11 Baby Items You DON’T Need and 11 You DO!

As I’m days away from labor (hopefully) with baby #2, I wanted to share with you guys what I’ve found to be essential items for a baby and what you don’t really need. My first child’s baby shower resulted in tons of gifts that ultimately didn’t get used or at least not nearly enough to justify. This second time around, I didn’t even have a baby shower because I still have everything I need from the first one (both boys) and I didn’t want to deal with any more clutter than absolutely necessary. So today I want to share with you my top 11 need items and my top 11 don’t need items.

Let’s start off with 11 baby items you DON’T need:

1. Bassinet
   • I think bassinets are a hit because they are pretty to look at and give every expecting mom a feeling of excitement to come. Expecting mother’s tend to think this is their best option so that they can have a safe space for baby in their room for the first few months. Honestly though, they are a big waste of money. Averaging $100-200, these things are crazy expensive considering they will get a couple months use at best before the baby hits the weight limit. The average weight limit on these being 15-20lbs. My baby hit that limit by the time he was three months old. I’m a huge supporter of rooming in with baby for the first six months to a year. Below, I’ll list an option I think is better in my “need list.”
2. Baby towels and rags
   • I received sooo many of these at my baby shower, it was ridiculous. They were cute, for sure, but are absolutely unnecessary. Babies don’t need special rags or towels. You can use regular towels and washcloths on them. (The hospitals do!) Save yourself the headache and leave these items off your registry. Honestly, once you wash them, they’re never the same anyways.
3. Receiving blankets
   • By receiving blankets, I mean those smaller ones that shrink the first time after being washed and are literally never big enough to swaddle a baby or do anything with other than catch spit up or clean up messes. This is another item I got a ton of at my baby shower. And why not, they’re cheap and come in multi-packs, seemed like a good idea at the time. Truth be told, I found them to be a waste of money and space. I’ll suggest a better option down below in my “need list.”
4. Baby shoes
   • While unpacking the stuff this time around in preparation of baby #2, I can’t even tell you how many pairs of baby shoes I have that are still on the hanger and tagged. Baby shoes are cute, but impractical. They literally serve no purpose at all but to look cute. It’s also pain-staking keeping elastic shoes on an infant who is playing with their feet and kicking constantly. Socks are great for keeping their feet warm, shoes are a total waste until they are actually learning to walk.
5. Wipe warmer
   • Many first-time mom’s think this is a must to keep their baby happy when they’re getting their diaper changed. The truth is, when they’re newborns, they’re gonna hate having their diaper changed regardless. They want to be wrapped and warm and when you unwrap and undress them to change their diaper, it is what it is. A warm wipe won’t fix it. Save yourself a few bucks and just hurry through the diaper changing process. They will be fine!
6. Baby detergent
   • Some people swear by this stuff. It does smell great, don’t get me wrong but at a very steep price tag. It really is just another one of those things that aren’t necessary. I never used the stuff with my first son. We just used our regular detergent and didn’t have any problems. There is always a chance they could have a skin sensitivity to any detergent, at which point, a detergent for skin sensitive skin could be introduced.
7. Baby oil/powder
   • I still have bottles of both of these from a kit I got at my baby shower. Neither of these are useful 99% of time. In fact, I can’t really think of a use for these. We’ve always used baby lotion when we wanted a moisturizer and Desitin when baby had a diaper rash.
8. Diaper genie
   • Another waste of space: a diaper genie. The idea behind these is good, but impractical, at least for us. First, the disposable bags are very expensive. Second, it just takes up room for nothing. We’ve always just tossed the dirty diapers in the trash. We usually take the trash out once a day anyways so there was no real point in using this. Our trash can also has a drop-in lid so it helps contain the smells.
9. Formula dispenser/mixer
   • Just in the last two years, things have really gotten fancy. I was in Best Buy a few months back and ran across a formula dispenser/mixer that you put your formula in and it rations it and mixes your bottle for you. Maybe they had these a few years back, I’m not sure, but at $200, this definitely makes the list of “don’t need.” It literally takes ten seconds to measure out formula and mix a bottle. The formula companies make it very clear what ratio to mix the formula and even include a handy scoop to measure it out. This is just a waste of money and counter-space.
10. Changing table
    • The only thing my changing table was good for was for storing items on it. Literally…. Since baby was in our room for the first year, having the changing table in the baby’s room didn’t make sense. So we moved it into our room. Good plan, right? Well it still didn’t get used except for storing things on it’s shelves. We always just placed baby on our bed to change the diapers. This is another space-waster in my book.
11. Bottle warmer
    • I literally never used it, not once….. Truth is, it’s just as easy or easier just to sit the bottle in a cup of warm water to warm up a little. And again, it’s one less thing on the counter taking up space. (You see a theme here yet?)

