Newborn / baby essentials... List your top 3 please!

[MrsLilac]

I see a lot of 'newborn essential' lists on YouTube and other websites but many if them are American and seem that have products that we don't over here. So, I was hoping you could share the things your found essential for surviving being a first time mum. I'm slightly clueless and don't know what I need versus what is nice but not essential (and I realise all babies are different!). Please let me know what you loved and what your found useful too. Thanks so much in advance.

--------
This thread is a little old now so some of the suggestions may be out of date, but if you’ve landed here looking for the ultimate baby essentials checklist, we’ve recently updated our newborn essentials article with the must-haves Mumsnetters think you can't live without when your baby arrives. We hope you find it useful.
MNHQ

[Pocket1]

Muslins
Bouncer
Sling

[MrsMarigold]

Baby Bjorn bouncy chair
A pram
Clothes

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Sling
Nappies
Dishwasher

[RedCountryRoads]

Muslin clothes. Can never have enough for sick and dribble
Bouncer chair. Strap in while going to the loo
Food you can eat with one hand. If you want to eat this is the way forward.

Obviously these are on top of the baby gros, nappies etc but they are essential to me.

[PumpkinPie2013]

I found the bouncy chair great as I could move it to the kitchen or wherever while I did stuff.

Baby bath - you can manage without but mine was about £5 in the asda baby event and I found it really good as I had an unexpected c - section and couldn't stand well or lean over the big bath!

[ChunkyPickle]

Bouncy chair, big heap of cheapy towels (ikea 50p hand towels are what we used), sleep suits/babygros (enough that you don't need to run a wash every day, so at least 6). Oh, and nappies/wipes (I used wipes from birth with both of mine)

A couple of small blankets are handy, a car seat if you have a car, a sling/carrier, and that's about it - certainly it's all we bothered with for the first couple of months.

[reallywittyname]

top three:
cake
swaddly blanket thing
mumsnet search box

others:
all the muslins in the world (seriously, we could have tied them all together and abseiled down Everest)
tumble dryer (winter baby, Scotland)
blackout blind
Kindle Fire (for when trapped on sofa feeding endlessly)
water bottle (ditto)
ability to bf lying down (for hot sticky summers, minimises all bodily contact so you don't have to peel a sleeping baby off you, thus waking said sleeping baby and having to do the whole rigmarole of getting them off to sleep again when you're both all hot and grumpy)

[WhoMovedMyVuvuzela]

Ocardo on demand (not really a 'thing' but I would't manage without it anymore)

Huge muslin squares that seem to come in handy for all sorts of things

I also bought one of these not essential but really useful especially when you are out

...and only buy vests that have the bit where the fabric crosses over on the shoulder, that way you can pull the vest down past their bottom rather than over their head if they do an explosive poo.

[Meerka]

bodysuits
nappies
sling. Didn't use a sling with first baby, wish I had, it's been invaluable. Saves so much time and faffing and space. he's 13 weeks old now and I've used the pram ... once.

[moomin35]

Moses basket
Muslins x lots!
Pram/car seat/travel system

[MollyBdenum]

Nappies, sling, phone number and websites where you can get breastfeeding support.

[dobedobedo]

Sling
Muslins
White noise track

[Reiltin]

You can get a foam thing from Mothercare that baby lies on in the bath. Brilliant!
We loved our Cocoonababy. Baby kept waking herself when we put her in her Moses basket. Cocoonababy was worth every penny !

[Y0rkshirePudding]

Tons of cheap vests/bodysuits
My DS in the first 6 months constantly vom'd and soiled himself, nice clothes were a waste! We learned to save the nice clothes for visits to family/special occasions etc, but for general everyday wear we just put him in cheap bodysuits, so it didn't matter if they got ruined or stained.

Changing table
I just changed him on a mat on the floor for the first 4 months, but it did my back in. Went and bought a changing table and still using it now. Has been a god send for my back.

Baby sleeping bag
Initially bought a blanket for my sons crib as I thought the sleeping bags were just a gimmick. However, from day one he's been a very active tosser-&-turner, and one night I awoke to find him struggling to get out of his blanket with it wrapped tightly around his face. I couldn't rest after that, so I bought a couple of sleeping bags and haven't looked back. Still using them and keeps LO warm and covered no matter how much he travels around his cot, without being a suffocation hazard!

[shitatusernames]

Sudocrem! DD2 is 3 weeks old and we tried her on alternative nappies to pampers and she got nappy rash, sudocrem has been a godsend.

Lots of muslin's/bibs.

Someone around to make you a cuppa

[pickletalk14]

Muslins- to catch vomit, soak up leaky boobs, over the pram for shade, over the head of the mattress to catch more vomit.

A plug in sensor night light to feed by.

Bouncy chair/ rocker

[Saltedcaramel2014]

Oh a sheepskin is lovely too - cool in summer warm in winter and made DS like all the places he previously hated - pram etc

[Saltedcaramel2014]

Sling
A lot of cake
Drinking water bottle if breastfeeding (so can have it within reach if you're on the sofa etc)

[Mrsgrumble]

White vest and gro's

Water wipes

White noise app

Bouncer chair



For myself nipple shields and panadol

[badfurday]

1. Bibs, I hated muslins
2. Baby wipes, I use these for everything!
3. White noise/nursery rhyme app
4. Dummy, at day 3, after saying my daughter won't have a dummy....
5. Blankets, I stupidly only had one, which was fine until she vom'd all over it, bless her.
6. Gripe water

[duchesse]

We didn't have muslins for DD3. I bought a stack of soft flannels in the sales (she's an August baby) and used those. They are now our hand towels in the cloakroom.

[qumquat]

I couldn't find anything to do with all my muslins until they became useful as bibs. My most useful thing was definitely the bouncy chair. She loved being bounced when tiny and now at 6 months she can bounce herself while I do a bit of cleaning!

[Diamondsareagirls]

1. LOADS of muslins - more than you think you will need and the large ones like a few other posters have said.
   
2. A bouncy chair
   
3. Plain white vests - I bought all sorts in different colours/patterns etc but sometimes you just need something simple to put them in as trying to co-ordinate outfits all the time is a faff!
   

Good luck! Such an exciting time.x

[MrsLilac]

Wow thank you all so much for the responses. So useful. I have been researching washable nappies for a few weeks now. Just waiting to take the plunge! I think I have taken from this the fact that I don't actually need a HUGE amount and that I can buy more when baby is here. Thanks again for it all. Going to go back and read them all again and write a big list! Ahh

[Mummycherry2]

I got a newborn starter kit from asda for about £7 with baby grows, vests, hat etc in all plain white and perfect for bed time, spares etc.

Lots of Muslins!

We couldn't live without our playmat, DS has been on it since 3 days old, he's 12 weeks now and still loves it. It means I can have a shower/bath/cup of coffee in the sun in peace for 20 mins or so!

Good luck :)