Essential baby buys?

[justhayley]

Hiya I'm pregnant with my first baby and starting to think about things I'll need to buy, I'm 15 + 5 weeks but would prefer to start getting a few things each month rather than leaving it all to the last moment.
Iv heard lots of people talking about overbuying and getting loads of stuff that they never actually use.

Please add your ideas of all the things that you couldn't have lived without and you would consider essential baby buys!

Thanks Hayley xx

Hi Hayley

Congratulations. This thread might help you a bit. Don't get persuaded into the panic buying that the shops have you believe.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/1256261-1st-timer-what-else-do-i-need-Plannaholic

Hi Justhayley. It is so easy to get carried away but totally unnecessary. For my DC1 we bought:

• cot and bedding
• pram
• couple of packs of vests and babygros
• nappies, toiletries and changing mat
• steriliser and breast pump

Don't underestimate how much relatives and friends buy as well, especially with it being first one. We got bought/given enough clothes to last without buying anything until DC was 9 months. We were also bought toys, bouncy chair, baby gym and baby bath.

My best buy was the medela swing breast pump. Expensive but SO worth the money.

Oh and we were lent a moses basket and stand which was a good thing as DC1 hated the moses basket!

muslim cloths. Ask for them as a baby pressie if you can. After babies have finished needing them you'll find another zillion uses for them.

I think you mean Muslin cloths.

Don't bother with socks/booties.
Don't buy a breast pump without first seeing if there are any local groups where you can hire one. You don't want to spend £80 on one to find it doesn't work for you. [bitter]

A local group may also have sling hire and things also.

A lullaby music box, DD 2.5 still loves hers and really helped settle her.

Spend time searching for the right pram, I bought a cheap one that was basically a waste of money as it was crap!

OOPS PurpleWitha Blue Bun

I do mean Muslin.. Doh.

LOL these threads are always really funny :)

50% of posters buy muslims muslins
50% of posters don't buy muslims muslins

50% of posters you have to have an x
50% of posters don't buy an x - total waste of money

Every Mum & every baby is different. What was essential for one was a waste of money for another!

Some people will get given more than they'll ever use - others hardly anything.

It is pointless to get a lot of any one thing - even nappies and stuff because you wont know until you use them what you do and don't like.

I know that you want to spread the cost around - but honestly, you'd be better to put the money to one side and buy what you need, when you need it :)

If I had one 'must have' it would be a chest of drawers with a baby change mat on the top. (Not a changing station and not an expensive baby changing drawer unit, just a simple chest of drawers and a baby changing mat. I like the ones with removeable cloth covers, but once again, others hate them.)

Buying stuff for the baby isn't always about what you need though is it

Congratulations!

I chucked / charity shopped a whole load of things then found out I was expecting surprise DC3...

Things I replaced were: the bouncy chair - invaluable from 3 months onwards, the moses basket, a baby blanket and a monitor. I also bought a 'skip hop' changing roll thingy that is a mat and nappies/wipes bag all in one, and can be bunged in any old bag when you are going out for the day.

Other things I have found essential - muslins (as previously mentioned), babygros and short sleeved vests, nappies and wipes.

Things I'd never bother with again - baby bath / changing station, toys for any child not old enough to ask for them (I have never had a child with an attachment to objects/teddies/dollies yet), a breast pump, a 'bumbo' or similar, a baby walker, a special changing bag... (the list goes on)

Hi justhayley,

I am not to far behind you and so far my DP and I have gone through a basic checklist of the basics and have started to buy (be warned may lead to bouts of shopping).

We have been advised to purcahse:

Baby Vests
hats
Cardies
Feeding things
cot
Pram
Car Seat
Changer
Mobile
Muslin square (which if not used can be used to decant red wine)
Nappies (and lots of them)
Baby bath
basic toiletries
Cot bundle
Waterproof knicker things
Baby Monitor
Bouncy seat

So far I have everything apart for the nappies (woops) Primark have some lovely baby vests for next to nothing

xx

Hi justhayley

I'm in the same boat, im 27.6 weeks. Were lucky in that we've been given quite a lot already, cotbed from DP's parents, pram travel system from my parents and my DP's sister has a 1 year old so she's lending us her moses basket, baby bath and has given us no end of clothes hardly ever warn.

When we do our weekly shopping we automatically go down the baby isle's and if theres anything buy one get one free (or better) we buy one. That way were not really missing the money. Tesco had a brill offer on a week or so ago, the huggies wipes were buy one get two free, I think we got 6 in the end.

People say dont stock up buy im so worried about labouring early and not being prepared, especailly with Christmas coming up. xx

The things on my list were:

• Pram/Buggy - got a from birth Maclaren as I don't want to heave a giant travel system around and then buy a lightweight one
• Cot - borrowed a cotbed, bought a mattress
• Car Seat
• Shelves and Drawers in the baby's room (baby wardrobes are nuts imo)
• Bouncer seat
• Support for in the big bath (dont like baby baths)
• Nappies and wipes, Sudocreme
• Baby Carrier (DHs want, im not fussed)
• Babygrows and vests
• Mum knitted cardis and hats
• Muslins
• Swaddling cloths
• SIL buying us a Moses Basket

Thats it really

I'd borrow as much as you could from friends and family, even if it is just for a week or two. That'd let you have an idea whether or not you and your baby like the things before you spend money on them. I bought an expensive bouncy chair after loads of people had told me they found them invaluable. DS1 hated it and screamed every time I put him in it. DS2 on the other hand seemed to like it so it wasn't entirely wasted.

I totally agree with:
A) researching and buying a good pram suitable for your needs before the baby
B) putting money aside and buying what you need when you need it

Pram you will use a lot and you need to make sure it fits into your car and into your house:) I bough a relatively expensive one that was easy to fold and to store. We were taking a lot of flights and our pram got quite battered in luggage department.

I was given expensive electric pump and NEVER used it. I breastfed untill 13 months but I stayed at home. And I found baby monitor totally useless in my house! Your baby can come up big and you will not need a super small nappies. They are sold at every shop buy one bag and wait until your baby is born. I bought a BabyBjorn and could not use it as I found it heavy and uncomfortable and my baby screamed like mad in it. You will be surprised how little newborn needs.

I bought a cot that I did not use until my baby was 6m. We co-sleeped. I found it easier for night feeding but friend of mine had to wake up and go downstairs (!) for nigh feeding. Everyone is different and has different ideas of how to organise their life with the baby.

Don't get carry away with your nesting instinct and overbuy.:)

Marking place, and also to ask what people have bought for baby to sleep in...?

For some reason I find the whole language around it super confusing - babygro, sleepsuit, vest... I have literally no idea. Are long-sleeved all-in-one jobs what he will need, basically, then sheets and blankets wrapped tight?

Oh sorry meant to ask also, cotton or fleece for a winter baby?

Sleepsuits = long sleeved with feet on them. Buy the ones with scratch mitts built in. Never used the separate scratch mitts as DS just flung them off, but if you don't put something over their hands at night they will wake up with face scratched to pieces. No matter how short you cut their nails.

I agree that other than absolute essentials - nappies, muslins etc - wait and see. A mate of mine never used her sling, I bought mine after a week and use it all the time.

Oh, and DS hates sheets and blankets - kicks them off. So glad I bought mine for a quid at a boot sale instead of wasting money! Bought sleeping bags in the first week and they are much better.