To buy baby stuff cheaply or second hand?

[Bambooshkka]

I'm expecting first DC and am totally clueless.

I know I need to buy a car seat and crib / cot mattress brand new, but is there anything else that must be brand new as opposed to second hand?

Also is there any need to spend a lot on expensive stuff? For example my friend has recommended This rocker at £300 (!) whereas I have bought a second hand one similar to This at an NCT sale for a fiver.

Likewise for the crib, I have a second hand wooden crib (Mothercare) that was £15 but friends are recommending the Chicco Next to Me or Halo Swivel Sleeper which are ten times the price!

This is the crib I have - secondhand and I will get a brand new mattress for it.

Obviously I want my baby to be comfortable and most of all safe. But I don't want to needlessly waste money on unnecessary stuff as I'd rather save money for when the baby is older.

The mattress should be brand new, but you know that. Second hand is fine for most things. I assume your friends are having PFBs.

Yanbu - I still buy most of my children's clothes and books second hand and they are primary age. So many bargains to be had on eBay and local facebook sites, all in amazing condition. When babies are little they grow so fast, most clothes and furniture, equipment etc hardly gets used. I do buy new shoes though. Enjoy the bargains! I have used what we saved not buying new on annual passes to our favourite theme park and zoo. Free days out = happy kids, win win.

You don't need the next 2 me etc. Get the furniture you like that fits with your plans and budget. They are babies for a very short time there's sense in restraining your spending and squirrelling away for the future.

Nope. We had a second hand sling too.
Plus clothing- they grow out of it so quickly.

Agree second hand is fine for most things. They grow out of baby things very quickly.

I cant think of anything else that should be new, just run your hands over everything & give it a shake to make sure there's no sharp bits and it won't fall apart.
I should think most kids have been raised on hand me downs over the years. We used to pass a bin liner around the street. You'd put in what you no longer need and take out what you want.

Everything for DS, bar mattress and car seat, is second hand (apart from clothes and toys bought by relatives/friends).

YANBU. I am a real bargain hunter and you can save so much money by getting things second hand. You need a new car seat and mattress for the cot but everything else can be second hand. Baby clothes are ridiculously cheap second hand. And there are brilliant deal to be had on eBay/gumtree on larger items like buggies and cots.

Next to me cots are fashionable at the moment but they are not necessary. Just push your crib next to your bed if you want your baby to be close to you at night.

I bought almost everything I could secondhand and then later on when I had a better idea of what worked for us I did buy a few new things like a new umbrella stroller at 6 months that I knew I’d be able to use for a good few years. but mostly secondhand is fine and it’s nice to get a bargain! Baby won’t know any different so long as it’s clean and safe

If formula feeding, don't buy a second hand Perfect Prep machine - the inner workings apparently become mouldy over time

Ignore your friends. They will realise how much there is to pay for as their children get older (winter coats, school shoes and uniform, swimming lessons, next stage car seats, birthday parties, etc) and regret spending £300 on a rocker.
I would rent a sling from a baby carrying group a babies tend to ore from here anyway. Then you can buy one second hand once you find one you like.

That should have said babies prefer these anyway.

We spent a fortune on a beautiful cot bed, never even used the bed stage as the excitement then came in putting him in his first proper bed. Tried to sell second hand and couldn’t get rid of it and gave to charity shop so in end was complete waste of money !

I personally didn't buy anything secondhand, but we both only the necessities really and we didn't buy all the fancy expensive stuff. It's easier second time around to know what you need and what's worth spending a bit more on. We kept our first (and plan to with 2nd as well) almost entirely in vests and babygros for the first 3-4 months. No outfits (that cost a lot more) and I didn't get loads, just washed clothes regularly. We didn't get lots of fancy gadgets. We had a basic sound monitor and a basic vibrating bouncy chair. We didn't have loads of toys. I mostly just gave her things from around the house to play with. We had a bedside cot, but not one of the purpose made ones. It was a standard IKEA cot with one side removed, so we got a solid year of use out of it and it was much cheaper than the bedside sleepers you buy that only last a few months. The only thing I did generally spend good money on was several wraps and an ergobaby carrier. These were a lifesaver. My woven wrap I got probably 2.5 solid years of use out of with my first, same with the ergo (which my dh used more). And we'll use them again with baby #2. Same with a good quality ERF seat once she outgrew her infant car seat. We got nearly 4 years of use out of it (til she was 4.5) and it lasts for 10 years, so baby #2 will get another 4 years of use out of it probably. I have a friend who bought mostly secondhand but was shopping constantly and her house was full to the brim with stuff. I'm not sure she saved much money!

