Hi all, when I was pregnant I was constantly wondering what I should buy and I tried to not go over board and just buy items that are necessary or helpful. Looking back at my last 5 months, I did end up with a lot of items that promise a lot but really were just a waste of money and a list of items I couldn?t live without. I want to share with the first time mums-to-be my fav items and why I love them just because I always wondered what other mums found helpful. I hope others follow me and share here with you what they found absolutely must have and not a waste of money so that this thread becomes a useful one. I also hope that I can come back and read what mums with older babies than mine bought for the stages that are ahead of me such as weaning, etc. I am trying to NOT menion the brands of my items as my intention is NOT to do advertisement but give tips on what really is worth spending money on. Of course this is only my personal experience and I am sure people have different experience and views on items depending on their living situations.
I am happy that I spent money on:
1- I spent a bit more to get a proper big comfy breast feeding pillow and it made my life so much easier as I can type on computer with both hands while feeding the LO. Absolutely worth it as I have tried the smaller cheaper feeding pillows by friends and they don?t give you the same hand free experience.
2- In the beginning my baby was premature and i had to express a lot First I bought a manual pump (never really used it), then a normal one breast average electronic pump (one of the ones you can buy in boots and motherscare for around 80 quid) and they were both absolutely waste of money. I had to sit 40 minutes and hold the pump with hand to express 90 ml! I invested in a handsfree double pump from a better brand for 200 GBP and never looked back and never regretted the money I had spent. Right away after buying the pump I could express 150 ml in 15 mins and then soon my milk flow went up and I express now 300 mls in 10-15 mins and don?t need to sit for half an hour. The best is the hand free option (the pump has gadgets to attach to your bra to make expressing handsfree but I made holes in a padded bra and then added this gadget to the bra and works perfectly handsfree. I can wash dishes, play with my baby, surf internet or simply walk around house while expressing!) Amazing difference and it really helped me to breast feed my child exclusively. I don?t pump 4-5 times a day anymore now as she prefers to feed directly from breast and only express once every night but still enjoy my pump and really buying the first cheaper electronic pump was a waste of money.
3- A proper baby monitor with big video screen, since we can see her face (works perfectly even when the room is dark) when she makes noises and don?t have to run into the room with every whimper she makes as most of the time she is still asleep and doesn?t need any attention or soothing.
4- My baby carrier (NOT a sling) that allows me to wear my baby up-right while working around the house. I regret that I didn?t pay more to buy the more expensive version with more back support as my baby is getting too heavy for me. But we got a good use of our baby career in the last 4 months. I started using it after 6 weeks and first wore baby inwards and after 8 weeks carried her facing outwards. She started holding her neck really soon, which I believe (might be wrong) is because of the baby carrier. She loves to be faced outwards and look what I do and also we go for lovely walks and she loves to watch around. It also gives me a bit of workout with extra weight while walking.
5- Baby gym with hanging colourful toys. Don?t go for pastel colours as babies get attracted to bright colours when they start seeing colour. Make sure you like the tunes as you will hear them 100 times a day for the next 5-6 months!!
6- Bath support for newborn allowing her to lay back in a relaxing position while I wash her. She still uses it although she almost sits but it is much more secure and makes bath time relaxing and easy.
7- Baby bouncer/seat as I used it when she had reflux and needed to sit after feeding. I bought a lighter version, which I could carry easily around the house and that?s where she sits while I take shower or put on make up. Gives me a secure place to put her while getting some stuff done.
8- Not a must have but definitely a nice have was the door bouncer or baby jumparoo as some call it. She loves doing exercise in it.
9- Sleep bags.
10- Compatible car seat with push chair. First I was wondering if it is worth to make sure they are compatible or not. I ended up poping my car seat on top of the push chair base very often.
11- A proper carry cot to turn push chair to a pram. This was very useful for us as we had a premature baby and it gave us an absolutely flat surface where baby could sleep as if at home. Our carry cot was a proper one with a real mattress and hard wood bottom so we didn?t need a separate moses basket as the carry cot could be used for night sleep. Our LO was basically in that carry cot for the first 10 weeks and we could go out if she was asleep without waking her up by just putting the carry cot on top of pushchair base.
Stuff I bought but found useless were cot mobiles, sleeping aids such as light and music apparatus, fancy heavy and chunky electronic cradle chair with music (sounds awesome but really just waste of space and money); baby sling as you can only use it only when the baby is little and that time passes by too quickly; tummy time mat. Our travel system was expensive and we enjoyed it while our baby was too small as it gave the baby absolute comfort; however, it was heavy (around 11 kg) and bulky and we are thinking about getting an umbrella stroller only for travelling and car trips as the pushchair takes the whole car boot (and my car is not a small car). Pay attention to how much space your push chair takes and try to put it in your car boot before buying (ask mothers care and they will allow you to do that ? I didn?t know!)
Good luck with shopping and looking forward to hearing other mums must haves for the weaning time as I haven't bought anything yet!