we've tried to be low-gear in our small house!  

We didn't get an infant stroller, just used the sling.  We didn't get a changing table - just a pad on the floor.  We got a $25 high chair from Ikea.  

The "splurges": a mini-co-sleeper (couldn't live without it for the first 3 months), Baby Einstein baby gym (I initially resisted, but she LOVES it), and baby swing (useful for 2 months, but she's over it).  

I sort of regret the baby glider - they are all heinous, but it did help us survive those 11 weeks of evening colic.

Anyone who tells me I NEED a $800 crib, $600 stroller, or $200 high chair is insane.  These are luxuries - good for you if you can afford it, but they don't add anything to our family life.  

I totally agree with kd regarding the changing table: a pad on the floor works just as well and eliminates the danger of baby falling off.  

I bought the big "travel system" before my daughter was born and don't expect to use it much with the next baby: the car seat is too heavy and awkward to carry around.  

I wish I had skipped a crib in favor of a co-sleeper when she was born.  Our apartment was too small at the time to allow for a separate baby's room, and a co-sleeper would have allowed me to get more sleep while taking up less floor space.

For me, the heinously ugly rocking chair was a Godsend, and I still could not live without it, now that my daughter is 4 1/2.  No chair in the house is more comfortable for reading stories and rocking her frequently overtired self until she's relaxed enough to fall asleep.  It's been peed on, thrown up on and the upholstery is in tatters.  But if you have a rocking chair and a sling, you can dispense with all of the battery-operated crap that's supposed to "soothe" your baby.  I have promised myself that next time I'll invest in a new rocker that's comfy AND attractive!    

No high chair. Don't do it!! Instead, buy one of those booster seat things with the snap on tray. We had one and used it withthe tray until she was tall enough to use just the booster. It cost under 30 bucks and we used it for 4 years. High chairs are so big, such a nightmare to ckean, and generally hideous. No baby monitor. No crib but a co-sleeper.

In the end, you have no idea what is going to be useful and what is not.  Our baby boy was colicky for the first 4 months of his life so a swing, sling and baby bjorn were life savers! We did get a glider type chair for the nursery, but it looks more like a nice arm chair and we have used that more than I would have imagined. I suggest trying things out at friends houses before investing if at all possible.  We had no idea how useful the swing was until I put my screaming baby into one and he immediately calmed down.  The next day we had our very own.

And I agree, no one needs an $800 stroller.  That is just ridiculous.

I gotta say, as someone who has to register in the next week or so (and dreading it), thank you for your advice! We live in a small two-bedroom condo and I'm so frustrated and overwhelmed with all the "required" baby gear we're "supposed to" get. I don't want to fill my living space with all this crap and later find out my kid hates the swing or the play gym or the bouncy seat. Luckily a few relatives are willing to lend me some stuff, and that will be a big help. ah!

We loved our swing, rather, the baby did. We also have a booster seat type high chair. Takes up so much less space!

I'm glad we got our bouncy seat as a hand me down. Baby girl liked it for a bit, now it just takes up room.

I can't agree more with the advice to borrow and take hand me downs. Use Freecycle and Craigslist if you don't have lots of friends and family eager to unload their baby stuff. We were very lucky that we have a lot of family and friends with kiddos who had just grown out of baby stuff, so we got most of our gear second hand.

Just wondering, does anyone actually use a wipe warmer? That seems totally ridiculous to me!

I think the key to not buying too much stuff is to evaluate your lifestyle and needs and to not buy everything before the baby is born or has reached the appropriate developmental stage. Babies' personalities and abilities differ and if you wait to get big items like the stroller, high chair, etc. You will spend less money. Start with a carseat and a good baby carrier and some simple clothes and buy as you get to know your baby and what you both like.

Life savers: Beco and Ergo Baby Carriers (No, you don't need both, but I was ordering from overseas and hadn't seen them in person. still, I'm glad I got both)

Money wasters: crib. It has followed us from Cairo to Pennsylvania and just arrived here in Seoul two weeks ago. It has been assembled for the second time ever (my son is 19 months old) and I don't see him using it. It converts to a toddler bed and then a full bed (with an extra conversion kit), but I think my son will just transition to a regular bed when he is ready.

Stroller: I only used it a few times until we got to Seoul and my son was 17 months old. A baby carrier is much more convenient until at least a year (and beyond for me). Seoul has a lot of hills so I have ordered a different stroller, again, if I hadn't purchased the stroller before my son was born, I could have saved myself a lot of money.

Baby Monitor: I never used it. Not once.

I didn't buy a glider, changing table, wipes warmer (or similar gadgets), bouncer and I didn't miss any of it.

I loved my glider rocker and I love my changing table.  My back thanks me every time I don't have to get down on the floor.  My mom watches my kids one day a week while I work and it's easier for her too to change the baby on the changing table instead of wrestling her on the floor.  Plus the kids room has NO closet, so we needed it for storage space.  And my travel system was a must because we're city residents, we walk everywhere and I quite often do a week's worth of grocery shopping and then walk home.  I needed something with storage space.

