Right, I'm off to IKEA. What should I buy? (baby stuff)

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It's DC1 so I have no baby kit at all. We are off to Croydon this weekend (assuming scan tomorrow goes well) to start making a few purchases. So far on my Ikea list I have:

• Gulliver or Sundvik cot
• Antilop high chair (not needed till older, I know, but I want to avoid multiple trips to ikea if poss!)
• possibly some of their textiles eg flannels and baby sleeping bags, if nice
• storage boxes for toys etc

What else is worth looking at? What have you got from IKEA that you would recommend? Any items I should avoid?

thank you!

Meatballs and dimebar cake :o)

Have fun, try and go early or late it is quieter.

We love the bibs and flannels

i use the flannels instead of babywipes so save a fortune wiping after each meal (the n putting straight in the machine!)

If you want to use cloth nappies then the fleece throw is great to cut up for liners

we have an expedit toy storage unit in our playroom

the stacking rings and cups are nice

could get some nice fabric if you want to make curtains?

I'd look at the baby gym thing that just allows you to dangle a couple of toys, I had the ubiquitous mothercare "double arch" set up, but the IKEA one looks much cooler and more convenient.

If you really are looking at 6 moths and beyond, you certainly need stacking cups, and the IKEA set are good so pick them up at bargain price.

some weening bowls, plates, cups and cutlery (bpa free and colourful)

Mmmm meatballs!!

Get yourself one of their massive snugly blankets for when you're up early feeding :)

Changing unit?
Nursing chair? The Poang is on sale for £55!

The flannels make excellent bibs, especially for dribbles. Fold diagonally and push one corner through the coloured tab to make an instant absorbent bandanna

The waterproof sheets are £5 and wash beautifully. Very soft too. They fit a cot, then when bigger I put over middle third of bed.

The flannels are a good bargain, as are the muslins as they are a good size & have nice designs.

If you do get a cot, buy the mattress and sheets too, as they aren't a standard size.

I could never get out of the poang holding the baby, and found it was too far reclined to feed comfortably, but I am old and fat.

If you are having a changing table then you absolutely need a set of these. Perfect for keeping nappies and wipes at the right height.

The expedit units are great for storage of everything baby related/ toy storage. Can add door/ drawer/ basket and hide away all mess!

The hensvik cot is good as converts to a cot bed

We had a Singlar changing table. I know some people don't get changing tables but I really liked not having to bend over to change DS. And when he got too big for it I put the nappy buckets up there to keep them out of reach. Well worth the £25, IMHO. We got the plastic bin/storage containers to hang on the side too which were handy for wipes etc and still in use now for various things.

Definitely get the plastic beakers/plates/bowls etc. DS is 4 and still uses the beakers.

If you are really looking ahead, then also get a couple of rolls of drawing paper and a train set!

We have an ikea cot and used standard cot sheets and blankets. (DD has an ikea day bed and the mattress is larger than a standard single, but a single sheet and duvet still fit)

Wow, thanks everyone!

We shouldn't need a changing table as we have a big built in dresser thing in the baby's room we can use. But we will need some containers to put all the nappies and wipes and other gubbins in.

I will check about cot sizes, good point. Their cots and mattresses are 120x 60cm but I have no idea if that is standard. Shame if not . Sheets and waterproof sheets added to list.

Flannels added to the list as are stacking cups and rings (I can only see rings on the website though). Will look at the baby gym too.

Antilop tray, didn't realise that was separate, will def want one of those.

Plates cups and cutlery sound good, we have space to store so I'd rather get more than less I think.

Off to google Kopparberg!

