New baby essentials for a chas-strapped and confused couple (CALLING ALL PARENTS!)

wontfallforit

EDIT - Sorry about the mis-spelling of "cash" in the header :-D

Here's the scenario:

A young couple dear to my heart are expecting a baby next year.

They will obviously need a lot of baby essentials, but quite frankly, they're a bit clueless

Additionally, they're on a budget, and they will also have very limited space in their home (affecting the amount and physical size of the items they can acquire).

I intend to help out a great deal financially, contributing up to around £700 to help them on their way.

Mums and dads out there, what did you buy as essential baby items, and where did you get them?

This is a serious question, and when it comes to baby-related necessities, I'm also quite clueless as to exactly what will be needed.

Any ideas on how to spend my £700? Feel free to blow my budget, it's reasonably flexible, I'm looking for ideas (preferably in order of priority) rather than anything else.

So far my list is as follows:

- A pram (needn't be expensive, but needs to be durable, and preferably compactly stored)
- One of those, ummm, basket things that newborns sleep in before a real cot
- A cot and a couple of bedding sets (basic/cheap is fine, as long as it's safe and does the trick)
- A carseat (best brand? Best value for money? Most suitable for a newborn?)


Some additional luxuries, if I have any money leftover:

- Baby clothes for the first 3 months (how many babygro's, etc., will last that time?)
- Bottles, sterilising equipment, etc. (again, something I'm totally clueless about, I don't even know how often babies need to be fed! This baby will likely be bottle-fed, rather than breastfed)
- Food (i.e. formula milk) for the first month. How many tins? What's the best brand? What's suitable for a newborn? Obviously mum and dad will need to make their own informed choice on food, but some ideas would be great.
- Nappies for the first month (how many packs needed? Is there that much difference between the 'expensive' brand and the supermarket brands?)
- Toys (seriously, what staple toys/stimuli did you buy for your newborns?)
- A "baby bag", i.e. one of those bags that new parents carry anything and everything in, for trips and errands with baby in tow.

As you can probably gather, myself and babies don't mix...Feel free to throw in any suggestions for a newborn starter kit, even if they seem obvious to yourselves.

Baby will be born in the springtime, if that makes any difference as to your suggestions. The sex is as of yet unknown.

Again, don't pay too much attention to the budget, as several other people are also looking to make a contribution.

WE WILL BE LOOKING TO BUY ALL ITEMS NEW, AS OPPOSED TO SECOND-HAND. I love a good bargain, but I'm not very inclined towards giving used items as gifts

Thanks

esio_trot

I found this thread quite informative (note: don't have any kids of my own yet but it's helping me to form my list)

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Hiya!

My essentials were:

Pram (with car seat) - i did buy this new, in sale was around £200
Moses Basket (car boot)
Changing mat (car boot)
Nappies (reuseable - mother care do everything - pins etc)
Bath and top n tailer (car boot)
Sponge (wilkos!)
Cotton wool (wilkos!)
Olive oil (for cradle cap!) (tesco!)
Clothes (car boot, charity shops, tesco, asda and hand me downs!)
Baby monitor (llyods pharmacy got them on offer)
Play mat (car boot)


Depending on when they are having the baby, see if you can try a car boot / market?

Generally a baby doesnt need much, My DD was in her mosesbasket for a number of months and we got a cot form a car boot.

kindofagilr

Kiddiecare is a good site for prams, I am getting a travel system from there (pram, pushchair and car seat) and there are loads under £200 some under £100 and that will last baby till 3ish (a new car seat will be needed eventually once baby reaches a certain weight)

Wait for ASDA baby event for nappies, bottles, dummies etc thats what I did.

I am getting my moses basket from http://www.juniorjungle.com/epages/62036580.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/62036580/Categories/Sleeping/MosesBasketBundles here and its £65 for basket and stand and 2 fitted sheets, 2 flat sheets and 2 balnkets (which is good)

Cot and nursery furniture I am getting from Ikea, the cot is £75 or soemthing, basically the wardrobe (adult size) cotbed, matress and set of drawers with changer on the top comes to £350 which I think is fab for a full nursery of furniutre

And I would say ebay for clothes bundles, I bought a load for about £15 altogether, my babybean has enough clothes to last him till he is at least 3 months

Again I would say ebay for a boucner, swing, activity gym, or try freecylce

msb5262

Hello OP,

You sound like a real star, especially as you're trying to make your money work as hard as possible...
A few things come to mind having read your request.