We hired a Bednest co-sleeper. There have been a couple of horrific incidents (which I wasn't aware of when I googled it in sleep deprived desperation) but I believe that these were caused by improper use - follow the instructions and it's fine. We then sent it back once it was outgrown.

The only expensive bit of kit I've bought new was my sling, because I knew exactly the one I wanted and was too impatient to wait for a second hand one to come up. Oh and car seats, of course. But the cotbed and every pram I've ever had was secondhand, ditto his first bike seat (a WeeRide) and a fair few of his clothes. Other stuff that is new tends toward the no frills end of the spectrum - good old Ikea for an Antilop highchair, plastic plates and cutlery, sales or supermarkets for clothes, eBay for things like waterproofs. Books and toys often come from charity shops - you can get some bargains. The only things I'd never stint on are shoes and safety gear like car seats.

The only new thing we bought for (P)FB was a SleepyHead so she could co-sleep safely. It's a sort of nest (looks a bit like a dog bed) for bubba to snuggle up in.

Didn't bother with a cot for months, she slept with us. Car seat was loaned, buggy second hand, sling on loan, clothes mostly seconds or gifts. That, nappies, wipes and IKEA flannels (pack of 10 for £3) was really all that was needed.

As BF didn't work out we also bought new bottles and a steriliser.

The only thing we bought new for DD who is now 3 weeks was a car seat, pram (because I really wanted a shiny new one) and mattresses for 2nd hand cot and next to me crib, everything else was 2nd hand - even the reuseable nappies! Haven't found anything I'm missing and need to buy new yet but we are only 3.weeks in...

Thanks all
Do pram mattresses need to be brand new too?

I didn't even think about the pram mattress and just washed the one that it can with (secondhand). Maybe I should have bought a new one but he wasn't in it that often. No idea?

We were gifted cot so bought a mattress for that, the Moses basket was DP's when he was a baby (bought new mattress for that). Car seat was new. Everything else was secondhand. We just bought the odd thing here and there as we wanted it. Most was from friends, but we bought the pram/travel system secondhand and it cost us 75% of the price new (and nobody knows!)

I’m just feeling like such a paranoid clueless Mum to be! Worried that everything I buy will somehow be wrong and hurt the baby.

Try not to worry too much, as long as you check everything for any signs of wear and tear and wash what can be washed maybe use disinfectant wipes on what can't be washed I'm sure you will be fine, babies can be surprisingly resiliant and they wont notice or even care if what they're wearing or sleeping in isn't brand new

Mattress and car seat aside, there is very little that DD (now 8) had brand new, and she still lives in mainly second hand clothes. We're lucky in that there is a lovely lady who sells her daughters stuff to me at a very reduced price, or gives it to me free.

DS gets a lot of t-shirts and jumpers second hand, but boys seem to be harder wearing on trousers so he gets those new.

Buy the safety bits new, but don't spend a fortune on new stuff if you don't have to or want to. I'd also suggest getting bottle teats new - although I have a friend who says a good sterilise and they're fine

One point to note - we got a lovely M&P crib second hand, DD refused to sleep in it, moses basket - no chance, my sister bought us a brand new travel cot (one of those ones with a raised bit to save your back) DD refused to sleep in that, in the end she actually spent a month sleeping in a washing basket lined with a mattress, and she finally started sleeping properly, then we moved her back to a crib where she was then happy - you do what you've got to do

I only bought a new outfit for baby to come home from hospital in, I bought all other newborn/0-3 clothing second hand. It was all in excellent condition, they only wear the items a couple of times before they've grown out of them. I bought bundles of clothes off ebay/fb the first couple of years, people don't know things are second hand unless you tell them. I still buy jeans second hand as they tend to last well, even with a (presumably) active previous owner!

Almost all DS clothes are second hand from family, eBay, or charity shops. Only things new were gifts or vests/ onesies which I treat like underwear (and therefore wanted new). We didn't get a new pram mattress, but it was second hand from a family member I know doesn't smoke. If buying from a stranger I would have got a new pram mattress.