What baby stuff is essential?

sarah1980

DH and I are expecting our first bundle of joy in the new year. :j We have just started looking at stuff to buy (pram, cot etc.) and quite frankly the selection is overwhelming!

Everywhere I look the major shops (John Lewis, Mamas & Papas etc.) offer lists of what you will need and I am obviously aware that they are trying to encourage you to spend as much as possible with them.

As much as I would love to go mad with baby-stuff buying, sadly I don't have a money tree and so am trying to get an idea of what is useful and not.

Does anyone have any tips on what they thought they needed but never used and vice versa?

For example, do you really need a buggy with a carrycot attachment or can you just lie baby in the normal seat that comes with the buggy?

Nappy wrappers/bins?

Number of blankets/babygros? (bearing in mind it will be cold when bubba comes along)

Any advice would be very gratefully received!!

WifeofDJFLP

Hi

congratulations firstly and well done for questioning whether you will actually need any of the millions of items that people/shops/magazines will have you believe you do!

For my 1st baby, I thought I needed everything but having had my 3rd just over 3 years ago I can confirm the only essentials are-

Boobs- 2 is good but 1 can do the job just fine
nappies- lots
babygros- 10
vests- 10
muslins- 10
4 blankets
carseat- if you have a car
buggy or sling depending on what you think you'll prefer
support from those around you
a can-do attitude

and thats it really.

There are lots of things you can buy that may or may not make things easier- baby monitor, vibrating bouncy chair, baby bath etc but they're not really necessary.

Lots of baby equpment can be bought second hand really cheaply- and often in very good condition- probably because the purchaser decided they were a waste of money.:rotfl:

Of course, as with all things baby related there are as many opinions as there are babies and someone will be along shortly to tell you that they couldn't have managed without there magic blanket/ swinging crib/ baby bath etc.

My advice would be to buy the minimum and then if you feel, when the baby is here that there's more you want then go out and get it.

HTH

WifeofDJFLP
xxx

Js_Other_Half

Have a good read of this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=948169&highlight=baby+essentials

Js_Other_Half

and this :
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=918091

hth

Amanda65

Muslin squares!

All three of mine had them. They're great for mopping up sick, putting over your shoulder when winding baby (or just carrying around) and all of mine slept with their 'mussie' instead of getting attached to a single blanket or toy. So many friends' children had a special toy, blanket etc. that could never be prised away to be washed or, heaven forbid, was lost :eek: A selection of mussie's meant there was always one to hand .

As far as equipment goes, I had a swinging crib for when they were tiny to sleep in and a cot for bigger babies. We had a Silver Cross pram/pushchair combination that did all three. It had a carrycot top, which they slept in during the day and could be carried upstairs in at night if necessary then a pushchair that could be forward or back facing - I guess this is the updated version
http://www.silvercross.co.uk/sleepover_deluxe_classic_chassis.php

It lasted all three of my children and I then sold it to my friend's neighbour who used it for her baby!

HTH and good luck

Amanda

foreversomeday

The real essentials vary according to your preference, but it comes down to this really:

Somewhere for baby to sleep. At the most basic level, you can have the baby in your own bed, at least to start off with. Most people go for a crib or moses basket, and transfer to a full sized cot (or a cotbed is better value if you want to put off buying an adult sized single bed for as long as possible) when the baby is 2-3 months old. I don't see the point of moses baskets but you can usually get one from freecycle or borrow one from a friend, and newborns do look tiny in full sized cots! Bedding comes under this essential category. Remember babies sleep in the daytime too - a moses basket or carrycot is useful for daytime sleeps if you are downstairs.

Some way of taking your baby out and about. Most people go for a pram or travel system. You do need an infant car seat if you ever take the baby in a car, even a taxi or a friend's car - it's the law. You can get car seats which clip out of the car and onto a pram or pushchair to make a travel system, which makes life easier, especially in the winter. Personally we just got a car seat which straps in using the seatbelt and doesn't attach to anything. They recommend you don't leave babies in car seats for longer than half an hour anyway. A pram or pushchair needs to lie flat, or you will need a carrycot attachment, and most people prefer to have one which faces towards the adult pushing it. When the baby can sit up (about 6 months) you will probably want to ditch a larger pram or travel system in favour of a smaller and more portable model - bear this in mind when you set your budget! You can also carry babies in a sling or other type of carrier from birth. There are loads to choose from so I'll direct you to https://www.thebabywearer.com which has reviews of different types. For a pram/pushchair/travel system you will need a raincover, unless you live in Spain!

Something for baby to eat. I put this in because if you want to breastfeed you might need a pump - but there is no need to buy one until you want to use it (although they can help a lot with engorgement in the first few days) - the same goes for bottles and sterilising equipment. If you want to formula feed, you will obviously need milk, bottles and a steriliser from day one. Muslin squares are incredibly useful whichever way you decide to feed your baby. Buy as many as you can! A c-shaped pillow is also useful for helping baby get positioned while breastfeeding, and you can prop them up on it too before they can sit.

Seasonal baby purchases. You said you are having a winter baby - so this includes things like a snowsuit (although might be best to buy very late in pregnancy and keep the reciept and the tags on in case you need to get a different size.) and enough blankets, and/or a baby sleeping bag. For summer babies sensible things to buy include sunshades for the car, sunhats and baby sun block.

