# Key Post: Worst buy for baby?



## Jess (13 Oct 2005)

Just following on from the 'best buy for baby' thread, thought it might be interesting to have a 'worst buy'.

2 items spring to mind for me straight away:

* Hippy chick carrier. This is a contraption you tie around your waist with a little raised area that acts as a 'seat' for baby to sit on. Think I used it once - it just wasn't practical and wasn't very comfortable. Waste of money.

* Play pen. Never used - she would not stay in it. I know these can also be used as portable cots but I bought it as a play pen and it wasn't used. 

Anyone else?


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## Samantha (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

1 - Bottle warmer - take too long to heat up a bottle - 
2 - Activity arch to put on the car seat - Keep falling off no matter what Grrrrr!!!
3 - Dungaries without buttons on the leg - look great but was a pain when baby need to have nappy changes as you have to take off the whole thing.


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## TarfHead (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

We received a gift of a 'musical' mobile that was suspended over his cot. After a few weeks, my wife found a small piece of sharp metal that had fallen out of the mobile on the mattress of the cot beside his head.

Can't think of anything worse than that.


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## Carpenter (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Fisher Price do a musical mobile(fish theme), that while very nice for baby (complete with "Timothy Leary"esque light effect) was a real pain.  Firstly it ate batteries (and you could only use the expensive heavy duty ones with it- the cheaper ones were worse than useless.  It was actually tricky enough to assemble- I thought, and I love putting stuff together!  Lastly to change the batteries you had to remove about 5 screws to gain access to the battery compartment- I know this is probably a H & S issue but nonetheless.  However I will concede that junior loved it and so did Mrs C.!


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## ubiquitous (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Argos portable stair gate - impossible to fit on our stairs.


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## huskerdu (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

A babywipe warmer. I kid you not, it is possible to buy a unit which keeps the
babywipes warm.


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## ClubMan (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				Samantha said:
			
		

> 1 - Bottle warmer - take too long to heat up a bottle -


Yeah - I use the microwave but herself is wary of it and uses a pot of boiled water. I haven't scalded baby yet so hopefully social services won't be knocking on my door later today...


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## Henny Penny (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Door bouncer ... neither of my children would use it. 

Travel system ... what a con ... you buy a buggy because the car seat will fit on it ... then you have a 10lb baby and find the combined weight of the child and the rock-a-tot thing is too heavy to take out of the car. Also the buggy part takes up all the space in the boot of your car!

Hospitals advising you do use cotton wool and water to clean baby's bums ... when everyone knows it'll take more than water to shift poo!


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## car (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Agreed on the baby sling.  We got one and must have used it 3-4 times.  You need lessons from houdini on how to get in and out of it.
My pet hates are....
Tesco nappies.    Cot soaked after using.   Similar experience with huggies.   Best brands we found were the lidl and pampers.  With lidl selling at practically half price, the decision is made there.

Babygros that need to be fastened at the back.  Hate them.

Bottles that dont have a wide aperture so that when youre spooning the feed into them half the feed goes all over the counter grrrrrr.  Found the wide avent ones best.


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## ClubMan (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				Henny Penny said:
			
		

> Hospitals advising you do use cotton wool and water to clean baby's bums ... when everyone knows it'll take more than water to shift poo!


Works fine for me (i.e. me doing the baby's bum that is!). _Meconium _was one thing (that stuff is like _Marmite _- to look at, not to taste!) but bottle fed poo shifts OK with cotton wool and water. Maybe it gets more difficult at weaning time?


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## fobs (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

I am laughing looking at this thread!!!

I too found the bottle warmer useless and a jug of water better. Used the microwave on second baby (standards slipping?!)

Baby carrier - just never used it.

Sangenic nappy wrapper - easier to throw out nappies as required rather than a full container (it DOEs still smell IMHO)

Ditto on the cottonwool malarky - only wipes will do th trick without getting cotton wool stuck to their bums!

Breast pads,breast pump - didn't breasyttfeed and got tablets to stop milk so didn't need these.

Car seat from the M&P pliko system - made babys head tip forward so ended up buying a britax one instead.

Any clothes that don't have poppers on them or wide necks so don't strangle baby.


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## ClubMan (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

The sister in law insisted on buying us a set of baby monitors in spite of us not wanting them and the house being small enough that we're hardly going to need them. She thought that c. €50 was too little to be spending and was almost inclined to buy the ones with a built in camera! My main worry was that they'd interfere with my 2.4GHz _802.11 _wireless gear or video senders but it turns out that they operate on 49MHz (not 49GHz as _Tomy _informed me initially). Oh - and yes - they're still in the box.


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## Diziet (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Cotton wool and water are fine - many babies get nappy rash due to the chemicals in the baby wipes.


