Filling out your registry can be an exciting time! The possibilities are endless, and you end up in the baby aisle of every store you pass while waiting for your little one to arrive. However, we have compiled a list of products that you can leave off the registry, or maybe keep out of the cart on your next shopping trip. All these products serve a purpose, we just didn’t seem to run into that purpose often enough to consider them essentials.
Baby Dome
This product seemed awesome! I practically begged my wife to let me put it on the registry. It’s portable and not near the size of a pack and play, so I thought it would be perfect. Taking it outside to contain the baby and protect her from the sun. Taking it to other homes so she can nap on a flat contained surface, but I was wrong.
- It’s not very large. By the time my daughter was 5 or 6 months, she would touch the sides and get distracted instead of sleeping.
- Portability is pointless if it doesn’t work for your needs
- The conditions must be darn near perfect for it to work outside. It can’t be too hot, you must have a flat surface, plus if the baby is awake, they can’t really see anything around them. They are just kind of trapped.
Overall, this product fits very niche uses, but if you are deciding on whether you need a pack and play, go with the pack and play over the baby dome.
Baby Bath Tub
Bathtubs for you baby are super cute and are fun to use the first few times you get to really “bathe” your baby. It’s fun to get all setup and put them in their tiny little bath. However, it’s not practical. Unless you have a perfect height waterproof location, you are most likely using it on the floor. Meaning you are hunched over trying to bathe and control your baby. A lot of people use the baby bathtub inside of their actual bathtub, to prevent water from going everywhere.
- Usually used while hunched over on the floor.
- Water gets everywhere unless used in a bathtub, and you might as well just use your bathtub at that point.
- They outgrow the infant portion of the tub but aren’t quite ready to sit up for the next phase of the baby bathtub.
- You already have viable places such as your tub or your sink to bathe a small baby, why spend the money.
The limited time you use a bathtub specifically designed for infants does not justify the cost in my opinion
Wipe Warmer
Wipe warmers were recommended to us buy a multitude of parents. An “absolute must” or “you’ll regret not getting one”. This one goes on the list for good reason, we never used it! Convenience factor was the big one. Any extra step when parenting is not usually welcome.
- Must always be plugged in.
- Extra steps, wetting sponge or loading water.
- If left on too long wipes can dry out.
- Bacteria if not cleaned properly
- Unless you buy multiples or only change your baby in one room, they aren’t going to be very happy.
Few have expressed that a cold wipe caused their infant to pee on contact, and in that case, I recommend a wipe warmer. Other than that, I’d say you’ll be fine without it.
Portable Changing Mat
We have 3 of these things. We keep one in the diaper bag to this day. However, it’s been used once or twice. Maybe we have been fortunate and not had too many public blowouts, but it just doesn’t seem needed. Most scenarios we change our daughter in our vehicle. It’s easy, and we know it’s clean.
- Public restrooms can be filthy, changing mat or not.
- Not all restrooms have somewhere to place the changing mat
- You typically must store the potentially dirty changing mat back in your bag.
- You probably have a vehicle nearby if you are not home.
We were very excited when we received our changing mats. One too many dirty bathrooms, or a few too many restrooms without changing tables seemed to kill the buzz on this product.
Hats/Shoes
Having a cute baby is obviously a high priority. Although all those infant hats and baby shoes you collect are probably going in an already packed drawer never to be used. Our daughter only wore her small hat in the hospital then maybe once or twice after we left. Shoes didn’t even cross our mind until after she started crawling and we got optimistic about walking.
- Having products that you don’t use just leads to clutter.
- Baby shoes only serve decoration purposes. They are not helping your infant develop (although they don’t hurt either)
- Unless your baby is about to walk, shoes probably aren’t needed.
- Hats and shoes can be easily lost while out and about.
- Hats are cute, but once again are usually just for show, a hat with any real thickness would only be used for cold, and a baby that small either should be out in the cold or should be nice and bundled up in their car seat.
It’s nice receiving cute little outfits and articles of clothing. Maybe let others buy those things for you and save your money for something else. Running out of space is an inevitability for most, and why not delay the process by avoiding items that end up in the back of your drawers.
Recap
None of these products are useless by any means. They all serve a purpose or role that can be beneficial to the parenting process. However, our experiences have led us away from the ones I have listed. We either didn’t come across the right scenarios, or we already had something in place that rendered them obsolete. If you feel they might be helpful, then by all means try them for yourselves! Or better yet, ask other parents you know if they have had similar experiences. Maybe they’ll even let you borrow an item or two and you can save a little money.
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