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!

They are, but I do find it easier as I like all the compartments. My boots one was planned to be for short trips out but the zip broke in about 2.5 seconds so thought better!

Honestly, as long as your baby has somewhere to sleep, about a dozen sleepsuits (Mine didn't wear anything but for about the first month :P), some cosy blankets, something to cuddle, bottles, steriliser & formula , nappies & a stack of muslin squares, you'll manage.

I spent a fortune 'getting ready', and wound up with stacks of unworn clothes, and a baby bath that's never been used, plus so much other stuff I could have done without!

I'd say save your money, as baby gets older, there will be plenty more to tempt your spending - clothes for special occassions and the like :) (Check out Mums United for that: www.mumsunited.com/?ref_id=NzAwNw== - flash sales & discounts on really gorgeous stuff!) - it sounds like you've got most of the basics covered, so stop panicking & enjoy the rest of your pregnancy :)

I'm 27+4 weeks and this thread is scaring me! I thought I was quite prepared, now worried I don't have enough

I have bought new (in size NB and 0-3) 9 vests, 9 sleep suits with mits, 2 little hats, 2 cardis.

From ebay/freecycle mostly:

Sleep.
Bedside cot with new mattress, a moses basket, 2 cellular blankets & 1 growbag, bottom sheet * 2 for cot and basket.

Travel.
1 sling, 1 travel system, 1 pram blanket

Bum
Nappies, wipes, cotton wool, change mat.

Food
Steriliser, electric breast bump, 2 bottles, food bag things, cushion, breast pads & lanoish. Need to get bra once milk comes in and some vests to do the up down trick.

Misc
Mobile for over dresser (that doubles as changer), NUK dummies incase, 6 Muslin squares, 6 dribble bibs, some DVD boxsets, play gym thing and a bouncing/rocking chair, bath stand, arnica tablets, an in ear thermometer and an old big handbag for change bag.

I can stop now right!??!

I think you've got plenty of equipment :). I would buy some 0-3 vests and sleepsuits because newborn last 0.5 seconds before baby is too big. About 10 vests and 6 sleepsuits will be plenty. About 15 bibs because it's easier to change a bib than a sleepsuit so I put my son in a bib all the time!

For what it's worth everyone told me babies puke everywhere and poi escapes and you have to change them several times a day... But I can count on one hand the number of times my DD has been sick! She is now 9 months old!

So I didn't wash sleep suits after a day's use and got several days put of them. I wasted money on Muslins too that everyone told me I couldn't live without!!

Don't buy too much now, wait to get to know your baby and then but accordingly! No doubt if mine had been a sicky baby I would have sent DH out to tescos for Muslins but as it happens I didn't have to.

Also to the poster planning to breast feed & express. I wouldn't have got a pump & steriliser etc yet. My DD was (and still is) a bottle refuser!! I bought a pack of mircowave steriliser bags for about £3 and tried her on a couple of freebie bottles we ended up with. I did buy a hand pump but nothing would persuade her to take a bottle! So again by waiting to get to know her, I saved money by not making unnecessary purchases before her birth.

If you want to prepare and DO something now then my biggest tip would be to batch cook and fill up your freezer!!! It's wonderful not to have to think about cooking for a few weeks so you can just sit and gaze at your newborn all night long!!

llamallama, thanks for the tip Re batch cooking. Also don't worry I didn't buy a steriliser, pump, bottles, etc my friend gave them to me

About cot bumpers - we plan on co-sleeping but just in case it doesn't work out for whatever reason, we got a cheap IKEA bedside cot so we could at least have them close to us. But really, I'm hoping our baby doesn't spend a lot of time in the cot. To add we'll be doing an attachment parenting approach of having them in a sling a lot, so if they nod off, they nod off on us - so not much in the way of putting them down for naps per se.

But I saw this cute cot bumper, couldn't resist it, but now reading this thread - are they dangerous?

I heard that when the baby can sit up they may pull on them and they become a strangulation or suffocation rush. The nursery advisor at John Lewis told me not to buy them. Too busy looking at baby to care about the cot anyway!

Just a quickie- if your baby is a scratcher, it is better to buy sleepsuits with mits already fitted in the sleeves as the actual mits just do not stay on. Mothercare do them as I'm sure other places do too.

A cot mobile was ESSENTIAL for us although I'm not sure what age but it was early on.

Monitor too that's essential unless you have a tiny house...

I have the opposite worry, that I'm not buying enough stuff because I keep thinking "do I really need that?"

My list (some bought, some to buy) includes

7 vests, 7 sleepsuits, hat, coat, blanket
car seat
baby bath
20 x nappies +inserts (reusable)
couple packs disposable newborn nappies (I've heard reusable too big for newborns)
changing mat
bucket for nappies, bag for nappies for going out
baby wipes and cotton wool balls
muslins
sling
play-mat (it was cute!)
planning to sleep baby in my bed so not getting a cot up front, may change my mind once he/she's here
again not planning to buy a pushchair unless sling doesn't work well
I want to express but not going to try for first few weeks, want to concentrate on breastfeeding first
I don't think I need a monitor as I live in a one floor flat. Three (big) rooms and a bathroom, all very close.
boyfriend has bought baby a toy killer whale, not sure that was massively necessary

This isn't counting some things I'll need for myself (bra, breast pads,etc)
Is that a reasonable list or do I really need all the kit the magazines say? :(
28 weeks, first time mum probably clueless....

We had DD in our room for first 6 months but we still used a monitor. We had a movement sensor one and I think I slept happier knowing the alarm would sound if baby stopped breathing.

Although she was in our room from 5 weeks we put her to bed at 7pm so used the monitor until we joined her around 9/10pm. It meant that I could get to her if she woke and I heard her at the first snuffles meaning she didn't have to properly wake and scream for me to hear her.

I like having a monitor because it makes me feel better! My baby play mat has been used everyday since DS was 8 weeks or so and he's 5 months now. I would just not worry about clothes apart from basics like vests and sleepsuits and loads of bibs. People give cash or clothes as presents and it was good to go out and buy what I felt suited my baby.

I kept a list of what I had to stop me buying too much as got carried away in the shops .

Ignore the lists by the way- do you have a friend who can take you to a shop so they can point out the stuff to avoid? Like cuddle towels- expensive, thin and scratchy and baby grows out of them astonishingly quickly. I would use two medium size good quality towels that you can use one whilst the other is in the wash. Will keep for years.