Newborn essentials

SmileyHappyBeing

The only thing i'd say about using a towel instead of a a changing mat (portable one for when out and about i mean) is if you are in town or at a friends house etc a towel isnt very practical if they poo on it, or even wee, youll be stuck carrying it round when its dirty and if you need to use it again then youre stuck for something clean to use, the little fold away ones are really cheap and wipe clean and take up no room.. Good luck with the baby!

joannasmum

Hi

If your babies going to be born in March you will need vests and cardies as well as a good supply of sleepsuits. Depending on the weather you may need something like a little coat to keep the LO warm when your leaving hospital. Post a wanted on your local freecycle for a pushchair or pram if its not suitable for you long term you havent lost anything. When you get your nappies make sure you purchase good quality wraps I wouldnt use anything but Motherease.

Good luck with everything

jayarr_2

comment earlier on using a dishwasher instead of a steriliser, i don't think thats correct, the temperature, isnt high enough to sterilise..check this out before you do it

pingua

They say dishwashers are fine but I always find bits of gunk in the teats so probably not really the best for newborn.

I had an April baby and needed a snowsuit!!

The free boots bags have a fold up wipe clean mat.

purplepatch

jayarr wrote:

comment earlier on using a dishwasher instead of a steriliser, i don't think thats correct, the temperature, isnt high enough to sterilise..check this out before you do it

If you do a bit of googling on the subject of sterilising, there is a school of thought that says that in this era of powerful detergents, dishwashers etc, that there is no need to sterilise as much as we do or for as long as we do. I think it was one of the states in Australia where I read that the advice is not to sterilise at all as we are creating a generation that have little natural immunity. Mumsnet discussion here is quite interesting.

I have a 3 month old and I don't think I'm going to sterilise for the whole first year, but I may change my mind yet. There is definitely advice out there that says that the top layer of the dishwasher is sufficient to sterilise, but like pingua says, I sometimes find that my dishwasher doesn't clean brilliantly, so don't know if I trust it totally.

With DD1 I sterilised up to a year old but only bottles, never bowls, cutlery etc which she used from 4 months and she never had any tummy bugs. I guess you need to be more stringent with milk bottles though where bugs can lurk in teats etc.

jayarr_2

yes, thats what i was thinking..i sterilised for my 2 until they were 6 months old, although i never even thought about sterilising bowls and spoons etc...i just remember this coming up when my 2 were tinies..long time ago tho!

purplepatch

jayarr wrote:

yes, thats what i was thinking..i sterilised for my 2 until they were 6 months old, although i never even thought about sterilising bowls and spoons etc...i just remember this coming up when my 2 were tinies..long time ago tho!

6 months sounds good to me. It's such a palaver sterilising and when you think that once they get to that age virtually everything gets shoved in their mouths, including hands that have been stroking pets, digging around in dirt in the garden etc etc etc, I must say I do find it hard to see the point! :rolleyes::rotfl:

Also, I only ever store bottles of boiled water in the fridge - only adding milk powder as and when the feed is required, so there is less chance for germs to breed. I think if you are storing milk ready made up for any length of time, that might make a difference to when you choose to stop sterilising.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

I too agree with the not sterilising everything - i stopped sterilising every single bottle when she was about 5 months and started eating. Lol, the health visitors went into one and gave me a lecture at how bad i was being to my little girl when i mentioned it at my local Surestart. Lol, i just replied with a smile ''well im sure your mother and mine didnt sterilise every single item like we are told to , and we both turned out fine didn't we?'' She then carried on but hey.

A few germs are not harmful but actually help your little one build up their immune system. I mean all of the vaccinations we recieve are actually a little bit of whatever virus/disease it happens to be so our bodies fight it and build immunities to it.

But on the same note im not sure i would want to use some of the harsh detergents of a dishwasher - hand washing does me fine (well there are only 3 of us, oh and doggy + rabbit). I suppose i understand if you have bigger families.

If your out and about alot (like me, i can never stay home for too long) then the travel change mat is perfect (yep one is in the *free* boots pack) because you never know when the last time the public ones were cleaned. Im all for a few germs but that just becomes too much for me.

Baby bath - since El was about 4 weeks old she has always got in the bath with me or daddy - my skin is SO sensitive i can only use products like Infaderm (for babies with bad eczema) anyway so bath products have never been a prob. If you follow this just try and make sure the other person is home too, to take baby from you once he/she is washed (that way they can dry and dress the baby so you dont have to walk around dripping wet and nude to get this done quickly, lol).

Maternity pads - this is going to be dependant on you. I only used a total of two packs (from mothercare - slim ones). What i suggest is as with most things dont stock up too much but make sure you can call on someone (OH maybe?) who can pop out and get more - as with breastpads.. Chances are if you are lucky like i was, and then follow on to BFeed, you wont be visited by the monthlys until you stop BFeeding - this could be 6 months or even two years (yep i know a lucky cow who that happened to). Im afraid not everyone is so lucky though!

Bath towels - use your own, by the time baby is 6 months the baby ones barely wrap her up!:mad:

Baby monitor - This depends on how big your house is. Mine is only a 1 bed flat and living room is next to bedroom so ne need for me - ended up selling it on ebay for a measly half the price. Babies cry will prob be loud enough to easily hear after 2 weeks - before that i would be paranoid and check on her every 10 mins or so as i think all new mums do!:o

Bottles - keep money by incase you need them - if you do buy any only buy one or two as chances are you will have to swap and change the make to suit baby - i (or rather) El settled on TommeeTippie Closer to Nature bottles - but i know some babies wont take to these. Buying a steriliser i say a small microwave steriliser, one to fit about two bottles at once and pop in microwave for few mins. Much quicker and saves space. One comes free with the TT Closer to Nature B-pump if you do intend to buy one of these.

The list could go on but TBH you will almost def end up with unneccessaries - just accept it and sell em when they have no more use.:rolleyes:

Do not worry though because babies really are not as expensive as the gov makes out - be a frugle yummy mummy!:T


Oh yeah and as isaid before - i have a few bits and bobs - i will be selling on ebay but if any doesnt go (eg, baby whites never seem to sell) and a baby bath and more pm me if you live anywhere near croydon as you can have them. But chances are you prob live north somewhere:rolleyes:

cathys1_2

I have some advice and a question!!!!!

Advice first - if bfeeding, then my midwife said not to bother with expensive nipple creams, just use vaseline, and my boobs recovered! I also found my best buy to be a Lindam night and day feeder. My dd stopped bf at 12 weeks, and I expressed - and couldn't bear the thought of getting up twice in the night for heating milk, and this meant we could all stay snuggled in bed while the milk warmed through. They are £30 brand new, but I bet you'd get them cheap on a bootfair or ebay.

You do get loads of gifts on your first - I am still amazed at peoples generosity. We even got gifts from people we know through others! I think a baby makes people go all mushy - in a nice way of course!!!!

My question is - I am now expecting no2, and joined the parenting club at boots. I've only got 7 weeks left, and want to know, do I get the bag just by buying the nappies, or do I have to wait for a voucher?

Good luck.

india

cathys1 wrote:

My question is - I am now expecting no2, and joined the parenting club at boots. I've only got 7 weeks left, and want to know, do I get the bag just by buying the nappies, or do I have to wait for a voucher?

QUOTE]


When I joined the club I got a book of vouchers, they came with a letter and coupon for the huggies changing bag.

You should receive this and then you can take the coupon to get the bag.