I found a sling one of the best buys ever - we used it exclusively for the first three months and very often up to a year. It helped that it was a great design and did not put strain on the back. I even used it a few weeks after a C-section without trouble, so don't discount it completely. It did take a while to get used to the Houdini arrangement (it was a Wilkinet) but well worth it.


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## RainyDay (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Fully agree about the portable bottle warmers - We never used the play pen as a play pen, as our little girl just refused to read the instructions to understand her role. It was handy as a downstairs crib/changing mat (via the extra bits that fit into the top).

Disagree about the sling - We had the Baby Bjorn one and used it up to 18 months or so, though our little one is quite little for her age. She really enjoyed being up & close & part of the adult conversations.


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## Vanilla (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Monitors were also our worst buy. The ones we bought picked up one of our neighbours' house with startling clarity ( they had the same brand ) but refused to pick up V Jnrs room next door. 


We were given a sling as a hand me down, but V Jnr objected vehemently to usage of same, and was therefore discarded shortly thereafter ( the sling, not V Jnr).

And I thought cotton wool & water was fine!


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## ubiquitous (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

The sling (mothercare version) was probably our most useful purchase of all. With slings, design and ease of use matters an awful lot. We got a few second-hand ones from friends and they were hopeless.

Portable cot was also very very handy.


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## polaris (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				huskerdu said:
			
		

> A babywipe warmer. I kid you not, it is possible to buy a unit which keeps the
> babywipes warm.


 
This morning (about 6am) was particular chilly, the look of shock on our little fella's face was priceless when I cleaned him with wipes that were left in the hallway overnight!


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## ubiquitous (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

What do you expect, waking him at 6am?


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## redstar (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Baby walkers - you know, the ones on wheels where baby sits in it and tries to drive/do wheelies/take corners at 60kph. These things are supposed to help 'train' babies to walk. Our GP said most injuries he sees on babies are caused by these walkers. They don't need them. Babies will learn to walk in their own good time !


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## Jess (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

This had turned out to be a good laugh and very insightful.  

I shall have to tune in more often to 'askaboutmoney' to find out about products such as baby wipe warmers? Really? that one is definitely new to me!


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## Capaill (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

I would have thought contraceptives that didn't work would be the "worst buy for baby"<g>


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## ninsaga (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Baby wipe holders....especiall when you have to force your fingers through the top to clean off some crap while the baby is sqirming around the place.

Also the round baby wipe canisters...as you get to the end of them & try to pull out the next wipe the whole thing just lifts in your hand.

Tesco baby wipes....€1.63 they are cheap & useless..

...I'll try to think of something different instead of baby wipes next time......

ninsaga


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## DrMoriarty (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

I've seen a few people here posting about "wipeability" issues (esp. the cotton-wool-and-water combo). Cotton wool and a bit of olive oil deals much better with heavy "emissions", and is wonderful for that smooth-as-a-baby's-bottom feel...  _P.S. I don't mean the kind you put on pizzas, but the odourless brown-bottle variety available from your chemist!_


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## ClubMan (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				DrMoriarty said:
			
		

> _P.S. I don't mean the kind you put on pizzas, but the odourless brown-bottle variety available from your chemist!_


How is the stuff from the chemist different from edible olive oil?


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## DrMoriarty (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

It's for external use only. Usually comes in a plain brown bottle with [broken link removed]on the label (no, not British Petroleum!) and is surprisingly inexpensive, therefore not usually very prominently displayed (unlike the dearer, branded products). Ask at your local chemist!


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## ClubMan (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				DrMoriarty said:
			
		

> It's for external use only. Usually comes in a plain brown bottle with [broken link removed]on the label (no, not British Petroleum!) and is surprisingly inexpensive, therefore not usually very prominently displayed (unlike the dearer, branded products). Ask at your local chemist!


I always wondered about B.P. on medical bottles. I presume it stands for British Pharmacopoeia? What exactly does it mean though? Guarantee of some sort of standards used in preparation or purity etc.?


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## Carpenter (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Lidl wipes, cheap and effective.  But to be honest we only use wipes if we're out and about, generally cotton wool and water does the job- most of the time!


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## Sue Ellen (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

"Yeah - I use the microwave but herself is wary of it and uses a pot of boiled water. I haven't scalded baby yet so hopefully social services won't be knocking on my door later today..."

Please be *very* careful when using the microwave for heating bottles. I never used them myself but heard some terrible horror stories about babies being badly burnt because parents did not wait for the required length of time after the bottle came out of microwave. Some of the maternity hospitals say that the room temperature bottle is sufficient. I always found bottle warmer worked fine.

The baby alarms are very handy on hols. if baby is having a snooze in room and you want to do something else nearby.

We found the over-the-door bouncer great and kept them entertained for quite a while.

To lower the tone of the conversation the worst nappies are those from breastfed babies - akin to scrambled egg and can travel everywhere. Lovely to have to deal with at maybe 5 a.m. in winter time. Just makes you wonder do these kids appreciate what us poor parents go thru - no they don't give a s....


