5 Baby Items Worth Splurging On

5 Baby Items Worth Splurging On, and 5 More That Aren’t!

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There are thousands of baby products on the market. 

Thousands!

If not hundreds of thousands. Or more.

It’s so overwhelming as an expecting mom.

I mean, your baby hasn’t even arrived yet. You don’t know what items you actually need and what items would be nice to have.

So how are you supposed to know what to buy? What to register for? What to put on your wish list?

You land on blogs like this, with advice from experienced mamas. These kinds of blogs saved me and helped me navigate the wild world of baby shopping.

I want to pay it forward, so I am here today to share 5 baby items worth splurging on… and 5 that absolutely are not worth it!

5 Baby Items Worth Splurging On

The 5 Splurge-Worthy Baby Items:

Get yourself a travel system: car seat & stroller (bassinet optional).

These are super convenient if you plan to ever leave the house with a newborn. Babies fall asleep all the time and having a car seat that clicks into a stroller means you can move your baby from one place to another without ever disturbing him/her. It’s worth it!

We purchased the Uppababy Cruz, Mesa car seat and their corresponding bassinet. One year in the stroller still looks and feels brand new! We use it almost every single day too. I am definitely a satisfied Uppababy customer.

Side note: we did the Cruz because of city living – it’s lighter and smaller than the Vista version. You’ll have to decide which is best for you and your lifestyle. The bonus of the Vista is that it converts to a double stroller – so depending on how many kids you want and how close together, it’s something to think about…

Buy a quality, breathable, and washable crib mattress.

Babies (& toddlers!) sleep 12-18 hours a day. That’s a lot of hours in their crib. You want something that will hold up.

The breathability factor is where the mattress becomes an item worth splurging on. There is often a lot anxiety surrounding baby sleep for new moms. We wake up worrying about them. I can’t count the number of times I’ve woken up to check the monitor just to see if my daughter is still breathing.

We ended up getting the NewtonBaby crib mattress because even if you bury your face in it you can still breathe through it. I sleep so much better knowing it’s safe for my baby girl.

As an added bonus the mattress is completely washable. Let me tell you, pee and poop disasters happen. How amazing is it you can wash this entire mattress in the shower?!

It’s probably my favourite purchase and it gets SO MUCH USE! This makes this practical mama so happy. PS – you can see my full review here.

Invest in a baby food maker.

This one is for the moms who want to do baby led weaning or plan on making the majority of their own baby food.

These little steamer/blender combination machines are awesome. You don’t end up dirtying full size appliances to make small batches of food, yet you can still make plenty of jars in one go.

I use this thing weekly, quite often even daily as I like to prepare a lot of fresh food. Smoothie bowls, steamed veggies and puréed soups are some of my favourite uses!

Buy a good quality, breathable baby carrier.

Baby wearing is the best. Who doesn’t want extra baby snuggles? Plus it means you can have your hands free to actually get a few things done when your little bundle of joy just doesn’t want to be put down.

I highly recommend getting one in a natural fabric like cotton or linen. They are breathable and natural materials. This one by Sakura Bloom is one I’ve had my eye on.

Get a video baby monitor.

Now, there are baby monitors with some super fancy technology out there. If that’s your jam, go for it. I recommend at least getting a quality video camera just for mom’s peace of mind. I love being able to see my girl breathing over video.

We have this Infant Optics one and it’s served us pretty well. I’m not sure how it would hold up in a bigger house, as we do have the occasional issue with signal strength from the far end of our apartment.

My favourite part is that it isn’t synced with my phone – meaning I can be playing/working on my phone and watching my daughter at the same time. I knew right off the bat I didn’t want a mobile app – just another thing to consider depending on your preferences!

Ok, so there you have my top 5 splurge worthy baby items…

Now I’ll share my advice on what 5 aren’t worth spending tons of cash on…

The high chair.

You want simple. No grooves, no fabrics. Wipe clean. Trust me. I drive myself crazy constantly having to wash the leather insert of our high chair as it has all these seams that food collects in. I highly regret not just getting the simple Ikea high chair…

Fancy swings.

I’m not saying don’t get a swing.

But remember that babies only use them for the first couple months, and only for a limited amount of time each day. 

My advice is to go with an affordable option – or consider buying second hand.

A special changing table.

It’s an unneccesary, “nice to have” in my opinion. We just got a tray to put on top of the dresser and it works perfectly.

A fancy pack and play.

Typically, you buy a pack and play for it’s portability. Don’t get the fancy one with all the attachments – it makes it much bulkier and heavier and defeats that portability purpose… I’m writing this from experience and will likely sell ours before our next baby arrives as we never use it. My dad has a much simpler version and its so much easier to fold up and travel with. Once again, simple wins!

Expensive baby clothes & shoes.

Babies grow SO FAST. You will constantly be ready for the next size. Don’t bother spending a ton of money on cute clothes and shoes they will literally wear once. It’s truly wild how fast they grow!

There we have it. 5 splurge items that are so totally worth it, and 5 that you can save your $$ on!

What item are you most excited to buy for your baby?

Experienced mamas, what item was your favourite splurge, and what item would you not buy if you could go back in time?

Xo,
Kinzy


You might also like:
Diaper Bag Essentials for the Newborn Stage
My Simple Tips & Tricks for Registering for Your First Baby Shower

11 thoughts on “5 Baby Items Worth Splurging On, and 5 More That Aren’t!”

  1. I agree about not needing a fancy changing table. Know what I used? The floor. Yep. I would simply grab a clean baby blanket, neatly arrange it on the floor, and change baby there. It was just me, the hubs, and the baby, so the blanket stayed clean all day. I tossed it into the laundry basket at night. 🙂

  2. Caressa Walker

    This post was right on the money, especially what not to spend your money on . Luckily I was smart enough to keep my coins in my pockets or had those things gifted to me .

  3. This is so funny. I have four kids (ages 8, 6, 4, 2) and I never had a video monitor, a baby food maker, or a travel system.
    A pack n play is one of the few items I used for all four kids! Same with a high chair!

    1. Hahaha we are all different! I’m not saying you don’t need a pack & play or high chair… I use both. But just not to get an expensive one. The simple ones are perfect!! The baby food maker is definitely a luxury – but one I use every single day. So that makes it worth it, to me 🙂

  4. I so agree with you about the expensive baby clothes! A few special outfits are fine to splurge on but I swear sometimes my kids would go through growth spurts and skip a whole size all together! My favorite splurge was a diaper genie when I had two in diapers. It seems like people either love it or hate it!

  5. I totally agree with all these things! I pretty much never used our changing table. I’ll keep the checklist in mind if we have another one.

  6. I agree with most of these! Although I’ve never used a special baby food blender/maker or a crib haha. Pack n play babies for all 3! Great post!

    1. The baby food maker is a nice to have… but unlike so many baby items, I actually use it every day! So it’s been totally worth it. Works great for making dips too as it’s like a mini food processor 😛

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