What Not to Buy for the Newborn
You will easily find long lists of what you “really need to buy” for the arriving wonder. The people who put those lists together usually laud their acumen that helped them foresee needs and ease up their parenting duties afterward. Still, if you do your preparations for the first time, you may think that everything concerning babies must go into the basket, and then sorted out and used when necessary. Actually, it isn’t so, and you can get landed with quite a lot of stuff you won’t be using for a while if at all. Below are at least ten items you won’t need to be burdened with.
Footwear
Shoes for the little one are certainly cute things and draw parents‘ attention, but are really useless. It will be some time before your baby turns into a toddler, and meanwhile, footwear may not fit well, fall off, and be in the way. Far better to bother about shoes when the baby gets on his feet.
Clothing for just born babies
True, babies are expected to be tiny, and all those tiny pieces of clothing look immensely catchy and suitable – which they actually aren’t. They are designed for those who are seven pounds and under, whereas most American babies are born heavier than that. You may find you are unable to squeeze your baby in the clothes you bought from day one. Go for clothes tagged 0-3 months which are sure to see your baby through his first months.
Little socks
The problem with the smallest socks available is they never stay in place – almost as soon as you put them on, they slide off. Why bother with them at all? Footed pajamas will fit the bill nicely for warm toes.
Special towels
Why go for specially-designed towels when you can use common-type ones? You may find they serve even better than those for babies – they often come thinner and consequently don’t absorb as well as our grown-up items.
Bumpers
Bumpers seem to be an excellent buy with a great purpose to exclude the possibility of the baby hitting the walls of her crib. But in fact, these paddy things can be quite dangerous and cause suffocation. It happens so often that one state has already prohibited their use and another one is going to do the same thing. Also, the American Academy of Pediatrics warns against bumpers of all sorts, including the modern improved mesh ones. So in order to be on the safe side lay off them.
Tiny hairbrushes
Who on earth decided that a newborn is going to have such a lot of hair that it will need tending straight away? Even if brushes will do their job with the thin wisps of baby hair, and you want your baby to look tidy up there, you can always use any kind of hairbrush near at hand.
Special detergents
When washing the newborn’s clothes you can use the same detergents you are using – that is, unless it turns out the baby’s skin is unusually sensitive. Infant detergent does smell much nicer, but does it make it such a necessary item?
A special table for changing
Maybe you will make good use of that, but if you have a dresser, you can always spread a changing pad over it, and it will serve for changing diapers as well as a dresser. Or you can do the changing on a blanket thrown on a sofa or even on the floor.
Bottle accessories – warmers, sterilizers
You can do without them easily using hot water and kitchen soap, so what’s the point of paying money for them?
Warmer for wipes
Warming wipes is a good idea, no doubt, but just five seconds later it has lost the warmth. If you tarried a little, the baby gets no benefit from it. You will get a better effect by keeping packages of wipes on the radiator.
Wipes for pacifiers
As if you didn’t have cloth and stuff you wipe things with at home. You can safely use these instead of buying new stuff.
Cologne for infants
Your baby smells nice as she is, doesn’t she? Would you want to use cologne on her? Odds are you won’t be needing it for months and months.
NoseFrida
Nasal aspirators can come in handy at times, but what is so special about NoseFrida that you have to choose it above all others? You can do with any common bulb nasal aspirator for which you won’t have to get filters. So why waste money?
Cute pillows
Your newborn’s bed should not have anything at all, even blankets or pillows. Just don’t buy them.
Crib Bedding Set
Crib Sets
These items are generally too expensive and include bumpers that are hazardous things to have in the crib. The set contains a quilt that you won’t find useful at all (it will be lying about the place getting in the way at times). When purchasing bed sets, be very selective.
Diaper Genie
We’ve known few moms that genuinely thought a diaper genie was worth it. It’s hard to tell you how many of these things we see at garage and consignment sales. Just use a trash can and take the trash out often. Use for each to stop the smell.
With some moms, a diaper genie is a great favorite, but more often these things end up at jumble sales. There’s nothing to prevent you from throwing used diapers into the trash can with biodegradable plastic bags to kill the smell, take care to empty the can regularly and see if it settles the issue without extra expenditure.