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## ClubMan (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

I've found the cotton wool balls (€2 for a big bag of them in the "pound" shops) much easier to use than those packs where you have to tear a chunk out before use. With the latter I always end up taking far more than necessary and ending up with it all over the carpet etc.


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## ClubMan (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				sueellen said:
			
		

> Please be *very* careful when using the microwave for heating bottles. I never used them myself but heard some terrible horror stories about babies being badly burnt because parents did not wait for the required length of time after the bottle came out of microwave. Some of the maternity hospitals say that the room temperature bottle is sufficient. I always found bottle warmer worked fine.


I am very careful! I only use it to take the chill out of refrigerated bottles since we otherwise serve bottles at room temperature.



> To lower the tone of the conversation the worst nappies are those from breastfed babies - akin to scrambled egg and can travel everywhere. Lovely to have to deal with at maybe 5 a.m. in winter time. Just makes you wonder do these kids appreciate what us poor parents go thru - no they don't give a s....


The bottle fed ones (well a mix of some breast and mostly bottle at the moment) aren't much different in my experience! All the books say that breast fed nappies should be less smelly than bottle fed. I never noticed that myself.


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## Sue Ellen (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Wait until you go to change boys nappies and get hit in the eye!  

Or have a baby with reflux and get the bright idea to play with them by holding them up in the air and get a load of vomit in the mouth - yummy.


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## ClubMan (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Experienced both of those with the various babies (e.g. nephews and nieces) in the extended family over the years!


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## Guest127 (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

An eircom jersey!


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## oysterman (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				ClubMan said:
			
		

> I am very careful! I only use it to take the chill out of refrigerated bottles since we otherwise serve bottles at room temperature.


Give the bottle a really vigorous and prolonged shake when you take it out of the microwave. This will get rid of any hot spots in the liquid which could scald the baby when drinking the bottle.


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## ClubMan (13 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

I know, I know... I'm sorry I ever mentioned the microwave in the first place now...


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## RainyDay (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				sueellen said:
			
		

> Just makes you wonder do these kids appreciate what us poor parents go thru - no they don't give a s....


Don't worry - you'll get your chance for revenge when old age kicks in and they have to spoonfeed you & change your nappies - pretty horrible thought, eh?


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## oysterman (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				ClubMan said:
			
		

> I know, I know... I'm sorry I ever mentioned the microwave in the first place now...


I remember overhearing a conversation between a very experienced nurse in Temple St. Hospital who was challenged by a mother when heating a bottle in a microwave. The nurse said that "unless you're a complete idiot" it's a perfectly safe thing to do.....this neatly encapsulates the H&S implications of most parenting practices in my view.


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## Carpenter (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Does everbody test baby's bathwater with their own elbow first??


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## DrMoriarty (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				oysterman said:
			
		

> Give the bottle a really vigorous and prolonged shake when you take it out of the microwave....


...and leave it stand for a few minutes, and then shake the bejasus out of it again before using it. Those 'hot spots' can stay hot for quite a while after you take the bottle out. But if you're careful there's nothing wrong with using a microwave to heat bottles (or babyfood).


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## TarfHead (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				Carpenter said:
			
		

> Does everbody test baby's bathwater with their own elbow first??


 
No way - never.

The skin on my elbow is like a horse's hide.

Use the inside of my wrist instead.


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## stobear (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				Carpenter said:
			
		

> Does everbody test baby's bathwater with their own elbow first??



I used to when Bear Jnr was very small, but now hes 17 months and loves his bath, but I test the water with my hand, last night he figured out that a plastic cup is good for drinking the bath water and its also useful to move the waterfrom  the bath to Dada's legs! He got a great laugh out of that!!


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## ClubMan (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

I tried testing the bathwater with one of those purple rings that supposedly turn slightly pink at 34 degrees C and bright pink when the water is too warm (got it free in some goodie bag or other) but the water still seemed freezing to me (and baby!) when we used it so I dumped in another jug or warmer water and he seemed to like that.


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## RainyDay (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				stobear said:
			
		

> Iits also useful to move the waterfrom  the bath to Dada's legs! He got a great laugh out of that!!


I regularly have to change my t-shirt after giving our little girl her bath - as I lift her out of the bath now, she points out the wet patches on my t-shirt and has a good giggle.


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## ClubMan (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

_AAM _moderator in wet T-shirt scandal shocker!


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## Jister (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

Advanced toilet training pull ups. The idea is to let her know when she is after wetting herself but all that did was give her a rash as they are designed not to absorb all the pee so it was rubbing against her.

They are expensive too.


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## Jess (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

A question for those who use cotton wool & water as opposed to babywipes. Is it because of the cost of baby wipes, or because you don't like them?

