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 😁

[firstimemamma]

Didn't bother: Moses basket (baby napped on me or sometimes in pram in living room)
Nappy bin
Sleepy head or similar (safety concerns)
Sleep toys such as Ewan the sheep

Regret: water wipes (switch to cheeky wipes and much prefer these)
Breast pump (didn't use!)
Disposable breast pads (switched to reusable, much better)
Dummy (never used)

Money well spent: online hypnobirthing course
Top and tail bowl
Next to me bedside crib
Cellular blankets
Sleep suits with built in scratch mitts
Muslins
Bepanthen
Sling (Tesco online bought for £30)

[firstimemamma]

Also instead of buying a white noise machine we just used our phones - white noise is available on YouTube.

[Aria999]

We did white noise on iPhone too

[CmdrCressidaDuck]

A cheap radio tuned to static also makes a very serviceable and cheap white noise machine if you don't want to use your phone.

[BabyofMine]

Travel system was a waste of £500. I wish I’d joined/visited a sling library beforehand and learned about them. I hadn’t the mental capacity to do it in the early days. She never liked the pram so we just ended up carrying her everywhere without a carrier and my back is wrecked.

Best thing was the Next to me crib.

[Cdstjooyv]

Perfect prep - bought one second hand for £15. Cleaned it all and got new filters. Loved it so much I bought a second on second hand (£10) so now I have one upstairs and one downstairs

Cold water steriliser - solution lasts 24 hours. Saves so much hassle. Wish I’d got one for the first baby!

[crustycrab]

Never used a sling but judging by these replies it could be useful for you.

Muslins spring to mind, very useful. Bottle warmer, not so much. You really don't need lots of outfits and you definitely don't need baby shoes. Also do not buy a cot bumper, they are dangerous.

Did anyone say it's bought not brought? Sorry, I'll bugger off now

[Mypathtriedtokillme]

Best of all: Terry Cloth nappy flats (the old fashioned ones) great burp cloths, baby towels, putting in the bottom of the baby bath, laying under the baby for vomit/drool and have eventually become hand towels, towels to take to the park and messy kid craft clean ups.

They are easy wash, cheap and wear well.
We used them for everything but as nappies!

[Areallthegoodnamesgone]

Babygrows with zips! Poppers are the work of the devil, especially at 4am.
The bassinet part of our travel system was a total waste of time for us. He hates lying flat so getting out was super stressful. When he outgrew it, at 11 weeks, we changed to the upright bit and he was like a different child

[user1497718723]

A bouncer, swing & shnuggle bath which all got used for 6 months.

No need for a cot mobile, they're never used

[firstimemamma]

@user1497718723 I use the cot mobile every time I need a wee at home!

[ForInstance]

Best: fabric sling (and a bit later BabyBjorn carrier), BabyBjorn bouncer - both absolute lifesavers

Worst: Sleepyhead, and outfits other than sleep suits. In a way it’s not so much what I bought that I regret but the act of panic-buying. “Amazon trigger finger”, as my cousin described it, is a real danger in the early weeks! It’s the one time you may want to actually ask DP to sense check your purchases

[user1497718723]

@firsttimemama

I wish my daughter would let me wee alone, one day I'm sure!

[CassandrasCastle]

I'm also pg with my first and am left more confused than ever by this thread
No no, it's actually really interesting to see what people found particularly useful - although I feel a bit despondent at everyone who didn't like Moses baskets, that's the one thing I have right now!
(@crustycrab haha, you naughty pedant :p )

[Gingemum93]

Purchase I couldn't live without definitely my car mirror. It seems small a trivial but I love to be able to see my little one when I'm driving and make sure shes ok.

Waste of money was our moses basket our little one likes to spread out and she is a long baby so she was in it maybe 2 weeks before she went into her cot. Xx

[CassandrasCastle]

🙈

[TheLette]

Best: sling. I recommend getting a stretchy wrap style one for the first few weeks, and then going to a sling library at around 6-8 weeks so you can get something which fits properly. Also nipple cream for the first week or so of breastfeeding.

Worst: changing bag (why?! Just use an existing bag/rucksack - I recommend a 17" Kanken if you don't have something already). Also for me - breast pads. Didn't need them. You might not either so don't go too crazy buying vast quantities in advance.

