What do you ACTUALLY need if you're having a baby?

sedment

We got a cotbed as a gift from my mum and dad, with bedding bundles that we bought three of, from Argos, lasted both of mine till littlest one was 4. Had a pramette that lay flat that went into a pushchair from Kiddicare, that was on deal for I think £100?? And a cold water steriliser for £10 from Savers. Baby changing mat as well bought with my Boots points
Bottles from Asda in the baby event, and babygrows and mitts socks, etc from Asda Primark and ebay as i bought bundles of newborn stuff in white as I knew it wouldnt be needed for long. Car seat to leave hospital is standard now. Think that is the minimum basics to get you through the first few weeks. Cant think of anything else, but sure I have missed some bits

an9i77

I have to say one of the most useful things I got was a cosatto changing unit. Who wants to be bending down on the floor all the time? It is brill for storing nappies and other essentials in the baskets underneath and we still use ours with our son now who is 2 and a half and not yet potty trained. Sure you can survive without it but it certainly made life a lot easier.

The other thing that I recommend is a good baby bouncer seat - I got the babybjorn babysitter but there are other cheaper ones. Just make sure you get one which is weighted down some of the very cheap ones can easily topple over once the baby reaches a certain weight.

Moses baskets are two a penny on ebay, I got one for £15 and just replaced the mattress for £10. In the shops they can be £70 plus for some brands which is a complete waste of money. also get the biggest one you can find as it will last longer - toys r us ones are huge.

The one thing I wasted my money on was lots of clothes - they are so expensive considering how quickly they grow out of them. I'm now pregnant again and was determined at first to only use babygros for the first 6 months - but want my baby to look stylish so have restricted myself to a couple of outfits in each age category for best, and then babygros the rest of the time.

Loads of things can be bought 2ndhand off ebay and sold again a few months later.

Obv not car seats/ mattresses

notanewuser

an9i77 wrote: »

I have to say one of the most useful things I got was a cosatto changing unit. Who wants to be bending down on the floor all the time? It is brill for storing nappies and other essentials in the baskets underneath and we still use ours with our son now who is 2 and a half and not yet potty trained. Sure you can survive without it but it certainly made life a lot easier.

Why would you use the floor?

1 changing mat upstairs and 1 downstairs. Use bed/sofa/footstool. Job done.

heyboo

Clothes - don't bother with outfits - they're so cute but a few exploders will see you wrestling them off several times a day. If you get white stuff you can soak it in Milton to get out the poo stains

Coats - I got given several but only ever used snowsuits

If you're breastfeeding then you neeeed Lansinoh. It allows you to feed through cracked nipples and make a very good lip balm afterwards! I did use breast pads (and still do). Johnsons and Avent are good, Tesco are bobbins. Get sleep bras too.

Muslin squares - DS was quite pukey so went through these like mad..they double up as lots of other things too. Cheap on ebay.

A changing table of some sort - when you're changing 15 times a day and you're still tender it's much easier than getting down on the floor.

Bouncy chair - very useful. However, don't bother with the ones with a million functions. They look fab but I know people who've spent £100 on one only to discover baby hates it.

Don't go mad buying different nappy creams - sign up for all the clubs - you'll get free samples. Bepatham does nothing for DS's nappy rash but I didn't spend £4 a tube finding out.

Sling - I used mine a lot (bought off ebay). When he was very whingy I could strap him to me around the house to get things done.

Baby toiletries - they don't need them.

Toys - they won't care for months

HTH

ss3n08

Wow thanks everyone. Still a minefield though xxx

Hippipal

Don't buy everything new. If you are trying to save money go to local charity shops for clothes, they are worn for such a short time that they are usually in really good condition. Try local facebook selling pages for equipment and later for toys. I have seen lots of things at really good prices and you can pick them up so no expensive postage.

DigForVictory

While actually having the baby, I'm very pro having a husband about...
(Never seemed right swearing at the midwives - hardly their fault!)
Roof over head, running water, loaded freezer, these little practicalities that sometimes we forget?
Set up a "baby stuff" gmail account & sign up for every mother & baby club going - some freebies are brilliant, others helpful & when your baby is big enough to eye your post with curiosity, it's all chewable...

klump

Don't bother with many clothes, when u have the baby that's what everyone buys, i got enough gifts to kit the baby out for the first year! Just took loads back to the shop for bigger sizes as everyone tends to buy you 0-3months.

I would say a Moses basket is a waste of money, i had one plus a crib plus a cot bed and my little one was in his cot bed by 8 weeks.

mumps

notanewuser wrote: »

Why would you use the floor?

1 changing mat upstairs and 1 downstairs. Use bed/sofa/footstool. Job done.

I always used the floor, the big advantage is they can't roll off. A nurse told me that if she had a £1 for every mother who took a baby into A & E because they rolled off something and then said, "But they have never rolled over before." She would be a wealthy woman.

mumps

The hospital where I had my last two, we are talking 20 years ago, had a scheme to hire the first baby seat, the rear facing one. It was really cheap but I don't know if hospitals still do that.