Baby Items You Can Do Without… at least for now

Registering for your first baby can be so much fun! As someone who is pretty obsessed with baby products, I understand the joy that comes from having all the cool baby gadgets. But soon after the baby arrives, your house fills up with stuff and there are endless piles of dishes and laundry and clutter. Here are some items I recommend crossing off your registry and waiting to purchase if you really feel like you want them post-baby.

Bottle Warmer

We never got one. I think since we gave bottles at a variety of temperatures, our kids were not picky about it. However, maybe you or your baby will feel differently. For us, I’m glad I didn’t spend money on it. We usually gave our kids their bottles around room temp, so they were perfectly happy with it. And if we needed to warm up some refrigerated breastmilk, we’d run it under warm tap water for a minute to take the cold edge off. The simplest method is often best. I’d wait and get post-baby if your baby won’t take room temperature bottles. But save the money and space if your baby is less picky! And who really wants one more thing to clean when you have a baby?

Bottle Sterilizer

Don’t do it. I feel like this is a waste of money / space. We bought one, used it a few times with our daughter and ended up getting rid of it. You can get those Medela sterilizing bags to sterilize in the microwave. I used those a lot. Our dishwasher also has a sterilizing setting. Sometimes I would just boil water. I also only worried about sterilizing bottles in the first few months. After that, a typical hot water and soap wash was perfectly fine.

Changing Table

Buy a changing pad and secure it to the top of a dresser.

Wipe Warmer

I’m sure it’d be nice to have. I mean, wouldn’t we all prefer a nice warm wipe on our bum instead of a cold one? But you have to leave it on all the time to get the right temperature. Also, will your baby get used to warm wipes and be unhappy when you are out and don’t have them warm? I don’t think it is worth the money or space.

Baby Food Maker / Processor

I don’t see the point in these. It’s a waste of money and counter/storage space. You can use a food processor or a blender. Or you can steam food and mash it with a fork. Or you could skip purees all together and do more of a baby-led weaning approach (which is what we did).

Bath Thermometer

For what it’s worth, I got one of these when I was pregnant with #1. Over three years later and I’ve never once used it. You can feel the water (with your hand/elbow/foot) and know if the temperature is right.

Baby Comb and Brush

Your baby may not be born with hair, and he/she may not get hair for many many months. I would recommend waiting to register for, or purchase this since you don’t know what you’ll need. There is a really nice silicone brush-type-thing for baby’s cradle cap. If I can find the name of that, I’ll put that in here.

Not that you’ve read what I think you don’t need (or at least can wait to buy), check out the things I think you DO need.