Cant-live-without baby products

[Sherrivz]

Hi all,
I'm currently pregnant and was wondering which baby products mums have had that you couldn't have done without when you had your baby?

Stretchy wrap, somewhere to place baby when you pop to the loo/shower/cook - preferably mobile so you can cart infant with you (I used a lie flat bouncer a friend passed on to me).
Also I had a changing mat and nappies etc stored under the sofa, so I didnt have to keep going upstairs to get her changed.
The most important thing was being reassured by many friends that the way I wanted to care for my baby was ok. Be that breast feed, bottle, cloth nappies, disposable, separate cot or bed sharing. So long as you do everything safely, it's ok.
It's also ok to shut down people who offer unwanted or unneeded advice. A simple "thanks but that's not what I've decided to do" is absolutely ok. Xx

Honestly the number one thing that I couldn't live without was towels. A whole stack of hand towels from Ikea that I used for everything (I don't know how people get by with muslins, they just weren't absorbant enough for my kids!)

Next thing was a bouncy chair. Cheap fisher price one for the first baby, a second hand baby bjorn for the second baby. Both were great.

My only must have (that wasn't one of the basics like nappies or wipes) was a comfortable carrier. I thought I would use my pram lots but we use the carrier 90% of the time. My biggest waste of money that everyone else raves about was gro bags. My baby hated them from day 1 for some reason.

Oh, and I found regular changing bags too bulky and unnecessary.
I quickly switched to a back pack, so I could stick it on my back and have 2 hands free.
Bit that's just personal preference

My second is currently 8 months old. A bath that props them up so they can splash around. A bouncer. A high chair. A decent changing area that's high enough not to do your back in from having to change then on the floor. Lots of muslins for dribble.

Muslin cloths and lots of them (way more than you think!)

This time around I brought the Tommee Tippee prep machine. What a life saver! Milk made in max 1.5 minutes and it's great at night when you have a screaming baby. Also a bouncer and swaddle cloth blankets.

Lansinoh if you are planning on breastfeeding and Metanium for nappy rash. Sock ons to stop them yanking socks off!

You really don't need much stuff.
Muslins are useful but I also found actual towels better (square Terry towels)
Apart from those and clothes for the babies there's not much I couldn't have lived without. I found our pram very useful to begin with but now mostly use a carrier.
The main thing I couldn't do without was a supportive partner.

Oh, and I got loads of muslins because everyone said how useful they were and I barely used them. Maybe just get a few until you know if you'll use them. Easy enough to order more.

Schnuggle bath
Second hand Baby Bjorn bouncy chair
Cheap high chair that goes in the dishwasher
Backpack-style nappy bag

Sling (dd)/wrap(ds)
Sleepyhead (both)
Thermometer

Extra long phone charger
Warm socks/dressing gown (for me)

Oh, and I got loads of muslins because everyone said how useful they were and I barely used them. Maybe just get a few until you know if you'll use them. Easy enough to order more

Yep, same! Was lucky enough to have a very un-pukey baby.

Baby bjorn bouncy chair is epic, which we'd got ours earlier in the baby stage!

A backpack-style changing bag that wasn't girly or flowery so that DP was prepared to be seen carrying it out and about.

Gro-bags (gro-snugs when teeny) for sleeping. Soooo much easier than blankets etc

Perfect prep if you arent breastfeeding

Bouncy chair, lots of vests and onesies, snow suit if a winter baby, pram, car seat.. that's it really, my first was sick a lot and so I used lots of muslins, my second wasn't. Dd was happy in the sling, ds wasn't, although he was in it quite a bit because she'd attack him if I put him down.
A bag with nappies and a folding change mat is really important, as others have said doesn't have to be a specific change bag. Does need to always be packed, still not sure why leaving the house is so hard with a newborn, but it really is.

I don't think there's that much you need. You will almost certainly need a car seat, even if you don't have a car.

You'll need some kind of pram or buggy or sling and somewhere for your baby to sleep. Nappies, clothes and some cotton wool to clean your baby. That's it.

It is useful but not vital to have a save place to put your baby as another PP has mentioned and I would put a bath seat in the same category.

Changing backpack - so much more room than a traditional changing bag and easier to carry if using sling/wrap
Saline spray to clean lo nose when bunged up with newborn snot
Dummies - both dc have been sucky babies

Muslins. More than you ever think you'll need. They can be used for so much, swaddling, mopping up refluxy babies, as a blanket. I swear by the Aden & Anais ones which you can usually pick up in TK Maxx if you're lucky.

An angelcare bath seat. We didn't have one for DS1 and I have no idea why not. It has made such a difference for me because I can shower with DS2 and he just plays while I have a proper wash rather than a 30 second in and out job like I used to have while DS1 napped. Hopefully it'll mean he enjoys a bath, unlike his absolute soap dodging older brother....

Lots of muslins, flannels, bibs, handtowels. Basically anything absorbent.
Backpack over a changing bag.
An extra large stock of teabags (decaff of course) and biscuits for all the night feeds

Manduca sling. Absolutely brilliant, even for me and I have a dodgy shoulder!

I didn’t get a feeding pillow last time and regretted it so have one this time.

Used a normal plastic lidded box for dirty nappies but it stank even when emptied regularly. Bought a nappy bin and it was sooo much better.

Amazon prime. Don’t buy too much - people will give you lots of presents. If you have amazon prime, when you realise in the middle of the night that the baby only likes the dummy you only have one of/kicks off their blanket so you want a grobag etc etc you can order what you need and it will come the next day. You also have access to many many many box sets for the hours spent sitting up with the baby! Amazon prime is a lifesaver!
Other things we couldn’t do without - bouncy chairs, grobags, the Tommy tippee magic milk machine (we only give a couple of formula feeds a day and it’s still worth it!), www.amazon.co.uk/VAVA-Charging-Rechargeable-Bedside-Breastfeeding/dp/B07JNHJFVP/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=baby+dimmable+light&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1579651311&sr=8-4 This night light (dimmable and you can carry it from room to room if you are feeding/nappy changing in a different room to where you’re sleeping) and morrck.com/ car seat hoodie - you can’t put them in a coat in the car seat and they kick blankets off but these are amazing and so warm!

As others said - muslins. We go through quite a few per day.

Another thing that's proving worth its weight in gold was Chicco's 4-in-1 Hug. Baby can sleep in it, it can be a bouncing chair, transforms into feeding chair later and can be used as a simple chair up until child is 3y old. At first it looked like quite a luxury but we still went for it - now I am literally using it all the time and wouldn't be without it.

A Morrck baby hoodie for the car seat. Worth every penny and my most used baby product.

A bouncy/ swing chair to put baby down in during the day. We had the Nuna Leaf which is lovely and cosy and looks great. DD also slept in it at night for the first couple of weeks when she wouldn’t go down in the side cot.

If you are breastfeeding then a feeding pillow, lanolin and multimam compresses are really useful

There were lots of things we used loads but we still could have done without them if we really needed to though...iyswim.

Proper couldn't do without things were bottles, dummies, obviously nappy changing essentials (cotton wool and nappies, and a changing mat, essentially, plus Sudocrem and Metanium when she got bigger)...infant paracetamol and ibuprofen...ear thermometer...cotbed and bedding...baby monitor for when she was bigger...basic bouncy chair (was used loads in first six months)...pram with detachable carry cot...clothes which included scratch mitts and clothes with integrated scratch mitt things...Baby Bjorn baby carrier...