This Mom's Confessions

By 67 Comments

Most Useless Baby Items–Poll to Help New Mothers

Filed Under: Kids Posts, Writing/Blogging Tagged With: , ,

Do you remember back when you first got pregnant with your first baby? Did you have a baby shower or a registry? Did you register for everything and anything? Believe me when I tell you that there are a lot of useless and unnecessary baby items out there for a new baby.

I should know, because I did have a baby shower and must admit I registered for so many things I truly didn’t need and nor did my baby.

This got me to thinking about the most useless baby items of all time. I know I had a few of them myself, because like I said I registered for way too much crap more than one baby could ever need or use. Trust me, Emma barely used the half of the half.


Like who uses a baby bottle sterilizer? I can count on one hand how many times I did, because seriously I didn’t have time for this and cleaning her bottles with hot water and soap worked like a charm along with a bottle brush.

Dr. Brown Bottle Sterilizer–The one I had and never used!!

How about a changing table/pad? I used this one for about a nano-second before changing her on a towel on our bed or even on towel on the floor.

I got a baby sling and guess what Emma hated that thing. So another useless thing to add to the pile that never got used.

Peanut Baby Sling That I Also Never Used!!

Those are just a few examples and believe me I had more, but will spare you.

So for my reader’s sake, as well as possible new first time mothers-to-be everywhere, I thought I would do a poll of the Top 10 Useless Baby Items, where you my readers can vote on this and help out those in need not make the same mistakes.

Please vote now!!! And, also hit me up in the comments about this, too!!

[polldaddy poll=”6943662″]

Last but not least, this was written for and linked up with The Mommy Blog Hoppers, which I am now proudly apart of please take a look and feel free to link up with us here on the topic or Useless Baby Items.

signature

Don’t Forget to Vote. Your Vote Counts and Is Appreciated!!
Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Please Visit my Sponsor of The Month:

 

Ultimate Confessions Ad Saver

For Spring Sale Special Advertising Rates, Please Use Special25!!!

About Janine

Janine is a published author of the books, The Mother of All Meltdowns and Only Trollops Shave Above the Knee. She has been featured on The Huffington Post, Mamapedia, Today Parenting Team and SheKnows. She also runs her own graphic design company at J9 Designs.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Kathy at kissing the says

    I voted for the wipe warmer. As a mom of boys, I would also say the little pee-pee shield is a waste. I just used little baby washcloths to cover their penis while I changed them. I used little washcloths for everything!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Kathy, the wipe warmer was totally up there for me too as being a total waste. And having girls I didn't have any real experience with the pee-pee shield, but my SIL did and agrees with you on this. Thanks for voting and totally love hearing what you thought on this 🙂

  4. Steve @MoneyInfant says

    Interestingly we did not use most of these things with my two boys when they were born 17 and 16 years ago, however we did use almost all of them with my daughter who was born in 2010. Probably more a reflection of my evolving OCD than anything else. I voted for the bottle warmer because that is the one thing we had and did not use. Who has time or patience to wait for those things at 3am when the baby is screaming a the top of her lungs to be fed? Go microwave ftw!

  5. Sara says

    I thought I would use that wipe warmer and it just sat there and collected dust. I think these stores try to make you feel like you need to have EVERYTHING on your registry or your a bad mom.

  6. Kenya Johnson says

    I was on a roll clicking and then realized I could only pick one. I stuck with the wipe warmer. He was going to cry with a change either way. So the faster the better, digging in a wipe warmer slowed me down.

  7. Kenya Johnson says

    Also now that I am a mother, when ever I have to buy a baby shower gift it's hard for me to chose from the registry. I don't want to waste my money. LOL! My gifts are now boring, practical and totally not what they asked for.

  9. Kerri Ames says

    The Diaper Genie for sure was the most useless gift we received. We returned it and my husband bought an XBOX game. Sad, but true story 🙂

  10. Diana Chastain says

    I loved my wipe warmer. I didn't want one at first because I thought they were dumb, but SweetPea was born in December and she screamed whenever a cold wipe would touch her hiney. My wipe warmer made diaper changes more tolerable. 🙂

    I was torn with the baby shoes and specialty laundry detergent. Because SweetPea never wore any of her shoes, if she did she would kick them off in two seconds. And there really is no need for special detergent, although I did have to use Tide because everything else made her break out.

