What baby stuff is essential?

lynnescomp

Everyone has different ideas and experiances.

MOSES BASKET I would not buy a moses basket but my baby wouldnt use it, She wasnt a big baby either.
cLOTHES
I found New born clothes 2 big for my 6lb 12 baby and had to put her in mainly tiny baby stuff, she didnt go in to 0-3 until she was 3 months old so each baby is different. As is each store.
My second baby was 8lb 7oz and she was in New born for a couple of weeks too.
TRAVEL SYSTEM we bought the Graco Sterling travel system from toysrus. It lasted me for 5 years for both my babys and it is fantastic. ans still going strong.

BREAST PUMP Found that the electric one was much better, the Hand pump didnt seem to produce much milk. and killed my hands.

Moniters are good for when you are not right next to your baby i wouldnt get one with a camara or pressure pads but if you are putting washing out or something they are good and after you put them in their own room V useful.

Muslin Waste of money.

Baby Bath Waste of money

Top and tailing bowl Waste of money

Loads more but cant think at the moment

ailuro2

I'd consider getting a changing unit - expensive to buy, but ours looked like a cupboard with drawers but was deep and had a rim roun three sides to stop the changing mat moving off. It saved my back...and we used to keep all the babygros,vests,nappies,cotton wool, spare towels, everything really in it for our DD, we used to keep it in the room next to the living room so it was always handy, but had a spare few nappies upstairs in her room if she needed them during the night(was rare for our DD, but they are all different)

nearly 10 years later the changin unit is still in daily use - the door side houses all her books, and the drawer side holds hair accessories and craft stuff.

While you still can, take a look round charity shops - baby clothes never wear out and you'll be amaazedat what you can pick up very cheaply - it is only going to get puked on or wee on, so a good wash and it will be as good as new.

MrsKelly_2

sarah1980 wrote: »

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!!

I personally would advise if your home is big enough to keep the pushchair in the front room to get a carrycot attachment rather than a moses basket, they are essentially the same thing anyway so why buy twice. If your room isn't big enough then the stands for moses baskets (which they sell seperately) can be left in the living room to house the carrycot at home. I put my DD in a cot from day one (at night) so the buggy carrycot was ideal for downstairs, i do have to admit that it rarely got used outside of the house but mainly because it wasn't practical to get a big pushchair carseat and carrycot into a punto!

I never bothered with nappy wrappers/bins and wouldn't buy one when i have another. I also never used baby monitors (although i did buy them). Work out if you need them before you buy them although they are very cheap these days anyway i paid £35 for mine but i have seen lloyds chemist sell some for £10! I just found i didn't need them as i live in a flat and its that small everything can be heard! (We hadn't moved in when i bought the monitors)

I had a vibrating baby bouncer for my DD which she loved and slept in it quite a bit but they can only stay in them until they can sit up unaided so i wouldn't spend a fortune on one.

Also if you don't know the sex of the child as i didn't i would suggest not going over board with the clothes you buy, i bought lots of 'unisex' clothes but once i had actually had my DD i didn't want to put her in the plain beige clothes, i wanted girly clothes so if you don't manage to find out i would just buy enough basics to get you through until you are up and about and ready to go clothes shopping, i ended up taking most of what i had already bought back to shops and changing them!

The one thing i would suggest as a must have is a baby sleeping bag, they are fantastic, theres no way the child can slip underneath them as there are straps on the shoulders and it means they are warm at night cause they can't wriggle out of blankets. Sainsburys used to sell these for around £7-9 so it is worth a look!

Good luck

foreversomeday

We got our baby sleeping bag from TK Maxx and got a good quality brand for about £10. My aunt made us another one which I think is brilliant - so if you are good at sewing why not?

vickimilner

This is a great thread! Some good advice.

I got a copy of that book What to Buy that was in the give away on here (it was only about £6.50 so not that much anyway) and it's got some really good lists of what you need and what you don't so I'm finding that useful but this is too. The lists the shops put out are stupid and seem to recommend loads of things that other people who've already had babies say are a waste.

Problem is everyone I speak to (and on here) has different views on what is usefull and what is not.

Mrskelly - that book says that you don't need a carrycot but you do need a pram that is sold as suitable from newborn and lies flat or almost flat. Also has stuff on bins and numbers of clothes to buy but I haven't read all those bits yet.

foreversomeday

vickimilner wrote: »

Problem is everyone I speak to (and on here) has different views on what is usefull and what is not.

So true - that's why it is difficult to establish a list of true "essentials"! A lot of it really is personal preference - of the parents and the baby. Unfortunately nobody can tell you in advance what your preference will be!