So now the fun part, 11 baby items you DO need:

1. Pack and Play with bassinet & changing station on top
   • This is my preferred alternative to a bassinet. These are great because they can be used for a longer period of time. You can place it right by your bed allowing you to quickly console your baby through the night. My son slept in the bassinet part for at least 3-4 months. The one we used also vibrated making it soothing for baby. This combo is also great if you really like the idea of a changing table but are short on space. Admittedly, we used that part a lot less. The best part about this is it’s versatile and portable. When baby grows out of the bassinet, just disconnect it and the changing table and now you have a pack and play to place baby in. This is great for containing baby is a safe space while you get some housework done. It’s also perfect for Grandma’s house or when traveling. In the last few years, these have also gotten fancier (I’m jealous I’m stuck using our old one now). THIS ONE on Amazon allows you to easily disconnect both the bassinet/bouncer seat and the changing table with a simple click to make the bassinet/bouncer portable for use around the house. This would’ve been amazing to have with my son. Ours was purchased new at the time, but doesn’t have the quick connect feature for the bassinet/changing station so it’s not as easy to disconnect and the bassinet is not portable once disconnected.
2. Entertainment toy
   • This isn’t super high on the list but it’s always good to have at least one thing they like. Think baby swings/glider/bouncers/mamaRoos/etc. My suggestion is to not go overboard and buy one of everything. Do your research and pick maybe one or two of these things. Babies will hit the weight limit on these things pretty quickly so there’s no need to invest heavily. We personally used a mamaRoo and loved it. We never used any of the other things. The mamaRoo is great because it rocks the baby in different motions, has toys above, has white noises, a bluetooth speaker and an adjustable reclining seat. I think what really won me over the first time around though was that it was low to the ground and sturdy. We have dogs and I was worried they might push a swing or something over. It’s probably nearly impossible to push over the mamaRoo as it has a very large, solid base. Now that we’re expecting #2, I’m still very happy with our choice because I just know our 2.5 year old will be checking on his little brother frequently and having to worry about him accidentally knocking over the baby is not something I need. You can check out the mamaRoo on Amazon HERE.
3. Muslin Swaddle Blankets
   • Hands down, I love these things. Seriously! These are the blankets that you DO want. They are stretchy, soft, breathable and BIG! They are perfect for swaddling a baby. (You’ll need to perfect your swaddling technique at some point, babies love it.) In my eyes, these blankets are perfect! Now they are a touch pricey, but sooo worth it. A single pack of these is all you need for a while as far as blankets go. Check them out on Amazon HERE. 10/10 Recommend!
4. Breast pump
   • If you’re planning to breastfeed, I highly recommend a breast pump, preferably an electric one. If you have health insurance, check out Aeroflow HERE and see if you qualify for a free pump (most people do!). It’s a super easy process, you’ll just need to enter your information and your health insurance information. They’ll contact your insurance to see what’s available to you and then they’ll contact your OB to get the script to get you the pump. Once you pick out which pump you want, they’ll ship it right to your door. How great is that?! If you don’t have health insurance, you can always buy one online. There are tons of great pumps. My recommendation is to do your research and figure out what’s most important to you. For me this time around, I chose a pump that I could take with me on the go instead of having to be plugged into the wall all the time. (I learned this the hard way the first time around). Now that I have a toddler, I literally cannot be tied down for long periods of time. I used Medela with my first baby so the Medela Freestyle pump was perfect for me. You can check it out on Amazon HERE.
5. Nursing Bras/Tanks and Pumping Bras
   • These are a few more great things to have around if you are planning to breastfeed. Nursing bras are hands down, amazing. Seriously. The ones I’ve used don’t have underwire which is a huge plus and they hold together great. But the real advantage behind them is with a single snap on each side, you can have the boob out in five seconds flat to feed your screaming baby. You can check them out on Amazon HERE. Nursing tanks are the same concept but in shirt form. These usually have optional padding in the chest area allowing you to go bra-less (at least in most circumstances). You can check them out HERE.
