What do you really need for a baby?

Baileys_Babe

Nappy buckets or any lidded buckets.

Number of nappys depends on how frequently your planning to wash them, I always wait until I have a full load. I use neither a mesh bag nor tea tree oil.
All my nappys are preloved. With fleece liners. You shouldn't need to use disposables unless you wish to, we gave our free samples away.

I do not have a changing table/station and have never felt the need for one.

I do not have a pushchair/pram etc (most people think this is very odd) use car seat (in car) sling/back pack carrier/hippy chic make him walk (now 2 1/2 years).

All my sons clothes are preloved except grandparents buy him a complete new outfit at Christmas and his birthday, always very good quality and in designs that appeal to their grandchildren because when he has out grown them the will enter the world of the preloved.

As a previous poster said use pillow case for sheets in small beds.

I planned to invest in some grobags (never quite got round to it before he was born) glad I didn't as he wouldn't have been able to use them due to health complication.

Baby monitors, wish I could say I didn't use mine, but I was very paronoid, depends on your house size. I don't feel you need an all singing all dancing version. Ask around most parents will have sets they are no longer using.

prestonlass

Home Bargain shops do a great sleeping bag for £4.99. Soft and snuggly they're far nicer than those I have paid a small fortune for...and wash great.

anonymousie

You actually need really little!

Using washeables is great. Borrow/buy 2nd hand esp in small sizes till you know what suits- don't be tempted by any "birth to potty" promises they wont work at all stages and you'll get really naffed off withthem!

Honestly the best investment I made for DD1 was a dozen really good quality terry squares. For DD1 and DS I used evil disps (YUK!) but used them as burp cloths/changing mats/towels etc. DD2 did use them as nappies when I got confident (nappy nippas are great). As a confident experimental nappy folder they really did fit andwork well (esp with motherease wraps and boosters when she was big).

Those same terries are now used as hand towels/general mopping clothes and the best ever hankies for a child (or me!) with a foul cold- nothing like a soft terry at night if your nose is drippy (TMI I know!).

Nappy pails are a waste of money-wet pailing smells and doesn't mix safely with toddlers either. I just tipped solids off (the one way liners are good- I had washeable ones that my mum used for me as a baby!!). Again TMI but big baby poos just flush away mainly and don't really mark the nappy much (teeny breast fed poos are messy but don't stink!).
I washed nappies with ordinary washes TBH after a bit (sloppy I know), after all if you had a sicky/pooey leak onto clothing you'd just rinse and wash wouldn't you?? If you wash daily (or several times a day) anyway with a few nappies in each you don't have much nasty stuff hanging around and there is always cean too.

Breast feeding doesn't need any acessories- breast pumps etc are great if you have to go back to work, but demand feeding is the beast thing anyway.
Weaning should be "baby lead" from 6 months so doesn't need special spoons or sterilised plates etc (at 6 mo they are eating the cat anyway!).

Co sleep. buy a decent sling (not tomy/baby bjorn the sling mamas think that is why people don't sling- these are useless!!). Get advice on slings from someone who knows (i'm out of touch).

A decent sling will alow you to do house work etc (and to allow DH to carry and calm a fractious child). Bouncy chairs/swings etc work for some but keeping bub close is more useful often.

Clothes- a pack of babygros and a pack (or 2) of vests would do TBH. You'll be given loads anyway! Shawls/blankets or, as we found, bath towels are very good for keeping babies warm and very adjustable in layers (why don't more peeps use towels as blankets- they need washing so much and are so easy for that!). A cardi or jacket for cold cars helps as baby will need arms out. Slinging is a good way of keeping tinies the right temperature too.

Spend as much as you need onthe most expensive and important investment for your baby- the car seat.

Get the best you can, that fits your car and the size/age of your child.

This is my biggest piece of advice- get everything else cheap/second hand/freecycled, it wont matter to your baby- they just need you but the car seat is vital!

t_obermory

On my list one of those bouncing chairs is a definate, you don't need an all singing all dancing one either Argos have them starting at £9, also one of those blow up rings when they get a bit bigger. They're both great as you can move baby so they can see what you're doing.

With the amount my baby dribbled during milk time I found those muslins useless and instead invested in a cheap pack of tea towels which did the job far better.

In terms of clothes I'd get more 0-3 month stuff than newborn as you don't know how fast they'll grow, quantities depends on how often you plan to wash, you can get through anything up to 5 sleep suits in a day (though usually not that many in my experience) so you need to have enough spare for the next day. Don't worry too much about buying outfits you'll more than likely get loads as baby presents and when I was in the house I didn't bother with them anyway.

I'd say get a moses basket, I'd be tempted to ask around family first to see if anyone has one you can borrow as you won't be using it for that long.

Get some breast pads whether breast or bottle feeding they are essential if you're prone to leaking.

