To ask what I need?

[chxm19]

Posting here for mainly traffic as I really need help.

I'm expecting my first baby in May and going through what is left that we need to buy,

I've already sorted through what family and friends have already given us, we don't have much in the Newborn size but we have some things in up to 1 month/0-3/3-6.

I don't want to end up buying too much in case he doesn't fit in them/never wears them.

Can anyone please help and share what they had for their DCs? Many thanks!!!

I usually stuck with 0-3 months, at first, for mine, but they were big babies. Also had a decent amount of the next few sizes in case of growth spurt.

Don’t go too wild, but with all the sick and poo explosions (sorry ) you can never have too many. I had probably 6 baby grows and vests.

@Nowwhenitrains thank you! Did you buy much in newborn sizes or nothing at all?

Ds was in tiny baby until he was about 8 weeks. He was 6lb 14 born

I would get a few newborn bits to start and have someone on standby to get smaller if needed

Thank you, @Sirzy.

Yes, I don't want to assume he will be a big baby just because me and DP were.

As we don't have much at all in newborn I think I'm going to grab a few more bits, we have quite a lot in 0-3

I bought a couple of newborn bits as I didn’t know how big DS1 would be (9lb 1oz). Thankfully I also had a few 0-3 months bits too.

In addition to clothes, get a pack of terry towels, you can use them as burp cloths, play mats, change mats, etc. I use them for "nappy free time" as well.
And definitely get some swaddle wraps. The bigger the better. Or some swaddle suits (even better).
My baby liked to sleep with his arms up, so the Love To Dream suit was perfect. And he continuously broke out of swaddle blankets, so it's good to have a swaddle suit he's comfortable in and can't break out of.

I found I bought a lot of vests for explosions but DS wasn't that sort of baby so I used each vest once before he grew out of them.

Do you know if you are having a boy or a girl? We didn't find out so had months of them wearing grey and white. I couldn't wait to go out and buy boy/girls clothes but had to wait til DS was 3 months and grew out of all the 0-3 month clothes I bought

Sorry just see you said "he". Ignore me then lol

DD went through way more than 6 sets of clothes a day but she did have reflux and undiagnosed CMPA.

I asked my midwife and she said don’t buy any smaller than up to one month. By the time we were out of hospital at 10 days her vests were already too small.

Thank you everyone

Was there anything that you didn't buy that you wish you had?

I just want to make sure I have everything as this is my first and I really don't know what to expect

I got mainly 0-1m size (next and h&m stock this) and 0-3m.

I stocked up on bodysuitd and sleepsuits and kept them in them for the first 6months apart from "special outings" which I used the outfits people had gifted.

I also got an all in one zip up microfleece for wearing out and about. Much easier than a snowsuit.

Some other things I found very useful:
A bouncer with detachable mobile, so you have somewhere safe to put baby when you're in the shower, cooking, etc. Detachable mobile is because sometimes they want to play and sometimes they get overwhelmed by the toys.

If breastfeeding, get the following: - a breastfeeding pillow as this will help with positioning and comfort

• lansinoh nipple cream (very helpful in the first few weeks when nipples are sore and still toughening up),
• a box of disposable breast pads, and if you find you leak heavily (as I still do), buy some bamboo washable pads as they can hold a lot more
• a haakaa silicone pump, which collects the "let-down" from the opposite side you're feeding from. As a heavy leaker, I found this a much more effective way to harvest milk than using a breast pump. I get between 50-80mLs of milk using the haakaa for a few minutes as opposed to pumping for 20minutes and getting under 50mL.
• 4 sleep nursing bras, the kind that are wire free and crossover, these will be comfier when you're engorged
• 2-3 fitted bursting bras (get fitted by someone who knows what they're doing, you need it to be supportive but also have a bit of give as your breasts vary in size when full if milk vs empty
• 4-5 nursing shirts, as they will make nursing in public much easier and more discreet. My baby hates nursing covers too, so it's nice just to have a little bit of breast exposed as opposed to my entire stomach. Shirts that button down, or tie up at the front, also work well.

Other stuff I found useful:

• 2-3 muslin cloths, they work well as burp cloths and pram covers, nursing covers etc
• 1 dummy. You don't want to get too many in case baby won't take it, but it's handy to have 1 and if DC likes them, you can buy more. Just don't give it until 1-2 weeks in if breastfeeding, to avoid nipple confusion. Don't use it all the time, babies need their mouths free so they can practice mouth shapes and learn to talk, but they are useful when trying to settle baby down to sleep.
• a good quality water bottle and thermos. You will need to drink lots of water, and a thermos so you don't have to keep microwaving forgotten cups of tea.
• some easy to prepare snacks and meals. Think sandwiches, sandwich meat, fruit and veg you can eat one handed etc
• in the month before your due date, cook double batches of dinner, and freeze the leftovers so you have a freezer full of easy food.
• some hand soap that is gentle on the skin, as you will be washing hands at least 20 times a day with nappy changes and this can dry out your skin very quickly.
• a Netflix subscription, and download the app on your phone, as it's nice to have something to stare at when feeding constantly. I watch it with volume right down and subtitles on so that baby isn't woken up by it.

