Most useless product for you in the First Year

What a great thread! So interesting to see how we have had such different experiences with the same item.

Number 1 for us- the double snap n go. We bought it because so many people said it was a must have. We hardly ever used it for two reasons: DH was unexpectedly laid off, so we were able to run errands without the babies most of the time, and they HATED being in their car seats. They were absolutely dripping with sweat and very uncomfortable. It is basically brand new and I hope we can get most of our money back.

Prince Lionheart washpod- they really liked it and calmed as soon as we put them in it, but our boys were born big and grew out of it very quickly. Six weeks of use only- but it was only $10 so not a major loss.

I made a few blankets from fabric I bought so I returned any people gave us as gifts- but we only really used a couple and just washed them. They mostly got used when they slept in the bouncy chairs.

That's it- we went very minimal- we live in a very small place and are minimal stuff people anyway. Interestingly compared to some others- the bouncy chairs have been a total godsend for us. They slept in them for the first two and a half months and we take them with us when we go to someone else's house. And our exercise mat/box thing they loved from about 6-12 weeks. They still like it now first thing when they wake up and want to roll around. We have one swing which was fine since only one son likes it. Now they love the jumparoo.

One other thing- I have a breastfeeding pillow with a cover to use in public but it is a bit complicated, so I have just lifted my shirt and fed. No one has complained so far.

 

Could a bumbo ever be used as a tub seat? Just popped in my head and it seems it could work! Maybe they wouldn't be so useless then? Mine haven't used theirsd yet.

 

Ditto to all of those. We used the changing table for about 2 months, the we did all diapering on the floor...much easier since we were down there already.

One thing we couldn't live without is the Boppy. I actually purchased a 2nd one and a 3rd cover since we use them so much. Still today, I use them for bottle time. The girls will lounge in them and hold their own bottles and I sit between them and help if needed.

Bumbo---totally useless. I was in denial for a month and tried to use them, but they would arch their backs and flail about...total bust.

 

Blankets we definitely a big waste - but at least we didn't buy them, we got so many as gifts it was ridiculous.

Baby positioners - rolled up receiving blankets worked better and are easily washed

Tummy time mat - the floor/boppy is easier to use and just as hated by our boys

 

For us the useless things were the receiving blankets which we almost never used and the jumperoo - for some reason they both got really upset after being in there for more than a few minutes; maybe we waited until they were too mobile to put them in? We were also strict about taking them out after 20-25 min so they didn't get much time to really appreciate it since all the books said to just put them on the floor to learn to move. Hopefully the new one will be able to use it.

 

Some of these common things I never bought: changing table, bumbos (I'm convinced they inhibit physical development, but who knows.), and wipe warmers.

I did, however, buy a Baby Bjorn carrier, which was pretty useless, especially with two.

I never washed bottles in the dishwasher, so bottle part washer thingy was useless.

Pacifiers. I got a bunch of free ones and somebody else bought me one, but the boys didn't like them, and I've decided I don't like them either.

I also got a bunch of those gowns that are gathered elastic at the bottom. They are supposed to be good for night diaper changes. I hated putting those things on the boys. They wore all onesies for the first 3 months.

I couldn't have made it without the Snap-N-Go, the Breastpump, and receiving blankets. I walked all over the neighborhood with that snap-n-go and pumped until 11.5 months. Now, I never paid for receiving blankets. A friend and relative made me a bunch of large sized blankets, and they were the best for swaddling. Those tiny store ones would have been useless. In fact, I had a few hand me down store receiving blankets, and I used them as baby towels.

 

Great thread. This should be a sticky in the expecting forum!!

1. Breast Pump and all related accessories- never worked, huge waste of $$
2. Dishwasher basket for bottle pieces- we hand wash everything
3. Pacifiers- we used them for about a month
4. Changing Pad cover- that thing came off about 2 days after getting home from the hospital when it had been peed on multiple times!
5. Bumbo seats weren't a big deal here. Mine just like being on the floor.
6. Newborn socks- they never fit

 

Love this thread
Things we found most useless were:
-Baby tubs especially the new ones that they can only sit it, What a
waste of money
-bath seats, I bought one that attatched to the arm of the tub but my
son just slid around in it, huge wast of money
-mesh feeders-way to messy so we only used them once
-bigger infant carseats-I bought the graco safe seat because I
thought I would keep them in it longer but they are too heavy to
cart around so I could have bought a cheaper one.
-terry cloth tether on a wooden ring-huge waste they didn't like it
any better and it just got really dirty all the time
-baby food tray-way to expensive and ice cubs or muffin tins work
just as good.
-ju ju be be prepared diaper bag-way to big and bulky for short trips
so I could have saved a lot of money on that one.
-bouncy chair-my boys just flipped themslves out of it.
I am sure I will think of more

There should be a thread about the most useful things people found for the first year.