I think cotton wool and water is perfectly fine, but just found wipes (non scented) so handy at home and particularly when out and about and regularly bought them in bulk (3 for 2 in Boots etc).


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## ClubMan (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

A bit of both in our case. I've been using cotton wool and water because it's as handy as anything and does the job fine. I usually finish off with a wipe (or even half a wipe since a full one is not usually necessary) just to polish things up.  I can imagine that the wipes are handier when out and about alright.


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## Vanilla (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



> A question for those who use cotton wool & water as opposed to babywipes. Is it because of the cost of baby wipes, or because you don't like them?




I didn't use them at first as I didnt want to use too many chemicals on delicate baby skin. Now I sometimes use them out and about. Nothing to do with the cost, as the cotton wool isnt that cheap anyway.

I had a special baby bath thermometer that I used until a couple of months ago, when V Jnrs aim and strength increased, and thermometer lost the battle.


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## Thirsty (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

I didn't have much cash when mine were babies, so didn't have the chance to purchase anything that wasn't 100% needed; and what I did get was mainly 2nd hand.  The only thing that I did get and found wasn't up to much was a 'booster' seat intended to raise a 4/5 year old up higher in the car seat.

My worst buy would be wipes of any description; a washable sponge (only used for bum) and/or cheap face cloths plus some warm water did the trick.  

When exclusively b/fed, babies often don't poo for several days, but when they do - they do it big time!  On these occasions I would hold baby's bum under the tap in the laundry room sink and rinse off!


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## Sue Ellen (14 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

For bathtime I always found these [broken link removed] (once well supervised) to be very handy.


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## Bamhan (17 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

I have always used a microwave to warm my babies bottles, haven' scaled them yet, doing it for nearly four years.
Some of the worst buys.
1 Sangenic nappy wrapper
2 baby sling
3 Graco three in one system. The car seat was a death trap.
4. Cheap buggy with front wheels that didn't swivel.
5 Anything fancy for them to wear, always induced a vomiting spree.
6 bibs with plastic ties......are too rough on baby delicate skin
7 socks for babies, never ever stay on.
8 Activity tables....have numerous one gathering dust in the shed.
9 mobiles of any kind, if baby likes it you have to keep going in to turn it on again and again.
10 beakers, sippy cups whatever they are claeed have tried them all, impossible to clean and always leak.


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## oysterman (18 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				Bamhan said:
			
		

> worst buys.
> 1 Sangenic nappy wrapper


Couldn't agree more - 8 years on and I swear I can still smell the unit....even after cleaning.


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## ClubMan (18 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



			
				ClubMan said:
			
		

> The sister in law insisted on buying us a set of baby monitors in spite of us not wanting them and the house being small enough that we're hardly going to need them. She thought that c. €50 was too little to be spending and was almost inclined to buy the ones with a built in camera! My main worry was that they'd interfere with my 2.4GHz _802.11 _wireless gear or video senders but it turns out that they operate on 49MHz (not 49GHz as _Tomy _informed me initially). Oh - and yes - they're still in the box.


I guess I'll have to eat my words here - we started using the monitors in the past few days and do find them useful after all...


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## Seagull (18 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

We've found the monitors quite useful, especially for when we're in the garden. The downside is when someone else in the neighbourhood has a baby, and uses the same monitor. We've wound up getting up for someone else's baby because they were on the same channel.


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## stobear (18 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

The danger is that you respond to the monitor all the time, you live by the monitor, I am somewhat guilty of this, but mainly because I play music when he's gone to bed and definitely would not hear anything if I didn't see the lights moving.


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## car (18 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



> I guess I'll have to eat my words here - we started using the monitors in the past few days and do find them useful after all..


I swore I wouldnt use them either, after first time use, we found it hard to turn it off.   
Wait until baby starts turning in the cot and gets hands and feet stuck in the lats (if you have that type of cot), you'll be really glad of the monitor then.
On that, get a baby sleeping bag, both ours have used the same one, needed to keep first one in it until she got out of her turning in the cot stage, for maybe 3-4 months I think.  The second one is still in it. 



Oscar Wilde :
Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.


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## fobs (18 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*



> I guess I'll have to eat my words here - we started using the monitors in the past few days and do find them useful after all..


 
I found I never used a monitor for my oldest daughter but my youngest always liked to sleep on his tummy and my sister gave me her angel moniter which has a pad that you put under the mattress and is attached to a moniter which will beep if the baby stops breathing (more likely when they lie on their tummies!)


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## Vanilla (18 Oct 2005)

*Re: Worst buy for baby?*

We ended up with a camera after the sound monitors wouldnt work. Very handy, as we can put our daughter to sleep upstairs for her nap and at night and relax downstairs ourselves, keeping an eye on her as needs be. It helps to distinguish between the normal noisy sleep sounds she makes and the 'I'm up, come and get me' sounds.


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