Have ever wondered if you just have way too much on your registry? This post should help! Today I am sharing some baby items you don’t need but think you do since they are on everyone’s ‘registry favorites’ list, but they are actually NOT worth the hype!
This is definitely not a ‘one size fits all’ type of post. Many of the items I talk about you NOT needing, may be the very same items that saved you during that first year. This is just my opinion!
But, if one of the items below was a holy grail product for you, please leave a comment at the end and let us know why!
10 Baby Items You Think You Need But Really Don’t
1 4Moms Mamaroo
This is probably the #1 item I would say everyone has but no one ever actually used. None of my babies liked the Mamaroo, none of my friend’s babies liked the Mamaroo, no one I have ever talked to actually used the Mamaroo. It is 100% NOT worth it. Do not put this one on your registry.
I do love 4moms though. Their high chair is a HOLY GRAIL baby product for me and their pack n plays are some the biggest out there (perfect for my super long two year old.)
2 Baby Brezza Formula Maker
The Baby Brezza is more than a headache than anything. It messes up all the time, you have to change it out a lot, and it is hard to know if it is really putting out the right amount of formula to water ratio. My sister used the Brezza with Eli (one of her adopted sons) and she is pretty sure it was broken from the start and not giving enough of the formula. It took her a long time to realize it too!
It takes 2 seconds to scoop out the formula and mix it with water. Then you can put it in a hot cup to warm it up. I would save the $199 on the Baby Brezza Formula Maker and use that money on something else!
3 Baby Towels
You do not need to buy baby towels and please don’t give baby towels at a baby shower. Regular towels are JUST FINE! In fact, after washing Miller’s baby towels a couple of times I noticed it was way scratchier than the towels Troy and I use! Just use your own towels for your baby!
If you want a great baby shower gift idea, Weezie towels are super soft! Get the mom a robe and a soft REGULAR size towel to dry the baby with!
4 Baby Shoes
Ugh, I am a victim of this 100% and I didn’t learn my lesson with Miller. I bough a couple of cute baby shoes with Miller that SHE NEVER WORE, and then I did the same thing with Callen.
Ya’ll, babies don’t need shoes and they don’t wear shoes. You won’t need shoes on your child until they are walking.
Callen does wear little soft booties though to keep his feet warm! I linked them below for you from Amazon.
5 Baby Blankets
OMG I have wayyyyy too many baby blankets and we only use one of them. Please don’t buy a baby blanket for a baby shower. The mom-to-be will get soooo many. If you are registering for a baby blanket you only need kind of heavy one for the Fall/Winter and one light one for the Spring/Summer. Here are my two favorites (the only ones we use):
6 Wipe Warmer
We bought a wipe warmer for Miller (she was born in the Winter) and thought it was a HOLY GRAIL product… until we had Callen and he could care less whether the wipes were warm or not! The warmers also love to grow mold (ew!) I would just stay away and save your money. Use regular wipes! You can always warm them up a little in your hands if you need to.
7 Expensive Baby Monitor
We went through a couple of baby monitors before we landed on the one we use for both kids now- and it is $48 for the monitor and the camera!
First of all, I have heard way too many horror stories to use a wifi camera. The thought of being able to check on your phone is great and all but if you can see it on your phone then so can other people who can hack into your wifi.
We tried some more expensive options like Infant Optics and Motorola Halo before getting Dragon Touch. Both of the other two either couldn’t keep a charge or they would just flat out break on us. They were awful. We got the Dragon touch because we wanted something long range and reviews rated it the highest! We have never looked back. It is cheaper just to grab an entire new set (camera and monitor) than an additional camera, so Troy and I each have a monitor during the night for each of the kids.
Unfortunately, the Dragon Touch is sold out right now! I will update here once it is back in stock.
When picking the right monitor, do your research and look at the reviews. It is a GREAT IDEA to test multiple options and send the ones you don’t like back!
8 Baby Food Processor
This is a gimmick guys! Just use your regular blender at home. It will work to mash your food up just fine. If your blender sucks, upgrade that instead!
I tried making my own baby food and it just wasn’t for me. I have found my kids love the baby food from the regular old grocery store! If you are set on making your own food, that’s amazing. Just use the kitchen appliances you already have (mixer, blender, processor, etc.)
