn’t list a swing – that’s definitely not useless to me ;)! I also have a Genie, which I like, but I know it’s not a must-have. Wipes warmer to me has got to be about the most useless thing of all. After a couple of wipes, a baby gets totally used to the cold.
13 | Nikki (@nikksworld)
August 30, 2011 at 11:39 am
LOVE YOUR LIST!
If you are graced with a tall torso, the boppy will not be your friend. If you are like me with a smaller torso and longer legs, the boppy will be your best friend. I borrowed one at first to see if I would like it and ended up buying one. I ended up using it like a bumbo, too. which is something else I never got and wonder if my life would be different if I had.
My oldest is 3. He was never blessed with a decked out nursery and could care less 🙂
I was given a wipe warmer and never got ambitious enough to take it out of the box!
A changing table would be first on my list. Call me crazy, but traveling a flight of steps just to change a diaper on a table designed for that purpose didn’t sound too productive to me.
August 30, 2011 at 12:36 pm
this is SO awesome- i agree with all those things.. seriously!!!!!!
August 30, 2011 at 1:57 pm
I haven’t used my Boppy for nursing as much as I thought I would, though I do like it. However, I have used it for other purposes like when my son wasn’t sitting yet, but wanted to be propped up to look around. And, when he was learning to sit but would still fall over a lot, the Boppy provided good support for him and cushioning for when he would fall!
August 30, 2011 at 2:50 pm
I loved my Boppy pillow, I hated to ever breastfeed without it! I even used it all the time with my daughter (who I didn’t BF for medical reasons). I just really loved the extra support when you hold an infant so much of the time.
August 30, 2011 at 8:12 pm
I agree with everything except for the boppy. I, too, used it when nursing and also when Adam was learning to sit up on his own – it was great for making sure he didn’t topple backwards. For boys – pee pee tee pees were totally useless, just cut up an old washcloth and use those pieces for covering the peeps during diaper changes.
18 | Jonathan Windham
August 30, 2011 at 8:20 pm
All I have to day is …. Awesome Post! And guess what…. It was all my idea!!!! I’m so glad to see the responses from everyone. Seriously!!! Thanks for helping me win a bet with my wife. Now I can get that new Infiniti G35!!!!
August 30, 2011 at 9:20 pm
LOOOOVE this! I don’t understand why people pay a ton of money for nursery decorations. I bought my first son a “crib set’ used for about thirty bucks, and looking back even that purchase was too much (even though it was like new) because we only use the sheets. My boys current share a room, and there is nothing fancy on the walls – we didn’t even paint! I can’t imagine spending hundreds on a room that will last them just a few years when I don’t even spend that on my own stuff. (Sorry for that rant!) We had the tub-water-checker with my first b/c I was paranoid, and I loved our boppy for both my boys, (though it never worked for me for breastfeeding) but everything else on the list – I agree. I use old grocery bags for dirty diapers and they go straight to the garage/dumpster.
August 31, 2011 at 7:10 am
Definitely with you on most of this list…with the exception of the boppy pillow! Which I used EVERY. DAY. Isn’t it funny how it’s different for everyone?
Also, the doorway jumpers have been very popular with some of my friends, although I never owned one.
The wipe warmer and the rubber ducky crack me up. Very silly, IMHO.
August 31, 2011 at 9:52 am
I’m another mama that would not do without a boppy…I’m starting out my third one with this baby. #1 got water damage stored in the basement between baby #1 and #2, and boppy #2 got used so much it was busting out at the seams.
I’ve never had a baby sectional plate…but somehow my kids LOVE the cheapie plastic sectional plates with fun designs (like they always have in the seasonal section at Target). We have a “finger food” lunch once a week and they love to pick the sections of the plate that kind of match the size/shape of the food (aka small oval spot for a hard boiled egg, etc).
August 31, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Yes, yes and yes. I agree with all of these, and could list a whole lot more too. I did like my My Brest Friend pillow though, so I’m looking for a non-foam version of that for my next time around. It’s amazing the number of products that have sprung up in the baby industry.
[…] crazy, ridiculous things out there for babies that we mamas so don’t need {here’s my top ten unneeded items}, there are some that in my book are a […]
September 6, 2011 at 9:43 am
I COMPLETELY agree with the Diaper Genie. I never could figure out how to work the stupid thing! After fighting with it for all of one week, I decided to save the plastic grocery bags and use those. That worked just fine for both of my kids. The wipe warmer was pretty useless too. I had one for a few months with the first baby (a gift), but no matter how low I kept the heat or how often I rotated the wipes, they always dried out. After it took a tumble off the changing table at midnight and got broken, I didn’t bother replacing it for the 2nd baby. I just used warm washrags for the first few weeks and after that regular wipes. We had the ducky (another gift bc I agree with you: FEEL the water!) but after a few months it said HOT all the time, even when not immersed in water. I never had the shopping cart cover but I wanted one. I’m a bit of a germophobe…I always kept them in their infant seat attached to the cart, or in the stroller. By the time they were big enough to sit up in the cart without assistance, I figured their immune systems were well enough developed to handle anything they might pick up on the cart. Plus I carried wipes to clean the handle with. 🙂 I did use Dreft until they were about 6 months old. I have very sensitive skin and I’m very prone to allergies to new and/or strangely scented items…hives are a common occurrence for me. I wasn’t sure if they would inherit that, so I played that part safe. I am guilty of having a themed nursery. The kids don’t really care, but it made ME feel better. And the boppy…well it was an absolute staple in my house. I used it while feeding, plus it helped my arms a lot when I sat around holding them for hours at a time…when I didn’t need it anymore I used it as a prop also, then the kids played with it. I had several different removable covers for it and I loved them!!!
Good blog Sarah, I really enjoy reading your stuff. 🙂
January 12, 2012 at 3:06 am
This is a great list! I don’t have any kids yet. Found your blog from Mandi’s link-up. Number 7 – I probably wouldn’t be able to find a safe place to put it lol.
I can remember as a child like elementary school aged my mom used to put my food on the sectional plates b/c I HATED my food to touch each other (I had issues) my sister however loves to mix mashed postatoes with corn (EW)
A Wife Loved Like The Church 
August 30, 2011 at 7:35 am
I definitely think there are many items that I would recommend a new mom borrow and try out before purchasing. Everyone likes and uses things differently. The one thing that I used many times everyday was the boppy pillow. I just sit on a comfy couch and it (seemed anyway to) save my arm muscles and having to adjust pillows. I will agree that it doesn’t work in chairs that are to narrow.
I agree with your other items though. Other things I didn’t use where crib mobiles and one of the wraps that I received to carry your baby in.
Keep having fun preparing!