*I used my bumbos to feed my sons in at the table that is all they were good for for us. I used my snap and go a lot because we had alot of appointments but it is a pain to steer. My boys needed to by bundled so we used a lot of receiving blankets because they puked often. I hated my wipe warmer but now I am using it for reusable wipes and it is not to bad.

 

I've never met anyone that didn't LOVE and worship their boppy pillows! We used ours til they broke! OMG. That is our NUMBER ONE product plug in our family. LOVE LOVE LOVE the boppy! All of my friends and online friends do too. Our babies SLEPT in ours for the first five months! The boppy was like arms around them and OMG they just loved them. I also think it helped prevent flat heads for my kids!

We also used them to nurse and bottle feed!!

Sorry you didn't like them. Can you tell I wish I invented them?? We've also ALWAYS used our changing table. Never the floor.

I think 90% of the things you're supposed to have for babies is pointless.

Hated:

1. front carrier
2. bumbo seats
3. baby monitor
4. floor gym
5. steam sterilizer (waste of time! just put them in dishwasher!)
6. receiving blankets- never swaddled.

Things I loved.

1. BOPPY PILLOWS
2. Swing
3. bouncy seats
4. twin pack and play
5. TWO cribs
6. changing table

I'm sure I'll be back. I LOVE threads like this!

 

OH OH OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HATED THE SNUGRIDE INFANT CAR SEATS. Couldn't carry two at once so I just sold those on Craigslist when they were 8 weeks old and bought the convertible seats with side by side stroller. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier!

Those heavy seats were horrible for my back. OMG! Once we switched, it was heaven. I could actually go places! You can use the convertible seats for five lb babies so we could've used them from the day they were born! Waste of $ there.

Also bought that HUGE Duoglider to snap those heavy seats into. HATED IT! Sold it right away.

Combi SBS rocks! I never bought the snap and go cuz, again, those seats were too heavy!

 

Loved
-Bumbos (great for out of town trips for feeding solids now, instead of the huge fisher price one we use at the house)
-bouncers
-Miracle blankets
-Dishwasher basket for bottles
-Boppy!! (they still used them now)
-EZ2Nurse pillow (used it to bottle feed them both a the same time)


Waste
-swing (though i only had 1 and probably would have used it more if I had bought 2 but everybody said not to in case 1 didn't like and and then we couldn't afford the second one, lol)
-Playtex ventaire bottles
-receiving blankets (thou we only had about 8 of them)
-infant socks!!! they NEVER stayed on

 

and I loved my Snoogle! I agree the Bumbo's were useless - fortunately I only bought one...that and the activity mat...HATED it!

 

few more things I thought of
-advent bottles-they never sealed right and leaked all over the place
-nuby puree feeding spoon - the ine where all your food goes in the container and you squeez and the food
comes out on the spoon, it always got clogged or released to much food and was more of a pain.
-angel care monitor- ours went off all the time for no reason so it was a huge waste of money for me

 

No! I know because I tried it, it was useless even then because they float! So, you can picture it, the Bumbo is floating around & I am trying to put a baby in it, thinking that would weigh it down & maybe then it would be fine, but no, those suckers seriously float! :lol: So, it kept wobbling back & forth and almost tipping over if you had more than an inch of water in the tub. It was harder than just holding on to the baby in the tub, and I'm sure really comical to watch! :laughing:

 

wipes warmer
changing table/pad
mesh feeder
bottle dryer
breastmilk warmer (the kind you run warm water thru to thaw breastmilk), nursing nightgowns (tshirts were sooooo much easier to deal with), vibrating sleep positioner
baby toys for the new baby (he wants to play with all their toys)
teethers (they all teethed on anything BUT teething toys)
biter biscuits by Gerber (what a MESS when they use them)

 

Biggest waste....

My dh thinking they needed matching Graco swings... They hated them.

Tummy Time play mats. They hated them. They would drool all over them and it was nasty.

Changing table.

Cribs....Because they slept and still sleep with us.

All the cutsey outfits. Comfort was the way to go when they were infants.

Mesh feeders.

Double Snap and Go. We never really went anywhere that we could use it.

Bumbo seats. I bought one second hand thank goodness.

Bedding for the cribs. See above. We never used the cribs so both the pretty sets I bought went to waste.

 

Our most useless product was two bassinets!! I shoulda known! lol Hopefully I can resell them.

 

We used receiving blankets as birp rags with our "big spitter," and my older DD uses them with her baby dolls! Otherwise, I agree, USELESS!!