Nappies. Don't buy too many of the smaller sized nappies - you don't know how long your baby will be in them. If you want to use washable nappies, you will need a bucket or 2 as well. Don't bother with a nappy wrapper - you have to buy the cartridges for them which isn't very moneysaving. They don't save that much time! If you really want to buy one, you get a voucher in your Bounty Pack to get one for free anyway. A changing bag can be any bag big enough to carry spare nappies, bottles if relevant, wipes and/or cotton wool and a little pot of water, nappy rash cream possibly, muslins or tissues, a change of clothes for baby and plastic bags to put dirty muslins and/or clothes in.

Essentials for Mum. Don't forget these - you will need maternity pads, large cheap or disposable knickers (Tescos and Asda do cheap white knickers which are more comfy than paper ones) possibly breast pads - buy a few to start with and get more if you need them.

You don't need a baby bath - you can wash them in the sink, it's the perfect height and it has a plughole so no need to lug the baby bath around to empty and fill it. Watch out for hot metal of taps though - kitchen sinks are better because you can generally move the tap. Top and tailing can be done out of any two bowls, or even yoghurt pots.

Toys and clothes are the things you get bought a lot of and that you often can't resist. Try to resist until you have the baby (I have not followed this advice at all! :rotfl:) - clothes wise it's hard to know what size to buy (and OH can always be sent to Tesco/Mothercare for a pack of sleepsuits in the correct size when baby is born, until you can go shopping for some really cute outfits.) - if you must buy more than the minimum, buy 3-6 months and bigger. (Remembering to account for season changes!) A lot of people will get you age 0-3 months things and newborn size/early baby size can often be grown out of far too soon. Don't be afraid of charity shops, jumble sales, NCT sales, and ebay clothes, especially in the smaller sizes.

A baby bouncer, swing or rocker can be useful, but your baby might hate them, so if you really want to be moneysaving, take your baby to friends' houses who have babies and see which they like before splashing out.

There is a simple rule - could I survive the first few days without this item? If the answer is yes, it's not an absolute essential and you can wait until after the baby is born to buy it. This is probably the most moneysaving way to do it but it's not much fun shopping wise!!

Newtonlot

I think a pram/buggy with a cot attachment is fab as the baby gets to sleep and you don't have to lift them out. I think the guidelines say that a baby should lie down in a pram if they are under 6months so a lot of the buggys/prams are unsuitable unless they are specifically for newborns.

I second having a sling. I didn't get one till my second child but it really helped. Even just in the house, it meant I could get things done and still have her close to me. Plus dd1 refused to go in the double buggy, so dd2 went in the buggy, then when dd1 was too tired to walk she went in the buggy and dd2 in the sling.

Our moses basket didn't get much use either times. We had big babies and they seemed to be uncomfortable in the moses basket and only lasted a week or 2.

Muslin towels/blankets are a god send for wipping up the mess (sick and stuff) and always handy to have. We used them when feeding and when winding.

There is probably loads of things that we bought that we didn't use but having babies shrinks your brain and I can't remember any of them. Sorry.

r.mac_2

congratulations! We are also expecting our first in the new year.

After having the whole world and their wives tell us their 'must buys' we have decided to buy the absolute minimum and then buy as and when we need once bump gets here. My mum keeps reminding us that we will be inundated with presents - she has already knitted 6 baby jackets, all with matching hats and booties as well as a gorgeous shawl!

So we are just going to purchase the 'essentials'

one 'nice' babygrow
a few plain white sleep suits
a few plain white vests
bibs/muslins
nappies - disposable for first few weeks (lots of vouchers out there for free/money off) then 'real' for after that
pram (mum and dad buying us this)
moses basket and bedding
changing mat
car seat

we are then going to wait and see

Paparika

Don't fall into the trap of the must have this season's buggy, review them and decide whats better for your needs.

Sleep suits are brilliant for the first few months, people will buy you baby clothes when the baby is born

sarah1980

Thanks for all your responses, I am very reluctant about buying clothes/nappies now as I very much doubt the newborn stuff will fit. Obviously I am clueless about babies, but I was 6 weeks premature and over 7lbs, my two brothers were over 9lbs each and we are all now very tall (I am 5'11"). So if that's anything to go by then baby will probably start off in 0-3 months clothing.

Muslin squares weren't even on my list! Nor were baby wipes as I always cleaned up tiny bottoms (of neices and nephews!) with cotton wool soaked in water. Thought baby wipes could be irritating to skin??

foreversomeday

sarah1980 wrote: »

Muslin squares weren't even on my list! Nor were baby wipes as I always cleaned up tiny bottoms (of neices and nephews!) with cotton wool soaked in water. Thought baby wipes could be irritating to skin??

They can be - it's now not recommended to use baby wipes for tinies, but they are useful for wiping sticky mouths/hands etc of toddlers/older babies - we were told at antenatal to only use the sensitive wipes that huggies and pampers do etc - but never to use johnson's wipes as they are the worst.

Sometimes you just get the kind of poo that cotton wool and water won't shift, apparently I've not had the baby yet so have all that to come I am sure! :rotfl:

I think the wipes vs cotton wool+water comes down to personal preference. To be even more moneysaving you could use a flannel, dishcloth or terry square with the water and keep in a plastic bag whilst out and then wash!