Baby essentials - how many?!

[Queazy]

I'm about 28 weeks and going to start buying a few bits before my salary goes...

Should I buy size 1 nappies - how many to start off with?! It's my first baby and I have no idea!

I want to breastfeed for a few months. Should I buy a bottle and steriliser just in case this doesn't work?

Lastly (so sorry)...how many muslin cloths do I need? Everyone seems to swear by these, but obviously being a novice they just look like big dish cloths, and some packs are £20+ because they have embroidery on them.

Thanks all - realising I need to do lots more research! Any advice on the above would be really appreciated

[PumpkinPie2013]

Hi

I'm also pregnant with my first (14 weeks) so not sure I'll be much help but here goes

With nappies maybe buy two packs initially and then you can send someone for more when needed and you know if the brand/size is ok?

Not sure on steraliser/bottles but maybe see if there are offers and get some for if you want to express/combi feed. You can always just store them for later on?

Muslins - my sister had loads but can't remember how many exactly. I would see if you can find some packs that are cheaper and then you can get a few. Places like
Asda/tesco will sell them.

Have fun shopping! X

[Twinklestarstwinklestars]

I would get a couple of packs of nappies in case they don't suit your baby.

If you want to breast feed are you going to express? I'm mixed feeding so have bottles but I bought the mam ones that go in the microwave without a steriliser and have bought Milton tablets for when I want to sterilise my breast pump or don't have a microwave.

My ds2 had reflux so we went through loads of Muslims as it was much easier having them everywhere than changing sheets/clothes, I've bought 12 plain white ones this time and will see if I need more when dc3 arrives.

[DoingTheSwanThing]

Congratulations!
You'll find that not many of the "essentials" lists in books etc are actually essential. Yours sounds sensible!
Unless you want to express & offer by bottle in the early weeks (not really recommended but I have done with all three and EBF long-ish term) then I wouldn't. I chose not to buy formula because I didn't want to be tempted to use but other people will advise differently. Remember though you almost certainly will have enough milk.

Muslins... You can't have too many. At least 10? Depends on how sicky baby is! If you don't use them, consider it a lifetime supply of dusters (or start making cheese )

Nappies... Unless you're anticipating a teeny one I'd probably just get one or two packs of size ones. Likely to find slightly larger ones better for containment. I'd advise holding off buying more than a couple of packs of any brand since some just don't fit well on some babies.

[DoingTheSwanThing]

Tesco cheapo muslins are fine, ikea are bigger & thicker (& patterned).
Embroidery?! Pffft.

[DoingTheSwanThing]

Wow x-posts. Must learn to type faster

[NomDeClavier]

Cheap muslins I think I had 24 but a very sicky baby

If you live near a 24hr supermarket I wouldn't get any bottle feeding equipment. You can buy it in a rush if you need it and consider whether you want to express later. Having the stuff in the house if you really want to BF may undermine your confidence. If you don't have a 24 hour supermarket but a starter pack but don't open it. I saw it as a challenge to get through day 3/4/5 without opening the bottles. Do, on the other hand, get nipple shields and don't be afraid to use them for the odd feed to give your nips a rest if they start to get really sore.

I'd get a pack of newborn and a pack of size 1 nappies, then more once you know how big the baby actually is.

You need very little to start off!

[KatAndKit]

Muslins - supermarkets sell them in a pack of 3 for £3. No need for embroidery fancy pants muslins - they are for mopping up baby sick after all. I would say about 10 is sufficient. They are also great for putting under your baby's head in the pram or moses basket - saves washing the sheets so often!

Nappies. I would not stockpile. Get what you need for a week or two and then buy them weekly afterwards. If you stockpile you could end up with something you don't get on with. Buy 3 packs of size 1 and a pack of size 2 in case your baby is huge.

Sterilizer. Not necessary. Buy a pack of sterilizing tablets in case you need them. I did buy a microwave sterilizer before the birth it was quite cheap but it wastes space in the kitchen. I started expressing a bit after 2 weeks so I could get an early night - this worked well for me but you don't need more than a couple of bottles so don't waste money on a full starter kit of bottles unless you start formula feeding. I have so many more bottles than I actually need - he only ever had about 3 or 4 bottles a week!

