Essentials, or just

[shinydiscoball]

Need some help preparing for our LO's arrival, I'm currently 23 weeks and want to start getting ready. Sorry in advance if this is very a bit dull but I'm on a very, very tight budget as DP has lost his job so need all the advice I can get!

So I currently have: a travel system, pushchair, cotbed, travel cot and highchair (given by a friend). Please would you cast your eye over my (extensive, sorry) list and let me know what is essential and what is a bit unnecessary? I've researched some approximate prices as well, shout if if any of them could be bought cheaper!

TIA :)

Big items

Wardrobe £200

Changing unit £60-£100

Cotbed Mattress foam £40
sprung £85

Moses Basket + stand £50-£80

Medium items

Steriliser & bottles (I am planning on BF but will need to return to work quite quickly so will start expressing ASAP - looking at Tommee Tippee stuff) Around £50

Breast pump around £10-£18 in sales.

Baby bath/support £15

Monitor £40

Cot Sheets and blankets £30-£40

Sleep bags £10-15 each

Baby carrier £25-£40

Bouncer £20-£30

Smaller items - to stock up on

Nappies - but what brand is best (there's a whole new dilemma!)
Towels (hooded) Approx £10 for 3
Wipes
Bepanthen etc
Cotton wool
Lotion/bath wash/soap
Muslin squares Approx £1 each (3pk £3 etc)

Clothes (minimum)

10 stretch suits Hat + sun hat
10 vests Socks
Light cardigans Scratch mitts
Shawl or blanket

Hmm - why did my title not show up properly?

Meant to say "Essentials or just "stuff"? What do I actually need? Please help!"

£1 land shops have lots of baby toiletries also i would not bother getting a changing unit i never used mine and sold it at a lossalso could you not ebay or freecycle for things

Now I'm scared, that's so much to buy isn't it?? I saw someone elses list on another thread and they only had about 5 items on it due to lack of space. It can be done!

Personally I wouldn't get a changing station, just a mat would do wouldn't it?

Looks good to me!
My only 2 penneth would be the wardrobe, I think it is un-necessary, could ou get a chest of drawers with a big top that could double as a changing table?
Best of luck :)

also you dont need bath support and the slleping bags you can get a lot cheeper at tkmax

I would say you've got things covered. But you really don't need to spend that much money! You can get nearly everything second hand, NCT sales, or friends who've had babies recently, plus you will be surprised how generous people are once the baby comes along.

Make sure you've saved some money to spend on you! Bio oil is fab, and if you can afford it budget for some reflexology or massage towards the end of pregnancy, or a pedicure or something to make you feel nice. Enjoy preparing for your little one!
Re nappies I like huggies best, but don't really know why, it just comes down to what you get used to, and what is on special offer. I would say the cheaper ones are a bit of a waste as they can tend to leak.
And you can never have enough muslin squares!

I didn't use a moses basket much either, that was a waste of money for me.
Baby bath isn't essential either, they grow out of them really fast.
Monitor not essential either - but reassuring. I couldn't get mine to work properly, I'm partially deaf and my house is over 3 floors, yet I always heard DD start crying long before anyone else and DP has perfect hearing.
As soon as DD rolled around I didn't use the changing station.
Not anywhere near West Yorkshire are you? I've still got a baby bath...

you dont really need a moses basket, you could just use the cotbed. They are nice though. You could prob get a moses basket and stand on gumtree or that, and just spend a tenner on a new mattress.

you dont really need hooded towels, i bought a few tesco value white ones for general baby use, and quite a few folk bought us bath stuff (and bizarrely got a hooded towel free with pram)

if disposable nappies-ive not found much difference between brands, mostly use asda little angels. obv reusables will be cjeaper in the long run though.

asda do a baby event every few months and you'd get a lot of that stuff pretty cheap. think one just ended though.

I wouldn't bother with cot sheets either, they're twice the price and half the size of normal sheets. I just cut some sheets down to size.

Things like bepanthen I'd buy as, when and if you need them. DS has never had nappy rash and we've still not finished the tester pot of sudocreme that came in the bounty pack.

Big items

Wardrobe £200 - i got a canvas one from B&M for £7.99

Changing unit £60-£100 - havent got one

Cotbed Mattress foam £40
sprung £85 - got the cotbed and mattress for £150 (mum bought ) from a baby barn

Moses Basket + stand £50-£80 - got the basket for free from a friend, dont have a stand itll go on the footrest of the nursing chair instead (babys daddy was feeling generous that day its def not a nesessity!)

Medium items

Steriliser & bottles (I am planning on BF but will need to return to work quite quickly so will start expressing ASAP - looking at Tommee Tippee stuff) Around £50-asda baby event, got mine (all tommee tippee) for under £30

Breast pump around £10-£18 in sales.- same

Baby bath/support £15 same

Monitor £40 -havent got one, baby will be with me all the time, will gt one when shes older and in her own room

Cot Sheets and blankets £30-£40 asda, babybarn and B&M

Sleep bags £10-15 each not got one yet, its on my gift list though!

Baby carrier £25-£40 dont have one but i wont use one

Bouncer £20-£30 £20 mothercare

Smaller items - to stock up on

Nappies - but what brand is best (there's whole new dilemma!)
Towels (hooded) Approx £10 for 3
Wipes
Bepanthen etc
Cotton wool
Lotion/bath wash/soap
Muslin squares Approx £1 each (3pk £3 etc)

Clothes (minimum)

10 stretch suits Hat + sun hat
10 vests Socks
Light cardigans Scratch mitts
Shawl or blanket

Take advantage of all the supermarkets baby events!! also places like wilkos, pound stretcher and savers have all the branded products but much cheaper, dont be ashamed to go in there!!

im in the same boat as you and have saved so much money shopping around and making the most of peoples generosity

heres the link for the baby barn

And congratulations!

