What baby items wouldn't you buy used?

H

hkexpat2010

Registered User
Hi,

Wanted to get the advice of moms and moms to be! Have started looking around at nursery furniture and buying all the baby essentials, clothes, toys, aids, etc. The prices here are super high so will stock up on what I can on a trip home.

However, I'm wondering what items I should buy second hand that I could wash/clean up thoroughly and/or wouldn't be too worn out?

So the real question is what baby stuff wouldn't you buy used? I'm thinking things like a training potty I wouldn't buy used, but what about a plastic bathtub? Floor mats, cribs, swings, baby monitors?

Would love to hear your opinions!
 
Wouldn't buy:
Car seat
Training potty
Used breast pump
Used baby bottles and teats
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Well, the mattress, spoons, bottles, teethers, washable nappies. I did buy a second hand bath tub, swing, baby walker and some clothes.
 
anything that goes into the baby's mouth I would not buy used - bottles, teethers, things for weaning onto solids etc...I wouldn't buy crib/mattress or tiles too.

I would buy: jumper, walker, bathtub, high chairs, toys, baby monitors, swings
 
I think anything you can thoroughly clean should be OK, but electronic items like baby monitors, room temperature monitors, air purifiers, etc, that you really want to function and could potentially be broken (baby monitor being the most important) I would probably not risk it. Likewise for things that have been chewed on and therefore could have microscopic tears/holes that would damage the usefulness, like teats. My toddler for example has picked up and thrown the monitor on the ground numerous times and it still works and looks new, but you wouldn't know how banged up it was if it were second-hand since there are no obvious markings.

Oh, and I've never seen a used training potty for sale - that's sort of hilarious...
 
i never had problems with bottles/nipples or a used breast pump, afterall, you sterilise everything before you use it anyway...right?

that said, i never bought used bottles/nipples... but i did buy a breast pump used.
 
You can change the breastpump shield usually...on medela ones anyway so I don't think there's anything wrong with a used pump. The motor part doesn't touch nipples :)
 
I got practically everything for my son secondhand and have had no issues. These include - stroller, crib, breast pump (because I was borrowing I got two so I didn't need to carry one to work), clothes, baby carrier. Bottles and teats I bought but my sister did send a couple of her old bottles with her pump and I used those. Recently my sister in law gave me a play gym that has already gone through five children. The good thing about secondhand stuff - especially if it is given not bought - is that often half this stuff doesn't get used and then it's not such a colossal waste. Things I ended up buying were bathtub and bassinet simply because I couldn't be bothered trying to find secondhand ones and of course disposables like diapers and wipes. All toys were new but gifted... You will get more stuff than you expect as gifts so don't buy too much.
 
Many pediatricians specifically advise against used mattresses due to the risk of SIDS or crib death. Car seats are also on the so-so list as sometime the advances in safety technology over say 5 years might warrant a newer version of then that which someone had a half a decade ago.
 
I got a used high-grade pump with new shields/bottles, etc, basically anything that could come into contact with milk. It's the actual pump part that is expensive. I draw the line at used bottles/teats and pacifiers.

I don't see a problem with a used car seat. Unless it has sustained obvious damage it's likely fine. Better than no car seat, which seems to be the norm here.
 
Great, thanks for all the responses! Will start scouring the classified listings soon :D

FYI- there is a meet up of some moms-to-be this Sunday, June 12th, at 9:15am at Oolala in Central/Sheung Wan if anyone is interested to join!
 
Re breast pumps - they say that you should NOT "share" breastpumps because droplets of the milk can theoretically get into the motor. Since milk can theoretically transmit diseases such as HIV etc that is why it's recommended not to share.

Personally, I did borrow a breastpump when my daughter was born, but it was from someone I knew and so I trusted that it would be ok. I don't think I would borrow/buy one from a stranger though, just because it IS a risk, even though the risk is small.

If you DO want to buy a used breastpump, it is important to buy new parts, INCLUDING the tubing (trust me, I've been exclusively pumping and the tubes on my pump have gotten a LOT of "milk splatter" inside them which is VERY hard to clean).
 
I agree with what most people have posted and would add toys to the list, especially soft or stuffed ones. No matter how much you clean them they'll have mites, saliva and who knows what else on them. Hard plastic toys that you can thoroughly clean eg. fisher price stuff, should be fine. Car seats as you don't know where they've been and whether they're still safe, plus kids sweat in those a lot! Basically anything involving bodily fluids I would avoid...
 
while i personally wouldn't buy used bottles or teats, they are probably fine second hand as you can sterilize them. for what it's worth, everyone shares bottles and teats at matilda in the newborn nursery. they are NOT the disposable kind ... the nurses just sterilize everything in the avent sterilizers.
 
From what I have read, the HIV virus can only live for a very limited time outside the human body and only in a very specific temperature environment. I don't think it could survive in the motor of a milk pump.

In hospitals, I have seen people using a pump after delivery borrowed from the hospital. I have also heard of the option of renting a pump from hospitals (not sure this exists in Hong Kong). If there was this risk, would hospitals do it?



nicolejoy said:
Re breast pumps - they say that you should NOT "share" breastpumps because droplets of the milk can theoretically get into the motor. Since milk can theoretically transmit diseases such as HIV etc that is why it's recommended not to share.

P
Click to expand...
 
Sorry, I retract my comment above... it appears that the FDA says HIV can be transmitted through shared pumps, though there has been no recorded case so far. I'm still unsure how this is possible since it seems to contradict everything else we are told about how HIV can spread, but hey, if the FDA says it must be true!

However, hospital grade pumps are safe for sharing becuase they are a closed system whatever that means.
 
You can read about closed systems here : http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/lv/lvjunjul04p54.html

FDA's statement is here : http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/P.../ConsumerProducts/BreastPumps/ucm061939.htm#4

Knowing that HIV cannot live outside the human body for more than a minute or 2,
knowing that Hepatitis cannot live outside the human body for more than a few days
and chances of buying and using breast pumps in that short of a time is tiny, I think its being alarmist to suggest that purchasing of a used breastpump is a high risk activity.

We borrowed some and bought all we could second hand. If it was good enough for a friends baby, it was good enough for ours.

HC
 
Breast pumps in hospitals are shared by all patients, breast shields there are getting sterilized after each use. Also milk bottles. What's different if you're buying them for home use? As said before, the pump doesn't get into contact with breast, all other parts can be sterilized or exchanged.

Same goes for potty or training toilet seat, they sure can be thoroughly cleaned! We are using a hand-me-down toilet seat at the grandparent's house.

Car seat I agree, you wouldn't know if it had been in an accident or been dropped, so might be unsafe.
 
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