   • Pumping bras are a bit different but equally awesome. For those who plan to pump, especially those who plan to be mobile while pumping, I highly recommend this. It’s basically a tube top you zip up that has holes in it to put your pump flanges through. It then holds them in place so you can pump hands-free! How cool is that. You can check them out HERE. This would make my top five list of must have items!
6. Baby monitor
   • These can be as simple or as fancy as you want. Personally, we’ve used both, the simple audio one-way monitors and we’ve used the fancier audio-video two-way monitors. This one you’ll have to do your research on and see what you’re comfortable with. There have been stories of predators lurking on children by hacking into the fancier monitors since they are typically transmitted over your home network. Do your research! But at the very least, you want one of the cheapo audio-only monitors so that you can put the baby down for a nap and step into the other room without having to worry about if you’ll hear them wake up or not. We used THIS one and it did a great job and was reliable. (cheap too!) If you’re looking for a fancy two-way monitor so that you can see your baby and talk to your baby from an app on your phone while you’re away, check out THIS one. It has a ton of features and even tracks baby’s sleep! The picture is also super clear and it has a nightlight that projects images onto the ceiling. This is the Cadillac of baby monitors!
7. High chair
   • Maybe not at first but at some point, you’ll need a high chair. Even now, my 2.5 year old still regularly uses his high chair because without it, he just wants to run around constantly playing and we have to chase him down for each bite. So save yourself and buy a high chair! If you’re short on space, no worries, HERE’S one that is compact but still fully functional.
8. Travel system
   • Some parents elect to buy the all in one car seat that lasts from newborn to booster seat. This is great EXCEPT you don’t want to be taking your newborn out of the seat every time you take them out of the car. I’m all for saving a buck but I definitely recommend getting the newborn travel system: newborn carrier car seat, car seat quick connect base, and quick connect stroller. This makes life so much easier, especially if you plan to go places often with baby. Now at some point, you will have to invest in one of those larger car seats, but I don’t recommend skipping on the newborn/infant travel system. With the travel system, you place baby in the car seat and simply sit the car seat into the car seat base that stays strapped in the vehicle. When you’re ready to get baby out, it’s as simple as using one hand to release the car seat from the base. The car seat can then sit into the stroller making for a smooth transition and ride while letting you face baby. When the baby is too old for the newborn carrier, you can still use the stroller as a regular stroller. HERE’S a travel system that is highly reviewed. (I didn’t love mine enough to recommend it. It has plastic wheels that tend to get stuck making using the stroller a bit of a pain. I do plan to get this brands double stroller now that I have two littles.)
9. Diaper bag
   • You will need a diaper bag at some point. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about the bare minimum (I don’t even carry a purse or wallet) but a diaper bag is necessary at least some of the time. It’s particularly useful for trips to Grandmas or longer trips where we know we’ll have to change baby more than once or might need a change of clothes. Now that we are going to have two (one of which is potty-training), we will definitely be using the diaper bag more. The one I have and love is HERE. The biggest factor for me is the internal partitions. I like to be organized and being able to put the different things in different pockets on the inside is huge for me. I can’t stand having to pull out most of the stuff in the bag to get to the one thing on the bottom that I needed (been there, done that– this isn’t my first diaper bag). This diaper bag is also stylish and easy to carry since it’s a book-bag style and has stroller straps (I’ve made use of all of these previously). It’s also a very fair price!
10. Convertible crib
    • If baby has their own room, I do recommend buying a convertible crib. This is great because once they are put in their own room, they have their own space that grows with them. The bed starts as a crib, then converts to a toddler bed, then a daybed or full-size bed. HERE’S one on Amazon that is highly reviewed and has a drawer below for crib sheets/blankets. Believe it or not, the time will come, sooner than you think! We just converted my son over to a big-boy bed and it literally broke my heart. He’s basically grown now at 2.5 years old!
11. Bottle brush
    • This item is a must if you’re using bottles at all. I don’t think you can go wrong with a bottle brush, any bottle brush would probably do the trick. But you’ll definitely need one to be sure to get all of your bottles cleaned properly.

And that my friends is my list of 11 “need items” and 11 “don’t need items” for a new baby. If you agree/disagree, feel free to share in the comments. Also, additions to the list are always welcomed.