Since I recently shared the baby products I'm STILL using after three kids, I thought I'd flip the script and share the products that I quickly abandoned. Trust me. No matter how inventive and useful they seem in the store—take my advice and skip these products.
1. Snuggle Nest
Oh, Snuggle Nest I had such high hopes for you. In fact, my entire strategy for the first few nights of Griffin's life revolved around this product. We would just swaddle him up, plunk him between us in the Snuggle Nest, and enjoy hours of uninterrupted sleep. Clearly this would work—look how happy the people in the picture are!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sorry. Needless to say, Griffin wasn't that interested in the Snuggle Nest and slept much better snuggled up next to me. Even if he had loved the thing, Nicholas and I were both miserable because you really need a California King in order to have room for two adults to sleep comfortably AND fit the Snuggle Nest. (Please notice the happy photo parents aren't actually sleeping.)
Now, in this product's defense, we ended up using it when he was a few months older and sleeping in his own crib. When he was still swaddled and wouldn't move that much, we'd put him to sleep in the Snuggle Nest whenever he was congested and the incline helped him sleep a great deal better.
2. Squirt Baby Food Dispensing Spoon
This little product seemed like the smartest idea I'd ever seen when I first encountered it. You put the food in the spoon! Baby doesn't grab at the jars! Less cleanup! Except, there isn't really less cleanup. You still have to get the food in the jar. The spoon doesn't quite hold a full jar and I could never talk myself into pre-loading the spoon so I'd have it ready. Not to mention, I made a lot of Griffin's baby food from scratch and it was always a little too chunky for the tiny hole in the spoon. At the end of the day, a bowl and spoon worked just fine.
3. Boppy
People are pretty passionate about the Boppy, especially breastfeeding moms. So, I was excited to add this highly touted essential to my nursery. Only one problem. I NEVER used it. I used the My Brest Friend pillow for breastfeeding (my love for his product is a post in and of itself) and the Boppy basically never saw the light of day. I know some people use it to prop their baby up but I'm not sure that's really worth the $40 price tag.
4. Adiri BPA Free Natural Nurser
A bottle shaped like a boob! Genius! These bottles came out a few months before Griffin was born and I couldn't wait to get my hands on one. I ended up getting one free from a friend who said her son hated it. I figured that was just a fluke. They had to work!
Sadly, not so much. I found the bottle leaky, difficult to clean, and Griffin was not a fan—and this was not a picky baby when it came to food. He did much better with the plain old Medela bottles. Go figure.
5. Newborn Gowns
I remember one registry recommendation list suggesting you have at least seven of these gowns on hand when the baby came home. They were supposed to be easy to use—no waistband to irritate the umbilical cord or deal with in the middle of the night when changing diapers. It all seems so logical, except by the time Griffin fit in the gowns (I could never find smaller than 0-3 months) his umbilical cord was long gone and he kicked so much the gowns always ended up bunched around his waist.
Are there any baby products you found disappointing? Was one of my disappointments one of your favorites?
