wasted money.

6 months

Over this whole pregnancy/having a baby thing, I have managed to buy a handful of things that have turned out to be a real waste of money.

1. Maternity wear. I bought some trousers that were specifically 'maternity trousers' and I barely wore them, it was actually far easier to simply wear trousers with a fairly loose, elasticated waist that I owned even before I got pregnant, and I can still wear them now. actually any clothes that were simply a couple of sizes bigger than normal were fine, including jumpers and tops.
2. Scratch mittens. From day one Tabitha was fully capable of putting her hands into her mouth, biting the gloves and pulling them off. we couldn't keep them on for 5 minutes, let alone all day. and now she loves sucking her thumb far too much, even if we did manage to keep the mittens on, they would end up soaking and uncomfortable after she sucked them all day.
3. Baby bath. we only really used this bath 5 times, and one of those times were for keeping cider bottles cold with ice at the naming day, and another time was for cooling mine and Coyotes feet during massively hot July. We've simply found it far more easy and fun for me to get into the bath with Tabitha. it means she can kick and wiggle freely, it means I can keep a better hold on her, and means we can play and bond in the bath.
4. Bibs. we have many many bibs, we were anticipating needing a whole bunch of them, but with baby led weaning, normal bibs are simply too small to contain the mess. we have found some long sleeve bibs however that are a lot more useful, because they are also long enough to cover her legs!
5. New born sized clothes. Within 3 weeks of having Tabitha, she had pretty much out grown any clothing that was designed for 'newborns' she was a big baby, and I really regret not getting everything in '0-3 month' sized. 
6. Moses basket sheets. I bought tons of these, and then discovered the trick of using a far larger sheet, and just re-folding it when she posseted (nice phrase for baby puke) on her bed. it was quicker to do, and saved a massive amount of washing. And now she's in her cot.
7. A "cheap" mei tai sling. I thought I could save some money getting a cheaper mei tai sling online. but when it turned up the material was flimsy and uncomfortable, it just didn't fit me or Tabitha very well, and I didn't feel happy even taking her up the road in it, let alone on a longer journey. in the end I just got lucky and managed to pick up a far far better one from ebay that she loves being in, and is nice and comfy and tough.
8. Swimming costumes. when I first bought Tabitha a swimming costume (actually a baby wet suit), I hadn't really taken into account that Tabitha is a big baby, and that it was designed to be skin tight. The first one I got she managed to wear once before she out-grew it. Then I accidentally bid on another swimming costume that I ended up winning, and she never even wore once...after that I got a bit more careful.
9. and finally....Talcum powder. apparently you are really not supposed to use this on babies. the crystals of the powder are actually quite sharp and in the folds of a babies skin can cause irritation and rashes. we've discovered that the best way to get Tabitha's skin nice and soft after a bath is to put on moisturizing lotion after we pat her dry with a towel. it drives out the water and protects her skin.

of course these things could be different for different babies and mums. but for us, these are the things i wish i had saved pennies on.

(as you can see, baby led weaning is going really well)