9 The Snoo
OK, the Snoo is a HOLY GRAIL product for my sister, but she bought it used and will then sell it for almost as much as she bought it for. That way it becomes pretty much FREE and I can totally get behind that.
So really, just don’t buy the Snoo at full price. It isn’t worth it. Find it used or just buy a regular old bassinet like we did (and our kids are AMAZING sleepers by the way!) They taught to self soothe themselves and the rest is history. Both were sleeping through the night by two months of age.
You have to put in some work at the beginning (sleep training) but it is soooo worth it in the long run!
I linked the Snoo and our Baby Delight bassinet that we loved below:
10 Uppababy Vista
Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE our Uppababy strollers, but we do not use the Vista.
I wanted the Vista because it was gorgeous, super trendy, and top of the line. But it is actually chunky and heavy and just not good for two kids. And SUPER EXPENSIVE.
Instead, we loved our G-Lite stroller with Miller and now our G-Link stroller. Both MUCH LESS and perfect for travel! If you want something that can get you through bumpy terrain, I would get a jogging stroller. We have a Graco one from Target we love.
In terms of the Mesa car seat and the baby pram you can get for the Vista I have a MUCH BETTER option for you: THE DOONA!!!! The Doona is everything and hands down the best baby product out there. It is a stroller and carseat in one and both of my kids loved/love it!!
Ok, now I want to hear from you! Should anything else be on this list? Do I need to take anything off of this list? Let me know in a comment below!
PS- make sure to see these blog posts for baby items YOU DO NEED TO BUY/Put on your registry:
THE TOP 25 MUST HAVE NEWBORN PRODUCTS
MILLER’S 4 MONTH UPDATE
TOP 10 BABY PRODUCTS
xox Amanda
Comments
I used the BabyBreeza and it was a game changer. It makes a bottle in two seconds, which is amazing when you are half asleep at night with a crying baby. It’s the easiest thing to use and never gave us issues. I swear by it and so do others I know who used it. Also, the SNOO was a life saver. Our baby sleep for seven hours straight at five weeks and is the best sleeper now at 15 months. I highly recommend it. If you can rent it or buy a used one, then do it. It’s worth every cent.
Agree for everything except the Vista, and the Nanit camera. We have a super cryptic password we can’t even remember so I don’t think anyone is hacking us, but I understand that is a concern. The Vista was gifted by my mom but I would buy it again. It is so sturdy and beautiful, and we used the bassinet as an actual bassinet for the first 7 weeks of my baby’s life instead of buying one!! I plan to buy the second seat attachment for our second baby, as a side by side double is so awkward from my experience. The rest of the stuff you are spot on, and I didn’t even bother with half of it. The baby product market can be a total racket!
100% on all of these. I recommend the UPPABaby skateboard attachment for their smaller strollers! It’s fun for a toddler and much cheaper/easier to navigate than a double stroller.
I recommend people consider getting as many items used! We barrowed the mamaroo (thank god) as my 2 month old hates it when it’s moving. He does like to lounge in it and poop though. We actually call it his pooping chair. Lol. We also got our Bob jogging stroller used. Thankfully, as we almost NEVER use it!
I think diaper bags are a waste too. As a second time mom I have my car stocked with the essentials at all times. If a kid has a blow out in a store they can wait 10 min to get to the car for a change. Much better than a nasty public restroom (as long you’re in a safe area of course).
Completely agree with all of your logic! Our hooded towels have come in handy though and remained soft. I wanted a Mamaroo so badly, but happy we didn’t buy it. Our babe hated the swing and any other kind sitting or vibrating apparatus. It would have been such a waste. I am right there with you though on the 4Moms pack and play! A top 2 baby item for us and our 2 year old girl can still fit in it!
Love hooded towels. Need 2 or 3 baby size and the rest kid size. My 8 year olds still love their hooded towels.
For the most part this post is right on, with the exception of the Mommaroo. This was a holy grail product for me both of my kids loved it. They were also prone to ear infections and sinus infections and because of how you can control the tilt this was the only way they could sleep if I wanted to put them down. My kids used the mommaroo until they were about a year old.
