I wanted to get this out into the world because, hopefully, it will help someone save some money! Below I have listed 5 items that I could definitely have lived without! Save your money on more important things -- like diapers or formula.
Also, I know some mommas might disagree with me, to each their own.
1. Bottle Warmer
Ooooh! Another cool gadget that I totes need because it will be so awesome to be able to heat up the bottle. Super high tech - I NEED ITTTT!
No. Just no.
We bought the Dr. Brown's Bottle Warmer because those are the bottles that we decided to go with. We probably used it a total of 15 times.
Reasons why I can live without it:
- You have to refill the water portion after about 5 -7 bottles. (Hi, another chore? No thanks!)
- If you don't have a flexible brush, it's hard to clean the part that actually holds the water and it gets stale and can gather mold.
- You can program it to heat for a certain amount of time. Super cool, right? Wrong. You have to guess/memorize what time you need in accordance with how many ounces of liquid you need heated. Who wants to do homework with a newborn? Not me.
- It is a waste of space! My husband and I live in a smaller apartment. Between the drying rack, the pump parts and all the other
crapwonderful things that (you think) are needed for baby, you don't need to take up more space. And between you and me, I would rather have my toaster. Yay for peanut butter toast. Yay for all things on toast.
The bottle warmer is now stored in the garage and we use the Keurig to warm up our bottles. We just run it without a pod and let the water gather in a mug. We place the bottle in and BOOM, warm bottle.
Girlfriend, save the $30 and buy yourself a new post-baby outfit.
2. Baby Detergent
Hi, my name is Megan and I bought $40 worth of baby detergent. My husband has sensitive skin, so I figured that Baby would follow suit. I washed all of baby's clothes in the new fancy shmancy baby detergent, completely ignoring that I already buy a detergent for sensitive skin. I'm smart. What up!
What I would suggest is washing a few outfits in the detergent that you already use and see if baby has an issue. He/she probably won't. Do this before you rush out and buy over-priced detergent. (Also, keep in mind, baby is not used to having clothes on...so a rash might exist solely because there is fabric on new skin).
Bonus:
**If you are anything like me, you registered at every single store you could have and you probably got a welcome bag filled with samples. USE THEM.
All in all, I had about 5 different detergent samples, enough for 5 loads!
If you need a sensitive detergent, I would suggest Up and Up Free and Clear (from Target). It is cheaper, because it's not exclusively for baby.
3. Pumping Bottles
I am honestly not even sure why I purchased these. I must have been thinking that I was going to be the exception, that somehow when I was pumping, I would be able to fill more than four bottles. Um, yeah...no.
After month 2 my supply started dwindling to only what baby needed. And even before that, I only used 1.5 bottles on each side. But again, I decided to buy these pumping bottles.
Sidenote: I know some moms use the bottles for freezing, but I prefer using the bags because they take up less space in the freezer and they are easier to thaw.
4. "Newborn" Anything
Since there is no real way of knowing the size of your baby, I would suggest holding off on washing all NB outfits. (Ps. Hopefully you will get all kinds of sizes at your showers, but I got mostly NB, because let's face it, they are so freaking tiny and cute!).
And of course, I did this really fun thing, where I took off all tags, washed/folded, and put away all the clothes that we got from the shower. Mommies, DO NOT DO THIS. Baby wore most of the newborn outfits once and then they went into storage. And I wasted time "organizing" the dresser. I had to spend time reorganizing it when I was sleep deprived and delirious.
*Even if you have a smaller baby, I would still suggest exchanging most NB outfits for a bigger size or at least keep the tags on the few extras you have. That way, if your baby is teeny, you will have those new outfits and if you have a chunky, you can exchange the clothing for a bigger size.
Also, my wonderful and handsome hubby did this really fun thing, where he opened all the newborn diapers and filled the dresser/changing station with them. Yikes. Long story short, J grew out of them so quickly, now we have 98 newborn diapers in storage. I guess they will come in handy with the next one. (Did I just say next one?!!) Stop. No. Gross.
*Did you know that Target buys back unopened packages of diapers? It doesn't even matter where you purchased them! Take back those small diapers and buy the bigger size.
Or, be awesome like us, and open them...and store them... How much you wanna bet that by the time we have the next baby (12 years from now) they will be molded or something weird like that?
5. Puj Tub
This is so hard to write because I was in LOVE with this tub when I first found it. So, let me start by telling you why I love it:
- It is foldable and can store flat. We hung it on the back of our door for a while and now it is stored between our fridge and cabinets. (It has magnetic closures and we figured out we could stick it to the side of the fridge so it doesn't touch the floor. #momwin)
- It is easy to clean and dry -- again it hangs. All the water drips off and I don't have to worry about it molding.
- All the hip moms on insta were using it. I wanna be a hip mom too. #notaregularmom #coolmom
- It is comfortable for baby -- J would sit in it all day, if I let him.
And the hard part, the reason why it is a fail in my book:
- When J was first born we didn't feel comfortable using it.
- When all is said and done, we will have only used it for about 2 months.
J was an average baby. He was born 8lbs. 2 oz. He wasn't a preemie, so we thought he could use the bathtub. I mean, that's what I bought it for. I bought it for help. I knew that bath time was going to be the hardest to get used to. After all, they send you home from the hospital with a tiny baby who can't support their own head. Add water and you have a slippery mess.
It was much easier to just get into our own bathtub and hold J, than to try using the Puj. And for that reason...
By the time baby was strong enough to sit in the foldable tub, it was more beneficial for everyone involved to just get in the big bath with him. We were able to shampoo and scrub areas that would couldn't access easily with the Puj. And to be honest, it was a good bonding experience. We had unlimited skin to skin and relaxation.
Soon he will be able to sit up in the big bath and play with toys, which means we will have only used the Puj for a couple of months. Not worth the money. ($45)
If you want the same experience, but not the price...I would check out one of these bad boys or something similar. ($17)
Anyways, I hope this helps! Happy shopping, Mommas!
XO - Megs
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