Due May 2009 - It's all in front of us now!!!!

[divedaisy]

And on we go!!

Cote Thank you - thats a fair point...

Cote good point, when I think about it there are not so many essentials... but then I get my shopping head on

OK so this is what I am currently thinking of getting before baby is here:

pram/travel system
car seat
cot + bedding [lot of fitted furniture in what will be the nursery so don't intend to buy anything else for now]
Moses basket or amby hammock thing, not sure which
sling
few basic clothes in newborn & 0-3 [nothing fancy, I'm sure rellies will buy lots!]
Nappies
Changing mat
Cotton wool, wipes etc
Baby bath (maybe)
Towels for baby
Baby monitor

Am thinking of bf-ing, but am wondering if it's a good idea to get a few bottles etc & breast pump in case I need to express or resort to formula.

That's all I can think of for now. Have I missed anything obvious, and are there things on my list that're unnecessary? I'm thinking nice clothes, toys etc will find their way to me without me consciously having to go out shopping for them

Spanglemaker,

With my first, I wanted the cot and everything ready before she arrived, even though you don't really need it for the first few months. I would only get basic bedding, as its hard to know in advance whether baby would "prefer" sleeping bags or sheets/blankets or swaddle.

Never under-estimate how much cotton wool you will go through (most babies have very sensitive skin so wipes may trigger nappy rash at first) so buy in bulk! If you are like me, then breast pads (also in bulk) are a must-have although not vital straight away usually as milk takes a few days to come in.

I would hold off on the pump and bottles until you need them- you can always send someone out to get one (which is what i did). You would also need a steriliser if you go down this route (although some research says that sterilising isnt vital I find i have done it for the first 6 months just for peace of mind).

I agree- rellies love buying baby clothes so don't buy loads- just hat, scratch mitts, "going-home" outfit (although might be quite mild in May so nothing too heavy), sleepsuits, vests etc.

Baby bath isn't an essential- you can use a washing up bowl, or better still, we got one of those moulded bath seats so baby can go in big bath and you don't need to hold them as they wriggle around!

Other essentials are muslin squares- great for mopping up baby sick etc.

Also a baby blanket- useful when out and about for car seat and pushchair.

And (personally speaking)- dummies and nipple cream (lansinoh (sp)). great for if you plan to breastfeed and baby is just comfort sucking for hours on end (ouch!).

Sure i must have missed something.

Oh yes, and a top and tail bowl. Really useful for washing baby in those early days- one end is for holding water for washing sticky eyes/face/neck etc and the other end for their bum.

Thanks spangle and pulapula, exactly the kind of stuff I need to know.

I religiously used the top and tail bowl, and was super careful to stick to the right end for washing baby.

After a few months or so I wondered why. I used a clean bit of cotton wool, wet it, washed baby, binned it, and repeated over. The dirty cotton wool never went back in the bowl, so another bit of kit you can do without really.

Our Moses basket was unused and unloved, DS never settled in it. He slept soundly in his carry cot, I'm so glad we bought it. Luckily the carry cot fit nicely onto the Moses basket stand.

I never used Lanisoh, in fact, it is still upstairs, unopened, after 2 years of breastfeeding. I never needed breast pads either!

I so under-estimated the number of maternity pads required. I took the hospital bag lists literally when they suggested packing a packet of maternity pads! I must have used 100s!

hi just signing in to new thread
hello to our new ones.

i'm surfing on phone again and can't easily look up previous posts but you'll know who the next is meant for..

congrats on the scan a boy yay!

sorry about your bleeding scare and your dad's heart again.

yes lansinoh cream! a big tube cotton wool pads rather than balls are easier to use. when choosing basic clothes as a first timer.. go for anything wrap over rather than over the head styles and sleep suits with built in scratch mitts are fab.

not been on much as have been struggling with v bad head cold and all that goes with it. ds shook it off nice and quick leaving me shattered trying occupy him while feeling crappy.

