What to buy for a first newborn?

[LittleSugaPlum]

Hi all, im 24 weeks pregnant with first baby (daughter).
I seem to have spent a fortune on things already, and i still havent got everything.

I ve already brought cot, matress, wardrobe, changing dresser, moses basket with stand, cot bedding, approx 6 blankets, grow bag, changing mat.

Plus approx 20 newborn vests (no smaller than 9.9lb) around 15 baby grows, 20 bibs, and 7 day outfits with cardigans or house jackets.

Plus approx 20 0-3month vests, 15 baby grows, and around 9 day outfits, plus musims, scratch mittens and hats!

It just seems never ending! I still have to get pram, car seat, bottles, formula, sterilser, baby monitors? baby bath? room temperature? nappies and wipes!

Is there anything that is a waste of money buying? i ve heard people say cot mobiles, baby baths, top n tail bowls that sort of thing are a waste of money?

Do i need more clothes? Feel like im constantly spending!

I ve got the nursery set up, complete with curtains, pictures etc early as i suffer with pelvic girdle pain which is slowley getting worse, so i wanted to make sure that all the big stuff was out the way incase i ended up not being able to move!

Any advice much appreciated!

In reality:

Something to put dd in when you go out - sling and/or buggy
Something to put dd into in the car
Something to put dd into to sleep - moses basket or cot or cosleep
Somewhere to put dd during the day - play mat bouncer
Some nappies in newborn but not tons
Some wipes or cotton wool for cleaning bum
Three sleepsuits in newborn, three in 0-3
Three vests in newborn, three in 0-3
Two cardies
A hat
Dont buy scratchmits, just buy the sleepsuits with the fold over cuffs
No socks as in sleepsuits all the time
Bath with her, or get a ramp, to lie the baby on in the big bath (I think baby baths along with topNtail bowls are the two most pointless things)
Two bottom sheets for wherever she's sleeping
Two big sheets to swaddle her in and or a gro bag
One blanket for pram
A little pile of muslins - use instead of bibs, as 'spit up' sheets in moses basket (so you dont have to change the bottom sheet)

You will get HEAPS of clothes as gifts. Do not remove tags off anything until you use it, and dont even ebay - if you have a dress from Mothercare with the labels on (for example) and she doesn't wear it or you dont like it, take it into store, say its not right size or you have more than one and can you exchange and swap it for something else.

I bought a microwave steriliser, four bottles, tommee tipee, and two tins of SMA gold. The shops are still open, even though your world feels like its been turned upside down.

Oh, and dd never ever needed changing in the day. Tbh, sometimes I kept her in her nighttime sleepsuit all the next day slattern alert.

If you do go for a carrycot for the pram, DD can sleep in them during the day which means you can leave the moses basket in the bedroom.

i wouldn't have bothered with any 'day outfits' nice babygro and vest day and night until 4-6 months...
coats usually bunch up so just a cardigan and extra blanket in pram or cardigan fine and wrap in coat if in sling

def get a baby monitor (with camera if you can)

no to baby bath

what do you mean by cot bedding? just a cot sheet? thats all you need as anything else is too dangerous to stay in cot really. just add grobag or blanket.

if you can take back/sell, then 6 blankets is at least double to much. and id take back half the clothes and you dont really need bibs with a small baby? they are more for teething dribble. a muslin will do for wiping spilt milk

use milton tablets to steralise. you then just add to water in a regular large bowl. i think you change every 24hrs. easy if you have to travel or stay elsewhere overnight as you just pack some tablets (everyone has a bowl!)

theres many things you prob have in excess from your list but too late now so just consider carefully for the other things

ie you could have just got a pram with carrycot suitable for overnight, which would have saved buying moses basket etc..

Bedding set i ve brought comes with bumper, cover, not sure what else, but i had to buy cot sheets seperate.

Will shops still accept stuff back if they no longer sell that item?

Its easy to get carried away. Im a first timer at all this too and I felt terrible looking through baby magazines thinking how the hell am I supposed to get all this?! Baby is very much planned but due to current climate money is always going to be tight especially without my wage and the debt we have,

What I would say is from what I have gathered from hours and hours of Mnetting One persons pointless is another persons priority so don't beat yourself up.

:)

Tbh, the bumper can't be used after the start crawling and the cover's not necessary with a gor bag, so the set is probably redundant. Bottom sheet and gro bag is suffucuent.

If you can't return the set, re-gift it on to someone else.

I have a set which includes bumper, coverlet, bottome sheet and something that dangles over the cot. Ive never used it, sadly, as the bumper I feel is dangerous and DD uses a gro bag so doesnt need a cover.

As regards returning stuff, I think shops are pretty good, but always worth trying. Actually though- we have got 20 vests in each size as I like to change it at night but that's my little obsession . I'm sure you'll be great. I wasted money buying stuff like a bath thermometer (have arms last time I checked), but I love the room thermometers (and am I no way obsessed with the temperature...).

I have mostly second hand stuff, the nct sales are brilliant and I think that what I deem as pointless I can sell, such as the cot bed cat protector thing. Discovered I can close the doors!

I was told by the advisor in John Lewis not to buy bumpers- something about baby pulling them off??? I didn't but they are so pretty.

Great tip about the pillowcases pumpkinsweetie :) I was about to buy Moses basket sheets but now I think I'll follow your advice and save some money

Don't know if this helps, OP, but when DS was born we had bought:

Travel system inc. car seat, pushchair, carrycot;
Crib + mattress + 2 bendy corner sheets, 2 top sheets, 2 plain cellular blankets, 1 colourful cellular blanket;
3 x Mothercare 10-piece unisex starter clothes pack - 1 early baby size, 1 tiny baby size, 1 newborn baby size;
Changing mat;
Baby wipes;
1 pack newborn nappies;
Steriliser

You seriously don't need a lot to start with. Easy to buy on-line and have stuff delivered after baby gets home too.

wow...Now I feel unprepared...I haven't bought anything yet :o

How much does a tiny baby need! You need to just have a glass of and relax!!! You'll have plenty of time to shop when the baby's here. Good excuse to get out of the house and exercise :)

You can get away with a lot less than that. There is a good list here

Good luck!

baby bath is pointless they are too small to be of use for long. get a five pound newborn bath support, added bonus you get both hands free to wash the baby.

