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

I think people are trying to say - there is a lot of shit ‘gadgetry’ out there that you can spend a fortune on and the marketing people will have you believe you need a lot of stuff - when the reality is baby’s needs are pretty simple - warmth, clean clothes and milk…

yes of course a car seat is essential if you go in cars and a buggy etc - but a lot of the other stuff that baby magazines and baby shops will try and convince you is ‘essential’ just isn’t .

babies have survived for many millennia without a baby bath thermometer or heated baby wipes holder or a prep machine - yes all of this stuff can make life easier if you can afford it and have space - but it isn’t essential!

I agree that the standard amount of stuff that people buy is a lot, but some of it is completely unnecessary. Eg muslins - a soft towel or dish cloth works fine. Moses basket - just put baby in cot from the start. Steriliser - boiling bottles in a pan of water is a method of sterilisation (if you even need the bottles - you might not if you're breastfeeding). Wipes - get some old t-shirts, cut into little squares, use wet instead of wipes (wash them after a pee and bin them after a poo. Did this with my third child and wish I'd done it with the other two).
Besides, many people still have baby stuff that they are happy to give away. Both my mum and MIL gave us loads of stuff that they'd kept for 30 years!

I still vaguely remember being put to bed in a drawer when staying at a GM’s house. This was back in the Dark Ages though.

While it doesn’t sound like you’ve bought loads you just don’t know what is or isn’t going to be useful until baby arrives so I would listen to people and don’t buy anything else.
I bought a mix of newborn and 1 month clothing for DD. She was straight into 1 month and all the newborn stuff we never used. Then the up to 1 month clothing she was out of by 2 or 3 weeks.
Expecting baby number 2 and won’t even bother with newborn size this time.
It’s true though, you do only need a car seat, somewhere for them to sleep (a next to me etc.), a way to feed them and a couple of clothes initially. A pram/carrier is an essential but even then you can get next day delivery on most so if baby came early for instance it’s not the end of the world not even having a pram initially- plenty of people figure it out.
I wouldn’t buy a carrier without using one first (sling library etc.) as it’s such an individual/personal thing and lots of babies don’t like them anyway and you’ll have wasted so much money.
Even sterilisers you won’t know what will work for you until you try. Mam do self-sterilising bottles so if you bought those you don’t even need to rush out to buy a sterilised either or keep some Milton tabs handy until you choose one.
I was gifted a beautiful change bag which we used loads…. But it became apparent it was too small and I got a new one. Once you are experienced in the day to day of a change bag and how you like it laid out/what is handy you can buy a proper one then.
Even muslins, everyone kept banging on about how essential they are. I bought loads and didn’t have a sickie baby at all, so they became sun shades for the buggy in the end. I diligently packed a muslin into my bag everyday sure that it would save me at some point because I was told how essential they are then gave up because for my baby they actually weren’t useful at all.
Having a boy this time and people say they are more useful to protect yourself from the sprinkler when changing nappies, so will just reuse DD’s lovely pink muslins for him but certainly not rushing out to buy any more until he’s here and I know they are useful.

Going through DD’s old things at the moment and there are just so, so many things I look at and can only remember using once or twice, if at all.

People say that babies don’t need much when they compare them to older children, not non existent children. Compared to children, babies really don’t need much.

Honestly, just enjoy buying for your first baby! It’s a really special time. I will say that looking back we had far too much in terms of clothes and “bits” for example my DD is born in May and it was a warm one, she lived in vests or a babygrow for the first 3 months. I’m pregnant with our second and by this point in my last pregnancy, we had everything. This time I have about 6 babygrows, some vests and muslins.

You really don't. They grow like weeds and are out of clothes in 5 minutes. I was a single mum at 21 and had a second hand cot I bought for peanuts and scrubbed, a moses basket which was a gift and I took him out in a baby sling because I didn't have a car and needed hands free to get my shopping home.
I knew he'd be out of clothes in no time so I just bought multipacks of baby grows in the supermarket and had hand me downs from relatives. Breastfed so no cleaning equipment or bottles and gave him a bath in the kitchen sink.
He didn't start costing me a lot until he started school by which time I was working full time again and able to afford it.
No pram needed, I just had my cousins old pushchair when he was old enough.

What you don't need is much of anything new. We used second-hand virtually everything apart from a cot mattress. We even reused the car seat as it came from my mate and knew it was fine.

But yes it is a lot of clobber!