Lansinoh (purple tube, expensive but worth its weight in gold if your nipples are falling off)
Breast nurse (green plastic scary looking things that you can warm up or cool down to relieve engorgement and make milk flow better - loved these)
Giant knickers (for you, not the baby). I got 5 for £1 I think (tesco value or something like that) before DD2 - wore them each once and chucked them. Much comfier than horrible paper pants (uck)
Giant sanitary pads (lots of them!) - you WILL be glad you got them.
You don't need to buy too much for the baby - monitor, nappies etc, somewhere for it to sleep, vests and sleepsuits will do to start with. Dummies and a steriliser if you plan on using them (plus pump if you want to express but again you can get that later). I'd concentrate on getting things organised (nearer the time obviously) for yourself! By which I mean fill your freezer with food (homemade meals if you can) so you don't have to think about cooking for a few weeks, get organised with cards / presents for any birthdays etc coming up, get ironing/cleaning etc up to date or pay someone to come in for a few wks and do it! Or pursuade your mum or someone to do it for free. I'm sure you get my drift - basically think of everything you take for granted (eg, time to empty the dishwasher) then factor that OUT of your day for a good few wks.
You will get given an alarming amount of clothes and other stuff - so I'd just wait a couple of wks after the baby is born then it will be obvious what you are missing (if anything).
Oh yes, get muslins too. They are useful for a hundred things!
Errrrrrr, can't think of anything else.
Buggy/car seat/ and or sling obviously too.

By the way if I had a £300 budget for a new buggy I'd go to the shop, try them all out, pick the one I like the best and if it was too expensive (which knowing me it would be) I'd have no problem at all getting a good second hand one off ebay. Someone I know got an excellent Bugaboo and another friend just got an Out and About double buggy for about £200 and it has barely got a scratch on it! A good buggy can make your life so much easier (right, enough with the buggy talk, I just can't stop).
Sorry huge post

By the way this is what I'll be filling my freezer with before baba no3 (assuming I'm not caught unawares by an early one!)
Lasagne
Chicken pie
Macaroni Cheese
Various home made (chunky veg/chicken/lentil type) soups
Shepherds pie
etc
plus
Apple crumble
Yum

Yes, I should say I have super-leaky boobs and not every one needs breast pads. My record was maybe 3oz (90ml) milk leaking from one boob when feeding from the other- I started using plastic breast shells last time round to collect the milk to save money on breast pads and to add to my expressed milk but of course, not practical when out of the house and doesn't help when you suddenly get your "let-down" when in public (wet patches on tops are v. embarassing!).

llareggub- We were careful about using the right end of the top and tail bowl, mainly because we ended up with poo on our fingers lol (not very good at nappy changing!). Also after a while we started using cotton pleat rather than balls- much cheaper and at least you can rip off big pieces when you know its going to be a bad nappy!

I don't know whether boots still make them, but they did some baby vests with poppers on the shoulders, which negate the need to pull vest over tiny baby's head as you can pull them up from the bottom end. So much easier.

We "lent" our newborn clothes (including the special vests, and some clothes which had sentimental value) to someone and they didn't realise we'd want them back so donated them to a charity shop when they'd finished with them! Oh well, will have to go out and get some more!

Is anyone else feeling a little bit of fluttering in the stomach? It's quite high up, not where the baby is. I guess it's normal to have little sensations like this as our bodies grow and stretch, isn't it?

Haven't felt sick for a few days - hoping this is cos I'm coming out of that stage rather than that there could be anything wrong.

xx

oh and if you're thinking of getting a thermometer go for the digital one that you measure their temp via ear in seconds it is so much easier than the forehead ones etc... we have the braun one and it's fantastic

most of the next sleepsuits have built in scratch mitts but their website is awful to show anything up close. the end of one side of the cuff can be turned over to form the mitt... then folded back when not wanted.

verbaudet are great for the wrap over body suits... the ones that fasten with poppers i found easier than the ones with ties. these are popper fastened despite having the wrong picture...

also stock up your freezer with your favourite meals ready to defrost and cook.. if you were able in the last few weeks of pregnancy you did yourself or just bought in. you may be in no fit/awake state to be bothered to cook and you'll be reliant on food being prepared by maybe DP etc... which depending on your DP's cooking could be a lottery!

cross posts with frazzle re food etc. great minds think alike

btw i just got a few discount codes through on email...

for figleaves enter WEL3 for 15% off valid till 21st dec

if you spend £50.00 or more with melba maternity enter melautumn08 for 20% off valid until 30th nov

and blooming marvellous have now got a load of stuff at upto 50% off

God, I hate my Blooming Marvellous jeans. They are rubbish and fall down.

