What is the one item you bought for your LO that you regret purchasing?
I'm really trying not to buy too much before the LO arrives but I also wonder if I wait, will I not be maximizing an item's usefulness? Example: Amazon's price on the Baby Bjorn bouncer thing seems pretty reasonable right now, but I'm not sure if I should go ahead and buy it or wait until the LO actually arrives. Any experienced moms willing to share their thoughts on this strategy in general?
clementine / 826 posts
If I had thought about it more, I would have gotten a better playpen sooner. The one we have was a hand me down and should have been turfed before it was given to us. This time, I would like a Pack n Play with the bassinette feature to put on the main floor. The actual basinette will stay in our room.
Also, with regards to the carrier, wait to see if your baby will like it. Mine was iffy on it, he preferred the stroller. Buy second hand if you can.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
i agree with @belleoftheballe about waiting on the carrier. my baby hated hated cloth slings like the baby k'tan and mobywrap, but she LOVED the ergo. every baby is different... try to borrow or get things secondhand off craigslist if you can!
pomelo / 5321 posts
The only one I can think of right now is the PUJ tub. We have normal sinks but they weren't deep enough. LO was always too close to the faucet. I hated it. Luckily, I bought mine second hand for half the normal price.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
Different babies like different things. I don't think you can really know until your lo gets here. I think having to buy different kinds of baby gear is just life.
clementine / 958 posts
I regret 3 things - 1) the skip hop duo deluxe diaper bag, 2) the graco brand quilted fitted pack n play sheets, and 3) the first years breastflow bottles. 1) Was totally too small for me and the magnetic closure was, IMO, insufficient. In retrospect, I should have researched how much stuff people usually carry in a diaper bag and tried packing it up before LO arrived. 2) The quilted fitted PnP sheets can't go in the dryer according to their tag. How ridiculous is that?! 3) Don't buy a bunch of one type of bottle until you know your LO likes that bottle. I wish I had bought 1 bottle of a couple brands to find which one worked best for us.
I love the bjorn bouncer! I found a used one in great condition on craigslist.
In general, I try to buy things earlier than later, and I borrow or buy used if possible. If you don't mind used baby goods, craigslist, consignment shops, etc are a really good source for expensive larger items that baby may or may not like.
persimmon / 1135 posts
We were very minimalistic in what we purchased pre-baby. The big things we have are the stroller (Britax B-Agile), a Fisher Price Rainforest Bouncer, and a BabaSling.
I'm happy with all three. The stroller handles great and works as a travel system with our carseat. He loves the bouncer and spends a ton of time in it, and the sling is totally awesome.
We held off on purchasing a Boppy (since no one bought it for us from my wishlist) and just got it yesterday. It's already a godsend.
Those are really the only "gear" purchases we've made and so far our "less-is-more" approach is working just fine. Good luck!
pomelo / 5321 posts
@owlmom: agree with the graco quilted pnp sheets! I didn't read the label and mine went in the dryer. Now, it is useless!
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
I regret buying sippy cups. Only bought 3, but LO didn't use any of them!
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
@chopsuey119: Totally agree...But I didn't know LO would hate it/not want it...I've been giving LO sips from a cup and she's learning well! When did you give M the straw cup (forget what it's called).
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
@Rubies: M started the Zo li at 11 months! I didn't know she could sip from a straw until she jacked some little girl's zoli and started drinking from it!
I feel so bad for depriving her of water/juice for so long. Little girl drinks about 8 ounces of water a day! She's a little fish!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
The purchases we could have skipped were:
infant bucket and base: we use the car as a family only on the weekends, so we could have just gone straight to a convertible seat
Lightweight Britax (B-Mobile) stroller: has a complicated fold, small sunshade, doesn't fit in an airport scanner without taking the wheels off, can't wash the seat because of a non removable backing board, doesn't offer leg extender, crappy suspension
Motorola video monitor: we would have done just as well with a sound only monitor
Peanut Shell sling: my son hated being all contained in there, he does better in a carrier that doesn't contain his head...I bought it on clearance, so it wasn't a total overspend.
coconut / 8498 posts
@owlmom: @Sweet T: What?! I just washed and dried one of these. I didn't look at the label at all before, but dried it on low and it's fine.
coconut / 8299 posts
I agree about the baby carrier. We should have tested them out before buying one. I bought the Beco Butterfly and actually really like it but our LO wasn't too fond of it. What a waste! Hopefully our baby girl will not mind it too much!