@PRoseLegend thank you, very useful list!

I wish I had a Netflix subscription - don’t underestimate how much TV you will be watching.

With an Amazon prime subscription you can get some things within 24 hours.

I strongly recommend you get a thermometer.

Get your newborn bits as close to the end as poss and then hopefully can exchange for a diff size if needed. Seems a faff but not really and saves waste

When our pfb was born we'd only bought size 0-3 months clothes, not realising there was new born size etc. He was 6lb 11oz and his sleep suits were far too big! He started life in a borrowed sleep suit from the hospital until dh went and bought some new born sized sleep suits (in the same style as the 0-3 months ones as that is what we wanted to take him home in.)

His younger brothers all wore the same clothes so they still fitted at 8lb 4 oz, 8lb 12oz and of course 7lb 9oz (ds4 was smaller than ds2 and ds3). So, unless your ds grows at a rapid pace the new born size clothes will last a few weeks so half a dozen sleep suits and vests/bodysuits in new born size are useful. Of course, it all depends on how fast your ds grows for how long the new born size fits.

Muslin squares were a lifesaver, keep plenty handy for putting over your shoulder when winding as they protect you from the milk really well. They are great for mopping up little bits of milk that end up on the floor too and they wash really well. I eventually worked out they were useful to fold up and put under babies head while on the changing mat too, if they milk up on the mat it gets soaked up by the cloth and the cloth is there to wipe the face rather than having to search for one/grab a wipe/flannel before baby moves their head around in it and gets covered in milk all over their hair. Also, if he wees on the mat you can just grab the muslin to soak it up, much bigger and more effective than wipes, flannels etc.

My baby was too big for newborn size when he was born. He wore 0-3 from the beginning. I had a dozen sleepsuits in 0-3, a dozen in 3-6, and by the time he was ready for 6-9 he was starting to get mobile and it was more convenient to just put him in normal pyjamas at night and leggings/dungarees and long sleeve top during the day. He also had one hat and two cardigans (one to wash and one to wear).

I’d wait and see how big your baby is. You can buy extra sleepsuits after he’s born if you need to.

I had an 11pounder so he went straight into 3-6 month stuff.

So when my next baby came I was entirely unprepared for a normal sized baby and had hardly anything in his size.

How big are you measuring?

Mine was 7lb 4 oz but seemed to be disceptively small. He was in first size/new born for about 5 weeks. My mum joked she was fed up of seeing the 5 baby gros I’d bought in that size. I had to wash them daily

Haven't been measured yet so I have no idea if big/small?

I absolutely loved the long thin v-shaped cushion from John Lewis. Wish I’d never got rid of it actually. Perfect for reading in bed.

Newborn clothes were too small for mine when they were born!
You absolutely cannot have too many bibs and muslins, they are so useful.
Get envelope necks and remember, they are so you can get the garment off downover when a poonami happens so the poo doesn't go anywhere near the baby's little face.

I thought I was having a big baby and she ended up small so all the 0-3was massive.

Sent dh out to buy newborn and just got a few plain white vests and baby grows in asda.

I found amazon prime and Argos very helpful in early days. Would think.... oh a bouncy chair would be good and then it was there the next day.

Large Muslins very helpful, wilko nappy bags, if you bf lanolin nipple cream and lanolin breast pads I found the nicest.

In my hospital bag I took hair bands and was very glad to have them mid labour to get my scraggly hair off my sweaty face.

DS is my first and I just thought all babies went straight into 0-3 months 😂 that’s all I bought, and was mostly given 0-3/3-6, I was given a few newborn size items. I remember DPs gran gave me 2 tiny baby deep suits at my baby shower and I thought why has she given me this. I stupidly thought they were for prem babies. Turns out when DS was born those two things were the only things that fit him initially. I had to go out and get more as he wore that for the first 5 weeks, then I could get away with newborn, although he had plenty room. He was 6lb14 but went down to 6lb10 with initial weight loss. I’d get some newborn bits as close to due date as possible, keep the recepit and you can return if you don’t need.

Nappies, stock up on a couple who of each size packs, adding one to a shop each week sure helps.