10 baby products I regret buying and things I wish I got sooner
I realize now that excessive shopping was my coping mechanism for pregnancy and post-partum anxiety. I am a perfectionist, and having a baby upended my world and left me facing many situations that were stressful and worrisome for an inexperienced first-time mother. Adding recommended baby registry essentials made me feel like I’m a bit more prepared for welcoming my baby. By purchasing new baby products that could fix my issues or help with my son’s struggles, I felt like I was reinstating a bit of that control I was desperate to regain.
So, I bought and bought, and I convinced myself at the time that all of it was absolutely necessary. The baby item market is aware of that, and ripe with marketing praying on vulnerable parents. And of course, every baby is different, so what worked for one family might not work for the other. But these are the main popular baby products I regret buying. And some things that I wish I got instead.
1. Countless pumping products
Before my son was born, I had everything for any possible baby-feeding style. I had no idea how this all works, what the challenges of breastfeeding might be, why women pump, how it works, etc. I’ve read many books about pregnancy and taking care of babies, but somehow, I was missing all the practical info. I’ve got everything from Spectra (an excellent breast pump) to Elvie portable pump, breast massager, heating pads, breastmilk cooler, bottles, Haaka collectors, mobile cart with snacks and helpful items (I’ve often seen it on Pinterest, so I thought it probably a must have!) and milk bags.
The start of my breastfeeding journey was challenging. My son had a tongue tie, and it was causing me pain, and my supply wasn’t coming as quickly as needed. He also refused any bottles around 4 months old. There was simply no point in pumping anymore. I had to throw away my stash, which I had built relentlessly during those hazy 3 a.m. sessions. The tears were shed. All the feeding-related baby items have been gathering dust since then.
This one is personal, as no one can predict what type of feeding will work for them, but general advice is not to go overboard. I advise you to wait and see how things go before filling in the online shopping carts.
2. Baby lounger
Snuggle me (or infamous Dock-a-tot). I think I mainly bought it because I’ve seen babies looking cute in it on social media. But I’ve never used it; my son hated being in it. I also had too much anxiety about sleep safety to let him fall asleep in it, even supervised. Next time I have a newborn, I will buy an infant insert for our Tripp Trapp high chair so the baby can be next to us while we have meals or cook. For other uses, a mobile convertible mini crib would be amazing.
STOKKE TRIPP TRAPP NEWBORN INSERT
NESTIG THE WAVE CRIB
3. Hatch sound machine
I’ve heard many parents love this device. But it just wasn’t for us. My baby did not take to white noise. It also exacerbated my anxiety and intrusive thoughts. We didn’t really use it as a light fixture or a good-to-wake-up signal for the baby. And it’s pretty pricey for a relatively simple machine. For those few times when noise actually helped with naps on the go/ while traveling, we’ve made better use of this portable machine instead.
YOGASLEEP HUSH SOUND MACHINE
This little device is portable, fits easily in the diaper bag, strapped to the stroller, or used at home as a regular sound machine.
4. Squirt bath toys
That one is entirely on me, as I knew they can get moldy over time. But I didn’t expect how much until I cut them open with scissors one day. They got dumped in the trash right away.
MUNCHKIN BUBBLES BATH TOYS
AMAZON MOLD FREE BATH TOYS
I love this silicone set because you still get that fun from squirting water, but these toys are easy to open and let dry. Now that he’s bigger, my son loves using them as little containers for pouring water or “feeding” the animal characters.
5. Muslin blanket swaddles
Velcro swaddles were much more straightforward and foolproof, especially during those middle-of-the-night changes. Out of a dozen muslin blankets, I used maybe four (and not for swaddling). We started using Halo Velcro swaddles at the hospital and Snoo swaddles at home, then briefly the Merlin suit to transition out of the swaddles (and Snoo). After that, the Woolino and Kyte sleep sacks were our top picks.
