There are a lot of newborn items that will be presented to you as must-haves but are a complete waste of money.

However, some basic newborn products are probably on every mom’s shopping list at some point but are highly ephemeral, meaning you won’t need them for more than six months after birth.

If you’ve already bought some (or plan to buy some), it could cost you over a thousand dollars – and that’s just for the first six months of the baby’s life!

 

Here are the most useless products for newborns:

1. Do you need a baby capsule?

It’s the height of overestimated necessity. I have three children, and I’ve never used an infant capsule with any of them. Many new moms assume by default that it’s a safety issue and that infant capsules are the ONLY thing a newborn should be put in a car. They even do their best to find one compatible with their stroller.

This misunderstanding is undoubtedly easy to resolve. Hospitals put a lot of emphasis on infant or baby capsules before letting the mom and baby out. In principle, one must be installed before taking the baby home.

However, most standard infant car seats today are fitted from birth, which means newborn. But that’s only if you’ve installed and adjusted it correctly for a newborn. The best way to ensure is to get a professional infant car seat adjustment service for as little as $37.

There are many infant seats for children from 0-3 years old, some even up to 8 years old, so you get a lot more for your money. These car seats are compatible with the ISOFIX system and often come with head and torso padding for extra impact protection, even for newborns. So why would people still buy a baby carrier?

The caps only last for about six months, after which most babies will either outgrow them or have enough head control to sit upright in a normal car seat.

Most baby carriers are compatible with strollers, making it easy to carry a sleeping baby from the car to the stroller without waking him or her up. But why throw away $400 just for an item that only lasts six months, just for a little more convenience?

Plus, baby carriers weigh about 4 kg on average, so the heavier your baby, the more you’ll be carrying. You’ll be carrying about 8 kg of weight each time you go out.

 

2. Cradle, bassinet, or crib saves space, not money

Less is more, but in this case, although cribs (or bassinets) are smaller than standard size cribs, they cost just as much!

Also, remember that you’re paying the same amount for a much shorter lifespan product than its larger counterpart. How long a crib will last is determined by a few factors:

• How fast your baby grows – If your baby is in the 90th percentile for height, he or she will probably grow faster than a four-month-old crib.
• Baby’s mobility – If your baby is turning around at three months, needless to say, it’s probably time to switch to a standard crib.

Most cribs are advertised as suitable for up to six months, which means that, at best, you can use them for up to six months. Compared to the next 18 years to adulthood, that seems pretty short if you ask me.

Understandably, some cribs are designed to go with mom’s bed as a co-sleeper extension, and this is especially useful in the first few months when nighttime meals are frequent.

However, nowadays, many standard cribs are also designed with a fold-down side to turn it into a crib (tip: good value for money!), so you can just as easily push the crib against your bed to form a co-sleep extension.

Drop-side cribs will comfortably accommodate your baby from birth to three years old, maybe even longer if they’re happy with it.

So really, financially speaking, for the same cost, the choice is obvious.

 

3. The Rocking Baby- Not Every Baby Loves It

Technically, baby swings, or baby bouncers, are perfect for helping newborns sleep. But you’ll be surprised that some babies hate them by default and prefer to be attached to their mommy in a sling.

Unfortunately, your newborn’s temperament is something you won’t know until he or she arrives on earth, so that you may have already bought a super high-tech and very expensive baby swing, like the Baby Bjorn bouncer.

Plus, even if your baby likes it, once he starts crawling and walking with support (which can happen as early as five and eight months old, respectively), chances are he’d rather be outside and exploring the surroundings than be attached to a stationary mechanism.

 

 

The cost-effective solution: Hire the essentials for newborns, don’t buy

All the above have total value and make raising children easier for some of us. So don’t hesitate to get them, but hiring will be a much more cost-effective solution, saving you over $600.

The cost of buying and renting different brands and products varies, so it is more accurate to look at these data and calculate the percentage savings:

This means that no matter what brand or product you want to buy, you can save about 50% of the cost if you choose to rent instead.

The numbers speak for themselves. Hiring is the answer for short-term baby products, especially those that cost as much as the ones mentioned above.

• It’s more cost-effective in the short term, less than six months of use.
• An excellent way to try products before you commit to buying them is to try them out.
• Ideal for vacation trips when you only need one particular product (like baby travel items)

Rental stores like Hire For Baby have short-term rental periods (as short as one day for high chairs and other items) for the rental of all essential newborn products.

As they are run locally throughout Australia, many operators can visit moms to deliver rental products, even if you’re in the hospital.