The cots are standard size. We have two Gulliver cots for our dts and are using them in bed mode now they are 2. We have had mothercare and John Lewis bedding on them with no problems. The cot mattresses are good too. My eldest ds had an antilop chair at his grandma's house when he was small - probably the best highchair ever! Have a look at their play rugs/mats too. We have one which has a road pattern on it and leave it out in the day in our living room as we have hard floors. It minimises the sound of toys falling everywhere and is non slip and was only £12! Trofast storage is great for bedrooms and storing toys away neatly.

inflatable changing mat with set of two washable covers - nice and warm for your newborn, you can dump the covers later and just use the wipeable surface
hooded towels, nice thick cotton
sleeping bags, very snuggly cotton quilting and wash beautifully
Definitely the wooden baby gym with 3 danglers: later the child can slide it along the carpet like a walker (disclaimer: I take no responsibility for the safety of this)
£3 washable soft toys that can be bought in pairs in case of getting lost

Give my love to IKEA Croydon - I'm getting all nostalgic

The baby sleeping bags are really good, as are their towelling hoodies for after bath time.

They also make an inflatable support that fits inside the Antilop which you need for smaller babies to stop them sliding and tipping

Flannels
Muslins
Antilop high chair or two (we have one at my mums too)
Baby gym is lovely (I bought it before I was pregnant with dc2 as I'd coveted my friends one! )
Sheets... We just bought some lovely ones green check and with bugs on (same packet) at the weekend
Lamps/ light fittings... We bought the cloud one, tis cool!
More flannels
More muslins
The toys are great actually, ds has a tool belt that all the kids fight over when they come round!

We go for breakfast when we plan an ikea trip.

The cots used to be an odd size but they're standard now. I've just bought a new mattress from ikea for my mamas and papas cot as they do a pocket sprung one for the same price as everyone else's basic one.

I love the baby towels, they are bigger than normal baby towels so they more snuggly and last longer - I still use them for my 4yo.

They also do really soft swaddling blankets.

Toy storage - there's loads to choose from.

They do a lovely little nightlight - I don't know what it's called but it's a little character and you touch the top of its' head to turn it on.

dS has tons from Ikea: Toy storage, muslin cloths, bibs (dead cheap so you don't mind when they get stained), gulliver cot, cot bedding (sheets and bumper), sleeping bags, fleece blankets, toys - stacking cups definitely not aure what else they have, the packs of 6 cps, plates and bowls - everyone I know has them and they're great! DS now picks his colour every night, towels with hoods, nighlight in the shape of a star, changing table and boxes for stuff.

I think that's it! I live in Belgium in e land of expensive baby shops, so Ikea is where everyone who's sensible/can't be bothered to spend a fortune gets their baby stuff!

Thanks again!

Added to the list:

• changing mats & covers, hooded towels, sleeping bags
• rugs (I now realise our floors are all wood or stone, not terribly baby friendly)
• swaddling blankets (are these the same as muslins )
• nightlight (do I need this if I have a baby monitor?)

Can't see a wooden baby gym on the website for some reason but will keep eyes peeled

Thanks for confirmation re cot sizes

Good point about spare high chair at my parents' house - not sure how keen they will be on the plastic clutter mind you having finally de-childified their house

We've got a lovely big blue activity play mat, very soft with squeaky bits, pockets and a mirror etc. Don't know if they still do it but it's been so useful. Has a waterproof back so great for the garden, and washes beautifully.

Second expedit units for storage. So wish they did different colour boxes (but they do do green, pink, white and black)

Also picture frames - are they called ribba? Bought an A2 size in oak colour wood for 16.99 the other day, framed a vintage style ABC piece of wrapping paper for my son's room, looks lovely.

I second the hooded towels. They are big and last children for ages, not like little hooded Mothercare baby towels. Also the coverall aprons in red and blue, although it took DD a long time to grow into them, they are great for eating and painting and wash well. Plastic cups and plates are great and cheap. Fleece blankets are snugly and DD still uses hers at 2.5.

Definitely buy the washable toys Vezzie mentions. We bought DD a toy cat (KATT) and in the end got three of them. They have been discontinued now (but replaced with other similar toys) but we have only lost one and, thank goodness, because they have become DD's nursery toy which she takes with her for her nap. We would be lost without them and she can have one while I run the other through the washing machine.

IKEA is also great for children's storage, although we have ended up getting a MALM chest of drawers and a small ANEBODA wardrobe and using them instead (we put in a hanging rail ourselves).