Parents have opened up about the number one item they seriously regret buying after having a baby – and as the owner of about five stuffed bunny toys, it hasn’t shocked me too much.
Unsurprisingly, top of the list are cuddly toys. One in three UK parents who have kids under 10 (31%) admitted they didn’t use them.
In second place are baby towels, with 28% of parents revealing they haven’t used them more than once or twice since they purchased them. I guess normal towels work pretty well, don’t they?
The findings come as a new study from pushchair brand iCandy revealed UK parents are collectively spending billions of pounds on baby items they only end up using once or twice.
On average, parents say they shelled out almost £400 on baby items they didn’t actually need.
Almost one in four parents (24%) spent more than £500 and almost one in 10 (9%) spent at least £900 in the first 12 months on items that never saw the light of day.
What’s more, just over half of parents (53%) said they found it confusing to know what things are essential and what isn’t needed after having a baby.
What items do parents regret buying the most?
Here’s the list in full:
1. Cuddly toys
2. Baby towels
3. Clothes that were outgrown before they could be worn
4. Baby shoes
5. Bath support/seat
6. Baby walker
7. Nappy bin/Bath thermometer
8. Baby sling
9. Breast pump
10. Teddies/toys that played ‘heartbeat’ noise
11. Fiddly/fancy outfits with buttons/layers etc
12. Baby food blender
Cameron Appel, Vice CEO of iCandy, said of the findings: “If you’re preparing for your new baby’s arrival or you’re looking to buy a present for someone who’s about to become a parent, take note, as you might want to spend your money on something else instead.”
He added: “Everyone’s parenting journey is unique to them, so we know some of the things on this list may have been invaluable to some people, but for anyone who’s unsure about which things to get, see if you can save money by borrowing these things first to work out if you’ll actually end up using them in the long run.”
You can rent baby products via sites like Baboodle – particularly useful for those big ticket items that you don’t want to fork out loads of cash on and use a handful of times.
As for that baby food blender on your Amazon wishlist? Cross it off. You (likely) won’t need it.