First Time Mum Purchases

[GingerRH]

AIBU to ask

• 1 thing you brought a couldn't leave without for your newborn
• 1 thing you brought and new used/was a complete was of money

First time mum trying to get prepared on a budget. I posted her to get more replies 😁

My most useless thing was a sling ( tries lots of them).being short with big babies, and me with big boobs short arms and a bad back it really didn't work

Currently on second DC.

Best buys- Close caboo sling, literal life saver and the only way I could do anything when mine were first born as they wouldn’t go in a pram. BT monitor with camera to keep an eye when you start being able to put them down for naps properly. Next to me style crib, even if you end up co sleeping it extends the bed and you don’t have to worry about baby falling out.

Worst buys- self rocking swings. I had a mama roo which friends bought me with my first- he hated it and never sat in it. I stupidly bought a similar swing for this one as I thought no way could both hate something most babies love but again she won’t sit in it. Both have preferred cheap 20 quid standard bouncer chairs . Also scratch mits. I got inundated with scratch mits when I had both DC and all they do is fall off. Total waste of time and energy

My DS is 5 months and my absolute best buys were: Venicci travel system (should last until he is 3), prep machine (life saver in the AM), clothes wise just loads of babygrows, the odd nice outfit is nice but they wear babygrows pretty much constantly. And not expensive ones either because they are poo stained quickly 😂

Waste of money for me was a Moses basket, big baby and sleeps with his arms spread out like Christ the redeemer so he outgrew it at 6 weeks! Baby swing - he hated it and must have been in it 3 times max.

Don’t worry about buying too much in advance. If there’s anything you miss or decide would help after baby is here you can order online and get almost anything next day.

DS was born 4 weeks early and I still had some bits to buy!

Oh also, you won't need them yet but ikea high chair is great and super cheap.

We also had a mock 'stokke' chair that we were given, has turned out to be very useful as it's still used as a dining chair for 4 yo, because it means she's at a proper height to eat at the table.

Oh also, everyone needs a pram/stroller hand muff to keep your hands cosy in the winter!

We used to use the kitchen sink for baths for ages! You could regulate temp, it was at a decent height, and I could lay out the towel on the “dirty” side of the sink for afterwards and could have all the “wet” things (soap, sponge, squirt toy) on the draining board for easy access and it didn’t matter how much I splashed there.

(And tiled floor was easy to dry up also if DD got very splashy herself!)

Best - a baby bean bag

Worst - perfect prep machine and I bottled fed from Birth

Most useful things:

• friends with baby stuff they no longer needed or didn't use including variety of carriers/wrap for newborn to 3/4 months, Moses basket, variety of bottles, toys, clothes, baby bath
• new cot mattress

Most useless things:

• dummies as didn't take to them
• pram suits. I used 3 out of the initial 8 I was given.
• baby gros and newborn tops with buttons at the back

Sleepyhead was priceless

Baby carrier was a waste of money

My must haves: Moses basket was brilliant (passed on by a friend). It meant we had somewhere safe to put baby down in living room. Or I'd take it into the bathroom with me whilst I had a shower. Pram also brilliant - loved being able to get her all snuggled in there and walked miles pushing it!

Pointless waste of money: hypnobirthing course

Wish I'd bought but didn't: thought all women could breastfeed and formula unnecessary. Turned out not to be true! Wish I'd got some of those ready to feed bottles of formula in.

Pram suits are very unpractical: baby is too hot as soon as you are inside and it's a lot of faff to put them in and out every time you go in a shop!

Footmuff are so much better, just unzip when you are inside, zip back when you go outside, keeps the baby a lot more comfortable.

Living in London, 2nd floor flat.

