First child off to uni accommodation - what do we need?

[minerva7]

Just that. First time ever settling an 18 year old into uni accommodation. Furnished room. Shared toilet, shower and kitchen.

Do we label all their stuff in that goes into the kitchen cabinets? Do they keep their toothbrush etc in their bedroom? So many questions!

I would really appreciate experiences/opinions thank you 🙏🏻

Yous shouldn't directly be buying anything, make sure uni child is fully involved.

I would find the closest Argos to where he is moving to and reserve everything he might need a couple of days before he moves in to ensure it's in stock - particularly bulky things like duvets.
Then go to the Halls, see what is already there and what others have brought with them, then go to Argos and pick up and pay for the things he actually needs and leave the rest.

Some stores have student discount

Please don't name stuff, so embarrassing. And honestly, let your adult child sort it themselves (even if you pay). Take the bare minimum, cheapest stuff as it'll all go missing, and remember they can just go and buy what they need once they're there, or order online.

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Mattress protector, pillow case protector, duvet cover and pillowcase and 2 cushions, 2 bath towels and 2 hand towels. I bought my DD an inexpensive (Tesco) set of 4 dinner plates, pasta bowls and tea plates and 4 mugs. A set of 4 cutlery on a stand with 4 knives, 4 forks, 4 large spoons and 4 teaspoons. I got her 3 saucepans one small, one medium and one large one, a few wooden spoons, a tin opener, a tea pot because she likes a potful not a single tea bag, a kettle and a toastie maker, a roasting tray and a slow cooker. Tell her to definitely keep her toothbrush in her room along with personal toiletries like shampoo. If she puts it in the bathroom it will just disappear. The above saw her all through uni and post grad degree and she still has some of it like the towels and the slow cooker and uses it today years later.

If you head over to the higher education board, there are lots of threads about what to take to university from previous years.

My top tips are:

1. Take a tape measure. There is a good chance they might want extra storage (eg underbed, on top of the wardrobe, plastic drawers, a hanging rail) but you won’t know what will fit. They will probably need a laundry airer - over radiator ones and a socktopus are handy but you will need to measure up (ditto for storing a folding airer). You can order online for delivery once you know what they need.
2. If you already have plastic storage crates, underbed boxes, drawer organisers, shoe boxes, those pop up fabric boxes, small boxes/baskets (for things like toiletries, kitchen stuff, laundry products), mini drawers etc use them for packing (ideally the things they could be used to store). If they fit, unpacking takes minutes. Take clothes on hangers covered in a bin bag (you can usually guesstimate the wardrobe size from the accommodation photos to know how much hanging space there is).

They'll probably only get one cupboard in the kitchen so they don't need loads, DC only took the bare essentials I.e. 1 plate, bowl, mug & glass. 1 set of cutlery, 1 sharp knife etc

They had to keep a lot of the dry food stuff under their bed to save space.

As others have said let them work it out for themselves, they will have flatmates to borrow from in an emergency and the supermarkets sell all sorts if they find they need it.

Having just picked DC up after their 1st year, and seen the amount of stuff that was bought home, I would definitely advise to take as little as you can get away with!

Don't take 4 of everything. There won't be room.

Ikea basic tool kit. No one else had as much as a screwdriver and mine all found them useful during and post uni. I actually made them all up a bag with the tool kit mini first aid kit mini sewing kit £20 a large bar of chocolate a door wedge- essential for making friends packet of condoms a new novel a dvd ( this was all a long time ago!) new pjs probably a few other bits and pieces and a nice letter from me !

It's easy to go way OTT with stuff. Send the basics and be ready to pay for other bits and pieces over the first few weeks. Incidentally those first weeks are way more expensive than the rest of the year due to one off costs, so factor that in when sorting money.

I bought new bedding but otherwise my approach was to round up old pans, cutlery and crockery. It gets hammered and neglected. Nothing much came back from two DC at uni over 5 years.
When they left uni and got their own place was when I splashed out and bought them all nice new stuff.

I have a dd starting uni in September.

I am more than happy to help her buy stuff but I am not taking it upon myself to make a list of what she needs. She is an adult and going off to uni is a huge step towards independence. She is perfectly capable of thinking about what she needs and going online to research this, and in many ways, I think that's an important part of the preparation for independent living. If she realises later on that she has forgotten something, that can ba addressed then.

I am not saying this to be snippy, OP. I get that it's a big deal when they go off to uni and our natural instinct is to support and help them as much as we can. However, I don't think we do them any favours by doing too much for them. Time to take a step back and let them do the thinking for themselves. We can still be around to advise and provide guidance where needed, but our young people should be taking the lead.

DS is at uni and couldn’t have given two hoots about matching crockery, bed linen etc.