Sorry I didn't mean to post and run - unexpected visitor turned up and though it a bit rude to be tapping away on the laptop instead of having RL conversation! :)

Thanks so much for your replies, for those who said I don't need a wardrobe or changing unit I know you're right...they're more things I want rather than need, I have a lovely (huge) set of drawers which will do just fine for storing baby's clothes, and I can use a mat for changing with maybejust a big storage box for the nappies/wipes etc.

I'll keep my eye out in the cheaper stores and start picking up bits and pieces I think, we've overrun with £1 stores and got a massive TK Maxx, plus Wilko's, B&M etc, I guess I'd never really thought of looking there. Thanks for the link to baby barn Darnsarfupnorf plus all your other advice, v helpful thanks

ThatllDoPig I've seen a few mentions of NCT sales, what are they please and where woudl I find them?

I don't want to rely too much on others, lots of people have vaguely said "Oh, we'll get you some stuff" but I don't want to ask for specific things, is it OK to do that?

For those who said I don't need a baby bath or support, how do you bath your baby? I'm rubbish at all this stuff

im expecting dc4 and the things i'd scrap from list are...

wardrobe (use chest of drawers/baskets instead)

changing unit..never ever used one of these

also moses basket..

mine slept better from the off straight away in their cot.

you can always use pram for daytime naps if its proper lay flat carrycot?

Wardrobe - your baby won't care if you don't have one. Baby clothes don't take up that much space. Can put them in a plastic cratey thing tbh.

Changing unit - I used a changing mat on the floor. No problems.

Cotbed Mattress - go for foam.

Moses Basket + stand £Save by not having the stand...baby won't care if it is resting on the floor.

Medium items

Steriliser & bottles (I am planning on BF but will need to return to work quite quickly so will start expressing ASAP - looking at Tommee Tippee stuff)

Go for non-branded cheapo ones from wilkos or argos

Baby bath/support - never used one myself. I held onto slippery baby in normal bath.
You can get a cheap baby bath for under £10.

Nappies - but what brand is best (there's a whole new dilemma!) LIDL ALL THE WAY

Towels (hooded) Approx £10 for 3 - use a nice, but normal, towel you already have?

Wipes, lotions etc - buy supermarket own or brand when on sale
Bepanthen etc

nicolamumof3 did you have the cot in your room at first though? Don't you need to have the baby sleeping with you for the first few months? The cot won't fir in our room with out bed as well which is why I wanted a moses basket, plus the travel system doesn't have a lay flat carrcot so couldn't use that

You will be able to get a barely used moses basket and stand really cheaply.

I would buy some 2nd hand sleeping bags too. They are pretty expensive new and they last. Mine are 3rd hand and they are fine. There is always some on ebay.

I used to wash the bottles in hot soapy water and boil the teats in a pan even though I had a steriliser in the house because it took up so much space in the kitchen.

I had a changing unit but I never used it after the first couple of months.

Only buy wipes if they are bogof, then buy loads.

I think a baby bath can be useful for an only as it saves water. I didn't use them with my younger dcs because I was already running the bath for PFB. You can get them in Ikea for £5.

I think foam matresses are fine. Babies aren't really heavy enough to benefit from a sprung mattress.

yes we did have cot in our room for a year pretty much.

I think ebay and the nearly new shops will be my new stomping ground for a while

You could always check out freecycle too. People sometimes lsit baby stuff on there that they just can't be bothered to sell and want to give to a good home.

NCT sales are basically mums who belong to the NCT (National Childbirth Trust) setting up stalls in hall and selling their unwanted stuff. They are notorious for good bargains IF you have sharp elbows. Also NCT members get to go in 1/2 hour before anyone else so the best stuff might be gone, but if you see one advertised locally its probably worth it. I got a baby bjorn carrier for £15 (though hated it and replaced it with a wrap sling which are great and much cheaper than the structured ones).
The rest of your list - I would agree with what others have said, definitely don;t worry about a wardrobe or changing unit. An Avent microwave steam sterilizer is about £15-20 in Boots and comes with 6 bottles.
Bear in mind that people will probably want to buy you presents and nearer the time they might ask what you want. A lot of stuff can be got in the last few weeks so leave some of it sa possible gift options (clothes especially). Best of luck.

I bathed baby in sink, or in with me. NCT sales can be found at NCT Sale.

If you have really set your heart on wardrobe and changing table (although you may regret it if you're really skint after baby arrives) have a look at Ikea.

I got my moses basket and stand from a car boot sale for DC2 (couldnt go in cot as DC1 was still in it!). Just replaced the mattress.

You can get one of the bath support's from kiddicare for a £5, I've just got one as we used the last one so much. Don't get a bath, we only used ours 4 times.

You won't need a change unit.

Apparently Tesco have got a baby event coming up this week for cheap stuff, and Sainsburys have still got 1/3 off lots of stuff like sterilisers. TK Maxx also sell breast pumps and bottles and stuff.

Ikea is great for cheap stuff.

Oh, and we got our pram on pre-loved for £80. There or gumtree are always worth a look and are often a lot cheaper than ebay.

Ikea Leksvik do a brilliant room set with cot (not a cotbed but one side can be removed and replaced with a 'bedside' panel so can be used as a bed iykwim), chest of drawers with changing table (which then folds back on itself and screws in to turn into a dresser) and a big storage chest - all in antique pine finish. We had it for my DS and he's nearly 4 now and it is still holding up.

Amazon do a range of moses baskets for some reason believe it or not! I think they are useful for taking downstairs for daytime so I am all for them.

Asda baby event is good for steriliser etc.

Hope that helps.