What is essential to buy for a newborn

Ravenlady_2

mum2one wrote: »

My best investment was from poundshop a travel changing mat, I had the unit in the bedroom, and this fold up mat for downstairs.

Car boots - if your buying baby clothes etc always try and get the make to sell them to you, (not being sexist), but us woman tend to get attached to items, and we know the original cost, whereas a man will see it as set of baby grows, babys grown out of them I'll take £1, but for the lady, there from x,y,z, we paid £xx, excellent condition, I'd really want £5 for them....

Your be surprised at how much people give you.

I had intented to breast feed for at least first 6 weeks, but unfortunately I was bone dry.... our best steraliser was from Ethel Austin, - microwave sterlaizer, but you could also use it as a standard cold water unit. If you have power sut, your stuck with electric steamer. xx

So true, my OH will sell things for pennies.

sharonfrancis

agree with comment about bepanthan bein better than sudocream
Not sure if anyone has mentioned but you will need something to put baby in when she / he leaves hospital - warm all in one type thing. I know hat has been mentioned.

Exciting times! V v V Broody !

MarilynMonroe_2

I found sudocrem much better than bepanthen. The bepanthen used to just rub right off her skin and never helped with nappy rash.
I also tried Johnsons naturals bum cream and that was rubbish too.

onlyroz

There's hardly anything you need to buy in advance - most stuff can wait until after bubs is born and you decide that you actually need it. The essentials are:

Cot/cot-bed plus mattress and fitted sheets
A few packs of sleepsuits
Baby sleeping bags (better than blankets because baby can't kick them off)
A pack or two of nappies (don't get too many because you don't know what size baby will need)
A roll of cotton-wool
Car seat (if you have a car)
Buggy that can lie flat (which one you get depends on the size of your car boot, whether you want to take it on public transport, and whether you intend on taking it off-road)

If you're certain you're going to bottle feed, the cheapest way to sterilise is with a large plastic bowl and some sterilising tablets/fluid. Fancy electric sterilisers can wait a while until you decide you need one or not.

Poppy9

peachyprice wrote: »

Cotton wool for cleaning bums, honestly warm water and cotton wool does not remove sticky baby poo, it's far easier to go with the gentlest baby wipes or make your own (recipe on the net somewhere)HTH

I have to disagree here. I used warm water and cotton wool for 2 years and never had a problem.

The gentlest, hypoallegenic wipes would cause DD to scream out in pain and her skin turn bright red and hot even just using ocassionally if I was caught out when she needed a nappy change and had no access to water.

If these had been around 16 years ago I would have been very tempted to use these though or make my own version of as they create less waste.

MarilynMonroe_2

I used a tomy tippee one bottle steriliser that you just put in the microwave, it wasnt dear and youre not using tablets either.

mr_knight

I was bought this book as a gift: http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Time-Parent-honest-brilliantly-staying/dp/0007269447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318661532&sr=8-1

I have loads of others that hubby saw in a second hand shop but the one above is excellent. Gives tyou alist of what you need/don't need and is really helpful.

Oh and I hope to b/f but I bought a few bottles incase I can't and they are self sterilising. MAM are the brand, bought them in a mothercare glitch

Armchair23

I know it seems obvious, but whether new or second hand make sure the buggy/pram will fit in your car boot. Have just been watching a neighbour discover hers doesn't !

Not ideal for a newboen but the Maclaren strollers are light compact and can be folded with one hand, Brilliant

lovecrafting

no matter how many people you ask there essential list will be different.
heres mine.

cot/ second hand is fine but you need a new matress
carseat/ never ever buy second hand no matter how much reasurance you get you cant guarantee it hasnt been in an accident.
pram/ mine came with a carseat attachment and i never used it, for this baby i will be using one with a proper carrycot
moses basket/ i usually put this inside the cot until baby is big enough to need it
bouncer or some form of chair/ for downstairs during the day, when hovering or washing up, you need something for baby to go in (i also use this most of the time because dont like to have latchy kids that are joined at the hip)
nappies.wipes.cream etc
babygro's/ i use these until baby is about three months, there asleep most of the time and they are comfy
cardigans/hats/socks etc/ i have small babies and all of my kids are march/april so its still cold enough to need them
blankets/bedding etc/ lots of them, never underestimate the power of babysick
erm i cant think of anything else at the moment but basicly a newborn needs something to wear,somewere to sleep,something to eat

seafarers_wife

my essential list for my baby due in december is below. ive had my mum and SIL go through it with a fine tooth comb and weed out the stuff thats not needed, but for me and my lifestyle this what they agreed i would need.

very lightweight pram - silver cross surf - not gone for the carrycot addition as dont need it
car seat with isofix base that also clips onto above pram
moses basket and stand
baby bath
changing table (used for baby bath as well so as not to bend)
2 changing mats (one for upstairs and one for downstairs)
approx 15 babygrows and 15 vests
4/5 cardigans
lots of blankets and bedding
breast pump
bottles
steriliser
couple cartons formula milk in case cant breast feed
baby bouncer
play mat
cot bed
baby moniter
chest of drawers/wardrobe

plus the usual things like nappies/wipes/cotton wool/toiletries etc