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When you’re getting ready to have a baby, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the baby gear options out there. It’s also really tempting to just go out and buy all these cool-looking gadgets that sure seem like they’d be useful.
I’ve been through two babies, and I’ll admit that I got a bit carried away trying all the different kids of baby gear. I’ve tried just about everything you can try to make life with a baby easier. Here are 7 gadgets that are a waste of money, and the 9 gadgets that absolutely saved my life through those baby years:
Baby Gear that’s a Waste of Money
1. Travel System
The one I tried:
I’m starting with this one because it is the most debated piece of baby gear in the mommy blogging world. It’s also the thing that almost every mom will end up wasting her money on. A travel system just seems so convenient – a car seat and a stroller combo? You just imagine transferring your perfectly sleeping baby in his/her car seat from the car right into the stroller, and storing all of your baby gear in there.
What you don’t envision is the part where you pull the gigantic monstrous stroller out of the back of your hopefully large car and battle it until it opens. I’ve had one of these through two kids, and I’ve used it all of maybe 3 times. It’s not convenient. It’s definitely not worth the high cost. There’s a much better option (see below).
2. Diaper Genie
The one I tried:
Playtex Diaper Genie Complete Diaper Pail
When you’re changing those yucky smelling dirty diapers, you certainly want somewhere to put them while you’re cleaning up baby. A diaper genie is basically a glorified trash can with a lid to hold those dirty diapers. You buy special insert bags that are sometimes equipped with deodorizers.
I don’t care how much deodorizing power you put in to a diaper genie – you are still storing your baby’s fecal matter in a bin for a day or more. Would you leave the same thing in the toilet for a day or so? Probably not. Plus, you have to pay an arm and a leg for the inserts.
This is a major waste of money. You probably have some plastic shopping bags lying around the house. Keep some in a drawer near the changing table, put the diaper in one after changing and get that thing out of the house. Your nose will thank you later.
3. Bassinet
Here’s a popular one:
Delta Children Sweet Beginnings Bassinet
Bassinets are those timeless symbols of babyhood. When you think of a beautiful sleeping baby, you envision the nice white, frilly bassinet that you can roll from room to room with you. It looks so nice and cozy.
In reality, baby only fits in a bassinet for a short period of time. Not only that, but when baby grows out of the bassinet, you now have to retrain him/her to sleep in a crib, which can be really challenging. The crib may seem big, but babies really don’t care about that as much as we do. Don’t waste your money on a pretty bassinet. Train your baby to sleep in a crib from day one. I promise, you’ll thank yourself later!
4. Wipe Warmer
The one I tried:
Wipe Warmer and Baby Wet Wipes Dispenser | Holder | Case with Changing Light
We all want our babies to be happy, and the idea of wiping their sleepy butts with a cold wipe seems really cruel. A wipe warmer seems like a much kinder option. I used a wipe warmer for a bit for both of my babies. It made me feel better to use, but I’m not convinced that it really did much for either of them.
When you get good at it, changing a diaper goes really quick, and you can clean a baby with one or two swipes. You can also warm the wipe a bit in your hand before using it. So, while wipe warmer may make mom feel better, it’s not really necessary and may not be worth the money.
5. Bottle Sterilizer
I tried this one:
Dr. Brown’s Deluxe Bottle Sterilizer
There are many websites out there that scare new moms into sterilizing just about everything a baby touches or drinks from. I spent hours sterilizing bottles for my first kid, and I even sterilized the water that I used to make her formula! In reality, babies aren’t all that fragile. You don’t need to sterilize that water, and your dishwasher will work just fine for cleaning the bottles.
Here’s a great dishwasher rack for bottle parts instead:
Dr. Brown’s Options Dishwasher Basket for Standard Baby Bottle Parts
You’ll notice that these are both Dr. Brown’s products. I tried many different bottle brands and many brands of the accessories that went with them. Dr. Brown bottles and accessories won out big time.
6. Deluxe Pack N Play
Graco Pack ‘n Play Playard Snuggle Suite LX
A pack n play is what we tend to think of as a classic piece of baby gear that everyone needs. I’m sure every one of us has spent time in a playpen, right? Now, pack n plays come with all the bells and whistles. Many have changing platforms and even bouncers attached to them.
Many times, though, the platforms feel a bit unstable, and while it’s nice to have somewhere to put baby, I found that there were other, better options (see below). So, while this may be somewhat useful to you, especially if you take baby on a trip and need a portable sleeping option, I would avoid the expensive ones with all the bells and whistles. You probably won’t end up using those extras.
7. Deluxe Baby Swing
I tried this one:
Fisher-Price My Little Snugabunny Cradle ‘n Swing
The baby swing is another age-old piece of baby gear that many moms recommend. Now, they come with all the bells and whistles, often moving and several different speed and directions! My mom friend swore by the one pictured above – her baby wouldn’t sleep anywhere but in this swing.
But here’s the problem: baby will grow out of the swing, and then you’re left with some major sleeping problems. When I tried this swing, it moved way too fast. I thought it was going to toss little Emmy across the room! Not only that, but it isn’t really portable, so it has to stay in one room.
At the end of the day, I would say that you could give or take a big expensive swing with all the bells and whistles. I had a much better experience with a simpler, less expensive swing that is lower to the ground (see below). So this one could help, but I didn’t feel it was really worth the high price tag.
Baby Gear that Saved my Life!
1. Leachco Podster
Leachco Podster Sling-Style Infant Seat Lounger
This is my #1 most important piece of baby gear. When you get home from the hospital with that tiny baby, you suddenly realize that you don’t know where to put baby! Cue the podster. You can take it anywhere with you, and it has the perfect sized indent for a small or even larger baby. Addie, my second, went absolutely everywhere in this with me, and she loved it.