[Scruffey]

I would get a couple of packs of size 1 nappies only. Also buy size 2. You can judge the size and shape of your baby when he/she is here but size 2 will last longer than size 1 and you will be able to use them before size 1 is outgrown anyway. When my 2nd child was born, I wanted her in size 5 nappies ASAP because that's the size my 24mo ds was in and more convenient to wear the same size. She was quite chubby so I was able to get her in size 5 quickly!
I think the problems with nappies arise more if your baby has skinny legs like my ds did - wee leaks out of some brands.

[cupcake78]

Second ikea Muslins, start with about 10. You will probably get some as presents anyway.

Nappies depend on the predicted size of baby. Mine is likely to be a big so I'm on size 2 nappies which is from 8lbs to 11. Look at the weight estimates on the nappies and keep in mind an average baby is 7lb. You can always pick up nappies once baby is here. Makes of nappies suit different children so don't stock pile.

As for bottles etc that's your choice and depends how determined you are to breastfeed. If your ebf then you don't need bottles for the first few weeks. We didn't get any till baby was 2 weeks old by which time I knew more about what I wanted to do.

Best essentials are baby wipes, Muslins, blankets/sheets for cot/basket/crib/pram, baby grows, vests, cotton wool. You could consider hooded towels and sleeping bags. Sudocrem / Vaseline or the equivalent.

Breast pads and maternity pads for you, nipple cream-get nipple cream.

IMO that's all you need to start with.

[Belmo]

I had a 3 pack of muslins and used one once I think! Use them to take my make up off now. Mine was almost never sick.
Nappies - I think 2 packs is about right to begin with.
I bought steriliser and bottles and never ever used them - you can always run out and get some if need be.

[louisianablue2000]

DS (thankfully my DC3) was preemie and I had nothing ready for the hospital, your DH can get everything you need during a quick raid to the supermarket and hospitals do supply essentials if you don't have them.

I've had two large babies and I still used a lot of size 1 nappies. They go through a lot in the early days, if BFing then they could well poo after every feed initially so you will go through about 11 nappies a day once your milk comes in (fewer initally while the merconium comes out and they are only having a few ml of colostrum). Top tip, keep a few size 1 nappies for your LO to use on dolls later, they are much cheaper than the 'toy' nappies. But you can just buy one or two bags of cheapo ones and send your OH out to get more the next day.

TBH you'll probably need more maternity pad in the first few days, a big pack of 24 will only last a day. I remember being in Mothercare and seeing a woman buying a single packet and thinking 'ha, first baby!', I'd ordered about 5 packets online.

Muslins, borrow some from people who already have children or buy big cheap packets. We've got about 30 and with sicky babies I have used them all up before I got round to doing a wash but that stage only lasts a short while and now the baby of the family is 9 months I only use one or two a day.

i'd not get any bottles and sterilisers before the bsby comes if you eant to BF, if you want you can get tablets for cold water sterilisation cheaply which I still found useful (all DC EBF) or you can stick a bottle in the microwave to sterilise it or boil in some water for 2 mins. All the specialist equipment is a con.

If you have problems establishing BFing then you can hand express and cup feed (hospital should have sterile cups) and once your milk comes in then you should be able to use a pump in hospital and once you have used a breast shield and bottle in hospital they will either throw it out or you can keep it, I topped up my supply of consumable for my breastpump that way (most hospitals have medula machines I think). FWIW when I was in hospital with DS I was sharing a ward with several FF and they were all having problems getting their LO to take to a bottle, some babies just take a while to get started feeding by whatever method.

[lovelychops]

I'd suggest getting a few different brands of nappies in, that way you can see what you find best. I've found asda and aldi brands to be as good as pampers etc - at a fraction of the price.

If you live near a supermarket someone can be sent out for anything vital. Again, I've found supermarket vests and baby gros to be great. You'll probably get lots of clothes as presents too.

Contrary to what others have said, I found having some bottles and formula in the house as 'back up' reassuring - even though I never used them. Think I just liked knowing they were there just in case!

I'll second the poster who said they didn't use muslins, I'd read on here I'd need loads... Used one once, as a duster!

[TheFantasticFixit]

Definitely get Muslins but I just got about 20 white ones that I could easily bleach if they were stained. I would get at least a couple of large packs of size 1s as you will find yourself changing the baby a lot at first until you get into the swing of things! Sleep suits etc are good and definitely invest in a couple of very good quality blankets as thy will last and you can use them in crib and pram. Whatever you do, don't buy a top an tail bowl! I'm ashamed to admit I have TWO and both have only been used once. Gah! And definitely, definitely buy the pram you WANT. I compromised and then the bloody thing fell apart so I bought the bugaboo I wanted all along and it is fantastic.

