Is it too soon to start buying baby stuff?

[upanddown83]

I am 12weeks now had scan 2weeks ago and all is ok. I was wondering when other mums started buying stuf for their baby dp wants to wait until after Xmas and 20week scan on 2nd jan but I don't know if I can wait that long I'm so bloody excited!

[miarosemum]

I am 18 weeks, have bought a few baby grows, vests etc after my 12 week scan but am leaving the bigger stuff like pram etc till after my 20 week scan. I know people who gave gone out and spent a fortune when they have just got their BFP, and others who are so superstitious that they have waited until birth!

[BadgerFace]

If I was you I'd wait until Januasry for most things as then you might get some good bargains!!

I bought one babygrow at 20 weeks (to give to DH for his birthday) and have bought a few clothes over the last few weeks. Now getting all the big stuff at 29 weeks because I want to get it all sorted before Christmas in case Mini-Badger comes early...

[FlaminNoraImPregnantPanda]

I'm 13+5 and bought a pram 2 weeks ago but only because it was the one I wanted and was second hand, in perfect condtion, at a bargain price that I'd be a fool to let pass.

[Dogsmom]

I started buying after the pregnancy test! Only a couple of baby grows then bought the rest after the 12 week scan, I'm now 22 wks and have everything except the nursery furniture.

[lauraellajane]

I did the same as FlamingNora with a cot last week (I'm 10 wks now), only because it was perfect and a great price!

For everything else I'm waiting for the sales, and for little stuff like clothes tempted to get the bare essentials and see what people give us as gifts.

[panicnotanymore]

I'm not sure it is superstition that causes some of us to delay, it is the cold hard truth that not every pregnancy has a happy ending. I'd say wait until after your anomaly scan before spending to much. I'm probably more cautious than most as I have had family and friends go through the heart ache of late miscarriage.

[weeblueberry]

Im 13+2 and we have our scan on Monday. I had an emergency scan at 11+3 where we saw a strong heartbeat so am hoping to hear the same on Monday. I haven't bought anything and definitely wouldn't before my 12 week scan at least. It sounds so morbid but I couldn't have handled having to put baby stuff away if the news wasn't good at the scan. It would just fave been far too horrible.

[wanderingalbatross]

With my first I waited till after the 20 week scan, and then bought stuff gradually over the next few months. IMO, there's not a lot of point in buying the big budget items yet, unless you see a complete bargain, as they'll just sit around and you might change your mind about them. There is enough time after the baby is here to have your home taken up with baby stuff

I'd suggest trying out prams before you get too big though! I looked at them heavily pregnant and had to rely on DH to test whether they were easy/difficult to fold and unfold. And, like the others have said, you might pick up some bargains in the January sales, especially if you know what you want already and are on the lookout for good deals :)

[RileyLeeHargreaves2012]

With my first I got a few things after 12 weeks including the cot at 16 weeks. At my 21 week scan we found out we was having a baby boy and was going to go on a massive shopping spree about 24 weeks after saving up a little. But we lost him at 23 weeks.

That's made me really upright not even finding out the sex next time which might sound weird! We always think of a nick name and make a sock teddy when we find out though :-). Like my little boy who was born sleeping was nick named little monster and we made him a sock monkey

I loved going out baby shopping don't regret it at all. Do it if you want to, I used to say its better to do it through out the pregnancy instead of the last minute :-). Congratulations as well :-D!!

[AgathaTrunchbull]

Started buying stuff at 30 weeks. Still only have clothes - nothing big yet, although we've been doing the research. Holding back, just in case it all goes wrong (despite the small one trying to kick me to death constantly, which I assume is meant to reassure me she's fine...). If all else fails, she'll be sleeping in the laundry basket to begin with!

[GrandPoohBah]

We had a couple of false starts so didn't even look at anything before 12 weeks. I bought a blanket at about 15 weeks to start making it feel real, and once we got the all clear at 20 weeks we started thinking about the bigger things (got a good deal on a cot!)

Having said that, I'm 36 weeks now and still don't have a pushchair or any bedding yet. It'll be fine, I'm sure.

[Isandri]

I waited until after 28 weeks. If something went wrong I didn't want to have all the baby stuff in the house. I think I actually started most of the buying at 32 weeks.

