The Baby Products I Didn’t Need

The Wall Street Journal has been publishing a series of articles this week on the cost of childcare, and yesterday's article on how new parents spend their money was especially interesting if you're in - or approaching - that phase of your life. 

Having kids has always been expensive, but when you're in the process of preparing for your first child, the never-ending list of perceived "must-haves" can be pretty overwhelming. There were plenty of things my husband and I purchased that we either didn't use much or didn't use at all in the first year of our son's life. 

So for everyone who's doing this for the first time, here's a list of everything I didn't use much, in case it helps you to make some of those purchasing decisions!

Baby-wearing gear: I know this is a popular item on a lot of registries, and I had it on my registry too - and then we realized in the first few weeks and months of our son's life that he absolutely hated it. In our case, this probably had to do with the tightness he was carrying in his body for the first few months (he had some feeding issues and we had the help of a physical therapist help him resolve some of the discomfort), but even after he was in better shape, he never really took to baby wearing. So on this purchase, like much of this list, this might be a purchase you hold off on until a week or two in, when you have a better gauge on your baby's preferences.

Baby bouncers: This was another one that our son just didn't like. Fortunately, we bought a bouncer on the lower end of the cost spectrum (no UPPAbaby for us in this case), so when we found out that our son really didn't like it, we didn't feel as bad about how much we spent on it. For this item, I'd recommend taking a similar route - trying a less expensive (but still safe) option first, and seeing if your baby takes to it before investing in something pricier. Pro tip: while bouncers can be great to keep them occupied, mats with mobiles above them are another good option - and once they're ready for tummy time, you can use the mat for that as well. 

Bottle warmer: My son was combo-fed pretty much since he was born because he had a poor latch, so he got used to drinking cold formula pretty quickly - and that came in handy when we started to prep formula bottles and keep them in a fridge in his room for middle-of-the-night feedings. That might be why he wasn't that picky about temperature - so we almost never used our bottle warmer. That said, if you're breastfeeding exclusively or even often, it might be worth buying. 

Next up, I’ll put together a list of the products that I used the most!