List of things for new baby.

[WishWellingtons]

My baby isnt due until december so a little early but i will be on very little money until the baby is born. Now, i have just been made redundant and i'm getting quite a good payout so i'm thinking now is the best time to buy the baby things that i'll need.

This is the hard bit.. my brain doesnt seem to be working. Can you help me with a list of things i need before the baby comes.

Thankyou.

There are lots of threads on here with lists - have a look back.

I would start reading up on the major things like cot, pram, car seat, and go and have a play with them but not buy them yet. eg. prams - there are so many different options and you need to think about what fits how you will live.

Try signing up for a free months trial on which? to look at what they say about car seats.

I didn't buy anything until after the 20 week scan - and still had loads of time to get everything. There is no rush.

Thanks vj32, i will do that.

Yeah maybe you're right, i'll just save the money until the time is right to buy.

Thankyou.

John Lewis have a very good list you can get from their baby departments - it even has check boxes!

New babies really don't need much:

Somewhere to sleep (or co-sleep?) and blankets to start with. I'd definitely recommend a gro-bag type thing once they are big enough, but supermarkets and Primark much cheaper than Gro-bag.
Somewhere to sit during day - a little bouncer chair thing works well. DS loved his cheapy one (About £20 from Jojo) and hated the ££££ M&P one with all sorts of whistles and bells.
Something to eat (boobs tend to work well, get them a decent bra or two nearer the time)
Something to wear (keep pre-birth purchases to a minimum, you will be swamped with clothes as presents)
Something to go out in (I barely used my travel system, mostly used my sling from Freecycle).
Nappies - I used cloth, but would recommend (recycled) disposables for a few weeks.
Car seat if you drive - get a good one, but think about if you really need one as part of a travel system. There are some now which go from newborn to 12 or something, but DS and one of his mates managed to pick the foam out of theirs when they were in Group 1 mode, so I am not sure that one designed to last more than 10 years actually would.
Lots of muslins
A few toys, again you will probably get a lot of presents.

If bubba is not due until December, and you can be patient, then wait until December for your local NCT Winter Nearly New Sale which will be end of Sept/Oct. You will be able to get everything you need/want, and them some, for a good price.

If you are short of cash, once you have started telling people you are pregnant ask around about any spare equipment they might have.

I ended up only needing to buy a cot mattress, a pushchair as the lent one wasn't very good, and a few maternity clothes.

Look on the NCT website event finder for the nearly new sales nctpregnancyandbabycare.com/in-your-area/nearly-new-sales I got lots from these. I started going to them as soon as I knew I was pg, not spending much but took a much trusted experienced mummy friend with me and she helped me grab a few really good bargains, things I would need, cellular blankets, grobags, cot, cot sheets things like that. It was great and I over time built up a good stash of things, must have saved a fortune compared to RRP.

there will be all the summer sales coming up soon if you want new stuff Agree with ask around if you want second hand or keep an eye out at boot sales over the summer for things like baby baths you can pick up quite cheap. Shop lists can be useful but they will have things on them that you may not need or stuff that may be real luxury items, they are trying to get you to spend your money after all!

Thanks everyone for your replies :)

I already have a cot so thats 1 thing!
I have blankets and baby grows etc already for my 1st baby, unfortunately lost him at christmas. I just hadnt got round to buying big things.
But thankyou thats all a great help! :)

Another vote for NCT sales - went to my first one around a month ago, I spent around £40 and came away with a huge HUGE bag of clothes ranging from newborn to 3-6 months, most of them brand new and other barely used, a M&P carrier - brand new and still in the store for £40 - and 2 dresses for myself! My only regret is that I didn't get there earlier.

Non-members aren;t allowed in until half an hour after the members (in my case 11:00am) however when we arrived 10 mins before we were allowed in there were around 150 people waiting to get in, by the time we found parking and got in to the hall most of the best stuff was gone. In future I'll get there at the same time as the members but wait in line the extra half hour....... I'll use the spare time to sharpen my elbows :o

Congratulations on your pregnancy :)

I posted a similar thread a while ago and got lots of advice, I've also scrapped quite a lot from my original list so if it looks a bit scary, I was totally overdoing it!

link

Thankyou Shinydiscoball :) i will definately look into the NCT sales!

That list looks amazingly helpful! I'm going to print it and use it as my check list!
Thankyou thankyou :)! x