Baby Products I never should have bought but did anyways . . . duh.
I’m guilty of either buying, or receiving, every single one of these baby products.
Eight babies later, a boat load of baby products tested, I can look back and muse on the money we wasted.
Now I realize that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but read my list and see what you think.
Table of Contents
10 Baby Products I Never Should Have Bought
White Hot Bath Duck
You know, the one that tells you the temperature of the water?
Most mothers find that’s it’s much easier to check the water with an elbow or wrist.
Who knew? Plus, trying to clean the mold out of the inside of rubber duckies is no fun.
Pretend Cell Phone and Keys
Because they will only be happy with YOUR phone and YOUR keys.
Big Tub of Vaseline
Not that there aren’t a couple of practical uses for it, but it can take YEARS to work your way through that monstrous container!
I have one in our bathroom cabinet that has been there for over 5 years. No joke.
Baby Hair Brush
I know babies are delicate, but most of those brushes have such soft bristles you could rub them across your eyeballs and it wouldn’t hurt.
We just use a comb.
Baby Shoes
I’m talking about the ones with soles, laces and all.
Just the other day I saw a pair of hiking books, yes hiking boots, in size 0-3 months!
Am I only the one that feels weird putting shoes on a tiny little infant?
They can’t walk, they can’t crawl and those little feet are so darn adorable, who wants to cover them up anyway?
Baby Bathrobe
Cute concept, but rarely used.
The last thing you want to fool with when dealing with a slippery, just-bathed infant is getting their wriggling arms and legs into a tiny terry bathrobe.
A big soft towel is the way to go. Or better yet, get junior dry and admire his adorable birthday suit for a few minutes!
Receiving Blankets
Not because they are useless but because you will get a truckload of all kinds of blankets from friends and family.
Besides, receiving blankets aren’t that great at receiving, whatever that means anyway.
As a new mother, I thought they were for wrapping your baby up in after a bath, but quickly learned they were too thin and too small for that.
I used a few of ours as burp cloths or emergency cloth diapers.
The others just took up space.
Every yard sale I go to has a plethora of receiving blankets for sale, most of them brand new.
That should tell you something.
Peepee Teepee
In our house, we cover the boys with a pre-fold diaper.
It’s not as cute, but it gives better coverage.
And they STILL nailed us a few times anyway!
Baby Forks
Because of safety concerns, the tines of these things are so fat, what’s the point?
A fork is supposed to spear food, and baby forks don’t do that, so just stick with spoons, or let them use their hands.
If you want baby forks that actually work, you may have to search on Ebay for vintage ones.
Baby Food Maker
I’m embarrassed to admit we used ours only once.
Because we found it was easier to just mash up food with a fork. Or buy it in a jar.
I had plans of preparing all this food in advance and freezing it.
I even bought the Super Baby Food book. Life got busy and my big plan never materialized.
The “soft” baby food phase blows by SO quickly anyway.
Blink once and they have moved on to biting and chewing.
Are there any baby products you think were a waste of money? Please comment below.
Additional reading; What a Baby Really Needs, How to Prevent SIDS and The True Journey of Natural Labor and Birth.
The baby food maker was a great investment for me. Receiving blankets made great burp rags. What did I buy that was a waste? I can’t think of anything right now.
I found several items to be a waste of money for our family:
Small bibs
Small burp cloths
Too many of one type of bottle or pacifier before you know the baby will accept it
Travel swings
Bottle warmer
Most baby toys
Scratch mittens
Baby hats
Most baby girl hair accessories
I do like having plenty of flannel receiving blankets, especially for my 5th baby. He spit up constantly and they made the best burp cloths.
Those ducks are pretty useless! lol
There are so many products out there that we don’t need. I bought all sorts of useless things for my first baby. After I moved I didn’t take most of the things with me but found that I could get by with so much less for the rest of the babies. A very smart post I am hosting a new link party, Sweet Inspiration and would love to have you join us, It runs Friday till Tuesday.
Mine were babies so long ago I am struggling to remember! What I can remember is throwing away a half used but very dodgy looking tub of Vaseline just a few years ago , a small or medium jar is plenty.
Jumpers (or anything with a round neckline) is probably the only other thing I can think of. With their little necks, I found envelope necklines or cardigans where so much more comfy for them and easy for me!
Yes, I love the modified necklines which make getting it over their heads so much easier! ~Anne
I didn’t buy much but I’m also the one who just threw stuff in the blender after cooking and served it to the baby although by the time she reached a certain age, she wanted the real stuff off my plate. I don’t think I bought anything other than baby cereal and even then it was for such a short time.
For me the big baby tub was so not worth it. We didn’t even use it once. It’s so much easier to put the baby in the tub or shower with mom or dad!
Wow, I totally agree with that list. You think you need everything but use only half! Thank you for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty
I hated the 2 baby bath tubs we purchased. One was so huge and other to small. I loved all the blankets and we used them to layer and in car seats. I hate Vaseline so I end up throwing them away all the time, and then just buying them again LOL! I think they are germ pits. I also hated baby finger nail clippers,…really why are the handles so small? Plus if you use an adult one that flat area will gently push back the skin under nail to keep you from clipping it.