We love love love our Mesa and vista with bassinets. It’s perfect for walking postpartum with the newborn without worry about extended periods buckled in. Yes expensive, but love! the Mesa was So easy to click in and out of the car and stroller.
Otherwise ya I agree with your list!
I will say the Vista was one of my absolute favorite items, but we have twins, so I needed a double stroller from day one. I had nannied for a family who had a side-by-side stroller and I knew it was a little more difficult to get in and out of stores if they didn’t have automatic doors (I always had the older child open the door for me), so having a “stacking” double stroller made the Vista totally worth the price, in my mind! (I also found a killer deal on a color they were discontinuing, so that helped a lot!)
I 100000% agree about the wipe warmer. We didn’t get one, and I remember people questioning it, and I thought “if a baby is used to warm wipes, what is going to happen when we are out of the house and have to do diaper changes?”
And, agree, again, about the baby towels. They are so small and thin! We found some hooded kids ones and our boys love the hoods, but the towels will “fit” them for many years!
Totally agree with everything on your list …. except the hooded baby towels. We have 2 (bear and dog) and they helped our baby get over her fear of baths since she loved getting distracted by the towels so much. She still loves them as a toddler and they make for a great distraction during diaper changes and bedtime. Here’s one we got off our registry that is super soft after many washes (the dog one on the other hand is not great quality, though our LO still loves it).
Premium Ultra Soft Organic Bamboo Baby Hooded Towel with Unique Design – Hypoallergenic Baby Towels for Infant and Toddler – Suitable as Baby Gifts https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075ZZ9837/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_CWREYRD2X0V0YEWWNDK6
I would replace the hooded towel with any kind of newborn/infant clothing that you have to pull over the head! Or even snaps. Zippers 100%!!
Whew girl, I don’t know what I would’ve done without our Snoo! We put our babe in it the day we came home from the hospital all the way up until he was 6.5 months old! The Snoo was my absolute HOLY GRAIL but can understand how it wouldn’t work for some, not just because of what it does/how it works but solely for the cost – it’s insane I know! We were fortunate enough to have a friend who let us borrow theirs though – Thank goodness! 🙌🏼 We also love our UppaBaby Vista because we liked the option of having 2 babes on one stroller (bassinet + rumble/car seat)! If someone isn’t planning on having babies back to back, I wouldn’t get the bigger one either. To each their own 💁🏻♀️
I agree with everything on here! None of these are “need” products; save your money! I will say though, while not a need, we have LOVED the uppababy vista for our two babies. I like that the seats “stack” as a double stroller, so it has a slim profile when using it out in public. But if that doesn’t matter to you, there are so many other (cheaper) options!
Totally agree with everything on your list! I would add muslin swaddle blankets. We loved the swaddles that zipped! I received so many regular swaddle blankets that never got used. Newborn outfits were also useless. Gowns and jammies were all my child wore for at least the first 3 months.
The newborn stages are so short-lived! Much better to invest in things they need after 1 that get used for a while.
Yes agreed we had 10000000 muslin swaddle blankets that never got used! I kind of categorize that under blankets. We only used the Ollie swaddle! My husband wanted me to add newborn clothes too but I wanted to keep it at 10 for an even number haha! xo A
You’re right, you don’t “need” any of these items but I wouldn’t write off the first two items for new moms. We use the mamaroo daily and love it. In fact, I can’t imagine what the heck we would do without it. I love it’s smaller footprint, too because it was able to make the cut for a road trip with our 2 month old.
And we absolutely love the baby brezza! Again, I couldn’t imagine not having it. The bottle comes out warm in 2.5 seconds which means you get a perfect, warm bottle to your baby’s mouth very quickly in the event your baby is crying. Also, God bless everyone with their healthy babies who probably would laugh at this machine, but for us, we had a NICU baby. She required two different bottles for her vitamins and then we were constantly finding the right formula for her. Preemie formula is expensive and it was nice to know we could quickly make a small bottle on demand for her to try before wasting an entire bottle. When you’re making so many bottles a day for your preemie, one less thing to do does feel like a lifesaver!
Again, you don’t “need” these items, but gosh, we really really love the first two!
Thank you! I knew when I wrote this some of these would be HOLY GRAIL products for some, and skip for others! Glad to hear your perspective on both! xox Amanda