Things Your Baby Doesn’t Need

Disclosure: Collaborative post

There are so many things that we are told to do before a baby arrives. We’re told to practice changing nappies on a doll or a teddy bear. We’re told to read the baby books and choose baby names and learn all of the things that could be right or wrong during labour. Preparing for parenthood is not just on the mother, of course. It’s on both parties to get ready. And that means looking at the things your baby needs.

Someone out there will tell you that all babies need is love, but that’s not the case. You cannot clothe a baby in love. You cannot keep a baby warm in just love alone. There are things that your baby will need and will be essential, such as nappies and nappy cream and somewhere to feed. You might choose to buy feeding pillows if you’re breastfeeding or bottle feeding, and you might choose to bottle feed and therefore need sterilizers. There are many things your baby needs, but there are plenty of things that your baby also doesn’t need. You might have bought a convertible crib for the nursery that they won’t use for the first six months because they’ll be in the Moses basket in your bedroom. You might have bought a wipe warmer so that they are comfortable when you are changing their bottom, but that’s not always practical. And honestly, who’s finding the wipe warmer when it comes to a night time poo bomb? Babies need a lot of things, but there are also a lot of things that they do not need at all, and in this article we’re going to talk about them all individually.

Image source: Pexels

• • Wipe warmer. We’ll start here because we’ve mentioned this one already, but honestly, who decided that baby wipes needed to be warmed up? Of course, it is not comfortable for a baby to have a cold baby wipe on their bottom when they are just trying to get comfortable. The thing is, a wipe warmer isn’t the only way to clean a dirty bottom. If you’re making sure that your baby isn’t going to wake up in the night screaming and then have to deal with the cold wipe, you can just use warm water and cotton wool. You don’t need to have a gadget that means that when you are exhausted you have to decant wipes to keep them warm. It just creates extra work!
  • They do not need shoes. A newborn baby does not need to have a wardrobe full of shoes, even if they are matching to other outfits and even if they are cute on the shelf. Your baby is not going to be wearing shoes until they learn to walk, and even then they won’t be wearing shoes straight away unless they are outside. You have to remember that shoes are designed to protect your feet and as babies can’t walk, thus no shoes are required. Babies do not need to have anything covering their feet which could inhibit their growth.
  • You do not have to invest in a baby bath. Unless you have a disability that means you can’t bend down to a regular bath, you don’t actually have to invest in a specific baby bath. Not only can you use a laundry tub or a kitchen sink, or just a regular bathtub with a towel at the bottom, your baby does not need you to spend out the money on a gadget that honestly is going to sit in the corner and not be used. It may be nice to get a small bath for a toddler to sit in so they feel secure in the bigger tub, but a baby being bathed in the regular tub from a very young age is never going to be used to anything else.
  • A nappy bin. Most parents will buy a nappy bin because they are fun looking gadgets in the baby store, but nappy disposal systems really aren’t necessary. As long as you empty your bin once a day and flush any solids that are in a nappy, you should be fine. You might also find that using nappy sacks that are scented can help to block the scent of the nappy, and therefore you can just add it to your regular bin. If you are able to take a nappy outside every single time they poo, that’s also going to help.

Image source: Pexels

• Outfits. Honestly, your baby does not need outfits of little tops and little trousers or little dresses. Your baby needs rompers, sleepsuits, and all-in-ones, preferably with a zipper rather than poppers so that nighttime dressing is much easier. If you’ve ever tried to put clothes on a newborn baby, you’ll know that it’s just like trying to put a cat into a knitted bag or an octopus into a knitted bag. It’s not easy. They are all limbs and it’s like trying to dress a marshmallow. Outfits might look cute again on the hanger, but does a tiny newborn baby need to look like they are a mini teenager or a gangster? Absolutely not. All-in-one rompers and sleepsuits are perfect for newborn babies because they are soft and they are comfortable and all babies want to do is eat, sleep, and cry anyway.
• Toys. You might think that you need to buy your child a number of sensory toys, but honestly, a newborn may not need them. Newborn babies can only see things in black and white for a while, so if you want to buy a couple of things in black and white, then that’s lovely, but just be mindful that they barely see anything in front of their faces until at least the four months of age. Their favorite toy will be you or even something squishy that they could start to hold around two to four months. Babies will find toys and things they’re supposed to play with.
• Cot bumpers and bedclothes. This one is a no-brainer for most parents, but a cot, bumper, and loose bed covers are not supposed to be bought for a baby cot. Bumpers are advertised to stop the baby banging their head on the side of the cot, but you’d much rather a child who can roll over and bump their head than a child who can’t do that at all. The risk here is that you could end up with a child who has suffocated because of a cot bumper decorating their cot and reducing airflow? A baby’s life is not worth a pretty cot, and those pretty and coordinated bedside packages look pretty in the packet, but they are not a good idea if you want to avoid the risk of SIDS for your child. Children do not need cot bumpers and if anybody gives them to you, regift them to the bin.
• The changing table. You really don’t need to have an additional bulky piece of furniture in your house, especially not in the baby’s nursery. So, you do not need to buy a changing table if you have a new baby. If you want to have the money and spend it, that’s absolutely fine, but you will do just as well with the changing pad on the floor or even changing the baby across your lap.

There are plenty of gadgets out there that your baby does need, and all of these ones that we’ve listed today are all things that they do not need to have to be comfortable and happy.