 

Almost everything we got was pretty useful for us. The only thing I can think of offhand that wasn't was Podee bottles. Great idea but they just never worked for our boys!

 

So far my twin boys seem to like everything. They LOVE the Bumpo chairs. They watch me cook dinner in them. They love their bouncers. They love their Bjorns. We got a lot of mileage out of the receiving blankets. We even bought more.

I would not have bought a breast pump. Should have rented and saved myself $200. I hate the snap-n-go but it does its job and makes my life a little easier.

I would have been more careful about buying maternity clothes... especially since my boys were almost two months early. I didn't get to wear most of them.

Also, the boys received way, way, too many clothes. Ditto about the cute outfits, shoes, jackets, hats, socks, etc. It's a waste. I put my boys in those one-piece footie pajamas and I never lose socks or shoes, and they stay warm. Overalls are super cute but a pain in the butt to get on and the snaps scraped me.

Things I wish I had done better was buy a good mobile. They love their two mobiles, but they aren't anything special. Those fancy ones really made them crazy with joy when they visited their cousins.

Oh. And I tried to do cloth diapers...I did...but I kept throwing up when it came time to clean the number 2 diapers. I spent way too much on cloth diapers. Should have tested them out first. (I am going to try a service when we move.)

 

recieving blankets, wipe warmer, bottle warmer

 

It is so fun to see how different all of our experiences are.

Most Useless
Bottle Warmer-used a small crock pot at night. Way faster.
Changing table pad-mostly downstairs and no where for it here.
Binkis-They hate them.
EZ2Nurse Pillow- Didn't like tandem nursing. Would have been great otherwise.
Baby shoes and socks-Where are they walking?

Must Haves
Boppys-Still use to feed. (babies are 6 months old)
Exersaucers-They love them. Both were lent to us.
Bouncy Seats-only thing that helps Lucas' tummy.
Swings-Slept in them during the day for 1st 4 months

 

I guess it goes to show that every baby is different because there are many things listed here that we cannot live without:

- one of the best purchases I made (albeit secondhand) were two Boppy-like pillows (Jolly Jumper brand): the girls nap in them religiously (also helps with their reflux) and I also use them to tandem feed them bottles
- changing table - I sometimes change them elsewhere but my back rebels against this fervently
- expensive Medela Freestyle pump: I can pump while feeding them, washing the dishes, changing them, using the computer, eating, etc. so that means I pump more often and for longer periods of time
- receiving blankets: we have about 20 of them and use them as crib/stroller blankets, rolled up as bottle props (v. occasionally and under supervision), rolled up as car seat head support, spit cloths (Viv is a major spitter-upper)
- pacifiers: they only like the Soothie kind (which are like the ones they got in the hospital) and have been an absolute godsend
- SwaddleMe blankets: I don't know if anyone has mentioned this one as being useless or not but they worked like a charm for our girls - receiving blankets were never big enough to swaddle them properly and their arms/legs always got out. They are pricey but swaddle their limbs in tight and they sleep better and for longer because of them

As for things we haven't found useful:

- so far they are not well pleased with the rocker chairs (we have two, both of which were given to us so not a big deal)
- EZ2 Nurse twin nursing pillow: I found it very awkward to use and it never stayed in place properly
- baby shoes
- mechanical swing: they cry when we put them in it and prefer to be swung in our arms

 

I know this is a side note to the thread, but I'm as disgusted as the next person by feces and my husband basically FORCED me to try cloth diapers, LOL, with my compromise being that as I was committed to breastfeeding & that is a full time job, I wasn't signing up for another- either he'd wash/maintain all the diapers or we'd get a service. We have the service & while I'm not happy with their service, sometimes, I do like the diapers and covers they provide. My big baby (who is not a Jr., but I call Ben Jr. anyway... he's JUST like his dad) has foiled me by regularly wetting through disposables, but never a cloth diaper.

I guess what I'm trying to say is- a diaper service is great! No muss, no fuss as to the care of the diapers. I honestly don't care how I send them back as long as they get into the bag.

Michelle

 

Very interesting thread!

We aren't that far into the first year, yet, but here's what we've found:

DON'T USE:
* Receiving blankets - much easier to swaddle with SwaddleMe's
* Ultimate crib sheet - sister recommended them, but we find it's easier and leads to much less laundry to use a lap pad under their heads in the crib - when they spit up, we just toss that little bitty thing in the wash rather than a whole sheet or pad.
* Swing and bouncer don't get used much and certainly not when the babies are fussy.
* Bassinett feature of the Twin Pack and Play - we have used the big part for travel otherwise and it's nice that it's big enough for both babies at this age.
* Avent bottles - messy messy messy. You have to put the cap on *just right* in order for it to not leak; our boys leaked half the milk out their mouths with these bottles. Dr. Brown's are a better fit for us.
* I agree with whoever it was that said the gowns with elastic bottoms are a pain - hard hard hard to get on a little itty bitty baby.

