insideKENT Magazine Issue 65 - August 2017 | Page 90

SPECIALFEATURE:BABIES+KIDS
babies: the things you
can live without
Once you’ve got over the shock, awe and sheer wonder that you’re having a baby, your head
quite quickly turns to the practicalities of looking after a new little life and, with that, the shock,
awe and sheer wonder of the frankly ridiculous number of products and gadgets available out
there. Although, of course, each and every item is labelled as ‘essential’ for new parents, most
of the things you’re told you need, you don’t need at all. We’ve put together a handy guide to
help you pick out those items that will actually ease your transition into parenthood from those
that may be cleverly marketed, but that you can live without. BY POLLY HUMPHRIS
Bassinet
The ultimate dream versus reality product. The
dream is your vision of a beautiful, pastel-
hued nursery, straight out of the pages of Laura
Ashley, complete with a hand-carved wooden
bassinet overflowing with broderie anglaise.
The reality? Newborns want to be as near as
possible to their parents, so a Moses basket by
the side of your bed will suffice – a few months
down the line and you’ll likely be transferring
baby to a cot anyway, so if you really must
have a bassinet, our advice would be to borrow
one.
High chair
While we’re not suggesting your little bundle
of joy be propped up on a dining chair with
pillows, freestanding highchairs are bulky,
expensive, and, get pretty unhygienic quite
quickly what with all the food being flung at
them. Save yourself hours of scrubbing at
random bits of food lodged into impossible-
to-reach corners and invest in a clip-on
90
highchair that simply attaches to the edge of
a table or chair – they’re portable too, so handy
for venturing out.
Changing table
Similar to the dreams that bassinets are made
of, changing tables look nice with all their
handy pockets and drawers, but they also take
up a lot of room and can cost hundreds. Babies
need changing a lot and the novelty of
sweeping up your precious offspring and
heading upstairs to change him soon wears
off when you’re tired. Get a wipe-clean
changing mat and go for convenience instead.
Nappy disposal unit
Bins are bins no matter which way you dress
them up, and nothing – not even a beautiful
bouncing baby – can disguise the fact that
nappies smell. Of poo, mainly. So, why on
earth you’d want to have nappies linger in
their own odorous chamber for any longer
than you need to is beyond me. And linger
they will – the first few months of new
parenthood are a whirlwind of sleep
deprivation and cold cups of tea, so you will
inevitably forget to empty your nappy bin
leading to even more work. Put the nappy in
a nappy bag then throw it into your usual bin,
which you’ll remember to empty…sometimes.
Baby shoes & socks
Baby footwear: cute? Without doubt. Practical?
Nope. In fact, baby shoes are laughably
impractical – babies barely have feet big
enough to measure let alone walk on, so to
put shoes on them will neither be a good fit
nor comfortable for them. Plus, they fall off
within seconds, so you’ll just end up with a
heap of odd shoes. Same goes for baby socks,
which slide off their little soft feet even quicker
than shoes. They’re a waste of both time and
money, so avoid both and buy babygrows with
feet instead.