The Grossest Baby Products That Are Totally Worth the Ick

With their immature digestive systems, babies can get pretty gassy—and sometimes that gas gets trapped. This little tube helps relieve gas instantly…in exactly the way you think it would. You insert it into your baby’s bottom (gently, and ideally with a small amount of lubricant to prevent discomfort or injury), and it creates a channel for the gas to pass freely.

It’s a strange tool, for sure, but it’s effective, especially if your baby is also constipated at the same time. “The Windi did what no pear juice or applesauce could—a true soldier of the ick!" said Latifah M., a mom of two. If you’re squeamish about putting anything in or around your baby’s rear end (as is necessary with several items on this list), just think of how much better your fussy, gassy baby will feel afterward.

Another Frida product? You might call this baby brand experts in “gross,” and few baby products inspire as much disgust and weird satisfaction as the NoseFrida. This unique take on a nasal aspirator has you suck the snot out of your baby’s nose, using a tube that you suck with your own mouth. But before you gag too hard, keep in mind that there’s a filter between your mouth and baby’s nose, so there’s no chance of actually getting snot in your mouth. 

As polarizing as the NoseFrida might be, it’s still one of the most registered-for baby items thanks to how useful it is. One parent, who wrote into our annual baby products survey, nailed the sentiment: “Kinda gross concept, but the most needed thing to help baby get the snot out.”

Still hesitant? So were other parents—some of them relied on another adult to test it out first. “I definitely made my husband do it the first few times because it was just too gross for me,” said Brooke V. It may take a handful of attempts to get past your gag reflex, but at least your baby will be able to breathe clearly again.

If the SnotSucker is too gross for you, there are other options, especially for snot and boogers that have dried. If stuff is tough to get out, it may be time to pick your baby’s nose. Seriously. And since your fingers are probably way too big, several parents called this tiny tool “a life saver.” 

Even better news: It works for more than just boogers. If your baby has waxy ears, dirty nails or toe jam, it can fit there, too. With two different ends, you can either loop the sticky stuff or scoop the dried stuff. Both ends are made of soft, gentle rubber with a flared-base design, so you don’t have to worry about sticking it in too far and causing injury. And in the end, you’ve got a baby with clean nooks and crannies, a process that one parent calls “satisfying and necessary for those teeny tiny noses and ears, but so gross.”

While hopefully it’s a while before your baby gets their first illness, if you need to take their temperature, doctors say a rectal thermometer is the most accurate way to go, especially in the earliest months. But just like with the Windi, the thought of sticking something in your baby’s butt can be unnerving, to say the least. One parent said she “just couldn’t deal” with a rectal thermometer’s ick factor, while other parents said it was just what they needed when their baby got sick. 

It may be weird and kinda gross (it’s not uncommon for your baby to poop a little bit after you take the thermometer out—just as a heads up), but it can offer peace of mind about your baby’s health.

More butt stuff? You bet. Diaper rash is extremely common in babies, which necessitates the use of diaper cream. And sure, you could use your fingers—but why would you, when butt spatulas exist? Diaper cream itself is honestly a little gross, especially when it won’t get off your hands or out from under your fingernails, and these applicators make it just a little bit better.

With parents calling it “hilarious” and “cute,” maybe diaper cream applicators aren’t as gross as other things on this list, and they’re totally worth it, even if you’re still in the “ugh” phase. And like one parent said, it’s easier than needing “to wipe your finger in their butt.”

If you’ve noticed patches on your baby’s scalp that are yellowish, crusty, flaky, scaly and/or oily (how many gross adjectives can we possibly give?), that’s cradle cap. It’s painless and harmless for your baby, but it can be tough to look at, and treating it can ruin your appetite. A special cradle cap brush and comb system like this one can help a ton with loosening and removing flakes, which plenty of parents said they find satisfying, “especially when it would scrape away a good chunk,” said Alyssa L., a mom of three. Don’t be surprised if you’re both a little grossed out and oddly proud of yourself.

Diapers are perpetually a gross topic, so the thought of a bunch of them smushed together into a diaper sausage? Horrifying. But lots of parents swear by a good diaper pail over a regular trash can. One parent said in our survey that they “didn’t see the need for a fancy trash can, but quickly learned how much of a life saver it is.”

While it’s true that opening the lid of a diaper pail can send a wave of putrid diaper stink right into your face, they do keep the smell out of the general area when closed. And a pail like the Ubbi will lock in odors even better with its steel frame and rubber seals. You can even use it with standard trash bags, which most diaper pails don’t allow for. Just plug your nose when you go to change the bag, and you won’t smell it the rest of the time.

Again, what isn’t gross about diapers? If you’re opting for cloth diapers, then be prepared for the cleaning process to be particularly messy, especially when dealing with solids (or, in many cases, very-much-not-solids). You’ll need to rinse off any poop before tossing cloth diapers in the wash, which makes sprayers like this one convenient and “indispensable,” as one parent told us in our survey.

The sprayer hooks onto your toilet so you can wash the mess directly into the bowl and then flush it away, but note that some sprayers, like this one, come with a “shield”—for the exact reason you’d think. Spraying off a dirty diaper can get a little…splatter-y, making this potentially the grossest product on this list. But even so, it’s better than trying to scrub poop out of a cloth diaper with your bare hand.