Best baby products... especially where to sleep!

[OnePotato2Potato]

Hi, I am due baby in early March and am just thinking about what baby products to get and what will actually be useful.

This is actually my 3rd baby so I have am idea but it's after 8 years where so much more is available and with my other two I was in a flat so everything was on the one floor.

I plan to get a chicco sleep next to me cot as we did co sleep with other two but I want my own space this time too!

For downstairs, I don't want too many things. I was thinking a travel cot from birth so that baby can sleep and then later have a safe space to play. But can't figure out would a moses basket be better for a newborn then move to a travel cot when older.

I had a basic bouncer with my other DC but is one of the swinging or rocking ones worth getting, they just seem really bulky? Any recommendations? With a couple I have seen, the seat is quite compact so I think baby might be restricted with movement.

Thanks for reading!

Hey I cant advise on bouncers as my baby is still a bit young but in regards to sleeping in the living room I found the baby box (which is free) was great as comes with a mattress and has black and white images inside to entertain baby for a while.

You may have already looked into it and decided against it but just incase the link is www.babyboxco.com/baby-box-university/

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Depends on what you want really but I used a travel cot when I was away with a newborn and found it horrible bending down and leaning over, the travel cot seemed like it was nearly on the floor!

We have a next2me and I don't like it. Baby never sleeps in it so may as well not have it. I could sell you mine lol he's used it once for about 3 hours

When downstairs my dd just slept in her lay flat swing chair or on a play mat on the floor (once she had grown out of her moses basket.)

I find the next to me useful for my water bottle, phone, iPad and kindle but the baby won’t sleep in it.

I’m onto baby number 2, this time round I’m loving a shnuggle bath and I’m using a sling from much earlier.

Our baby hates the next to me crib. Sleeps fine in the Moses basket.

Hoping she will sleep in the next to me crib soon though as she will be too big for the Moses basket in about 2 months!

A bouncer upstairs and downstairs is a God send.

I find the next to me useful for my water bottle, phone, iPad and kindle but the baby won’t sleep in it.

I actually lolled at this. This is exactly what mine is like. Baby currently sleeping on me...

If downstairs he will sometimes sleep in his Moses basket. But again, usually just prefers me.

We just have a basic bouncer with a vibrating function and the baby loves it. Also a shnuggle bath, it's by far the best baby product we bought! He uses it even when it's empty.

I thought I didn’t want to waste money on a next to me so I bought a Moses basket. Well baby is big and grew out of it at 2 months. We then bought a next to me (the tutti bambini cozee). I love this. It’s perfect for my reflux baby as it tilts a bit and has meant I can keep him in my room as his full size cot doesn’t fit in my room. The Moses basket still came in handy for the early months as he could sleep downstairs while we watched tv. However now he goes to bed at 730 in his next to me in my room and I follow up about 9pm. Yes fully aware it’s against guidelines but he needs silence to sleep properly as he is more aware and alert now. Moses baskets aren’t expensive so you could use it downstairs and sell as we did. We now use a sleepyhead in the living room for him to chill on. I preferred the poddle pod brand which is actually cheaper but again son is getting too big !

Last thing to say is whatever you buy your baby may decide otherwise. As other posters have said- their babies didn’t like next to new. Mine loved it and didn’t really like the Moses basket that much. Babies have a mind of their own. I wasted so much money buying things and then getting other things when he hated them (didn’t like vibrating chair but likes a swing one because of his reflux). What I’m saying is- get the minimum you need and go from there because baby will decide.

Congratulations!

Also agree about the shnuggle bath. I love it. Baby can sit up in it and enjoys the bath ! Other things I like are the tommee tippee perfect prep and babygrows instead of clothes always (outfits are a nightmare even if they are cute)

Don’t get the tommee tippee electric steraliser though. It burns out and when googling has a bad rep. Tommee tippee are basically blaming my cleaning of it which is incorrect as I follow instructions to the dot. Get a Milton cold water steraliser. It’s actually cheaper, easier and nothing to go wrong !

