DotComic: Addicted to baby products

By Ellen

When I was first pregnant with my daughter, my husband sat me down. "Honey," he said, "Try to refrain from the buying of the baby products. You will have several baby showers. The baby has two desperate grandmothers with disposable income. You have lots of friends who will loan you baby stuff. Please try to control yourself." "Okay," I said.

Well, that lasted about a week. I'll admit it, I am a baby products junkie. I bought my first baby sleeper before I even met my husband (a tie-dyed sleeper from a hippie friend of mine.) By the time my husband and I started "trying," I had already collected an arsenal of baby clothes. Between my frequent trips to Toys-R-Us, my two baby showers and all the loaners from my friends, my daughter was swimming in "stuff." (And furthermore, as soon as my husband laid eyes on his beloved daughter, he was out buying her a wipes warmer before cold wipes could touch her bum.)

But in the six months since her birth, I have discovered that a great deal of it is unnecessary. Anna's butt would have survived cold wipes. Her development would not have been stunted by not having a Johnny Jump Up. There is probably no difference between a used garage sale swing and the Oceans Aquarium Cradle Swing (the "Rolls Royce" of the baby swing world) that her Auntie bought her.

However, let me tell you, any contraption, such as that Johnny Jump Up, that gives me a few minutes reprieve to go pee by myself, well, I'd spend the money on it all over again.

Comments

[Babology]

Yes people cna get addicted to things if they use for onegr extent so i keep chaing them by time and period

[Kat]

This is so timely for me. I'm tossing up whether or not to buy my almost-1-year-old a baby hammock that he might outgrow in less than a year.

BTW - I love the cartoon! :-)

[Peyton]

I definitely hear you with the peeing thing. But at this point (10 months), Ella LOATHES anything that restricts her at all (swing, bouncer, Exersaucer, etc.) I've resorted to putting her down on the bathroom floor to crawl around while I pee. I hope she doesn't remember this when she's 30.

[Julie]

I would not have survived without the Baby Bjorn. We moved when my older daughter was 5 weeks old. I packed and stacked boxes all day, everyday, with her in the Bjorn.

And I can confirm that you can go pee with a baby in the Bjorn. It's not easy, but it's possible.

[kristin]

99% of "baby" products are really for the parents (moms, actually) anyway.

my personal favorites were the battery powered swing and the exersaucer....

[Ron Southern]

Ha! You ought to buy stock in that Johnny Jump Up and rename it "Let Momma Go Pee"! Sales would soar.