    But I went with bedding because SIDS is such a serious risk and I feel new mother's get overwhelmed by the cuteness of the bedding. They buy them because why wouldn't they? They are sold in stores all packages together. They wouldn't sell anything unsafe to mother's, would they? But I never used my crib bumper or blanket, but it all came packaged together. Made for cute nursery pictures though. 🙂

  11. Diana Chastain says

    I also loved my munchkin diaper system and definitely my bumbo! I never used bottles hardly so we didn't have a sterilizer but I probably would have used it. When I was a nanny we used it with her first for his entire first year but with the second we only used it initially. 🙂

  14. Susan Zutautas says

    My boys are 20 and almost 25 so I'm not really sure what a bumbo seat is 🙂 My most used item would have to be the wind up swing. It calmed the twins down so much and I don't know if I could have lived without that swing. I had two of them sitting side by side. Bottles I found easy to wash and then sterilize by hand. I don't think baby wipe warmers had been invented yet.

  16. Leslie says

    The one thing I wish I had used more was a baby sling. Violet liked hers and it worked well but it wasn't comfortable for me. I wish I had invested in one that was more comfortable. I plan to for any other babies.

    We had a bottle sterilizer that we used for a few weeks and then we moved and our new place had a dish washer. Haven't used it since. LOL

  17. Emily Cappo says

    Baby wipe warmer for sure! Who's going to take the time to warm up the wipes when you've got a poop-covered child to change. Besides, you want the baby to become used to the wipes so that when you're out and about, without your precious wipe warmer, your baby won't freak out on you when the wipes are "cool." I never actually bought one of those, but was warned to not bother. I've heard they dry out the wipes too…

  19. Kat Biggie says

    I had a sterilizer just like that one, and it got used about 3 times! I did however really like the sterilization bags for the microwave. Used those all the time with Tiny because I had to when I was pumping for her while she was in the NICU. Now, my MOST used product EVER is on your list. Bottle warmer. Used that thing for all three kids cause I pumped so their milk was always very cold. I do use the changing table/pad. And I used my bumbo alot for feeding them and for just having something to put them in other than the bouncer when they were learning to sit up. You are so right, there is a lot of USELESS baby stuff out there!!!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Alexa, everyone probably has a different idea I think of what is useful and what isn't. That is totally why I did the poll, but I was curious to see others ideas on this one. But totally agree that with you on that there are a lot of useless baby items out there!! 🙂

  21. Kera says

    I think I'm the ONLY person ever to actually use and LIKE the baby wipe warmer. We had it as a hand-me-down so I decided to try it out. It was great for Sofia when she was a newborn…I liked the idea of putting warm wipes to her bum rather than cold. Sofia never took a bottle, so I can't say if I would have liked the sterilizer or not. And we didn't like our sling either. The Baby Bjorn carrier was MUCH better. One thing I have to say is I LOVE our diaper genie. We still use it and it's so much better than throwing the diapers in a garbage can. And the Bumbo…Sofia loved that thing. She still sits in it sometimes lol.

    • Janine Huldie says

      Kera, if it worked for you and you used it I give you totally more power on that. I bet you Emma would have loved it, but I never really saw the point (she was born in July), but by the time I had Lily I had already lost so much steam that seriously if worked great, if it didn't I wasn't making myself crazy. By the way, the bumbo wasn't really popular when I had Emma, but I did buy it when I had Lily and she too loved it 🙂

      • Kera says

        Yeah, since Sofia was born in October, it was nice to have. Especially since our house tends to be on the cold side!

      • Janine Huldie says

        It would have probably worked better for Lily being born in November, but by that point I never used it with Emma and I had given it away. So I didn't bother trying to get a new one, but still totally see your point on that one 🙂

  22. Lucero De La Tierra says

    I would have voted for all of the above, but the one that I finally chose was the fancy bedding. Sure it's cute while you have it, but fact is it's temporary and they will never remember it. They'll poop and puke on it though. I never had a changing table, but I could not do without my diaper changing pads. Towels work OK, but if they had an accident mid change or had a blowout I did not want that soaking through onto my bed or the coach or the carpet.