Toys/stimuli - my children have all had zig-zig books, either fabric or board, featuring black and white patterns and pictures. These can be shown to even a tiny baby when it is awake and alert, or propped up for the baby to see when it's having a nappy change.
Mobiles are lovely, even the cheapest or homemade ones; you don't have to go for the musical ones as they are expensive, can go wrong and most importantly need adult input to work fully.
How about a tape or CD player which will be useful for the parents to use for calming music/whale sounds/nursery rhymes while the baby is small, then when he/she is a toddler for the child to use? Obviously a couple of tapes or CDs would be good to go with this.
As far as you can, don't buy more that one or two toys as everyone will want to do this and actually cuddly toys in particular are a very limited plaything. New babies don't want toys, they mainly want people.

A very small but very useful thing - muslin squares. Buy about 12-15 of a good quality and they will make life a lot easier in many ways:
- put under the baby's chin/mouth when feeding
- mop up when milk comes back unexpectedly
- place under the baby's head when putting in crib/pram (fold in half to make rectangle, then lay flat where a pillow would be and tuck the ends under the mattress) - this enables parents to wash just the muslin if a little dribbling takes place, rather than washing the sheet every time
- use as emergency bib or facecloth; they're extremely soft, especially after they've been washed a few times
- put on your shoulder before you hold the baby against you, just in case!
- put in car seat before putting the baby in - if the baby throws up, it's much quicker to change the muslin & wash that than to get the cover off the car seat, wash it and dry it.
- something that often gives the baby comfort and a feeling of familiarity, yet is easily washed/replaced/carried about.

Don't know much about sterilising stuff etc as mine were breastfed but you might want to get a steam steriliser rather than a microwave one - microwaves are often a bit temperamental and if the parents are a bit clueless, having a steriliser which works independently of other factors could be good.

I wouldn't buy a large amount of any type of formula in case it turns out not to suit the baby - I know several people who have had to find the right one for their baby, sometimes changing two or three times in the process.

As far as possible, NO PRODUCTS should be used in the baby's bath, on its skins etc - even the ones they'll be given free at the hospital aren't necessary. Apparently the widespread use of baby products is causing more and more children to have skin problems such as eczema; I was told this by a consultant dermatologist. Babies should be washed with water and a very little soap where necessary; bottoms should be cleaned with olive oil. Not always practical but this would be the gold standard for baby skin care.

How about a baby-listener? The most basic ones are fine.
Also a room thermometer and a bath thermometer just to make sure that nothing is too hot or too cold.

Clothes - I'd just be getting babygrows, envelope neck vests which button under the baby's nappy and cardies. Get more than the minimum; depending how the clothes are going to be washed/dried, count on the baby needing 4 vests and babygrows per day and work from there. Little socks can be useful (can also be used as mitts if the baby likes to scratch its face), and a hat or two is vital. A snowsuit would be handy too.


Hope that helps. Best of luck with your shopping!
MsB

wontfallforit

Thanks for your suggestions so far guys, very helpful...

Like I said, I'm looking to buy most stuff new, at least initially...but will definitely be checking out eBay/car boot/freecycle, etc. for those little extras as baby grows up

By the time baby is 1-year old, my salary should have increased dramatically, so I'm looking forward to spoiling him/her

I'm getting broody myself now!!

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

oooooooooooo i have just had a thought - What about the mamas and papas warehouse? They sell things at a fraction of the shop price! might be able to get some great deals?

Also - dont rule out ikea, they do kiddie cots etc

kindofagilr

thats good lol

The one thing I would say is dont go mental with clothes, they are expensive and they really arent in them long xxx

wontfallforit

kindofagilr wrote: »

thats good lol

The one thing I would say is dont go mental with clothes, they are expensive and they really arent in them long xxx

Dad-to-Be is my brother, and we were both raised in cheap clothes as kids, for this very reason

Thanks x

got-it-spend-it

The supermarkets are fab for baby clothes- Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys all do lovely stuff and at really good prices. In particular they are great for packs of vests and sleepsuits.

Matalan are good for bedding- a few sheets and some cellular blankets, plus a couple of fleecey blankets for the pram will probably suffice.

I second (third?) the Ikea suggestion. We have one nearby, and have been lucky enough to pick up some bits from their 'Bargain Corner' which is basically ex display stuff sold as seen. We also picked up a changing table on eBay that was local to us, matched the range we had and cost about a fiver. It's second hand but immaculate.

wontfallforit

mommyme wrote: »

oooooooooooo i have just had a thought - What about the mamas and papas warehouse? They sell things at a fraction of the shop price! might be able to get some great deals?

Also - dont rule out ikea, they do kiddie cots etc

Ooh, I didn't even think of warehouses and stuff - good idea...I'm going to have to restrain myself in case I totally take over the whole 'project'

Also, I didn't even think of IKEA, even though I always shop there. I guess I haven't been paying attention to their baby section