What I’d Buy Again as a Parent: Infant Essentials That Were Actually Worth It 👶✅

We’re officially past the infant phase. My second one turns two in May 🎂, and for the first time, I can look back without the fog of sleep deprivation and see things clearly.

Here’s the truth no one tells you: Most baby “essentials” are only essential to the companies selling them.

This isn’t a sponsored roundup or a list of things that photographed well for Instagram. These are infant essentials I’d buy again without hesitation — the items that solved real problems during night feeds, bottle overload, and traveling with a baby in tow.

If you’re searching for infant essentials that are actually worth it, this list is based on real daily use — not hype.

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👀 Who This List Is For

• First-time parents overwhelmed by options

• Parents formula feeding (full or partial) 🍼

• Anyone who values sleep, sanity, and fewer unnecessary purchases

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✅ Infant Essentials I’d Buy Again (What Was Actually Worth It)

🍼 Baby Brezza Formula Pro Advanced

👉 Check current price: https://amzn.to/3I0Ndwq

If there’s one product that fundamentally changed our infant experience, it was the Baby Brezza Formula Pro Advanced.

At 2am, I don’t want to:

• Count scoops

• Measure water

• Shake a bottle and hope I didn’t mess it up

I want to press a button and get a warm, consistent bottle — every single time.

This isn’t about convenience. It’s about eliminating mistakes when your brain is offline 😵‍💫. Consistency matters more than perfection during infancy.

If you’re formula feeding at all, this is one of the few products I’d buy again immediately 👉 https://amzn.to/3I0Ndwq

🔁 Extra Parts for the Formula Pro (Veteran Parent Move)

👉 See on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JRTH11

This doesn’t sound exciting — until it’s midnight and you need a clean funnel.

Extra parts mean:

• No emergency washing

• No skipped clean cycles

• No “it’s probably fine” logic

Small purchase. Big quality-of-life upgrade.

🍽️ Comfee Portable Mini Dishwasher

👉 See it here: https://amzn.to/4mTFIGT

If bottles and pump parts are taking over your sink, this is your answer.

The Comfee Portable Mini Dishwasher handled bottles, pump parts, and accessories without turning dish duty into a nightly argument.

Hand-washing sounds reasonable… until you’re doing it five or six times a day.

This wasn’t really a baby purchase. This was a household systems upgrade disguised as one 😌.

If I were starting over, this would be an early buy 👉 https://amzn.to/4mTFIGT

🍽️ Tripp Trapp High Chair (Built Different)

👉 Check current price: https://amzn.to/4aYWPE3

This is one of those purchases that doesn’t feel exciting at first — and then quietly proves to be one of the smartest decisions you made.

The Stokke Tripp Trapp stood out because it:

• Grows with your child (infant → toddler → kid)

• Pulls right up to the table (actual family meals)

• Is easy to clean (no food graveyard cracks)

• Doesn’t feel disposable after 6 months

Most high chairs are glorified plastic trays you tolerate until you can get rid of them. The Tripp Trapp is furniture — and it shows.

Yes, it costs more upfront. But unlike the $70 high chairs that get replaced (or rage-donated), this one actually lasts.

If I were starting over, I’d buy this again without hesitation 👉 https://amzn.to/4aYWPE3

✈️ Joolz Aer Travel Stroller

👉 Check it out: https://amzn.to/4qm8Vfd

We still own a big stroller — and it mostly lives in the garage now.

The Joolz Aer is what we actually use because:

• One-hand fold

• Lightweight

• Fits overhead

• Doesn’t feel like pushing a shopping cart

Once you’re solo with a baby, bulky strollers become unwieldy fast. Convenience wins every time.

Rule of thumb: If it can’t fold while holding a baby, it’s not a real travel stroller.

🚗 Graco Extend2Fit Convertible Car Seat

👉 See current price: https://amzn.to/49TODDT

Infant car seats are wildly overhyped for how short their usable life actually is.

We switched early to the Graco Extend2Fit and didn’t miss a thing:

• No carrying seats around

• No rebuy a few months later

• Much longer lifespan

Extended rear-facing, strong safety record, and none of the $500+ marketing tax.

Practical beats fancy every time.

🌬️ Coway Airmega AP-1512 Air Purifier

👉 View on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4sNkdLd

Congestion, allergies, and mystery sniffles are basically part of the infant starter pack.

The Coway Airmega AP-1512 quietly:

• Improved sleep 😴

• Reduced congestion

• Helped parents too (bonus!)

You buy it “for the baby.” You keep it because it actually works 👉 https://amzn.to/4sNkdLd

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❌ Infant Products I Would NOT Buy Again (Save Your Money)

🛏️ Bassinet

The bassinet phase is shockingly short.

By the time you’re comfortable using it, which neither of our children ever did, you’re already planning the transition out. Ours became expensive floor décor far faster than expected.

If I were doing this again, I’d skip it entirely.

🧸 Baby Toys That Aren’t Teething Toys

Infants do not care about:

• Lights

• Music

• Buttons

• “Educational” buzzwords

They care about chewing. That’s it.

If it didn’t help with teething, it didn’t earn its space.

👕 Fancy Infant Clothes

They look great in photos 📸.

They are useless at 3am.

Buttons, snaps, and outfits that require effort are hostile design choices during infancy.

Rule: if it takes more than 10 seconds to put on, it’s a no.

🪑 Overlapping “Activity” Gear

Multiple loungers, seats, and swings solving the same problem in slightly different plastic shells.

What we learned fast:

• Floor time beats gear

• Fewer items get used more

Most of this stuff was outgrown before it ever proved its value.

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🧠 Wrap-Up: The AlboApproved Rule

Infancy teaches you one lesson very quickly:

Cheap junk doesn’t last — and expensive junk still isn’t worth it.

If I were starting over, the first things I’d buy again without hesitation would be the Baby Brezza, the countertop dishwasher, and a lightweight travel stroller.

Those solved daily problems immediately. Everything else was secondary.

Buy fewer things. Buy better things. Skip the hype 👍.