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 😁

We mixed fed so the Tommee Tippee bottle machine that makes bottles safely to the correct temperature within 1-2 minutes saved my life. Game changer, truly.

Pretty outfits (more than one). It's pointless apart from photos.

If you’re planning to BF a breastfeeding cover may be handy. I had one and used it every day, it meant I had a lot more freedom in terms of outfits as it didn’t matter if I was fully exposed under the cover. Of course that might not bother you anyway, but I liked having something to cover me up.

Hippy chick hip rider was brilliant too.

Waste of time - Moses basket.

God send - sleepyhead & a white noise app on my phone that was actually free

Waste of money - Moses basket! He was in this for 2 weeks before I had to buy a next2me crib

Oh and mam bottles & prep machine were also essential for me

I bought a new born car seat and then replaced it with a fixed one after 2 months of use

Best: my stretchy sling and later our ergobaby carrier. Could not have survived without them, especially city-living. Also our breastfeeding pillow. Great for propping up tiny baby on visitors/DH/tired mum.

Waste of money: all the dummies and bottles we bought as DS rejected each one and never took to them :(

Snuggle bundle - lifesaver

Bumbo seat - useless

Something that hasn't been mentioned but has reallly come into its own since weaning is my cordless dyson. (Other brands are available ) After DD has been eating toast on the floor, after meals, when DD1 gets hold of a bag of cotton wool balls, it takes no time or hassle just to whip it out and clean up and means you're not stressing at the unfathomable amount of mess that is being created!

Used every day:

• Connecta baby carrier
• vibrating bouncer (bounce them with your foot whilst cooking, reading, etc)
• a good buggy (I had twins and LOVED my bugaboo donkey)
• good travel mug with stainless steel interior to keep tea/coffee hot all morning

Posted too soon! Meant to add a white noise machine to above. Absolute life saver.

Bought but did not use:

• swing
• jungle gym
• moby wrap
• changing mat (we just used the one from the nappy bag and would change them wherever we happened to be in the house at the time, almost never at a changing table/station)

Couldn’t live without a sling.

Never used the cot!

• 1 thing you brought a couldn't live without for your newborn

For child no.2 our close caboo sling

• 1 thing you brought and new used/was a complete was of money

For child no.1 our close Caboo sling...

This is part of the problem. Different babies like different things. Even with the sling example, child no.1 bloody hated it. Maybe used it twice max. Child no.2 lived in it and could only be settled by cuddling in the sling.

More generally we found most baby things useful. Yes you could do without a nappy bin etc but lots of things make your life easier. The only wasted things really were newborn outfits, baby shoes (both babies never wore them) and a cot mobile (by the time they went in their cot, the mobile was dangerous so was the most pointless purchase we made as it never left the box).

Best:
Positive birth company digital pack (online hypnobirthing course, helped me understand the process of birth so much better!)
Sling - use mine every day, couldn't manage without it.
Useless:
Moses basket - anathema to my babies
Baby bath - Easier to use sink then big bath

Two best things - one was a breast bud which you put on the breast you arent feeding with whilst feeding baby and it collects run off. Helped me to get a good freezer store of back up breast milk which was a godsend on days she for whatever reason wouldnt feed on me. Second was my pregnancy pillow dreamgenie. As for worst purchase, that would be my baby bath which I barely used as we ended up getting in with her which gave us more control.

I would also say that you shouldn't worry about cot decor like bumpers etc as they're dangerous for baby. Similarly those sleep nest things. The lullaby trust gives great advice on those. I had a sleep nest but a very cheap one compared to the leading brand and used it only a handful of times in the day as I couldn't let her sleep in it unsupervised.

Moses basket for ds1 and ds3 were brilliant but ds2 and ds4 and dd would not settle in them
Bouncy chair was great for ds1,ds3,ds4 and dd .
Ds2 hated it
I had a swing for ds4 and dd both liked it for a while then just decided that they hated it.
Only 2 out of my 5 DC had dummies other 3 just refused it.
A baby bath that fitted on top of the bath was great
Jumperoo for ds4 and dd was well worth the money
Nappy bin used for ds1 only used it a few times I passed it on to a friend who loved it though.
Wrap around sling used for ds4 and dd was great
Sleepsuits are great I dressed ds1 and 2 in outfits every day when I had ds3,4 and dd they wore sleepsuits much more comfortable and less messing about when changing.

I'm also pg with my first and am left more confused than ever by this thread

you don't have to be!
Just think about your own house, your own lifestyle and go from there.

most important:
buy 2 or 3 comforter teddy, NOT JUST ONE!
and only give that to baby so they become their "safety blanket" or whatever. It's madness to have 1 only, you can't wash them, if you lose it it's despair. You don't have to tell your child you have spares, but if they are used from pretty much birth to a cleaner one appearing, they won't drag a filthy toy forever.

LABEL your (their) favourite teddy/blanket, so if lost someone might be able to call you. Most people are nice.

I disagree with the comforter suggestion @JosefKeller. We were gifted 3 or 4 different types and DD hasn't been interested in any of them, and I'm glad.

If you don't give them one they won't develop an attachment and you don't need to worry.

you might be right for some children, but I do not know any child who doesn't have ONE comforter of some kind. It might be an actual toy designed as a comforter, a blanket, one of mummy's jumper or scarf, anything.

I found it so much easier to buy a couple of specific ones, not stress about keeping them clean or losing them. All the other teddies were introduced later.

Must have:
Sling (although I did get this after having baby and trialling at sling library which I highly recommend)
Baby bjorn bouncer

Waste of money
Electric swing my MIL kindly bought me in the hope baby would sleep - both my children and BIL's child barely went in it and was too small to use past about 4 months
All bottles as I ended up ebf and barely ever gave a bottle. The free MAM samples would have been more than adequate. Sounds absolutely ridiculous but I never even knew that it was possible to never need to use formula and bottles - I was under the assumption it was what everyone did after a certain point.

Also disagree with comforter suggestion. We gave my eldest muslins as a comforter, made sure we rotated them so she didn't get attached to just one so never ran out. Around the age of 2, she decided one specific muslin was her favourite and she would only sleep with that (and typically it can't be replaced!). She also decided she wanted to sleep with one of my old teddies at a similar age and has chosen that to be her bedtime buddy. DH gifted it to me when we started dating 15 years ago so also not replaceable.

@JosefKeller mine doesn't have any of any kind, and my friends DS doesn't either.

I do remember my cousin having a teddy that she lost and she was hysterical for weeks after. Even exact replicas didn't do the job.

For me it makes sense not to introduce them in the first place, but each to their own.

I also disagree with a comforter. My 18 month of DS doesn’t have one and it’s great because I never have to worry if he has lost it

Mine is only 7 weeks so early days but my most used things so far are:
Tommee tippee perfect prep machine
Constant supply of muslin cloths
Lots of cushions everywhere to support my arms when holding him - he's a very big baby!

Things I haven't liked/used:
Baby bath. My child is huge and outgrew it in no time!
Bibs

I'm going to go against the grain re: outfits - dressing my baby in outfits has helped me massively when he's been grumpy/I've not slept/I feel just miserable. He looks adorable, I feel like I've got it together more and seeing him in all the things I chose for him while I was pregnant cheers me up no end. :)

For me it makes sense not to introduce them in the first place, but each to their own.

the point is that when you don't introduce one to them, they chose one themselves and it's harder.

yours are obviously the exception, but I don't know any child who doesn't have "something".

Best sling
Worst Moses basket. Literally never slept in it.
Also not good was the nappy bin

Best of all thing was a cooperative grandma !