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
I would have purchased a much lighter infant carseat. Wagon Jr. would have lasted longer in it but I just couldn't lift the seat with him and the seat together anymore once he got really heavy.
pear / 1728 posts
Bumbo, Boppy, and Bjorn (ha! All B's.) Liv puked EVERY time we put her in the Bumbo chair. I think it squished her stomach. She was sitting up on her own at about 6 months anyways, so that was a waste. I used my boppy like twice. Both times to prop her up for photos under a blanket. I never used any pillows or anything for BFing, they made me hot. And she HATES the Bjorn. We bought that for DH, while I had a ring sling. She loves the sling still to this day.
The Pack & Play was a huge waste for us. Shes used it twice, once on an overnight, and one night on vacation. The rest of those nights she slept in bed with us.
car seat adapter for her stroller. She despises the carseat with the burning flames of Hades. Has since the day we brought her home from the hospital. So we never even took it out of the box because we didnt make her sit in the seat one more second than she needed to,
Like a lot of PPs said, baby gear is a lot of trial and error for your individual baby.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
Baby Bjorn Travel Crib...we bought it because of the easy set up and it weighs only 11 lbs! My parents, in laws and BIL have all watched our LO and they hate it because the baby is on floor level and it is awkward to reach into it. Wish I bought a cheap Pack n play instead!
bananas / 9118 posts
I researched big items like the swing, stroller, and activity playmat, so I knew they were things we would want- if not for this baby, then for the next.
I left a lot of things in their boxes, and have returned/exchanged what we haven't used. I bought several types of bottles, and once I figured out what worked I returned the ones we hadn't opened.
Other things like the carrier/slings I bought second hand, so I'm not too upset having only spend $12, if it hadn't worked out.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@MegWag: do you love your stroller? We registered for that one and have a Britax car seat that will snap into it. I haven't found many people with that stroller, so I'm curious. 
persimmon / 1135 posts
@mediagirl: I really like it so far! It folds and unfolds super-easily and handles really well. It's a little heavy, but not too bad. We have the Britax Baby Safe SHR car seat too and it attaches and detaches really smoothly. LO is very cozy and happy in it. It is a bit heavy and bulky, but we don't really ever carry it, we just attach it to the stroller or take him out of it and just carry him. I hope you like it
blogger / coconut / 8306 posts
I don't regret any of our purchases. Like Artbee said, every baby has their own set of preferences. There were so many things we were gifted at the baby shower that have gone completely unused, simply because Baby Jumper didn't care for them.
The #1 item that was never used, though, was the MamaRoo. It was given to us by my nana, and the baby HATED it with a passion.
Baby Jumper is a calm, sweet baby who NEVER cries. Two minutes in the MamaRoo and poor Jumper was screaming her head off and wouldn't stop until we took her out. Yikes!
nectarine / 2180 posts
We didn't get much use out of the Moby or the Bumbo...but I wouldn't necessarily say I regret having them. We may get more use out of them with baby #2.
pomegranate / 3414 posts
swing (a gift) - DD hated it and it too up too much room, ended up putting it into storage very quickly
didn't hate anything we purchased but we borrowed a lot of stuff so no money really wasted
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
@Mrs. Jump Rope: oh my! isn't it funny how we will try to entertain our babies with "cool" things and it totally backfires?? 
Wagon Jr. was so happy with just staring at a light on a wall, and then I'd try to entertain him with a cool toy and he'd start to cry.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
@LivsMama: lol... burning flames of Hades. That reminds me of the scene in Clue where Mrs. White is explaining how much she hated the maid: "flames... flames, around my face... burning..." turns out the actress totally ad-libbed the whole thing. Hilarious.
pear / 1728 posts
@mrs. wagon: LOL! I never thought of that!
Oh and I totally forgot about the swing and bouncer. Luckily all this stuff was gifts, but she hated those too.
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