Moms Unfiltered

I had a friend recently tell me that after several years of her & her significant other trying to get pregnant, she saw her first positive pregnancy test. Things are still so early though & so as excited as she is, the very thought of having to wait two more weeks for an ultrasound is purely torture. All you want to do is walk outside & scream it at the top of your lungs. You want to call up your sister, text your cousin, email your coworkers. I think that slowly our society is changing over to being more accepting of couples sharing this news earlier than 2nd trimester. But I’m getting off topic here (shocker!)

When I first found out I was pregnant, there were two things I did to try & eat up the days/weeks until I truly felt comfortable sharing the news with more people (okay that’s kind of a lie – I would have told everyone immediately – it was my husband who didn’t feel comfortable sharing the news that very day lol.) But the two things I did to kill time: 1) Switched my ‘baby’ Pinterest board to private/secret so that I could add quite literally a million different pins without suspicion & 2) Signed up for a baby registry on Baby List & started adding like crazy! So these are the two things I told my friend to do. Then I started thinking about the actual amount of items I added to our registry in those first 2-3 months, & how many of those items I ended up removing before I even switched it to public. That stemmed into me thinking about the products that are still actually on our registry that I never ended up even purchasing, & even better yet, the stuff we did receive or buy, that was absolutely useless to me/us. So without further ado, here are MY thoughts on the most useful & useless products during those first approximately 6 months.

& before anyone gets butt-hurt, here is my “disclaimer” that this is 110% my opinion & my opinion only. It may not even have been my opinion 4 or 5 months ago, but present day, this is my opinion. What works for my baby & our family, is just that – it’s what works for my baby & my family – so please do not read this thinking I’m telling you that you’re an idiot for having that item on your registry/in your nursery, or that you’re a shitty mom because you honestly don’t feel like you would have survived the newborn stage without it … this is just what worked for US! On the contrary, if my list helps you at all, I’d love to hear about it 🙂

The “Useless”

• A changing pad/changing table – This is a big one for me. I’ve heard Moms about lose their shit because this item wasn’t purchased off their registry yet (& therefore I bought it for them) but it was an absolute waste for us. We chose the Skip Hop Wipe Clean Changing Pad. Now if you need a changing pad, I do recommend this one, or at least something with this wipe clean surface, that doesn’t require different changing pads on it & therefore more laundry than you already have. I picked the one that had a cute little hanging mobile too – I mean, it matched our nursery “theme” so I just thought it was perfect. As of today, know how many times we’ve physically laid Kai on it to change him? Less than five. I kid you not. Maybe two or three actually. The floor has just been soooooo much easier from day one. But we also don’t have a shedding animal or five other little munchkins running around the house trying to destroy everything in their path. For us, it has been useless.
• Butt spatula – Otherwise known as the Baby Bum Brush. We actually ended up with two & I was so jacked because I figured one could go in the diaper bag & the other would just stay home with us. I tried this a few times – Dad probably used it more times than me – but ultimately, though a wonderful concept, it ended up being one of those useless items for us.
• Baby hats & baby socks – Let’s be real, anything that is small enough to fit your 6lb baby, is absolutely the cutest fricken thing in the world & it’s impossible to convince yourself you don’t absolutely need them in every color/pattern possible. Thankfully this was one thing we did not spend any of our own money on & actually I don’t think we were gifted many either. I had been given tons of hand-me-downs from a coworker & I had put the tons of adorable to die for miniature hats & socks in drawers. Kai wore a hat home… & maybe to his first doctor appointment… but that was it. Poor kid got my big ol’ head though & so nothing covered his ears (other than the actual snow/winter hat.) To keep baby’s feet warm I highly recommend going the slipper route or just putting them in footie jammies, because socks don’t stay on worth a crap.
• Baby mobile – Another adorable, matched our nursery theme, item that someone spent money on that unfortunately falls into my useless category. It’s still on Kai’s crib, & we do turn on it at times – he’s briefly entertained by watching it spin until he turns onto his tummy – but ultimately it’s just a piece of a decor that wasn’t necessary.
• Breast pads & milk bags – So these things are not unnecessary, but the sheer AMOUNT that I had stocked up on, is what was unnecessary. I had a pair of cotton/cloth breast pads that I used very briefly in the beginning while my breasts were figuring their shit out, but I have probably hundreds of disposable breast pads that have not even been touched. One box, just in case, might have been a more reasonable amount. & breast milk bags…. here I thought I was going to be this over producing mama who was going to have a whole freezer supply worth before I returned to work *pause for hysterical laughter* …. another item that I have literally HUNDREDS of, & I’m still on my first pack.
• Sun Safety Car Window Rollershade with heat alert – Again, another great concept however, I don’t know about you guys but when I’m driving somewhere, I typically end up driving in more than one direction. In addition to that, the sun does not always remain on the left side of my car. So for these suckers to really do their job, you must cover every window in your vehicle with a cover or drive only one direction so that your one cover protects baby from the sunshine. & then there’s the fact that the cover is typically smaller than the average vehicle window, so even if it’s on the side where the sun is, sun creeps in the sides. See where I’m going with this? & I’m sorry, but if any psycho needs a fricken heat indicator to tell them it’s too hot for their baby, then you shouldn’t be trusted to take care of that child at all. Point blank period the end.

