Most useless product for you in the First Year

OH yes... add angelcare monitors to my list of wasted money. Those things caused our worst week ever because of all the false alarms.

 

I hated

Baby gown. They would always ride up and leave little legs and bellies cold. They lived in footed sleepers.
Cute baby clothes for under 4 months. Again, they lived in sleepers, night and day, until we got past the zombie stage.
Shoes. Shoes for little babies are stupid.
Bumbo. We didn't hate it, but it's not a love affair either.
Cribs for the first 4 months. They never slept in them until 4-5 months. Between reflux and every 3 hour feeds, it was easier to let them sleep in bouncers and swings.


We do use

Cloth diaper/burpcloths. We used them both as diapers and burp cloths. We still use them constantly. I keep a pile on the kitchen counter and use them for bottles (baby girl is still a messy eater and spitter) I wet them for cleaning up after solids, use them to clean particularly horrible poops, line the changing pad so I don't have to clean that stupid cloth cover so often... I go through 8-10 a day.

Aiden and Anis swaddle blankets. They're huge, so you can swaddle for a long time. I also use them as a sun cover over the stroller/carseats, light summer blanket for chilly air-conditioning, and my babies favorite chew toy.

Baby footed sleepers. If I could go back, I'd make their entire preemie, newborn, 0-3 and 3-6 wardrobes out of sleepers. Not the horrible gowns though. Only the footed, snapped sleepers.

Bouncers and swings - saved my life with two reflux babies.

Sling. I use the moby and pouch sling. Having hands free while holding a fuss bucket is wonderful. It's the only way I've been able to feed my family. I still use them all the time at 8 months and 21 lbs.

 

Same here!

 

Diaper genie never did figure how exactly to use it! I threw it out with the dirty bag still attatched.

 

Waste
Sweetpeace Soothing Center - this thing has a million bells and whistles. Only one boy will even sit in it and it can't be on/moving when he does.
Double Snap 'N Go - they HATE their car seats unless we're doing 55mph in the van
Pack "n Play - it was for downstairs and they refused to sleep in it after 3 weeks
EZ Nursing Pillow - I can never get it positioned right. It's easier to just use the couch.
Sling - we tried it once and I thought the baby was going to fall out. We use our other carriers all the time, though.
Outfits that zip - I'll spend all day trying to smooth down the zipper so it's not poking them in the chin
Outfits that doesn't open to both legs - trying to squash one leg into an outfit isn't fun
Home made, hand crocheted hats, jackets, and booties - our boys were born in June
3-6 month clothes - My SIL tried to warn us. We went out and bought a bunch of them anyways. They were only worn for a month.
Infant Bath Tub - Both boys would arch their backs and try to slide out of it. It was more dangerous than just using the regular tub.

What we're still trying to decide on
Diaper Genie Diaper Pails - We have two that have never been used. Maybe once they start solid foods and their diapers are smelly...
Jackets - I'm hoping once it's cool here I'll be able to use them, but it's possible we'll just use blankets
Foam Floor Covering - they've never used it but I'm hopeful thy will someday

 

Well...the only real things I can comment on right now is the swaddle clothes and the itzbeen. The swaddle is great!!!

Now I am totally confused with ethat do not like the itzbeen. I only have Merrick at home right now. While I do not use it to track diaper changes and sleep times. It is the best thing we use so far. With Nat going to see Marlee everyday in the NICU and us just seeing each other in passing...the Itzbeen is a Godsend. I don't have to ask her anything, she doesn't have to write down anything. It is set to beep after 4 hours for feeding and beep 12 hours for his medicines. I walk in the house, ask how he is and she hands me the Itzbeen and leaves.

It costs like 30 bucks if that, and it's great. I can't imagaine how much more helpful it will be once Marlee gets home. Why write down his medicine or feeding times in a notebook to keep track when I can push a button and be done?!?!?!

...and when I have TWO to worry about?!?!?! Come on now...just like the Ron Rico(sp) Grill..."Set It And Forget It"

 

I couldn't agree more!! We LOVE our itzbeen and have used it religiously since our boys came home from the NICU. In those early days feeding newborn twins was such a blur, I couldn't tell you which twin I fed first, much less what time I started feeding them. And forget about trying to write such details down. And even though we're better about figuring out what their cries mean now, it's still helpful to say "Hmm, could Brandon be fussing because he is hungry again already? Yep, its been 3 hours!" Plus my mom watches the boys during the day while we're at work. She shows up here in the morning and I don't have to tell her when they last ate, she just looks on the Itzbeen. We no longer reset the diaper button, we pretty much change them whenever we feed them, or every other feeding. So we "repurposed" some buttons. The first button is for when baby A starts eating, the second button is for when baby B starts eating (which we try to keep within 30 min of each other). And if we're not needing to administer any medicine every x number of hours (which is rare that they need medicine), we sometimes use the bottom two buttons to indicate when baby A and B either went down for a nap or woke from a nap (to estimate when a potential meltdown from overtiredness might occur). Yup, the Itzbeen has been a life saver!

 

Hate the diaper genie, love the safety 1st diaper pail.
Never got bumbo's, really didn't miss them.
Didn't like the jumperoo, loved the exersaucer's.
Tummy time mat ~ waste of moolah.
Mesh feeders, impossible to clean mashed banana out of it, tossed it in the garbage after 1 use.
Bibs with ties, hate them! Love snaps/velcro or pullover style.


I had the benefit of having 2 older kids so I had things pared down to what I knew I would need, and what was useless!

 

For me, it was a changing station with storage under it. It was such a waste of money(150.00) a waste of time putting it together and a waste of space in the babys room. I changed them on the bed, chair, coffee table, floor... anywhere and everywhere but on the changing station. beth

 

That's a good idea. I'm gonna have to do that since I don't really care to track their changings or sleep/awake time. So, I just need the 4 alarms...(2) for feedings and (2) for meds.

It's REALLY gonna come in handy when Marlee comes home. It will help get them(or try) within a half hour of feedings for each of them. Shave a couple minutes here, a couple minutes there, then they should be in sync(Boy Band came to mind...Ha)

And yes...changing tables and pad...not even used them once. I got 2 of the Babi Italia ones, but they are also dressers and look real nice. Instead of a changing pad, one hold their Flatscreen for the nursery(I know...I know...over the top. Ha), and the other holds books, lamos and their humidifier

 

We never used the 4 newborn jackets we bought. Same for the newborn socks. As for the breast pump it was very useful when my boys were in the NICU (1-2 weeks). However, I used it only couple of times afterwards, and so it would have been better had I bought a cheaper one.