MsG - I'm getting flutterings where baby is... and sometimes get what feels like flutterings higher up...... and it ends up as a dose of wind !! Also the nausea does settle - you may find it comes and goes. I find this middle time the worst - when the MS goes and you can't feel anything 'definate' yet - roll on the kicks in the belly!!!

I think all I need for this one is a new travel system - buggy and infant carrier/car seat. Last time I had a (hated) system that had a carry cot that doubled as the car 'seat' - but it took up all of the back seat of my Peugot 307 - so that was quickly sent to charity once I could get rid of it. This time I'm seriously looking at a jane system.
I have a moses basket (charity shop and re-fabriced by myself), crib (made by my step-father for DS), baby box to keep all toiletries in, muslin squares (abolute need), vests, sleepsuits, socks, pyjamas, wee hats, bibs, baby bouncer seat thing, baby gym, play pen, bedding, sleeping bags, monitor (with sensor mat), blankets, change bag, some clothes, outdoor coat, CD DH made of lullabies, ... can't think of what else. It's all up in the attic and haven't got it out ... yet!! I borrowed a baby bath last time, but won't be bothered this time - the sink will do! I bathed my DS EVERY morning - tried too hard to be the 'perfect' mum - this time I'll be topping and tailing.

Frazzeled - you are so organised! Can you post over some of your freezer food???

have to go... trying to finish a crochet project for a book review i'm doing for new holland publishers... might be back on later

I must get my knitting needles out again!! FiKelly - you're such an inspiration for 'creating things out of wool'! However, knitting probably isn't the best activity to get addicted to when I have a couple of prolapsed discs in my neck and suffer from pains in my arms and across my back... but... I enjoy it!

Muslin squares as mentioned earlier. Loads of them. I still use them now as bibs on my 2.

Lansinoh cream is ok, but if your nipples are dropping off then PLEASE get help and get somebody to check your latch.

I'd recommend muslin squares in different colours, after going to baby groups with 20 different babies and mothers and as many white, muslin squares!

All I have to add is that I was gobsmacked at how many vest and babygros we got through in hospital! Love the organic wrap round vests and sleepsuits - so less stressful for little tiny beans and so soft. DD loved being swaddled and I had a couple of cotton swaddling blankets which cut out the origami degree needed with a normal blanket.

We also got (on a whim) the range of monotone books/mobile for newborns - they love the high contrast and will stare at it for ages when awake - www.socialbaby.com

Agree with frazzle (AKA john wayne today.. ) about the gel pads for boobs, also same for lady garden - femepad (mothercare)

Infacol in the baby medicine cupboard too!

If you're planning to breastfeed, then write down the numbers of all the helplines (NCT, La Leche League, ABM etc) and put it some where useful. If you need help, you might get a MW or HV who knows what they're talking about, but you probably won't.

I'd hold off buying a pump and bottles until you know if you need them; you might even find it better to hire a pump than buy one but investigate this later.

Yes to muslins, and also agree with minimal bedding until you know what your LO likes - we spent quite a bit kitting out a family heirloom moses basket, and DD hated it. She went into her cot in a sleeping bag after about 10 days, so all the bedding for the basket wasn't used, ditto all the cot blankets we bought.

If you're thinking aout cloth nappies, don't buy any complete birth to potty packs before LO arrives, just get a few different kinds to try once you're comfortable with everything. Loads of BTP packs end up getting sold on because they just don't suit. Try your few out first, then decide what you like and get the rest then.

Sorry, this is long! Oh yes, and evening all!

Mothercare do a nursery plan - you can select all your big bits now and pay off interest free over 6 months (i think) it has to be paid in full 6 weeks before delivery - great for things like cots, prams and car seats and solves the storage problem which most people have

Detsy - so agree about the fempad thing. That was my 'giving birth' present off DH - he decided he's buy me one and went to mothercare on his own with DD (first time alone together!) and had to ask a woman where they were.

Nearer to May, I have a comprehensive compulsive shoppers list for first timers if anyone wants to see it

If my experience is anything to go by as we all get rounder and rounder (verruca salt..) then on line shopping is a luxury!