I mean you don’t need a lot, but even if you use something for 3 months it makes life easier! I currently have a my bassinet pram in the livingroom, a baby yoyo front facing in the kitchen and a bouncer, next to me, large cot and baby gym upstairs. I have a dog though so can’t just leave baby on the floor. But it means if he is sleeping I can push him around the house while I do stuff. I also use my sling every single day without fail. You don’t need lots of clothes…. If you plan on doing a wash every single day! You can get cheap bundles on Vinted so you can do a weekly wash instead of every second day.

I actually did this once ! We were visiting my mother in law and space was tight, so I piped up don’t worry she can sleep in a drawer! So she did - sort of, she kept shuffling up to the top! Looking back I’m sure my mother in law thought I was trying to prove some kind of point, I probably was to be honest !

It doesn't sound like you've overbought OP. I think maybe the comments are because a lot of people do buy stuff they end up hardly using (eg lots of newborn clothes, a Moses basket the baby grows out of in a few weeks) so they're trying to help you not to do that. It sounds like you've been fairly restrained though.

Remember The Brittas Empire? The receptionist did that 😂

Get ready OP as this will be a recurring theme as you further enter parenthood: other/previous parents' need to offer uninvited opinions as to why something isn't required/ isn't an issue. I'm 4 years in and still find it infuriating!

So yes: the baseline for most people is a fair bit of stuff, though you can argue what you need in the absolute immediacy is simply a car seat, single sleep space and a hospital bag worth of kit. However the luxury of the time to sort the rest tends to fall pre-baby!

I've never told people there isn't a lot of 'stuff'. I have told people it doesn't have to be expensive - almost everything my children owned until recently was used / borrowed / etc. There's 'so' much of everything out there already so we barely bought anything new.

Yes, it takes over a flat for sure so the best recommendation is above - make sure to clear things out ruthlessly to avoid getting over-taken by it. Some children hate a bouncer (my son), some love it (my daughter) so after a couple months with my son I passed it down to another friend to try.

I found the toys overwhelming - my children are the only grandchildren on both sides and it got to be a 'lot' really quickly. And the books everywhere. But just figure out a system of rotation, going through clothes regularly, getting rid of the tiny baby stuff immediately etc.

When you list it like you do yes of course it's quite a bit but I think what people mean is those (un)necessary things marketed at new families as absolutely vital. For instance we didn't have a steriliser, just did it in the microwave or boiled the bottle. Also didn't do it for very long. Sling was never popular with mine so glad I didn't buy it but borrowed one to try out. Muslins as well was not necessary for us, we did little flannels from IKEA which then doubled as a comfort blanket

First baby you want everything new, but in realitt you can get on facebook market place, borrow, or be given a lot of stuff.
Like a pram, everyone thinks tou neex some top of the range pram, but you really don't.
Bouncer, pick up on market place etc.
It sounds like you havent gone overboard though, and yes it is a whole other person and all their stuff in your house.
The toddler stage is crazy, all their toys are massive.. this dies down at around age 5 to 7 when they start to play with smaller things like lego.. although that has its own issues 😂

When I had my first I was broke due to sudden circumstances when I was pregnant.

In each side of clothing for the first year they has 14x vests, 24 sleepsuits ( wore them during the day for the first year as that’s what I prefer ) one all in one coat
baby box for a while when born then a cot I bought second hand
a couple of blankets and a sleeping bag
nappies and wipes
she had a very basic pram that did the job.
a milton tub non electric steriliser and Milton tablets
didn’t have bottles.
I did buy a second have tummy may and a basic bouncer.

when I had my second I was Much better financially and still bought the same 😂

I think it's having a small flat that's making it feel like you've got too much stuff. We had way more than that (including things people on MN always say you don't need, like a changing table), but all my friends and colleagues had already had babies so they gave us everything. I don't think I bought anything much except a cot mattress and a complete set of reusable nappies.

My mum did that with me!! I was a month early and she'd bought literally nothing yet so it was out of necessity but then i dont think she bothered to get something quickly, only a huge cot for when i was older.

Im assuming she took the drawer out of the drawer unit first and didnt actually close the drawer with me in it, but never confirmed this with her 🤣

Are you combi feeding? I wouldn’t go too mad on buying bottles yet. You can get them handy enough in the supermarket. Different babies prefer different bottle teats too so don’t buy too many. If you can borrow ones of people you know first to see which you get on with better.

Wait until the toys land.