But I have to admit that he is my only child, and some of these things might have come in handy if there were more. But then, he slept through the night when he was 1 month old, and I didn’t trust fate to give me another like that!

I tried to keep everything to a minimum when we had our first, but now that it is all stored away while number two is failing to arrive and number one is no longer a baby, our fairly minimal amount doesn’t seem so minimal anymore!

My next baby, poor thing is going too like she has nothing. Her brother didn’t have a walker, or a jolly jumper, or a bumbo, or walking wings, or knee pads, no tv until he was two even. The next one will probably have less – the idea of ditching the pram and the change table are tempting me even. And all those wretched toys with batteries and noise and lights. The poor kid will feel so deprived by my simplicity… oh hang on, she probably won’t notice, because she’ll be too busy enjoying just being with mummy, and just getting to know the world.

A tip: before your child is tall enough to turn door handles, put a handle guard over one doorknob you use a lot, to get used to them. For a month, we cursed the thing, but now, as we get ready to put them on all the other doors, we aren’t phased by them anymore.

We haven’t done much baby proofing other than outlets and cabinets and an Angel Alarm (which later became his baby monitor once out of the infant stage). We had to use the clear silicone button closure loops on our kitchen cabinets, as they are sliding doors instead of hinged and traditional locks won’t work. They also work on wine fridges and garbage cans! We also use Kid Co corner guards on a coffee table and various other corners on furniture and they are wonderful.

I get a kick out of the “walking helmets” too. I suppose there is merit if a child has a massive fontanel and is a klutz, or you have a legitimate concern for injury.

IMHO though, a happy parent makes a happy child, and if a mom needs to buy a video monitor to feel safe with her child, then the stress level around that child will be less, and thus…

And don’t knock those wings things. Of course you let your children learn to walk on their own. That is not the point. Just fun to use when they are working toward walking and you want have fun with them. If fear is what you are putting down, then the arms being ripped out of socket is either just not funny or fear based itself.

Yes lots of silly items for children. many we could do without. Just make sure the ones you finish using AND aren’t dangerous from wear get passed along to your next friend with a baby or charity.

Leaving this site now.

I don’t understand the author’s comment: “Also, I’d be afraid my kids arms would be ripped out of their sockets if I used this thing!”

Walking wings go around the child’s torso and then the adult holds the handles, so baby’s hands are free to practice using for balance. How could that rip their arms out of their sockets? The traditional method of holding onto baby’s arms while they walk would have a better chance of causing that kind of problem (though still unlikely) than the walking wings.

I have been on a mission to keep the baby clutter to a minimum, and it looks like I’m succeeding so far. Of course, the litte one isn’t here yet, so who knows what will happen when she arrives. But so far, so good!

Outlet covers aren’t needed here in the UK since electrical outlets have safety shutters to stop little fingers getting in.

Speaking of baby clutter, we’ve got all the small clutter under control, but the clutter that drives me crazy is courtesy of the big items we can’t (see: my wife won’t let me) get rid of yet:

- Cradle swing
- Large playplace mat
- Jumparoo
- Elevated infant seat
- Bumbo seat…

I, too, roll my eyes at all the protective gear parents are guilted into buying. The basics, as you mentioned (socket covers, latches, etc.), are worth their weight in gold, but the vast majority of the stuff I see for sale is downright ridiculous. I especially laughed at the knee pads. In my case, my parents would have wasted the money. According to family legend, I crawled for about a month before my mom put me down in the backyard to explore. I apparently did not appreciate the way the grass felt on my hands, so I got up and walked off. I’ve been walking ever since. Well, except for that one weekend at Myrtle Beach, when over-indulging in whiskey sours had me crawling to the bathroom.

Thanks to you all for the input on what NOT to buy! Since I have avoided motherhood myself, I am useless at choosing things for new babies.

Case in point: for a while their were e-mails with weird baby products (many REALLY weird), one of which was what looked like a stuffed hand. It was labeled “the thing”, and people were like “That’s freaky”, and made comments as to parents who must use it so that they don’t have to touch their baby. Well, I happen to know what those are for. They are marketed to NICUs, I saw them in “preemie magazine”. When our son was born preemie, he was on a vent., IVs, etc…, weighted bags were used on his arms so that he didn’t pull anything out. We couldn’t touch him, but weighted touch is also soothing, and anything to help keep your baby calm so that they can get healthy is worth it. Any way, I’m just trying to say that you never know what products end up being useful.

The first thing I thought of when I saw these is that they weren’t for the baby, they were for the parents. I have a relative who has terrible back problems, and has a baby who is at the stage of wanting to hold onto her parent’s hands and walk around with their support. Leaning over to do this has caused even worse problems for my relative’s back. This looks like a good solution for saving parents some bad back pain, rather than to stop a baby from falling. I think they need to change their marketing angle!