While it makes good financial sense to keep cots, prams, travel cots, buggies and sturdy toys for your next child, there are some things that simply aren’t worth holding onto and luckily they are cheaply and easily replaced. Even if you start tying for your next child as soon as the first one comes into the world there is still a minimum of around a year when these items will be stored away usually in lofts or basements- places that are not clean to begin with so here are just a few items you may want to pitch rather than put in a storage tote.
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Dummies: Even if you thoroughly wash, sterilise and dry these before you store them, they are prone to mould if you miss drying even a tiny area and can therefore harbour bacteria, so if you can- invest in a new set when your next baby comes along to avoid any tummy upsets.
Changing mat: Think about all the times your first baby’s nappy overspilled onto the mat and despite wiping it down, there may still be bugs on there which will be harmful to a newborn, so get rid of the old one once your first child is out of nappies and invest in a separate one for your new arrival.
Bottles and teats: As with dummies, they have small hard to reach places that could encourage bacteria to grow, so purge your home of all the old ones once your first born can drink out of a normal cup and buy new for your second. If you can’t afford them all in one go- why not buy two every month you are pregnant and you will have more than enough for when your baby comes.
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Clothing: While you may want to keep a few key pieces for your second born, try not to reuse clothing from one to the next, especially if it’s stained. Despite being washed at high temperatures after use, there may still be remnants of faeces, urine, vomit and food on there that once stored could be a playground for bacteria. Multipacks of baby grows and vests are really affordable from the supermarket now so there is no need to be out of pocket. If you do laundry regularly, they won’t need that many anyway. Remember that if you have generous friends and family, you will probably get a few new outfits as gifts!
Sheets: A baby’s bed sheets have probably seen it all- everything from the usual suspects to liquid medicine, vapour rub and nappy cream which all soak right into the material- and not all of it may come out in the wash. You can pick up a pack of two cot sheets for very little at your local store to avoid any bugs affecting the delicate balance of your new baby’s system.
Teething rings and toys: While you can throw most of these into the dishwasher and the steriliser- think about all the times they fell on the floor or were casually rubbed over with a baby wipe to clean them. The textured ones are particularly difficult to clean as water can rest in the little crevices only to go stagnant and allow germs to multiply.
Baby first aid: Even if the gap between your first and second child isn’t much- discard any opened bottles of medicine, tubes of nappy cream, tubs of vapour rub and teething gels. While they might not have expired according to the label, they will still have bacteria around the lid or rim so always stock up with new medicines and treatments for newborns to reduce the risk of cross contamination.
BONUS: Baby toiletries: Things like baby washes and toothpaste will have a symbol on them that indicates how long they should be open for before you need to replace them and most items fall around the 12 month mark. So, if there is three years between your first and second child, it belongs in the trash!
While replacing all of these items may sound like a waste of your hard earned cash when you already have them in your home, you can’t put a price on keeping your baby happy and healthy, so the benefits more than outweigh the cost.
Tagged in Babies