Five Unneccessary Baby Items

you don't need in your home or to waste your money on.

1. Nasal Aspirator. Although they're not expensive don't waste your money on one. Firstly if it's that big of a deal to you, you get one at the hospital to go home with=free. Secondly they don't work very well at all especially on tiny little newborn nostrils, and they're really hard to clean and can be potentially dangerous even if you clean them correctly. Read this article if you don't believe me. 

2. Baby Shoes. Adorable? Yes. But baby won't know or use them at all except to maybe figure out how to kick them off. Even though you can probably find some for under $10, I'd still save my money. They will only wear them for what seems like sneeze and only other people will find them cute, which won't be many because you'll want to stay home as much as possible with a newborn. And most importantly it's just another step to have to take off and redress when changing your sweet little one's diaper.

3. Expensive baby bottles. Unless you have a baby with extreme colic or spitting-up issues that is primarily bottle fed there is really no reason to get special or costly bottles. We survived perfectly well on the Gerber First Essential bottles which were about a dollar apiece and we only bought nine which gets us through a week and you don't feel totally upset if you loose or damage one.

4. Bassinet. I can honestly count on my hand the number of full nights Hilton slept in the bassinet. You definitely need somewhere for your newborn to sleep when you get them home. If you want them close the most obvious answer is a bassinet. However I would get them home first and see if you really are going to want them right by you and then buy one if you need it. Hilton was quite a squirmer and squeaker in his sleep so I would wake up to that and then my waking up would wake him up and it was just a vicious cycle. Also keep in mind the other paraphernalia you have purchased. Do you have a bouncer or swing? Is it something they could sleep in? Honestly Hilton co-slept with me propped up by a pillow the first couple weeks and then transitioned to the swing. He couldn't sleep laying flat on his back because he would spit up and I would wake up to him gurgling on the spit up and he wasn't big enough to know or be able to turn his head so he could breath. That scared me. And then he when I did try to sleep him in the bassinet he hated sleeping on his back. So we'll keep it for the future babies and see if they like it better but for him it didn't work out so ultimately it was a $90 waste.

5. Diaper genie. I'm so glad for my friends who talked me out of this. I had quite a couple people tell me how this didn't seem to really work, the cartridges are expensive even if you buy them at costco in bulk, and you could still smell poop! I didn't buy one and I'm glad I didn't. We bought this diaper pail and it works amazingly well. It uses typical trash bags and has to be changed every week if you want to avoid the poop smell in your nursery just like you would with a diaper genie but it's way cheaper and without having to buy special cartridges you save quite a bit of money in the long run.

All in all the majority of what we bought we did need and use quite a bit, but I honestly can say that we wouldn't have used these things enough to justify them. Each baby of course is individual, but with every big purchase keep your receipts and don't open them unless you absolutely feel you will use them so you can return them in case you don't. Babies can be expensive but they don't have to be prohibitive if you plan well.