I have a swing chair and a vibrating bouncer. DS is sickie so very hard to put down. We've had more success getting him down in the swing although it's still hit and miss. The bouncer takes up less space and lives by the door so I have somewhere to put him while I help older DC with their shoes. Both were fairly cheap 2nd hand, I wouldn't rush to buy either new as until you know what sort of baby you have I don't think you can know how much use you'll get from them.

We just used a cot bed with the side off rather than a next to me. DS now starts the night on his own mattress at 12 weeks but he doesn't stay there....

Regular cot upstairs next to the bed, pram's carrycot downstairs, basic bouncer - only ever used to keep them in place for short periods of time while I could chat to them anyway. For extra entertainment attach toys

Thanks for all the replies.

So disappointed to hear that the next to me wasn’t useful for many of you! I was really looking forward to that in particular as I didn’t want baby to get into the habit of sleeping in our bed like previous DC. Also my bedroom isn’t massive so it would have been a better size than a standard cot.

I think you’re right @BellaNutella88 about buying things when needed as each baby can be so different. I just like the feeling of being prepared but don’t want to buy too much at the same time!

For bathing I was considering the angelcare bath seat as the shnuggle bath tub had mixed reviews on amazon, about not being ideal from birth.

I will carry on my research, thank you!

@OnePotato2Potato we used the shnuggle from birth and having read the reviews I don't agree with them. Obviously you still have to support them in the first few weeks but it quickly became my son's favourite place in the flat to be in. (both with and without water).

I had the Tutti Bambini Cozee crib which I used for the first 7 months while DD was sleeping in our room. I suppose it's a bit like the Chicco Next to Me - the side folds down so you can attach it to your bed. It tilts so if you have a reflux baby it's quite helpful. I loved ours and we used it as a spare bed at MiL's if my LO was ever staying at hers.

Other things I'd recommend:

• Angelbaby mesh bath support. It fit in our bath and was perfect for bath times.
• Grosnugs - if your LO is small these are perfect for the first weeks/months instead of fiddling with a more traditional swaddling blanket.
• Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep machine - saved my sanity but this will depend if you are planning on breastfeeding or not.

We had a bouncer but it was used a handful of times if that. I wouldn't bother next time but I have friends who got a lot of use out of theirs.

Another vote for the Tutti Bambini Cozee. We chose this one over any of the other brands as it folds down flat into its town bag so we could take it away with us for weekends away. At times DS didn’t want to sleep in it, as others have said, but I’d put that down entirely to the fact that sometimes newborns just don’t want to sleep alone, they need the comfort of mum.

We didn’t bother with anything for downstairs as we bought a pushchair with a good size carrycot which he was in till 6 months,

We have a Nuna Leaf, which DS sleeps in now downstairs, but I wouldn’t recommend it from birth as it’s not flat and newborns need to sleep in a flat surface as their backs a so soft and susceptible.

A decent sling is worth the purchase, especially if you end up with a velcro baby. If you do buy one it needs to support baby legs properly so as to not risk damaging their hips. I love my woven and stretch wraps, but they take a bit of practice to learn to use one, their are easier slings to use, but I don’t find them as ‘snuggly’, or attractive.

I’d recommend reusable nappies and wipes, but that in itself is a whole separation conversation.

Bath wise, we never bought anything as I prefer to just get in with him and didn’t start bathing him on his own till he could sit up.

I’d recommend a lay flat car seat, we have the Cybex Cloud Z, which is great, but there are other brands. Whilst a newborn should not be in the car seat for longer than 20-30minutes at a time, having the lay flat function has been great for the odd occasion we nipped out anywhere and left him in the seat because then we were never really coming near the 20-30min mark unnecessarily.

Equally a car seat that has a rotate function is 100% worth the money! It makes it soo much easier to put them in the seat in the car.

Outside of that, we didn’t buy much as for DS as a newborn (other than clothes obviously). Anything else we’ve picked up as he’s got older/become age appropriate