Boppy also makes a Newborn Lounger. I tried this one as well, but it was much smaller and wasn’t as comfortable for Addie. It also felt like she was more likely to roll off of it. But if you can’t find the Leachco, the Boppy is also an option.
Boppy Original Newborn Lounger
2. Baby Movement Monitor
We’ve all heard those horror stories about babies who died in the night of SIDS. When I became a new mom, I would literally sit by the crib and stare at my baby breathing, as though could somehow will her to keep on doing it. During the short stints of time that she actually let me sleep, I would startle awake worried that something was wrong.
This is why a baby movement monitor was an absolute necessity for me. There are many different types. Some are socks that go on baby’s foot and monitor heart rate. Others are mats that baby sleeps on; they monitor baby’s movements and breathing patterns. Reviews of these two types are mixed – socks tend to be hard to keep on a baby, and the mats tend to be a bit inaccurate.
I loved the Snuza series of movement monitors. They’re devices that clip onto the diaper and monitor baby breathing and movement patterns. The device sounds an alarm if baby stops breathing, or has irregular breathing patterns. In my experience, the Snuza series fit nicely on the diaper, almost never sounded a false alarm, and gave me so much peace of mind.
Snuza Hero (SE) Premium Baby Movement Monitor
3. Video Monitor
I recommend:
Video monitors are expensive pieces of equipment and you may wonder whether they’re really necessary. But these give you the same kind of peace of mind as the movement monitors. When you wake up and you want to know if baby is ok, but you don’t want to approach the crib and wake baby up, it’s incredibly helpful to be able to pick up that monitor and watch baby breathe, or see whether baby is awake.
I tried three different baby monitor brands. I tried a Panasonic baby monitor, which worked relatively well for baby #1. It lasted a little less than a year before it started losing its ability to charge. I also tried an Infant Optix baby monitor that was advertised for its interchangeable lenses. But I’ll tell ya, in the middle of the night, you’re not gonna look around for those lenses, so don’t pay for that one. It also lost its ability to charge within months. My favorite was the one pictured above – the Motorola brand. It lasted the longest, and gives a great, sharp picture.
4. Halo Sleep Sack Swaddle
This is another one that I really wouldn’t have wanted to live without. Most babies really like to be swaddled. It helps them calm down and sleep. But the ability to get that perfect, cozy swaddle right is a really difficult skill! I actually resorted to a hair clip to keep that blanket swaddled, and even then, baby wriggled out.
But then, I discovered the Halo SleepSack Swaddles. They are absolute LIFESAVERS! They have velcro on them, so not only can you get the perfect swaddle, but baby doesn’t wiggle out if it while he/she sleeps during the night.
5. Car Mirror
I recommend:
Traveling with baby can be challenging. When they’re really little, they tend to slump down in that big carseat, and you worry whether they are ok and breathing. As they get older, they may cry, and you can’t quite tell what they need from their cry. The car seat mirror is awesome. It allows you to see baby with a quick glance in your rearview mirror. I used these for both babies, and they were lifesavers.
6. A Snap and Go Stroller
I mentioned that the travel system is not convenient because of its size, but at the same time, it’s absolutely critical to have a stroller that can hold your baby’s car seat. You certainly don’t want to be pulling your happily sleeping baby out of the carseat to transfer him/her into a stroller!
BabyTrend makes a really great stroller option – it’s a compact, easily foldable stroller that fits almost any carseat. It’s much easier to transport than a travel system stroller, so it makes life a lot easier. This one was an absolutely lifesaver with both of my girls:
Baby Trend Snap-N-Go EX Universal Infant Car Seat Carrier
7. A Simple Baby Swing
As a parent, you need to do things around the house at the same time as you’re taking care of baby. That means you need somewhere to put baby, and ideally, something that will also occupy baby. While the high-end swings are not really worth the money, a lower-end (and lower-to-the-ground) swing is worth its weight in gold. The best part about them is that they’re really portable, and you can take them into any room.
Here’s one that I like:
Ingenuity Cozy Kingdom Portable Swing
For another great portable option, a bouncer chair is great. But again, you don’t need a crazy expensive one! A chair like this is really great because it’s light and keeps baby entertained:
Fisher-Price Deluxe Bouncer: Green/Blue/Grey
8. Tummy Time Play Mat
Your pediatrician will tell you that it’s important that baby gets tummy time to strengthen his/her neck muscles. The problem? Many babies don’t like tummy time. It can be hard for them!
This is why it’s important to have a good play mat that has lots of distractions. My favorite that I used for both girls is the Fisher-Price Rainforest Music & Lights Deluxe Gym.
Even after 7 years, it remains on the list of top Amazon favorites, so other parents clearly agree that this one is a keeper.
9. Baby Carrier
When you’re finally ready to venture out with baby, you’ll want to have something to help you carry baby around. I found baby carriers to be extremely helpful, and I’ve tried many. Stay tuned for a complete review of baby carriers on my blog. I settled on a few different ones that were useful in different ways depending on the circumstances. But the one that was the most useful was by far the BabyBjorn Baby Carrier .
This one was super easy to put on, and felt like it held the baby most securely. I used this one for both kids, and I was able to carry them with it until they were almost two.
Wrapping it up
Baby gear is a lot of fun to buy, and it’s hard to resist the temptation to buy everything that’s advertised. At the end of the day, though, what you really need are things that you can put baby in during the day, things that you can easily transport with baby, and things that save your peace of mind as a parent. Wishing you all the best of luck with the new little ones!
