What to buy?...

[pinsent]

Hi Mumsnet ladies,

I am currently 13 weeks pregnant with my first and i am already eager to get shopping, although part of me is terrified that buying baby stuff will somehow jinx how well everything is going, silly huh?! However i am very aware of how carried away i could get when i finally unleash myself on the baby shops, so i wondered if you lovely ladies would be so kind as to help me put together a list of "things to buy and will probably make life easier", and a list of "don't bother it is a waste of money".
Another request (sorry this is a rather self-indulgent post), can anyone recommend a good pregnancy and baby book? When we were TTC the MN conception ladies recommended Taking Charge of Your Fertility and it became my bible and helped us get our BFP.
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds. I really do value any advice i can get.
Thanks. xxx

Ooooh this is fun!

I'm 17 and a bit weeks, and just starting to allow myself to indulge in shopping :)

Our parents want to share our "list" amongst themselves to get stuff, so we gave them the core things we thing we'd need - anything they want to or contribute to would be wonderful!

Mothercare bedside cot as we wanted to co-sleep
Cot mattress
Sheets
Potential gro-bag - not sure between that and blankets
A sling - we've tried out a friend's Kari Me and Moby, and both were really great
A car seat - we don't drive, so we've opted for a birth-4 years one that starts out rear-facing, then you can switch it around and extend as he/she grows.
The kind of re-usable nappy pack we want to go for - when we've figured that out!
Clothes - we were clear that we intended for little one to just be kicking arounf in babygros and vests for the first six months at least so please no outfits - just "baby" clothes, though if they wanted to go up in age that would be awesome

That's pretty much it so far! Muslins, nipple cream, books, hats, mitts etc - we thought we'd just get ourselves.

bettybat I'd really recommend you looking at extended rear facing car seats and opposed to a standard birth to 4 one. They are generally more expensive but worth looking at if you want your child to be as safe as possible.
It's also worth noting that most (if not all) stage 0+/1 isofix seats are only able to use isofix rear facing. So if you want one which is easy to remove and install in several cars using isofix, you will be better off sticking with rear facing past 13kg, otherwise you'll have to install it using a belt past 13kg.

Also in terms of cots, look at others apart from just mothercare. The arms reach is very popular but is expensive. If you go for a cotbed (so you can just take the side off) or a proper bedside cot, it may still not meet your mattress exactly, so take some measurements before you buy and work out whether you're ok to get a standard mattress or a custom made mattress might be better. My DP made our bed so it wouldn't really work with the cotbed's side off but it might have if we'd had a custom mattress made and found something to put down the gap - our bed frame sticks out further than the mattress so there was a baby sized gap between which dd could have got stuck in too.

I have a moby wrap and IMO it's better than a Kari me as it has no stretch in it so is more supportive for longer.

To everyone - if you want a good pushchair they're expensive so get some financial help with that if you can, and ask for advice on the pushchair board. You'll be grateful for it when you're comfortably pushing your child in it for the next 3 years and don't have to waste more money buying another pushchair after a year because you chose wrong in the beginning.

I wouldn't bother getting bottles in unless you happen to live on a remote island somewhere with no means of buying anything. If you have problems bf after the birth your hospital will provide what you need and if you decide to ff then you can send someone out for them before you leave hospital, all supermarkets have packs of bottles, sterilisers and so on. If you are going to express and give a bottle then I wouldn't suggest doing that before bf is well established anyway so save yourself some money :)Plus if you do want to express to have some extra sleep or go out give hand expressing and cup feeding a try before you buy a load of stuff that you'll probably just use once then decide is far to much bother .

Itsmylastone thanks for the tips!

The car seat is a difficult one because like I say, neither of us drive and are unlikely to be doing so in the next few years - can't afford lessons, a car, don't have anywhere to park anyway and have no plans to move. We meet up with parents via public transport so really - there's going to be a handful of times we'd be using it. Literally to get home from the hospital, and when my parents come down they get the train down so no driving there. DH's parents hardly ever use their cars, and we never get taxis so it's a bit difficult to figure out the best one.

The cot - god I spent hours researching that thing! The Mothercare one meets our needs perfectly because it fits snugly into an alcove on one side of our bed so will be pretty much pushed up against the bed and has 8 heights you can adjust the base to. I looked into all the nests and they just seemed a waste of money - a little more expensive and only up to 6 or 9 months whereas the Mothercare one is for up to 2 years. Believe me, I spent hours researching, measuring, more researching until finally deciding on the Mothercare one

At least you've done your research (and all so quickly - I'm impressed!). It was just I know so many people buy a bedside cot or cotbed and it just doesn't quite work.

In terms of a car seat, if I were you I'd probably get an infant carrier which is quite spacious so that you can use it as long as possible. Most children outgrow their infant carrier heightwise before reaching 13kg so getting one with a tall back will last longer. Then maybe a Kiddy car seat as they're the safest type of forward facing car seat and are seriously light and small if you need to move it about a lot.