Honestly, my H's family is so huge, we actually paid for very little.

If you're going to invest in something, I say go for a really good breast pump, it makes all the difference.

And don't forget how so many products are basically the same thing in different packaging.  You don't need a walker AND an exersaucer and you don't need a Bjorn AND a backpack AND a sling.

Thanks for linking to the Green Baby Guide!  I love reading everyone's lists of "must haves" and "never neededs."  It does prove that everyone--and ever baby--is going to have different tastes.  Some of the things people listed here were things I did get, such as a high chair and dresser/changing table.  The high chair was a wooden one without a tray from Ikea (sort of like a restaurant high chair).  I like that it's small and fits in with the other furniture, unlike the plastic monstrosities I've seen for sale.  My daughter is over two and still sits in her high chair at the table.

Our dresser/changing table were also from Ikea, and although we use it every day, I'd say it was a waste of money just because the quality is very poor.  After two years, it's literally fallen apart a couple times.  We have to get out the tools and fix it!  I wish I'd tried harder to find a good used one or shelled out a bit more cash for a better-quality new one!

For us the crib (strange to see it listed here as a "never needed"), glider and changing table/dresser were "must haves" for us.

The high chair was the biggest waste for us. We ended up buying one of those Fischer Price boosters with the snap-on tray because our son hated the high chair.

Ditch the fancy baby bath tubs.  We somehow ended up with three and the kid hates them all.  Newborns can be bathed with a washcloth and in the sink.  When they're a tad older, they can go in the tub with a parent.  

I would agree with the other poster that the only thing that was a must have was the high quality breast pump. The other "essentials" that we used all the time were cheap washcloths I distributed throughout the house and washed weekly. The best swaddling blankets were the rough cotton ones from Cedar Sinai and the hat they sent her home in. The rest is just nonsense.

I didn't think we needed the baby monitor.  But we ended up using it all the time.  We took it outside with us so we could have a drink with the neighbors on the porch.  When I think back on it, the damn thing saved my sanity.

The thing I feel stupidest for registering for?  Crib bumpers.  I stripped those things off as soon as I read they were dangerous.  They're still sitting neatly folded on a shelf at my mother's place.

I disagree on the baby bathtub.  Our bathtub is one of those really deep Jacuzzi tubs and it takes a ton of water to fill it even an inch deep.  The infant to toddler tub I had was big enough to accomodate my son until he was 2 1/2 and we recycled all his bath water.  It was a HUGE money saver.

crib was such a waste of money... even though my kids love their highchairs

so wish we could have done without. things i loved, bobby, oeuf bouncer,sling

and my phil and ted's stroller. yes it was spendy but it converts from one seat

to two. with children 4 years apart and the 4 year old still wanting to ride sometime, it was a life saver for my poor back. it's the number 1 thing i'd recommend to parents of 2, or first time parents who know they want another.

BEST thing i ever purchased.

I have a ten day old son, my third boy.  I've found with each successive kid, I've needed less and less.

For this guy, all we have needed so far:

 Boppy (actually the first time I've had one--I got so tired of arranging pillows around me when nursing like I did with the other two)

 The sling--I actually made it myself, piece of cake, so handy for when I walk to pick up the oldest at school, esp. since baby doesn't like the stroller so much.

 Cloth diapers, the all-in-one kind.  It's wonderful knowing I won't ever have to run out in the Portland rain, dragging three kids with me, because I used my last disposable diaper.

Things I realized I didn't need:

 The crib.  Although I did buy a sidecar co-sleeper, just in case, I don't anticipate us really using it on a regular basis.

 Baby monitor--I am so glad no one bought me one this time around.  We live in an apartment the size of a shoe box.  There is no where I wouldn't be able to hear the kid.

 Changing table--we just throw a towel on our bed and change the kid there.  No back-breaking on the floor changing (plus with two other monsters running around it wouldn't really be feasible).  Of course, I have to make my bed every day now...

One thing that's obvious from the comments is that different families found different things useful. There is no point in  saying that everything you didn't happen to find useful is "nonsense."  We didn't find baby slings/carriers practical, because we have twins. I was always alone with them, so whenever we went out, they sat in a double stroller. If I had only had one baby, I'm sure I would have used a sling. We also love our changing table (hand-me-down). The drawers contain everything we need, and we prefer standing while changing them. We don't use it all the time now, but it's still good for storage. I don't have a car during the week, so a good double stroller has been a lifesaver. We rented a hospital grade breast pump, which was great in the beginning.

I wish we had skipped the cribs, because they never really slept in them.

I have twins which were formula fed and we never ever coslept. My cribs, glider, baby bottle warmer and double jogging stroller were absolute necessities. I didn't need the baby monitor, weird plastic baby tub and I found the Baby Bjorn useless.

To each her (or his) own.

maybe this is a dumb question, but where do all these non-crib babies sleep?  with parents, in a co-sleeper (which is a lot like a crib, only it won't last as long), in a dresser drawer...?  we have a v. small apartment and just received a crib as a gift, but maybe i should exchange it for a ton of diapers or something.