  23. Stephanie Sprenger says

    Ooh, fun idea! It was so hard to pick just one! There is so much useless junk out there, and it's hard to know ahead of time which stuff you'll never use…

  25. Lanaya @ Raising Rea says

    Ok so here goes … I did sterilize Reagan's bottles because it was a minute in the microwave {but she drank her bottles straight from the fridge ~ no warming that shit up every meal!} The bumbo was a god send. Reagan was in it at six weeks old and she was able to sit up on her own at four months because of it! That and when I needed to get stuff done it was perfect to let her sit in it and chill. The baby wipes warmer was a gift and at first I balked at it but I loved it and so did Reagan. Worthless ~ infant shoes / slings / and I'm sure a hundred other things I can't think of off the top of my head…

    ¤´¨)
    ¸.•*´
    (¸¤ Lanaya | xoxo http://www.raising-reagan.com

  26. Janine Huldie says

    I love it Lanaya, because that is what I was totally hoping and looking for, because one thing didn't work for me doesn't mean it wouldn't work for someone else. Just awesome to see the variation on this topic!! Thanks again and xoxo!! 🙂

  27. Natasha says

    Baby wipes warmer…most pointless product ever. I rarely ever used it. My son's changing table was not near a wall, so I couldn't plug it in. Then, when I was able to plug it in, it just stayed on and dried out the wipes. I was grateful to get it at my baby shower, but it never really went into practice.

    Also, my son always giggled when he felt the cold wipes…even when he was really little. As strange as it was, I enjoyed that little giggle. So the wipes warmer just became a paperweight.

    • Janine Huldie says

      Natasha, I actually never even used mine at all, so I don't if she would have liked it or not, but loved how your son actually giggled from the cold wipes. I think I would opted not to use it like you, too if that were the case 🙂 🙂

  28. Ruchira says

    Great list, Janine.

    I agree the bottle sterilizer was a waste for me too. I landed up boiling my baby's bottles in hot water. Also the fancy bedding…hardly used it.

    voted for you!

  29. Dawn says

    Slings. They are pointless. I understand those "crunchy" mamas love them, but a wrap works much better and still holds your chunky-@** kid. I also am NOT a fan of the wipe warmer. The Hubs is, but I am glad that I "forget" to plug it in so much that we stopped using it.

  30. Michelle Liew says

    I think the sterilizer might be something I would like to use, say weekly, to sterilize bottles more thoroughly after a week of using them, along with using a bottle brush. Inconvenience is waiting for the sterilization to finish! Thanks for sharing, Janine, sharing this as well.

  33. sarah elizabeth says

    i have never even heard of a baby wipe warmer!!
    I do use a changing mat, as it's easy to wipe clean, but those diaper disposal things are ridiculous. The other day my friend went upstairs to put a pooey diaper in the disposal bin, insteal of putting it in the bin that she was stood next to. When I told her that she basically had a bin full of sh*t in her babies room she wasn't impressed, but why store poo? why not just put it in the bin?!

    • Janine Huldie says

      I am so with you Sarah on the just storing poop issue. I always just brought it right out to her outside garbage pail, because who wanted that smell to linger. Just didn't make sense to me. As for a baby wipe warmer it is to warm the wipes so they are not cold on the baby's bottom, but to me it just wasted more time to do this and didn't see the need Thanks for weighing in!! 🙂

  34. The Next Step says

    the only use I had for the wipes warmer was that it had enough weight to hold the wipes down as I frantically pulled them out one after the other for those really nasty diaper changes. but I do the same now by putting the wipes in the top drawer of the dresser that doubles as our changing table, and I open it just enough to pull wipes out, while the pack stays in the drawer.

  35. Ashley says

    It's kind of funny – there were only 3 things on the poll that I found to be useless. The others are on my must-haves list! Boy do I remember that day I registered though. I looked like a lost puppy. Baby gear is so overwhelming! I've spent way too much money on trial and error! Stopping by from MHB – just linked up!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Footer

Confessions Belong To

I Am A Published Author!

Featured Confessions

Confessions Partners

baby clothes on DHgate.com