[Longtalljosie]

Everyone's different. Why don't you start with making a list of what you think you'll need, and perhaps putting some money aside each month so you'll have a pot to go out for a mega shop with after Christmas?

[Flisspaps]

If you want to buy stuff, then buy it - doesn't matter if you're 37 days or 37 weeks!

[beyoglu]

I'm with Fliss - do it! I bought the absolute minimum amount of stuff beforehand (long story , took 5 years of trying to have my twins, didn't really believe it till they were born) and I'm sad that I missed the chance to drift around Mamas and Papas etc looking at cute wee babygros and it's been murder getting stuff for them since they've been here because there's limits on how far/how long I can go shopping for!
Also, you're going into the second tri which is the easiest so this is a really good time to go shopping while you feel well.

If I were you I'd try and get the cot, pram, carseat and baby carrier/sling sorted out first, as it's good to research them and try them out. Oh, and if you haven't already, get a maternity coat, because the shops stop selling them about the start of December (apparently they think everyone is so organised that they buy their winter maternity coat in advance!)

[LeBFG]

I was desperate to buy stuff before the 12 week scan this time round, but held off until Down's test came back fine. After this I think it's fine to start collecting little bits as you find them cheap. Bigger investments, probably best to wait until the sales or a bit later in any case. This time I shall have everything in place by 7 months as last time DS came early and I had nearly nothing! I recommend buying certain things beforehand and not waiting until after the birth - the last thing you want to do is shop when LO is around.

[milkyjo]

Poor you Riley, I am so sorry for you and your DP. This is why I would not buy stuff before 24 weeks but still things happen then. I am on DC2 so have all the essentials anyway but this time a different sex so I will buy a few girly things but not until after Christmas when I will be at least 28 weeks - and because we've got no money as its DS birthday and Christmas!

[RileyLeeHargreaves2012]

You dont have to be sorry, as upsetting it is everything happens for a reason. There's only a 2% chance of it happening I look back on all the clothes and smile :-).

The next sale is only a couple of months away so you can get alot then, next sapes are the best :-D

[StateofConfusion]

I'm 33wks and only now facing a big purchase, I did already have my pram tucked away though.

I've had two mcs and a mmc at 14wks so it makes you more cautious.

Off to buy the carseat and base next week, I now feel comfortable enough to do so.

I know someone who brought a whole pram/pushchair set at 4wks, I thought she was an idiot tbh, but then she is anyway.

[CheungFun]

I started buying thing after the 20 week scan. I'd start making lists now and then get some bargains in the new year sales!

It's really up to you though, it's nice to buy something to make the pregnancy feel real!

[mrsbugsywugsy]

By all means buy yourselves a couple of cute babygrows if you are excited, but wait till the January sales before making any big purchases!

Also as you start to announce your pregnancy you will no doubt have lots of offers of hand me downs from friends and family.

Re. the possibility of miscarriage - to be honest we knew that even if the worst happened we would try again and almost certainly have a baby one day. So that didn't stop us.

Twitchy our cat has been through a phase of sleeping in the pram. It was secondhand so we'd need to give it a wash before we used it anyway, so we thought it was best to let her get bored of it before the baby arrives.

[GrandPoohBah]

mrsbugsy, that was our thinking too. We did have miscarriages along the way (and hadn't bought anything then), but I'm 36 weeks now and it would be a tragedy if anything happened whether we had baby things in the house already or not, and it's still not going to stop us trying.

[beyoglu]

Grandpoobah, that's exactly what I thought. I had my twins by IVF after recurrent MC and we were like, look, if something goes wrong, it's not like we're going to be able to forget about it just because there's no baby stuff in the house! Having said that I didn't get anything big till about 24 weeks and I wish I'd done it earlier because I was the size of a house by then!

[EugenesAxe]

No... but you really don't need it hanging around for all that time. You have to get some things before the birth and it's an idea to cover it about a month before the end in case you are early, but honestly you get so many gifts it's not worth buying more than a pack of white vests and babygros, and the essentials for transportation.

It's up to you and how you'd feel having a house full of this stuff if, God forbid, anything did go wrong.