Before Ozzy was born I spent ages researching baby products. I was scouring social media, checking parenting groups and every “must-have newborn essentials” list told me I’d need everything under the sun to survive the newborn trenches.

So after seeing certain products recommended by every man and his (or should it be her in this case?) dog, I naturally bought a few.

Some things were incredibly useful and are now part of the daily routine. Others well they’re sort of collecting dust at this point.

Of course every baby is different. Some things I never touched might be the best thing ever to different parents. But these are the newborn ‘essentials’ I could definitely live without.

1- Nappy Caddies

Social media had me convinced I’d need one in every room. Upstairs, downstairs maybe one even attatched to me at all times. Filled with everything you’d ever need, nappies wipes, clothes etc.

In reality I always used my changing table, which had everything in, organised, labeled and always restocked.

My nappy caddies sat around looking pretty and now when I checked them, they still have newborn sized clothes in.

2- Dummies

I was open to the idea of Ozzy using dummies. I really tried during the witching hours to see if it’d provide him some comfort, it didn’t. I tried when his stomach was full and he was happy, when he was screaming.

I tried different shapes and brands to see if he’d prefer them better. I tried dipping it in milk, pretty much every trick under the sun.

And he’d launch them across the room.

It didn’t matter what mood he was in, the dummy would hardly touch his mouth before it was soaring through the air.

I gave up and now I have a collection of rejected dummies.

3- Nipple Balm

When I was pregnant, I was told that nipple balm was an essential if I was planning on breastfeeding.

I stocked up expecting cracked, sore nipples that hurt every feed. Thankfully this wasn’t my experience.

Don’t get me wrong it can be incredibly useful and many parents swear by it. I was just lucky enough to not need it. In future I’d probably wait to buy it after I started my breastfeeding journey. But hey it makes a great lip balm so it’s not totally gone to waste.

4- A Downstairs Moses Basket

The Internet said I’d need a safe place to put Ozzy to sleep during daytime naps. The Internet never actually met Ozzy.

He didn’t want to sleep in his moses basket, he wanted a person. Preferably me.
I could occasionally transfer him to his bouncer while I ate and watched over him, but that was about it.

So the moses basket downstairs that I so desperately needed apparently. Sat in the corner. It’s been used more as toy storage than a sleep space.

5- A Million Muslin Cloths

Every newborn checklist I read made it sound like I would need hundreds of muslin cloths.
I was expecting to be buried beneath them.

In reality just having a few will be enough. You are already going to be doing loads of washing as newborns aren’t known for being particularly clean so they’ll be washed anyway.

Now, if your baby has reflux that’s a completely different story. In that case you may genuinely need every muslin cloth ever manufactured.

6- Thousands Of Toys

I thought that Ozzy would need loads of toys to keep him entertained. Flashing lights, bright colours, different musical options. These were luckily all hand me downs or baby shower gifts so I didn’t spend much on them.

But he didn’t care. A newborn doesn’t really play, and they certainly aren’t hard to entertain. And what interests them aren’t often the things you’ve spent money on in our case it was;
• My face
• The dog
• A mirror
• A few contrast cards
• The ceiling light.
I bought a few rattles and dangling toys that he does enjoy but other than that he’s not bothered.

The Bottom Line

One thing I quickly learned after becoming a mum is that babies need far less than you are

The baby industry does a great job on saying you need a million things to help your baby sleep, eat, grow etc. But in reality you don’t need everything.

Some of the stuff become essentials others collect dust, so you can wait before buying everything on an influencers’ list. So don’t panic if youre feeling overwhelmed by the list of stuff to buy- you can always buy it afterwards when you realise you need it.
And if your baby is anything like Ozzy they’ll probably be more interested in staring at the dog than anything you buy anyway.