Websites, books, the media and baby shops are constantly shouting at new parents about all the absolutely essential baby items you need for your newborn.
As most experienced parents know, you can do without quite a number of these “essentials.”
In fact, a lot of parents find that as they gain more experience, the list of “essentials” gets shorter and shorter. Many learn to make do with things they already have at home.
Aspiring children’s cookbook writer Sheila Jaya Poomy, on the brink of 40, is one of those who learnt the hard way what the real essential items are.
She confides that she bought them because friends and acquaintances told her she needed them and also based on what she had read in books. Then, there was the “just in case” excuse we all have for the endless supply of items in our store rooms!
Sheila, who has three daughters aged one, three and six, used the items for a short time and then ended up passing them on to others who might find better use for them.
“Perhaps some other parents would find use for them where I wasn’t too smart about using them …,” she says humbly.
Stay-at-home mum Maizura Abas, in her late 30s, admits to being a shopoholic. Shopping for her first baby gave her romantic and unrealistic notions about what things were going to be like when she had her baby.
“Reading too many baby magazines and browsing baby shops too often were also things I shouldn't have done. I bought an expensive baby cot bumper and bedding but my baby slept in our bed and hardly slept in his cot (it's a good thing the cot was a hand-me-down!).
“I also bought lots of educational toys and materials (which turned out to be unsuitable and besides, I didn't have the time to use them). Then there was the very expensive breast pump - in the end my baby refused breast milk in a bottle!” she explains.
Maizura, whose children are now aged five and 11, ended up giving away these “essential” items.
For marketing executive Shirley Ng, 31, mother of 29-month-old Emily, it was a case of wanting to be prepared as some of the essential items might come in handy.
“First time parents are always excited to buy everything new (I was, too!) but it can also burn a hole in your pocket. Go for hand-me-downs wherever possible, for example for the cot bed and clothes because babies outgrow them faster than you can blink your eyes. Or adopt the wait-and-see method, and buy only when needed. Instead, go for quality baby bottles and disposable diapers, and life/medical insurance. I think, a RM2,000 cot bed is better invested in an insurance plan,” says Ng, who is now expecting her second child.
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