All these and the other posts are only suggestions though, your baby will be completley unique so don't panic about what other people say you should and shouldn't do, take it at your pace and how you feel comfortable.

shelley_crow

I'd echo the sentiments about clothing. My DS was born 7lb 6.5 and although this isn't particularly big he was very long and bypassed newborn clothes straight into 0-3 months. We had bin liners full of clothes from family who had all bought newborn, oops. All he lived in for the first few months were snuggly white long sleeved sleepsuits from tesco, about a fiver for 7. Ooh a new baby, congrats xx

code-a-holic

I have had 3 children over the last 5 years and been through a ton of baby bits.... i still long at baby sites at the new bits and pieces!
The most essential.useful things have been a moses basket, during the day the moses basket wold come in to the living room for baby to sleep in. I remeber not having enough sheets! Couldnt wash the 2 fast enough.
Id only really bother with babygros, vests and cardigans until about 6 months. Dependant on time of year a good all in one snowsuits. Even summer babies need a few hats too - midwives put one striaght on after birth. Scratch mits were needed with all 3 of mine to avoid battle scars on the face. Lots of breast pads and a towel to sleep on in bed!

I bought a baby bjorn sling -expensive new but I used it so much. My 1st was not happy being away from me for a good while and i could put him in it and get on with anything and keep him happy! I tried some other makes but they were not very supportive for the back.
I didnt use baby monitors - house not that big! I used a baby bath i would do it on the bathroom floor, heavy to lift for emptying though. But they do advise not to bathe baby any more than once/twice a week to start with so dont have to lift to often! I put a changing mat on top of babys chest of drawers - caution needed!
Had a basic baby chair as well which worked very well at a few weeks old. I didnt buy a high chair until 1st was 6mths old. But it reclines a lot and with 2nd and 3rd i had it out at about 2-3 mths so they could sit in the kitchen and watch me work - they would fall asleep with no fuss in that!

Bun

Agree with others - standalone baths and baby changers are a waste of money. Baby towels get grown out of fast, so use yours.

My ds was 5lb 2oz at full term, so everything was too big - I'd get some just to tide you over in the hospital and then bulk buy on ebay as you are already doing. Also a bouncy chair is great, but depends on the size of the baby as to which one is suitable - I'd wait until baby is born.
Monitor wise everybody has views on these - I am a bit paranoid about cot death (had one in the family although yonks ago) but that's just me,so I go with a movement pad one. We have used our old one to breaking point and have just got an angelcare one for when no 2 arrives. You can get very cheap basic ones so these do the job just as well as described by anyone else.

Good luck!

clairec79

The only thing I would say with the movement monitors (I had one and found it to be a waste of money, but then when little I had thekids close enough that I could hear them breathing, which reassured me more, and by the time they were going into their own rooms they were capable of rolling off the pad, or I'd pick them up, and it would alarm and wake everyone) is just having one on it's own is not going to make your baby safer. What would you do if it went off and baby had stopped breathing, you need to be able to do CPR (good for any parent/person really)

Sleeping bags were great

Not so sure on the car seat from ebay as if they have been in an accident you are meant to scrap them and you couldn't be sure if it is off ebay (I'm not saying don't use a second hand one but I'd only use one from a source you were sure of - we had one off of dh's cousin so I knew it wasn't in an accident).

If you want a changing table (I rarely used mine if I'm honest) IKEA do them quite cheaply

Janepig

I was going to say what Claire has said about the second hand car seat - it's the one thing I wouldn't go for second hand unless you're 100% sure of the history of it.

When I had DD I had a proper baby bath which was a pain to fill and carry to the living room (we bathed our children in front of the fire as the bathroom is a bit chilly). When she grew out of it we gave it to my aunty and uncle to put their Koi Carp in for when the KC doctor visited :rolleyes: so when I had DS I decided to just buy a washing up bowl and bath him in that - much easier to fill and carry, and because he was more enclosed DS always enjoyed his baths alot more than DD did. Two years later bowl is still in use (mainly as a sick bucket!!).

We have had good use out of our cheap baby monitor (almost five years of continuous use). We also had good use out of the basic cheap bouncy chair with DD, but DS didn't like it and hardly used it. The sling was much the same - I don't think we used it much more than about four times between the two children.

One thing I wish I'd spotted when my two were newborns were the babygros from Matalan with the scratch mitts sewn in - you just fold over the end of the sleeve to cover their hand, fold it back to uncover. Excellent idea.

Jxx

Bun

clairec79 wrote: »

The only thing I would say with the movement monitors (I had one and found it to be a waste of money, but then when little I had thekids close enough that I could hear them breathing, which reassured me more, and by the time they were going into their own rooms they were capable of rolling off the pad, or I'd pick them up, and it would alarm and wake everyone) is just having one on it's own is not going to make your baby safer. What would you do if it went off and baby had stopped breathing, you need to be able to do CPR (good for any parent/person really)

quote]

Yes you are quite right there. Like I said it is my thing really (largely for night-time), and I was lucky enough that ds slept through from 10 weeks, so gave me extra piece of mind. My community nursery nurse who did our under- ones at my doctors' surgery showed us basic cpr so you could keep things going until help arrived, so you are spot on there.

I too will be using a washing up bowl this time instead of a bath.