DD OTOH totally different story and is Pinteresting furiously 😂

So depends on your DC. The one thing we shell out on is a decent mattress topper as uni mattresses are shite.

Making sure they have done a first aid course is also very important before they leave home for the first time. Sorry to derail but I say this on every thread like this.

I agree with MrsBennetsPoorNerves

What have they said they need/want ? Surely it’s up to them if they want to label any of it ?

I just remember taking some basics plates cups, bed clothes toiletries etc and buying anything else I needed afterwards.

My parents gave me a lift there, kindly did a food shop for me, left my some cash and that was it. I find it really strange that young adults aren’t expected to do this sort of thing themselves now. It’s good life experience.

The idea that some of them can’t even cook before they go amazes me as well. I certainly wasnt brilliant - still not great now but I could make a few meals to feed myself. Pasta mainly but a few others too.

My university years were relatively recent too !

Double duvet, not a single, if it gets cold they will need it.

Get cheap things off car boots like pans and stuff.
A kettle in their room is always good, and a fan is a must, the rooms get so hot.

Oh and please teach them too cook this summer.
Peeling veg, how to see if cooked ECT.
They will thank you for it if you explain the prices.
My DD ended up making pancakes, too teach the boys .

A kettle in their room is always good

Not always allowed I'm afraid.

TK Maxx was the go to place for my DS plates, mugs, cutlery, dishes and pans etc.

Big mistake was that for weeks before I had been buying tinned curry,etc from M&S and gave him an under bed box filled with at least 20 of these mixed tins with condiments etc to start him off. He was really pleased with this but disappointed to find I did not intend to repeat this gesture every term!!

Best advice, each person will take different things but if you have a look at each room and go off what they use now, so bedroom, definitely a mattress topper/protector, bedding, pillow etc any toiletries they keep in there, hairbrush, deodorant. Clothing, coats, shoes, hats, gloves, scarf.

Then bathroom, tweezers, nail clippers, razor, plus shampoo etc and wherever you keep your medicine kit, they need those things too.

Desk stuff or wherever they do their homework, laptop, pencil case, chargers etc and a bag to carry it all in.

Kitchen, chopping board, knife, cutlery, crockery, pans. The main thing to consider is the shared kitchen cupboard space. Ds had one 50cm base unit for kitchen utensils/pans/crockery and a 50m wall cupboard for all his food. Lots of food lived in his room. We bought a saucepan with a draining lid (Lakeland) so he didn't need a colander or sieve for pasta or veg. He had 1 frying pan, 2 plates in case he broke one, one pasta bowl, one cereal bowl. 2 each of knife, fork, spoon, teaspoon. Some tupperware to store opened things like packets of sandwich meat or leftovers.

He had a Dishmatic washing up brush which was stored in a mug in his cupboard. They do not have a lot of room and YouTube has lots of room tours of unis plus their kitchen space.

Good to watch people saying this is what I am taking, then the year later video of them saying never used this. Ds never took a grater or garlic press as he bought grated cheese and squeezy garlic tubes.

Check the uni policy on what they can have in the kitchen electrical appliance wise some unis are very strict on things see also their room, they can't have kettles or fridges in lots of places, check before you buy.

All of this stuff has to be able to fit into whatever car you have too, so it is all well and good saying pack all this if they only have a Fiesta with 2 adults and the child piling in to it as well. Again, YouTube has lots of moving in videos, well worth a watch. Best of luck.

Old stuff from your kitchen. A couple of dinner plates, a couple of small plates, two bowls, a small saucepan, one mid size. A baking tray and a frying pan. Mugs x2 or 4. Same for glasses. Just use old stuff. Oh, cutlery and a veg knife and a couple of spatulas and wooden spoons. It may or may not come back. They can add to it as and when they need to. 2 x bedding sets - do get a mattress cover. Half the fun for them is setting up on their own. The wardrobe/drawers situation can be limited so hangers and even some sort of hanging or collapsible thing to put t shirts.
I think we get more excited than they do. My son just wanted me to go and stop being embarrassing!

If you don't have Facebook you can get the WIWIKAU packing list from their website.

If you do get Facebook I found joining the Facebook parents page for my dd's university very helpful for general info on dropping off day and then finding things like local driving instructors or near by hotels etc.

These are all so helpful thank you all. The wiwikau website is another great tool so thanks for the suggestion (sorry I've forgotten who posted it)

This made it all so real all of a sudden 🥺

I will make sure to do this, lovely idea thank you

I agree totally @endofthelinefinally, and I remember your initial reason for recommending it 💐

Thankfully has that covered

We have been practicing cooking since lockdown! They now very much enjoy it and have enough basic skills to build on on their own.