LOVE:
Baby Bjorns - allows us to carry a fussy baby around the house; also been used on hikes
Snap N Go - we were on the move from early on and nothing beats these for paved roads/the mall, etc., imho (no waking the babies to move them to the stroller).
Boppies - use them to tandem bottle feed and the boys nap in them during the day. I also have a baby in one right now - allows me to type on the computer while baby stays happy and comfy.
Exercise ball - yep, just your average exercise ball - works wonders for quieting a crying baby. Swings and bouncers don't help at all (they're only useful for our babies when they're already happy).
Phil and Ted's E3 Twin stroller - great for dirt roads and tall grass (we're horse people and the farm is all dirt roads, plus we've taken the babies to horse shows and pushed that thing through the grass). Babies love walks in them!
Lap Pads (felt kind) - put them under heads to catch spit ups in the crib and on the boppies --> a lot less laundry.
Dr. Brown's formula mixing pitcher - no clumps of formula.

No opinion yet on the Bumbos. Our boys are finally at the stage where they're holding their heads up, but we just brought out the Bumbos yesterday. So far, Sam and Andy are not impressed, but they haven't been in them much.

We use our bottle warmer - much faster than waiting for hot water to actually come out of the tap and then warm a bottle. I can get two bottles warmed to room temp from the fridge in about 3 minutes. Our boys won't drink it cold...

 

We never felt the need for pack'n plays, bottle warmers, wipe warmers.

We wasted money on bumbos, mittens, dresser (should have bought a better one, we never changed the kids on it) and changing table pad, bath seats, exersaucer/jumperoo, baby carriers, boppies, mesh feeders, swaddling blankets (large receiving blankets worked just fine), small receiving blankets.

 

My modified list which now includes our "must haves".


Most useless to us:
Boppies
Hands free stuff
Baby Bjorns and most slings
typical bottle warmers (never consistent)

My own personal twin survival list:

Contoured memory foam pillows (they've been on the couch since the boys came home from NICU)
Itzbeentimer (I'm not a time logger, and it really helps when my mom takes over for the day and vice versa)
Rival electric hot pot (best bottle warmer ever)
digital scales (no more counting scoops for batches of formula)
Cuisinart hand mixer (mixes up even the clumpiest formula and thickener with ease)
Onesies that snap from top to bottom/crotch (pulling a onesie over a fussy baby's head is no fun)
Angelcare monitor (the only reason we let our boys sleep on their tummy)
Receiving blankets (We've used tons of them from the get go, especially for swaddling in the early days, and just covering up in swings/bouncies)
Changing pad/table (to heck with getting down on the floor)

 

Bumbos - They were a lifesaver with the girls, they loved them! Came in very handy especially with Ainsley, as she didn't sit up well until 9 months. With Caleb, he got right out of it. However, the girls (now 4 yrs old) love to sit in the darn thing!

Boppy was also a waste with Caleb, a "meh" with the girls. I could have gotten away without one/two.

My big waste o' money things

-Wipe warmer (never saw the point)
-bottle prop thing
-Podies
-any kind of sling/Bjorn (I just don't seem to be able to use them)
-nice outfits for newborns
-shoes until they can walk
-special towels for babies (just use a regular towel)

 

Maybe I'm alone in this one, but I received about a million washcloths and I just never use them. Don't really know why, just don't.

Our Pack N Play, aside from the changing table part, complete waste of money for us.

AngelCare Monitor. By the time we put them in thier cribs they were moving around so much we got so many false alarms. The constant heart attacks I kept having, I probably needed the monitor more than they did.

One more, (and I know I'm going to get pounded on this one) I was not a big fan of my E-Z to Nurse pillow. I found it much easier to prop pillows. I know, I'm crazy.

Please be gentle.

 

It's funny to read these. What works so well for one, does nothing for another.

We LOVE our Bumbos. They are probably the most used item for us.

 

No pounding from me! I never found nursing pillows to work for me either. I always just used pillows from my bed & found it much easier! ardon:

 

receiving blankets-way too small to be practical
bottle warmers-too hot as meantioned
baby monitors

 

Lol! Thanks for saving me the trouble of trying it!

 

Some good stuff on here. I'll be interested to what I'll be adding to the list in a few months.

I'm pretty much a majority owner of Babies R Us now, so I got pretty much one, or shld I say 2 of everything.

Let's see what gets turned into Yard Sale Material

 

No pounding! :friends: I'm pathetic enough that I need both the EZ twin pillow and a pile of pillows. I wish I could figure out how to do it easier!