What I wish I had (and hadn't) bought for my newborn

There are so many gadgets and gizmos these days for babies that it all gets a little overwhelming when the time comes to start making preparations for the arrival your new little person. Now that Alfie is nearing 15 months I have started looking back on the things I bought for him before his arrival and during those first few precious months, a lot of them hardly used.

Here I will go through some of the things I wish I had bought and what was a total waste of money.

What I wish I hadn't bought

1. Cot quilt and bumper pack.

This was never used. Before getting pregnant I thought that you needed a bumper on your crib to stop baby from banging his head on the hard wood. In reality, it is much safer for baby to sleep with minimal bedding, so remove that baby pillow, quilt, bumpers and teddies and let them sleep swaddled in a blanket or in a Grobag when of the correct weight. Head over to the Lullaby Trust for guides on safer sleep for babies.

2. The 1000-in-one rocking/swinging chair.

This is a simple one. Alfie much preferred his £14.99 Argos bouncer chair to his vibrating-lullaby-singing chair. A bouncer or swinging chair is somewhat a necessity for mums who just need that 10 minutes without baby attached to your hip to have a cuppa but you don't have to spend over the odds.

3. A baby sling.

I probably used this maybe 3 times with Alfie. Baby wearing sounded very appealing to me and Alfie did seem to enjoy it when we used the sling but it took a while to set up and when your baby is screaming wanting to be picked up, well there's just no time for fiddling about! In hind sight I think a baby carrier like this ChiccoGo Baby Carrier would have been much more practical and I probably would have used it more.

4. A baby bath.

A baby bath is nice and Alfie loved his but it takes up a lot of room and babies quickly outgrow them. A newborn bath support holds baby safely in the main bath and is a much cheaper option.

What I wish I had bought:

1. A Co-Sleeper.

For the first 6 months of his life Alfie slept in a moses basket right next to my side of the bed. This worked fine but as I breastfed Alfie it soon dawned on me how much easier life would have been with a co-sleeper. Having Alfie next to me, in his own safe place but without a barrier between us would have made 5am feeds much more manageable. They are pretty pricey compared to a basic moses basket but if you plan on having more than one child then it is well worth the investment.

2. A Compact Travel System.

When buying our pram we opted for the Silver CrossSurf 2. While it is an amazing pram and has some great positive features there was one main drawback - fitting it into my car boot. There was no space for anything, not even a few bags of shopping. The seat unit of the Surf does not fold down at all meaning it has to be taken off the chassis and stored separately. A more practical and cheaper option would have been the Mamas andPapas Sola 2.

3. A bigger changing bag.

We bought the Silver Cross Heritage bag when buying our travel system and it was the worst £75 we spent. Sure it looks good, but it did not have a zip close and barely held any of Alfie's newborn essentials. Now we travel light with a small back pack but, as you know, newborns don't travel light. I wish I would have invested in a more practical bag such as this Pink Lining Yummy Mummy bag that has enough compartments to fit all the essentials and space for mummy's essentials.

So there we have it, but a few of the things I wish I had or hadn't bought when Alfie was a teeny tiny newborn.
Is there anything you wish you had or hadn't bought for your little one?