To think it's not really true when people say you don't need much for a baby?

I think it's just what people say - and it's hard to know what is needed for each parent/child.

Things I did feel were a waste - reusable nappies and first sling - sold to us by a family friend with three kids - who IL insited was fount of all knowledge.

Things which were partial useful but could have done without - borjn carrier, buggy board and front and back pushchair. They were all recommodations from other parents and second hand - bar pushchair - I'd been talked out of an expensive system that could do older/young children from family who despite everything we said expected us to have one child. I bought a side by side second hand for about £5 - but DH insisted it wouldn't go down passageway on house we were moving to - so got front and back one new - it did though. Travel cot - that got used more as a play pen with third - but with no car not really travel one for us.

I ended up over 3 kids with 5 type of pushchair - some second hand front and back which was used a lot is only one I could have done without. We don't drive and they were good at different things and ages. Also found a sling I and babies loved but many seemed to hate.

I wished I'd got a bf pump - so didn't have to go out and get one in rush post birth - and a bouncing chair - which all three used.

I also wish we hadn't been talked out of baby swing - think it would have helped massively with two of them.

Clothes we got given were dressy up - fussy or made of syntehic materials - so was glad we bought basics.

These day with on-line and delivery it's easier to get things that you do find you need.

I never bought any bottles either, or any sterilising type stuff. MIL tried to persuade me "in case breastfeeding fails" but I refused. I didn't want it in the house. I knew breastfeeding might be hard at first and I didn't want the temptation readily available.

SIL also insisted I needed a pram and a stupid book by that god awful Gina Ford woman. I found both her old pram and the book left in my house while I was at work one day. Both went straight up in the loft and were left there when we moved 3 years later.

I had the opposite problem to OP - people were always trying to make me buy crap I didn't want! 😂

I never bought a bottle, breast fed. Rest I bought second hand and yes it did take a lot of space.

No-one is saying you should only have nappies and blankets. They are saying you only need nappies and blankets! they are trying to help you!

Buy what you want - no-one actually stops you!

I was surprised by how expensive it was to get everything for our first baby. The good news is, if you look after it and store it properly then it should last you through your other babies too if you choose to have them.

We’ve just had our second baby and the only things we needed were nappies and a second white noise machine. Eventually we’ll need a second monitor too.

You don't have to justify asking but your the one who started the thread people are just giving you their opnion🤷

And also, lots of lots of people truly regret being suckered into the (toally understandable) excitement of a first baby and buying absolutely everything that is marketed at them.

People tend to buy a hell of a lot less for second babies. That's the other reason they are telling you you don't need stuff. They know they didn't use half of theirs, and they don't want you to suffer the same fate of wasting money and being unable to move for useless baby stuff!

And it's hard to sell on, because everyone is selling baby stuff due to how little time babies spend using it!

To reassure you, I imagine.

It's normal to worry and panic that you haven't got everything you need when you are pregnant with your first baby, and no-one needs extra worry when they are about to give birth. People want to alleviate this unnecessary worry.

And no, not many people only get the things I listed, but they are still the only things you truly NEED. The other things are helpful, might make life more pleasant and convenient, but they are not essential. So what people mean is that as long as you have the absolute basics by the time baby comes, which 99.99% of people do, then you're going to be absolutely fine. And I promise you will be.

Everything else you can work out once baby is here. Shops are still open, baby won't die without a babygrow or a dummy or a moses basket.

I have 4 children of the same sex so have reused loads over the years. Absolutely loads. Especially clothing. Pyjamas. It's been truly brilliant.