Most of all congratulations and lots of luck!

[TheFantasticFixit]

P.s - as much as I hate Tesco, their nappies are ab and don't have that horrid Pampers odour

[Phineyj]

LOL at the tales of not needing muslins - we have about 40 and I need to wash them every couple of days! DD could sick for Britain on every possible surface! Just get cheap ones. I like the rainbow packs from Mothercare as I got fed up of looking at the same colour.

Re nappies - some of the online suppliers will send sample packs so you can try them. Naturebotts was one I used. I have used Bambo nappies from the NCT online shop throughout - v.happy with them and they assuage my eco conscience somewhat. I find buying in bulk and having them delivered saves a lot of hassle, but it depends if you have storage space and a DH who positively enjoys visiting delivery depots Their wipes are 99% water too which saves the ridiculous faffing about with cotton wool balls

Personally I was glad I already had bottles in when I found bf very difficult and DH had norovirus - there are times you can't/don't want to do an emergency trip to a 24 hr supermarket and it's not an option outside big cities anyway.

[Fairydogmother]

Shamelessly lurking here picking up tips!

I'd second tesco nappies tho as a friend of mine swears by them. She had several major accidents involving stripping beds and bathing her baby in the middle of the night with pampers and no accidents whatsoever with tescos own

[BalloonSlayer]

I never used muslins either, but my babies were never very sicky. I only bough them with DC3 because I thought I ought to, everyone raved about them so much.

With my first DC, I did not get bottles/steriliser/formula because I really wanted BF to work and I thought if it got tough and I had Formula + equipment in the house I would use it and regret it. It DID get tough, much tougher than I expected, and there were a couple of times when, had I had it in the house, DS1 would have had a bottle. But, because DH would have had to go out and buy it all and knowing him, get all the wrong stuff I persevered with BF through those desperate moments, and thank God I did as DS1 has an extremely serious cows' milk allergy. But were it not for the allergy and he had been bottle fed - so what? I wouldn't give it a second thought now. All I can say is - BF was important to me at the time and I think not having formula/bottles/steriliser in the house "just in case" was a major contribution to my eventually successful exclusive breastfeeding.

[MyDaydream]

I bought 2 packs of size 1 and two packs of size 2 to start with which tided me over until I was ready to leave the house. The size 2s didn't get opened for a few weeks but I had them ready as soon as I needed them.
You don't need to buy loads of bottles and a steriliser for just in case, but if it'd make you feel better you could always buy a bottle and just boil it up for 10 minutes if you need it. This is what we do if we're at a relatives house. If you do decide to switch to expressing or formula later you can always buy then.
I have about 25 muslins that I bought really cheap from an eBay seller. They're plain white and basic,but how fancy do you want a cloth for wiping up sick to be? £20 for an embroidered pack is just silly, especially since 4 months in a lot of mine are stained.

[Fairy130389]

Don't know if this is helpful but kiddicare have an offer ATM for packs of 120 nappies for £20 - and if baby outgrows them, they will replace for the right size...think I might do this as I'm on a tight budget x

[joanna1990marie]

I just bought whatever nappies were on offer in the smaller sizes, 2 packs of huggies size 1 because they feel really soft and allow space for the umbilical cord to breathe and 2 packs of the next size up, don't know how plump my babies going to be!

[Badgerwife]

Another one here who'll vouch for Tesco's own nappies (Lidl's are also very good but they only start at size 3). DD had terrible nappy rash with both Pampers and Huggies.

Lansinoh nipple cream is very good. Lansinoh also do the best breast pads out of all of the ones I tried, and I tried many. I had a lot of milk and none of the other ones were any good at keeping it dry (and I'm still breastfeeding now 22 months later so had plenty of time to test)

[Queazy]

Thank you so much - I really appreciate all your tips - I feel so much better for reading them! I couldn't see the wood for the trees, and was about to fork out a fortune 'just in case'! You're all brilliant - thank you

[KatAndKit]

The kiddicare just for bums nappies are good but once you get past size 3 they aren't any cheaper than tesco on offer or aldi. It is convenient to have a big box delivered though, especially if you don't drive.

I agree about Lansinoh but you only need one tube! I'm still on the same one 13 months later!

[loveschocolate]

I had different brands of size 1's and they fitted for a while even though dd was 8'7 at birth. You get vouchers for half price Aldi nappies when you register the birth.

I have about 15 muslins and use them in the pram and Moses basket so that if the baby is sick you don't need to change the sheet.