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

lollyb84

Here's my twopennerth for what it's worth (my baby is 6 months old now, and I fell into the trap of buying too much)

Absolute essentials are babygros, vests, nappies, wipes, and a feeding mechanism (be it breastfeeding or bottles) and somewhere to sleep. Keep baby clothed and fed and they'll be happy.

Clothes - babygros as above. I got given lots of outfits (so very MSE), and my baby did get wear out of them, but I'm fortunate that he's not a poosplosion kind of baby! If you do want to but outfits, then my advice would be go for poppers rather than buttons (buttons get very fiddly with a wriggly baby, however cute they look), and try and get bottom or front opening where possible, to make nappy changing easy. When looking at outfits consider how easy it would be to remove a screaming baby from them, some of the cutest outfits are a nightmare!

If you're breastfeeding then I'd highly recommend Lansinoh. It allowed me to carry on feeding despite cracked nipples. I used disposable breast pads purely for convenience. I used the Lansinoh ones, which were great - Tommee Tippee were really poor and leaked (although I know people who used them and found them to be fine).

Something to wipe up sick (and other baby related liquids) is always good. I bought some muslins which were good, but relatively expensive. I always felt wasteful using them to wipe up sick (silly really), and I bought lots of the 20p 'guest hand towels' from Ikea. They've been fab and I always have them lying around the house to clean up.

A bouncy chair is really useful, although my little one didn't like it until he was about 6 weeks old. He also seemed to outgrow it really quickly, not in size, but because he was straining to sit up. I found a swing seat really handy, as baby was sat up, but obviously this isn't great until they can hold their own head.

I'd suggest getting a mixture of wipes to start with and seeing what works well. I used waterwipes to begin with (not the most MSE) which were much easier to use than cotton wool and water. Even the midwives in the hospital were happy for them to be used. We then moved on to pampers sensitive and huggies wipes (depending on offers on in the supermarket).

In terms of other baby toiletries, don't bother - they don't need them until they start moving around and getting dirty (or maybe weaning!). The only luxury I would recommend is the cussons mum and me massage oil and sleep balm. I found that he enjoyed a massage after a bath, and the sleep tight balm was soothing for him and me!

Classes (as I've just talked about massage) - lots are available for free or very cheap from sure start centres in my area (double check with yours!). They are great for getting out and about and meeting people with babies of similar ages to yours. I'd also highly recommend the NCT prenatal classes. There were 6 couples in ours, and the girls meet up once a week as a minimum. It's a great support network, and as most are first time mums (as I assume you are too) they are going through the same things as you (and the same feelings of uncertainty).

In terms of moving baby around, we bought a full travel system, including car seat, carrycot and pushchair. Although the carrycot was fairly expensive, we found it useful for baby to sleep in downstairs, rather than moving the moses basket up and downstairs. I would look online to see if there is a sling library near you. I bought 2 different slings before I found one that suited my son, and they can get expensive. Sling librarys charge about £5 for 2 weeks rental, and can save you a fortune.

We got given lots of toys, and he's only recently (from about 4.5 months) started showing a good level of interest in them, so don't bother too early.

I would also say that a quilted blanket is a good investment. They're easy to fold up and pop in your changing bag, and great to get out to lie baby on when you go to other people's houses when they aren't geared up for children.

Hope that helps!

CathyP72

Moses basket, baby grows, nappies, car seat, changing table, pram. Thats about it.

Lara44

^^^ Plus:
some cellular blankets or baby grow bags
cloths to mop up baby sick / spills
cloths / wipes / cotton wool to clean baby's bottom
folding change mat or cloth for nappy changes on the go

GwylimT

Car seat (for the car, shouldn't be used as a pram)
Cloth nappies
Flannels, for both washing dirty bottoms between changes, cleaning their face etx.
Baby lotion/oil
Sling
Nose sucker (it really isn't very pleasant removing the snot from their nose by sucking manually)
Bouncer/chair
A washable blanket to put them on their stomachs on the floor
Thermometer.
Clothes, basics, vests, all in ones and socks/gloves.

notanewuser

CathyP72 wrote: »

Moses basket, baby grows, nappies, car seat, changing table, pram. Thats about it.

We managed perfectly well without a Moses basket or a changing table.

balletshoes

GwylimT wrote: »

Car seat (for the car, shouldn't be used as a pram)
Cloth nappies
Flannels, for both washing dirty bottoms between changes, cleaning their face etx.
Baby lotion/oil
Sling
Nose sucker (it really isn't very pleasant removing the snot from their nose by sucking manually)
Bouncer/chair
A washable blanket to put them on their stomachs on the floor
Thermometer.
Clothes, basics, vests, all in ones and socks/gloves.

I just had to go google that - never heard of it, or seen one in action!

questionss

Having just had my third (now 3mths) but got rid of most of the big stuff (well stored at mums and we moved overseas) I have had to buy recently and buy carefully!

It's HOT here in summer which influenced somethings

Essentials
Lightweight woven cotton fabric sling - used daily at least once often for several hours.
Nappies - we mainly use cloth but did buy a couple of packs of disposables
Car seat
Carrycot/pram - my 2yr olds pram is suitable from newborn but they need to be strapped in and the cocoon is very cozy/warm - I felt a proper carrycot was essential in the heat here - I bought second hand for 15euro
Cot - ikea
Vests (obviously babygro & cardi/hat etc in colder climes)
Foam mat for floor to provid some cushion etc as we have solid floors, no carpets

Nice to have
Bouncy chair
Playmat
Minicuna - this is a mini cot, similar length to a Moses (bit longer) but much wider. I don't swaddle my kids and they tend to sleep arms flung out so Moses don't work
Clothes - rompers mainly, all second hand from friends - free

Frivolous but important to me - his own going home from hospital brand new outfit

Kriti_Dutta

Well, the most important thing you need for a baby is baby clothes and baby shoes. These are the essential things which cannot be avoided. Then you need baby prams, baby blankets, baby diapers etc. All these things are at a priority for babies as they need everything in large quantity. If you cannot afford too much expense then you can buy all these from a cheaper market like big stores which offer things in bulk at low prices.

notanewuser

Kriti_Dutta wrote: »

Well, the most important thing you need for a baby is baby clothes and baby shoes. These are the essential things which cannot be avoided. Then you need baby prams, baby blankets, baby diapers etc. All these things are at a priority for babies as they need everything in large quantity. If you cannot afford too much expense then you can buy all these from a cheaper market like big stores which offer things in bulk at low prices.

Baby shoes are an essential?!

GlamGirlie

notanewuser wrote: »

Baby shoes are an essential?!

Agreed! :T How can they be when it wears babygrows etc for months and can't even crawl, let alone walk!