The “Couldn’t Live Without”

• Mama Cart – This little cart is one of my top recommendations for new Mamas. I had it all prepped & ready so that when we got home, it was ready to be used. The top of my cart I left relatively open – this is where I had my water, my phone charger, chapstick, & any other “need to have” items that day. The middle rack contained burp rags, a couple blankis, diapers, wipes, etc. & the bottom was just a ton of misc. things. When I went out into the livingroom in the early hours of the mornings, I would roll this cart out with me from beside the bed. I basically lived off of this cart while on maternity leave. This cart now sits beside the rocking chair in Kai’s room & holds all the things (books, burp rags, etc.)

• Diaper Raffle – So this isn’t necessarily a product but believe me when I tell you that one of the smartest things you can do is request a diaper raffle for your baby shower/s. This is a fun & easy opportunity for your guests to win a prize & in the end, you have tons of boxes of free diapers! We didn’t know which diapers we were going to like but I’ve seen Mamas request a specific brand or even specific size. We have only had to buy a few boxes of diapers in Kai’s 8 months, all thanks to our diaper raffle — do the damn thing!!
• Homemade wipes – This is also a product you won’t be able to throw on your registry. I had the the biggest skepticism about these things, but huge shoutout to my mother-in-law who insisted on me at least giving them a try. Now here I am highly recommending them to any Moms reading this & still in the wipe stage. It takes maybe max. of 5 minutes to make these & they not only stay wet (rather than dry out like the packs) but they are sooooo much better for your babe’s butt!
• FridaBaby Snot/Booger Sucker – This one doesn’t need explanation – the concept seems gross, but your little one’s snot & boogers are not going into your mouth. We bought an electric one as well & it does not even compare to the manual one. Throw your pride aside & just suck those boogers out so your babe can breathe!

• Hatch – This was not on our registry & we actually ended up with two. When Kai was still sleeping in our room, we had one in there & one in the livingroom. When he was still nursing during the night (once moving to his room), we had one set up in the livingroom & the other was in his room. Now our secondary one can travel with us & the other just stays in his room. I clearly did not think we needed this product, as it wasn’t on our registry initially, but I absolutely love it now. This product isn’t necessarily a “can’t live without” quite yet but I have coworkers that swear by this sucker once your kid moves out of their crib, since you can set a schedule for the light & sound to change, indicating it’s time to sleep or time to wake up. Stay tuned!

• Boppy Water-Resistant Protective Pillow Liner – This is one thing that another article, while doing some research, pointed out to me that I didn’t even think of. If you’re going to be using a Boppy, you need to buy a protective liner for underneath a cover. Think of it as a waterproof mattress cover (also something you absolutely need by the way!) You have no idea the bodily fluids that end up on this Boppy. Get it & save yourself needing to buy a new one for your next child – you’ll thank me later.

• Portable Changing Pad – Changing tables are gross. No matter where you are, it doesn’t matter, they are nasty & 9 times out of 10, seriously unsanitary. I’m not even one of those Moms that freaks about germs that much (5 second rule when you drop food? more like 20) but there’s just something about putting your clean baby’s cute little butt on that nasty changing table … no thank you. If the diaper bag you’re purchasing does not come with one, BUY ONE! We’ve used them in the vehicle, outside, Perkins, the bar LOL you fricken name it, we’ve used it there. Don’t argue it, just do it.

In the end, your kids aren’t going to remember the clothes or toys you bought them. They aren’t going to remember if you had the fancy baby carrier or the most techy parent gadget – all that “stuff” is just stuff & stuff is outgrown. The memories made, the adventures had, the bonds built & the love shared — those things will never be outgrown.

❤️❤️❤️❤️