I have to admit it, we overspent and over purchased before our baby arrived. And why wouldn’t we? It was our first child and we had no idea what would come in useful. Yet we also knew that once she arrived, shopping time would become more of a luxury, so we wanted to be prepared. And that meant that, yes we made some mistakes. Here are the items we wish we hadn’t gotten in advance
The jogging stroller: Oh it seemed like such a good idea at the time. A sturdy, knobby wheeled stroller to use for getting around in a Colorado winter and going “off road” for our favorite activity — hiking. But it turned out to be an expensive mistake. While the stroller indicated it could be used with newborns, the seatback didn’t recline enough and the straps were way too big. And the knobby tires and smooth steering would have been great if we’d have gone, you know, jogging — but they were too small to be effective on dirt trails. Not to mention that for hiking with a newborn your best bet is just to carry them in a sling or pack. After all, they’re small and it’s easier to hike with a pack than pretty much any conveyance. For street manuvering, your basic baby stroller (the kind that you can pop your infant carseat into at first) is just fine. And once our daughter was old enough to ride in the giant stroller, she was walking and wanted to get out all the time anyway.
The dual electric brest pump: As a working mother, I knew that at some point I would want to try pumping breastmilk. It was important to me to give nursing a shot even after I returned to work. So I splurged on a very high quality electric breast pump with dual cups and a built-in cooler unit. Big mistake! The product was supurb — but it was way more than I needed. I ended up using an inexpensive handpump with cushoned cup. It cost around $20 and took me through a year and a half of successful pumping. Of course, every woman is different and some no doubt need the greater efficiency and drawing power of the electric, but you won’t know that until you get there. So before spending the big money (and you know, it’s not like I could resell the thing) buy a cheaper pump and see if it can meet your needs.
Shoes: This has nothing to do with baby, but everything to do with mom. Sometimes you can feel… well, less than gorgeous while preganant. “Radiant” comments aside, I know there were times when I felt bloated, blotchy, and generally out of sorts. Buying a nice pair of both comfy and attractive shoes was a real balm. What I didn’t know was that abdomin isn’t the only thing that can grow during gestation. And while I lost most of the weight I gained, my feet would never return to normal! I’m a full size larger now and sadly had to get rid of almost every single pair of shoes I owned. So wait to splurge until after the delivery — just in case.
The diaper bag: I suppose this doesn’t count, since our diaper bag was a gift and not a purchase, but I wish we hadn’t requested one beforehand. Why? Because we had no idea what we’d need to carry around and therefore no idea what the best bag would be like. In fact, in the months following our daughter’s birth, we discovered that we needed a lot less than we thought and that a small tote or sack — stocked with zipper bags — would serve us just fine.
The wipe warmer: What were we thinking? I suppose we imagined cold nights and freezing wet wipes, the baby screaming. How could we be such bad parents? How could we subject our darling to chilled wipes? She could get tushy-freeze. In truth, she didn’t seem to notice the difference between the warmed wipes at home and the regular ones that we carted around in her diaper bag through the winter. It’s not like we live in the arctic, in a yurt (if you do, you should know that the warmers do work, though if they dry out they can scorch the wipes). A simple box at home and zipper bag on the road were all we needed.
Clothes: We had a lot of clothing when our daughter was born but, alas, they were all the wrong size or the wrong season. Or they were fussy dressy clothes that just weren’t very practical. Or they were perfectly serviceable, but larger so that they needed to be packed away and then forgotten until they were too small! I swear, we must have had three or four pairs of warm booties that never got worn because they went from way too big to “oh no, we forgot about these!” But I suppose you know what the result of that error was.