Yes absolutely! Hearing this drove me nuts, as did people saying ‘oh you won’t need to buy much, people will hand you down everything you need’! We had the first grandchild/cousin on both sides of the family, and all of our friends either hadn’t had kids yet or were saving their baby stuff for their 2nd/3rd, so we ended up buying pretty much everything. Honestly don’t stress about it! And enjoy doing a bit of shopping 😊

I don't think you know if you need somethings until baby is here.
Pram/pushchair/sling - yes
Carseat if you are ever going in a car - yes
Nappies, clothes and wipes/flannels - yes

Everything else, maybe.
I got caught up in the hype of buying everything when I had DS1. I was young and so many people made nasty comments about how I'd cope, or wouldn't know what I was doing. I was desperate to prove them wrong. So I wasted money on a baby bath and stand, top and tail bowl, changing table, room thermometer, bath thermometer, bottles, steriliser, breast pump etc.
In reality though. I actually used the baby bath, although filling it up and emptying it was a faff and using it in the bath seemed pointless. The changing table was useful at night until I realised lying on the cold mat woke him up more and started doing it on my lap. Walking upstairs everytime he needed a nappy change in the daytime got boring quickly. He hated bottles and I didn't really like expressing so barely used any of that. Never needed muslins or bibs so most of them went unused to the charity shop. Never needed nipple cream.

But as I fell for the hype of it all I'd Never tell new mums they don't need a lot because I hated people saying it to me.

Because they don't know what is actually essential untill the baby is here
Take prams for exsmple you can spend thousands on them ,but they are often large, bulky and not very practical on a daily basis, but they do look nice.

Everything else is nice, but not essential.

You could probably survive on a few nappies and wipes but the baby will have a pretty shit life. It's like saying an adult only needs a bag of bread, some cheese, some water and the clothes on their back to live. Will you stay alive? Probably. Will it be fun or enjoyable? Almost certainly not.

They're right. You don't need most of the things people tell you you need for a new baby.

You need the following things:
Nappies (cloth or disposable)
A carseat - if you are driving
clothes or blankets

Everything else is nice, but not essential.

You don't need a pram. I didn't have one for either of mine, through choice. Prams are a PITA.

I'm.not sure prams are essentiall when my oldest was born my sister gave me her old pram and it was a big bulky thing, lovely looking but not really practical, I lived in a flat so it was hard to get in and out I used it about twice
We got a buggie with a cosy toes thing he could lie in but even that was bulky and not easy to fold ,I ended up getting a £15 stroller from he him being about 1 and I used it all the time.

I dont rember having a lot of stuff, we had the basics and bought as we needed something

I have a smiley memory of buying a ‘top and tail’ bowl to wash DC in at home when in the hospital I was given two foil pie dishes to do the same job!😆

And a baby monitor when we could hear DC’s cry from their cot, without it!

ETA - and a friend suggested a good idea was to buy baby shampoo and other baby toiletries in the weekly shop, whilst still working before maternity leave. Stockpile for when money is tight. I did…diligently…it felt as if DC’s were still washing their hair in baby shampoo at 15, I had saved so many bottles ( and if course a baby needs such a small amount of shampoo each wash!)

Totally agree, weirdly I've been thinking this for the last week or so as we've taken our four month old DS! Yes there's lots of crap marketed at parents that you don't need, but is that what people actually mean? People kept saying it to me but then sending a gigantic list of all the things I apparently needed. I tried to stick to the NHS list of what a baby needs and even that is fairly long. I don't think it's true at all, we have a three bed house and it's still filled with bits!

Our DS was prem. We hadn't bought anything. A friend visited in hospital and bought the maternity pads etc. and lent us a lot of stuff. Until he was 6 months, I don't think I bought any clothes - all gifted.

I didn't buy a changing bag until I saw a pretty one on offer that I did then use for holidays. Normally I just used my rucksack.

Useless stuff I never used - big plastic box for storing baby changing items, bucket, mobile.

Plus, if you need something extra that you haven't got, you can get it then, there's no need to have it all before the baby's born. I remember my mum and sister being shocked that I didn't have a certain type of moses basket blanket so I went out and bought them, feeling like I didn't have a clue, I never did get round to using them as the stuff I'd originally bought was fine.

If you're in England, have you looked at the £500 maternity grant. It helps a lot. X

You haven't bought a lot, but it feels like a lot when you're in a small flat and when I visited other mums in their houses they had far more 'extras' than me because they had the space, and more relatives gifting those extras. That was a few years ago now and as a family of four in a small ish house we get rid of what we don't need as soon as we're done with it, whereas I find those with more space hang onto stuff for longer, and have more of it but it looks like less because of the space.