Hi friends!
I love talking budget and baby. Not sure if you noticed (re: money-saving tips for baby and 67 first-time mom & money tips here). Something that I started to learn really quickly is how little is needed, contrary to what product companies and marketing gurus say. Yes, some products can make life easier and we all find what works best for our families, but I did find that some were just very unnecessary – some that most people swore by.
I wanted to share some of those “must haves” that we never once used and what we decided to use instead to save a pretty penny. And spoiler alert, we made it through… twice!
If you are a budget mama like me, maybe some of these will resonate with you.
— Bottle sterilizer. I feel like these are not only pricey, but take up so much counter space. We boiled bottles to sterilize in a huge pot we already had at home and it worked just fine. Less clutter and save money.
— Bottle warmer. Along the same lines as the sterilizer, I couldn’t see having something extra on the counter. To warm bottles, I simply boiled a bit of water in my tea kettle and would place bottle in a bowl with the hot water. Worked like a charm and I truly believe it didn’t take that much more time.
— Bottle drying rack. I can see why some people would invest in this, but it just wasn’t necessary for us. Instead, I placed a clean dish towel in a clutter-free area on the counter and would allow bottles to dry on that. It didn’t look pretty but this stage only lasts so long… I promise. Plus, will bottles drying ever look good on your counter?
— Baby-specific dish soap. Lots of dish soaps that cater to baby bottles and products, but I used our usual plant-based Seventh Generation unscented soap and felt confident in that.
— Baby mittens. I can guarantee you that most babies will not be keeping mittens on. To prevent our babes from scratching, we stocked up on the long-sleeve onesies and pajamas that had fold-over cuffs.
— Baby shoes. No need, at all. They are not walking anywhere! Socks or some soft slippers such as these during the cold months are enough.
— Wipe warmer. Why get your baby used to warm wipes? If you are out and about and have to change a diaper in the fly, your wipes are going to be cold. To warm up, just rub a wipe between your hands quickly.
Plus, I have heard of wipes getting moldy because of the heat from wipe warmers. Yuck.
— Bumbo. I didn’t care for the idea of putting our kids in a forced seated position until they showed interest in or capability of doing it themselves. If we wanted to prop our girls up, we simply backed them with some pillows or laid them against our hand-me-down Boppy pillow.
— Diaper cream applicator. I’ve seen these and I shake my head… there is really no need for an extra tool that you’ll have to buy AND clean when you can just do a quick swipe with your finger.
— Diaper genie/pail. This is another product that I know works for some people but I couldn’t see a reason to have it. Poopy diapers smell terrible no matter where you store them. I found that taking them directly out to the trash was just easiest and best for us. If I couldn’t take out immediately, I kept some bags from the grocery store on hand to bag as best as I could until I could make it outside. I really didn’t want dirty diapers lingering in their bedroom.
I know that this list will look different for everyone. And if you swore by something above, I hear you and am not judging because we all do what we gotta do to make life easier! But this was just my personal cents on what we felt wasn’t necessary in our home and some ways we got around it. I hope that it helps a couple mamas out there save some money. xx bianca
I never got any of this stuff either. My sister bought a cheap bottle warmer when she had her twins, but never used it. Our kids preferred their formula cold. If we did heat it we used a pot on the stove. And we sterilized the bottles that way too. I did buy one pair of baby shoes each for my twins though. They looked so cute in them. At least the ‘pre walker’ shoes were cheap.
Hear hear! I’d add to the list:
Baby towel with a hood – just us a regular towel
Flannel mitt – just use a regular washcloth
Bath support – just held onto him
Wet wipes – cotton wool or a cloth works fine
Pram – I prefer a sling/carrier