[RidingMyBike]

@firstimemamma I know, it's funny, isn't it?! One person's essential is another's absolutely pointless!

I know I did a huge amount of research and was very wary of wasting money so we didn't go mad buying stuff. We had a Next2Me for the first six months which was also absolutely brilliant. I probably wouldn't have bought a Moses basket but then the one we were given turned out to be one of our most used items. Everything we did buy was used a lot and feels worth it (apart from £100 on the hypnobirthing!!).

The best advice I got about buying a pram/pushchair/travel system was to consider lifestyle, size of car and what you'd be likely to be doing. We live somewhere with lots of toddler groups in a suburban area so I did a lot of pram trundling on pavements and it worked out brilliantly. But it's definitely not an off roader for instance!

[Snowpaw]

Best purchase - second hand silver cross travel system from eBay. A fraction of the new price and was in pristine condition. Absolutely don’t spend thousands on a fancy new pram. They end up getting covered in crumbs and dribbles and all sorts. Second hand all the way!

Barely used the baby bath.

[Snowflake9]

Couldn't live without

-white noise app. Download on my phone and play it at night. It's called baby sleep and runs in the background. It's free.
-grolight. It's a nightlight that screws into your normal light fitting. It fills the room with a dull blue light when you initially flip the switch, just enough to see what you are doing but it doesn't rouse baby into waking. It's been an absolute godsend.
-changing table - I had an emergency cecasarean and my DH returned to work on day 2. It was ideal.

• nappy bin. I use compatible refills from Amazon but it's been great at masking smells and tbh is the only hygienic way I see of disposal in my house
• toddle pod - bought one on Facebook for £10 and wish I had bought it from day one.

-portable changing mat - fold up put in your change bag and you can be sure of a clean surface every change.
-if you are having a little boy - BREAST PADS. open the nappy. Put a pad on his member so if he wees it absorbs into the pad. They are the perfect size.

• handmade knitted cardigans and hats. I can't find anything that keeps baby more comfortable in the cold
• pram liner - bumps out the car seat a bit more to make baby fit better when smaller and feel more secure.

Could do without

• rocker napper - paid £75 and he hated it
• dungarees. Such a pain in the backside when you have to change a nappy a million times a day
• baby shoes - a real faff.
• breast pads for intended use - they made me so sore !
• manual pump - didn't end up using it
• tommee tippee insulation bottle holders - don't work at all.

Good luck with your pregnancy.

Make sure you :
Always have a stash of wet wipes and nappies.
Always have washing powder !

[firstimemamma]

@user1497718723 haha aww she will let you one day! I bet she lets you do loads of other stuff that my ds doesn't!

[hammeringinmyhead]

I feel like I needed and/or used a lot of things in the first year despite being told I wouldn't.

Essential for us:

Cosatto travel system with car seat and adaptors - he naps in this twice a day
Tutti Bambini bedside crib
Fisher Price bouncer - all naps were in this for 6 months
Fisher price playmat - I used to get 30 mins at a time to eat/tidy/do laundry
Breastfeeding pillow
Perfect Prep - we mixed fed from 4 months and I'm still breastfeeding at 14 months
Millions of muslins for sick/spit up/milk
Schnuggle bath - no way he'd have fit in the kitchen sink after about 3 months old

Nice to have was a baby carrier, umbrella pushchair, Ewan the sheep, B Shirt for myself.

My worst purchase was a wrap jersey sling. I used it twice and realised I needed a buckled carrier to feel safe! He is also completely indifferent to Sophie the Giraffe.

[firstimemamma]

@RidingMyBike we loved the next to me crib. That's a good point about the travel system. We had a 3 wheeler and it did the job!

[ColaFreezePop]

@MotherWol that's why "friends with baby stuff they no longer needed or didn't use" is first on my list. Though I find your way of saying it is more realistic. Annoyingly most people don't want the stuff they "lent" to you back...

@user1497718723 mine was fascinated by her cot mobile. Luckily it was another unused thing given to me.

[hammeringinmyhead]

Seconding a car mirror. I had a very small baby and when he was silent in the back my sleep deprivation made me paranoid that he was in respiratory trouble rather than asleep.