You have got far too many vests and sleepsuits. If you haven't washed them and you have the packaging, return some.

Scratch mitts are a waste of space in my opinion. don't get more than a couple as you likely won't use them much.

Do not buy fancy nursery bedding sets as both pointless and dangerous. Bottom sheet and sleeping bag are all you need.

Mothercare sell a simple room thermometer for a couple of quid, don't waste 20 pounds on a gro-egg. Anyway, you can probably tell for yourself if your room is hot or cold or you can set your heating thermostat to keep it at 18 degrees.

Kiddicare currently have an offer on their website where they will send you a massive box of a months worth of nappies for £20. Next day delivery. Unless your baby is under 7 pounds at birth, their size twos will be fine from day one. Supermarkets constantly have special offers on wipes so buy whatever is cheapest at the time. Own brands are totally fine.

If you are formula feeding a decent steriliser might be better than making up milton solution all the time but you can get one off ebay. don't waste cash on a bottle warmer, they are pointless.

Loads of prams on ebay. don't spend hundreds and hundreds on an all singing all dancing fancy system as it isnt necessary.

don't worry about pictures on the wall yet. the baby will not appreciate your taste in interior design yet and will likely be in your room at first. also don't waste money on toys for a newborn that they won't play with. Newborns don't really play with toys in the early weeks!

don't buy tonnes of formula in advance, you may pick a brand that in fact you don't get on with. Just buy a couple of tins at first. Same with bottles. You could buy loads of one brand and then find out they aren't working for you so just get a few to begin with.

Hi OP

Seems like you have tons of stuff already so would agree with some of the others that if you can exchange it I would. If you can't, don't worry just take note from this thread and others what you really need ie. car seat etc. and focus on that. Baby won't know the difference and sure it would nice to have more money during ML.

I went to see my parents the other week and glad I didn't buy much because between them and my sisters I won't need to buy anything else! I realise I'm lucky but sure most people's friends/family buy gifts so perhaps ask for smaller things on your must have list. They'll be pleased to get something you really want/need and spreads the cost.

It's good to be organised, just remember there's always internet shopping if you really need something later :)

Have a sleeping baby on me so a short message - far, far too many clothes. You'll also get loads as gifts. We have 5 or 6 baby grows and vests for each age, that's fine. We also have two grobags and don't use blankets. I did buy three Blankets though and was given some from family. I find them useful for her to lie on and use one as a pram liner.

My baby was 7lb 12oz and was out of newborn clothes within weeks. 0-3 month clothing, whilst baggy, fit her from day one.

Thanks for the advice, I will not buy anymore clothes!!

How soon after the birth are you able to say drive and walk into town etc?

I was out shopping 3 days later, but I hate being cooped up. My sister gave birth 5 days ago and shows no sign of going anywhere , depends on you and how you feel after birth, I guess.

Everyone on these threads always say baby baths are a waste of time but I have to say it was the best £5 I ever spent.

We still use ours for our sizeable 21month old. We have a mahoosive bath and we're on a water meter. He loves bath time so it clearly doesn't either him that he's in a bath within a bath!

Dummies and muslin cloths but seriously you'll be given loads of stuff as gifts/ on loan from parent friends. I only bought nappies - everything else was bought for us - mostly by people we didn't really know. People are very generous, especially if this is your first.

If you havent had a c-sec you could be out the next day but seriously, take advantage of any opportunity to rest.

If anyone rings to ask if they can pop in just ask them to pick you up a tin of milk or wipes or whatever you need people are happy to oblige.

Also, re. scratch mitts, long sleeved sleepsuits from Mothercare and Next (probably other places too but check first) have scratchmitts built into the sleeves.

Depends a bit on the time of year, but if it's cool enough for long sleeved sleepsuits when your DC is born, you don't need to buy separate scratch mitts at all.

And DS could get scratchmitts off within 5 minutes even as a newborn. Socks work much better, as it's harder for newborn babies to get those off their hands.

I agree with PickleSarnie, I've found my baby bath very useful, especially if you prefer to take showers yourself. You can get a decent sized one from ikea for a fiver. It's so much quicker to fill up than a normal bath and it uses up a fraction of the water.

I also found it useful to have a fairly decent number (about 10 of each) of vests and baby grows in size 0-3 so that you don't need to worry about using the washing machine all the time.

The baby outfits, while very cute are a bit of a faff and the kind of thing people will give you as gifts anyway.

Hats off to ladies who are out shopping a couple of days after the birth but after a c-section and with a very hungry, demanding newborn, the last thing I wanted to be doing was shopping and laundry! :)

Have you got a changing bag? I have a bababing, which I got from eBay for £20. They are truly brilliant, and a good piece of design. Not floral or overly girly so my DH likes it too

Not thought of changing bag, maybe i could get one that matched the pram?

Whats a bababing?

If you join Boots parenting club and buy a pack of nappies you get a free black changing bag worth about ~£30 I think

A bag that matches the pram will be double the price at least just because it matches. Just get a nice plain black one, or the free one from Boots. I got one in Asda, it does the job just fine.

I dug out my old uni cross body bag as it is unisex for me or dh to carry it and roomy.

When I use the sling I put a little backpack on.

official changing bags are pretty unecessary.