Best: Ergobaby 360, swing, Sleepyhead for daytime naps, Grosnug for swaddling early on, Grobags once older, Babyzen Yo-yo pram with newborn add-on, Manhattan Toy Skwish (the first toy he ever played with), Bibado bibs for weaning, Spectra S1 breast pump (had low supply issues), mini fridge for bedroom (supplemented formula/BM), Snuzpod

Worst: Connectors for car seat to Babyzen, too many 0-3/3-6 clothes and “outfits” as we were given so many, Close Caboo sling (just didn’t get on with it), teething glove, teething bibs, breast pads (I never leaked and I bought 2 huge boxes in preparation!!!)

Nappy bins are a godsend

Instead of filling the other bins so you can't put anything else in them, keep the nappies and the smell. If you are in a flat, really worth having.
You can do without in a house

Hello- mum to an 11 week old here!
We were on a budget and so research for me was very important.
Things that we love and use everyday:
Tommy Tippee perfect prep machine
Next to me crib
Shnuggle bath

Whether you need a nappy bin depends on what type of flat or house you live in as some of my friends in houses needed them. If you have ready access to an outside bin you don't need one.

The most useful thing I bought was the baby sling as it meant I could travel with ease and do things and my little one loved being in it.

The most useless thing was the Sleepyhead as my little one refused to sleep in it and it was a blinking nuisance to store (was able to sell it on though for almost what I had paid which was good!)

Can't live without - baby carrier. so much easier than a pram

Waste of money - Tommie tippie nappy bin. To be fair I got it free on an Amazon order but the refills are so expensive a little pointless. even more so now I'm using cloth nappies

Best: sling, Hakka pump

Worst: baby coats - warms all the wrong bits in the sling

You will get a huge huge variety of answers here because people have different lifestyles and different babies

This is absolutely right - I used a sling a lot, and didn't need a baby monitor (tiny flat), and ended up regifting a nappy bin because it was completely pointless. But other people's babies and lives are different, so you really have to go with what works for you. I think the best thing is buy as little as possible to start, and if you can, borrow it first to see if it's worth investing in. If you have friends who have kids already, ask, many people are only too happy to get that shit out of the house lend you stuff for a trial run.

Useful: close caboo ring sling type carrier.
Bouncy chair.

Not useful:
Expensive travel system (uppababy)..I should have realised living rurally with nowhere in walking distance I barely used it. Both preferred the carrier - don't fall for anyone who claims all babies will sleep in a pram, neither of mine ever would.

@RidingMyBike I don't mean this rudely but apart from the pram my list would be the total opposite to yours! Just goes to show how personal / individual this all is, it's so interesting to read how other mums do it.

I'm about to re-equip for dd2 so have been thinking about this!

Useful:
-Nappy bin (korbell). Keeps the smell out of the rest of the house. We still have ours going strong 4 years later.
-Bjorn miracle sling. Only goes up to 14 months but so lovely and easy.
-Shnuggle bath. (We also borrowed a friend's bucket bath when DS was very young and it was great but they're pricy given its basically just a plastic bucket that's only useful for the very early months).

• car seat that clipped onto pram frame as if they're asleep when you arrive they can stay that way
• big black muslin to drape over the pram and make it dark for sleeping (careful to ensure there is air getting in though)
• several dozen muslin cloths for putting on your clothes while holding baby and for wiping up. Babies puke constantly. You can't have too many.
• a breastfeeding cushion.
• medela swing breast pump (I tried one other, it was agony)
• not for newborn but one of those play mats with dangly toys on.

Not useful

• bjorn bouncer. He hated it.
• Moses basket. Going to try again though as the one we had was too big and bulky so I didn't carry it round much
• about 6 other slings. If there's a sling library near you, try before you buy!
• a sterilizer. The dishwasher does it fine.

Also the angelcare bath support for baby is fantastic wish I'd had one for my first you can just bath them in the big bath. Anything other than sleepsuits for the first few months was pointless.

White noise machine. We lived in an apartment when DS was born and it was noisy - and so is my husband. It was a lifesaver and DS still uses that thing every single night and he is 9! (we live in a house now but husband is still noisy).
Waste of money was fancy and expensive bag to tote stuff around in. Any old bag with pockets will do. Does not have to be a fancy "baby" bag.