In the interests of full transparency, I’ve totted up everything I bought during my first year as a new mum, racked my brains and tried to remember how long I used certain items for, and done a side-by-side comparison with how much I would have spent had I used Baboodle. Some bits made sense to buy, some bits would have made sense to rent, and some bits just didn’t make sense full stop (a try-before-you-buy option would have been really useful).
Here’s how it looks.
Travel
Pram - we bought the Bugaboo Bee and are still using it. In hindsight though, I think I’d have rented a sturdier pram for the first 4-6 months, and then bought a lightweight option such as the YOYO or the Joolz Aer. That way we could fold and store it somewhere other than next to the sofa, and it would fit in the car with the dog.
Bassinet - used for about 4 months. Barely used for the first couple of months, then was outgrown by 5 months.
Car seat - still using and obviously safest to buy outright.
Isofix base - bought with car seat
Car seat adaptors - never used once
Babybjorn Mini carrier - didn’t really use - we preferred the wrap sling when she was tiny and then found the Babybjorn was a lot of weight on the shoulders, so swapped out for the Ergobaby Omni 360.
Ergobaby Omni 360 - used from around 5 - 8 months, then it was too heavy for anything other than short walks.
Wrap sling - used constantly from months 1-5.
Sleep
Moses basket - never used - baby didn’t like it!
Moses basket stand - see above.
Dockatot - baby didn’t like.
Snuzpod - after about 2 months of watching our baby constantly jerk awake from the deepest of sleeps the second she was laid in the Snuzpod we gave up and co-slept, which we loved. The Snuzpod became a very large and cumbersome bedside table.
Cot - bought a cheap and cheerful IKEA cot. Used from 7 months and still using (at 12 months). Will be using it for the foreseeable!
Baby monitor - Used during the transition into her own room for a couple of months. Now rely purely on the walls being thin enough to hear everything! The video was counterproductive in the end, and had me holding my breath over every wriggle.
Play
Baby bouncer - I LOVED this, and credit it with giving me my hands back. Used from about 2 months to 6 months, at which point baby hated being strapped into anything.
Jumparoo - none of us liked this. I didn't like the big bulky plastic and the baby didn't like being restrained.
Feeding
Elvie breast pump - I fully understand the hype. The concept is amazing and the design is really well executed. However, I didn’t like it. I didn’t like not being able to easily see what I’d pumped, and it didn’t yield as much for me as I wanted. I gave up after about a month. Knowing what I know now I would have used this later when my supply was established.
Medela breast pump - I thought I’d hate being strapped into a pumping machine and not being able to go anywhere, but I actually used it as downtime. I much preferred the pumping experience to that of the Elvie but ultimately decided pumping wasn’t for me. Breastfeeding great. Pumping no. Used for about 1 month. ALSO ended up buying two of these as the first second-hand one I bought was broken.
Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep - I preferred the low tech method of boiling a kettle in the morning and using that for bottles throughout the day. Plus our baby took a bottle cold, so waiting for a warm bottle with a screaming baby always seemed like an unnecessary stress.
Tommy Tippee UV steriliser - I bought this second hand, and it was a bit temperamental so we found ourselves using the failsafe cold water sterilisation method instead. Never looked back!
Maxi Cosi Minla - bought this so we could have our baby at the table with us. Loved it, but found it a bit bulky long term.
Tripp Trapp newborn - bought alongside the new Tripp Trapp which we got as it looked better in our kitchen. Our baby was slightly too big for it by the time we got it so moved onto the baby attachment.
Tripp Trapp baby - aesthetically pleasing, yes. But a nightmare to clean in the early days of weaning. Eventually got bored of the 15 minute clean up job after every meal and got the £15 IKEA highchair, with a detachable tray that fits in the sink. Heaven.
Bbhugme Nursing Pillow - bought in the early days when breast-feeding was a huge unknown. Really useful until I’d gotten the hang of things a bit more and no longer needed it. Approx 1 month.