HALO SLEEP SACK VELCRO SWADDLE
I loved that this swaddle is super easy to put on, and the Velcro stays on, so I didn’t need to worry about any loose fabric near my baby’s face. The Halo swaddle is designed to be snug around the baby’s arms to give that comforting feeling, but it’s loose around the legs to allow for healthy development. It’s also 100% cotton, and they recently added a lot of delicate, pretty patterns and colors.
6. CRIB MOBILE
It just isn’t safe to have anything hovering above the crib, so I never even used this beautiful, handmade felt mobile I got on Etsy.
7. FANCY or plastic NEWBORN OUTFITS
Fancy, special outfits are usually hard to put on and uncomfortable for the baby. A few are nice to have to snap cute photos or for special celebrations, but most of the time, I didn’t have the energy to change him (or myself) out of pajamas. I never wanted to put jeans on a literal baby. My rule of thumb is – if I don’t want him to nap in it, I’m not putting it on for the day.
I like my baby to wear comfortable, breathable natural fabrics like cotton (especially Pima or Supima cotton, which are super soft and fantastic), wool, and bamboo. I try to avoid anything made of polyester or fleece (which is also polyester in another form)—primarily fleece pajamas—which can lead to overheating (worrying about SIDS was the main reason for my anxiety). Polyester-made clothes trap moisture and heat, leading to skin irritation.
However, most outerwear, like jackets, contain polyester, which I’m okay with for this specific purpose, mainly because it’s tough to find down jackets that use anything else nowadays.
8. PLASTIC BABY BOTTLES
The old and common wisdom, confirmed by scientific data, is to sanitize baby bottles and prepare the formula with hot water to protect the baby’s health from bacteria and viruses. There is no doubt about this.
However, new research is surfacing1, proving that plastics leach microplastics in astonishing quantities, especially when exposed to high temperatures and fat. And while we don’t know yet exactly what the impact of microplastics present in our bodies is, what we know is alarming. The use of plastics in baby bottles is a relatively new practice. I know my mom fed me with glass bottles. It only took us 30 years to reinvent the wheel.
I don’t want to choose between protecting my son from germs or microplastics. Next time, I will buy baby bottles made of glass, even if they seem less convenient. They are not perfect since the nipple still needs to be made from soft materials like silicone, but it’s a much better alternative.
PHILIPS AVENT GLASS NATURAL BABY BOTTLE
You can also check out the weaning essentials for when the baby starts solids here.
9. BABY CARRIER
I got two carriers for my son. One was Solly, which I never used. It might seem funny now, but I couldn’t find the mental capacity and energy to figure out how to wrap it during the postpartum period. The second was the Ergobaby Embrace, which we occasionally used, even at home, for emergency naps. But my son was always tall and heavy (99%), and he liked our stroller, so we stopped using the carrier early.
We did rock him to sleep for almost 1.5 years, though, which killed my back. I wish I had gotten the Tush baby carrier a lot earlier. Next time, if we have the space, I’ll also get a rocking chair.
The Tushbaby would also be perfect for some of our travels and sightseeing (like the trip to Lisbon’s old town and castles, which had many steps, and the terrain was hilly, so the stroller was not an option).
Since birth, my son hasn’t been a big hugger, but he loved cuddling with me on Tushbaby. Thanks to it, we also had many dance parties. He plays music on his Yoto, lifts his hands up, says he wants to dance with Mommy, and asks for the Tushbaby, calling it his “chair.” Aww.
TUSHBABY HIP CARRIER
10. WRONG BABY MONITOR
We’re in a small apartment, and we sleep in the same room as my son, so there’s no way we wouldn’t hear his crying for those 2-to 3 hours between his bedtime and when we go to sleep. So the baby camera wasn’t a priority. We used an older hand-me-down Philips Avent combined with the WYZE cam, which were fine for what we needed them to be.
But their functionality and convenience weren’t ideal. I also prefer monitors that don’t use a Wi-Fi connection, as those can be hacked. I heard great things about Infant Optics from the members of my mom group; if we have another, I will switch to that.
INFANT OPTICS HOME DXR-8 PRO BABY MONITOR
References
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