For those of you with children, did you overdo it when it came to buying things for baby's arrival? Many first time parents I've spoken to have said that they over anticipated what they would need for their little one and that, when the time came, they found they didn't actually use all the equipment they'd bought in preparation. My main example- the beautiful baby changing station I spent £300 on, complete with drawers for storage, nappy bin, and of course the changing mat on the top, and the baby bath. The changing station was used to actually change my son all of about 3 times before I realised that changing a newborn sideways on just isn't conducive to a quick and stress free nappy change. I ended up buying a padded nappy changing mat and 99% of changes took place on the floor. So did anyone else overdo it, and pack their house out with all the latest baby gadgets only to find that they were unused when the time came?
I am guilty of overdoing it when my first child was born. I started preparing for his arrival shortly after I found out I was expecting. By the time my son was born I had everything that anyone had ever told me to buy. Receiving blankets overflowed out of the dresser drawers and the changing table was fully stocked with every diaper cream on the market. It did not take me long to realize that I only needed several receiving blankets to do the job. Even after leaving a blanket in every room and every vehicle I still had too many. Of my collection of diaper creams I only used one tube. Diaper creams are only useful if the child has a rash so having a stock of them is not necessary! With my second child I was much more conservative and the result was less money out of pocket and less clutter in her room!
My brother didn't spend a lot on their first child, but I think it's also partly because they didn't have much to spend back then. I think they might have spent unnecessarily in some areas due to excitement or lack of experience and knowledge but not really anything that became too noticeably overboard. It's probably natural for new parents to splurge a little on the first but personally I think it's much better to just save that money for another time when they can actually recognize and remember the gifts they are getting.
Yes, with my first I bought everything I needed, thought I needed and then some! I think its only natural as it's your first baby and you don't want to "do it wrong". For me I underestimated how quickly babies grow and she didn't end up wearing half of the cute newborn clothes! My second I felt much more prepared spent a whole lot less and things are working out perfectly so far. He is two months old and I'm glad I didn't go overboard!
I definitely did. I had more stuff that I knew what to do with. I think a lot of first time parents are that way. But now that I've had my second and about to have my third, I know better what I truly need. You learn as you go. But it's also better for first time parents to be overly prepared than under prepared.
I didn't over due it too much. I did have two baby showers and received a lot of gifts so we didn't have to purchase too many things for a new baby. I learned a lot with our first child and only bought the necessities when we had our second. My first lived in sleepers for the first 6 months and then he started to wear outfits. Where I think we went overboard was buying gifts for our kids at Christmas. I find my house is overrun with toys now.
With my first child, I didn't really over do it as far as buying things. I didn't have a lot of money at the time and could not afford a changing table or other types of furniture for the baby's room. I am not one that had to have the crib, changing table, and the dresser that had to match. I didn't do a lot of decorating either. What I did have a lot of was clothing especially as she got older and one of the mothers at the daycare gave me tons of old clothes that her kids had outgrown. It was great because I didn't have to buy too many clothes for either of my kids. Most of the things like car seats, strollers, and other similar items, I got second hand. Saved a bunch of money that is for sure.
