Compiling a shopping list for the baby - what "healthcare" stuff do I need?

[VegemiteSandwich]

What "health care" type stuff do I need for the baby? We think it'd be good to buy the stuff that we are most likely to need/use for the first couple of months to avoid a late night dash to Boots.

I'm not due until December but I'm compiling a "to buy" list to get an idea of how much money to set aside as we are going to have to spend a fair bit of money on renovations this autumn and also I'm off work today and bored

On my list so far is:

thermometer
calpol (I know I can't use this on a newborn, but I see it mentioned a lot so thought it's better to have it ready for when it's needed!)
lotion (I don't actually know what I mean by this!)
nappy rash cream?

Without setting up a mini-boots in my house, what other stuff is sensible to get?

It's a personal thing but I preferred large cotton wool pads to balls as they didn't leak fluff everywhere. I still use cotton wool rather than wipes occasionally if DD has got a bit of nappy rash.

As someone else said, you get a little pot of sudocream in your bounty pack, so maybe see how you get on with it before buying some yourself.

I found johnson's products too harsh on DD's skin, even though we didn't start using them in the bath until she was a couple of months old.

I found baby emery boards much easier than clippers as even veru short, their nails are still sharp, so the boards soften them.

Also use a nasal aspirator, a syringe for meds (rather than a spoon), and a Ramer sponge.

nickelcognito - er that was my point; you can't give calpol until at least 8 weeks so you don't necessarily need to buy it before the birth. Then after baby is here you have 8+ weeks to get it so not urgent, especially if pre-birth money is tight!

It's definitely worth getting but wouldn't be on my "urgent, must buy before baby arrives" list.

Thanks again for more advice and tips! I'll prob get cotton wool as a) it's cheap stuff anyway and b) lots of people do recommend it. But I'll prob also get some of those cotton wool-y make up wipes too as they, to me, make more sense. It'll all get used up at some stage anyway!

Reminds me that I plan to email sudocream and metanium peoples to try to blag some free samples. If I have any luck I'll let you all know! I know that there will be samples in the bounty pack but (although it's early days) I'm looking into a home birth and so mightn't get one anyway!

I reckon I'll get some sort of lotion stuff (but probably something basic like E45) as I like the idea of giving the baby a massage when rubbing it in. And it'll be winter so, with the heating on full blast, I imagine that dry skin might be likely.

Sidge - sorry, I know your point was about 8 weeks old - my point was actually that you don't know you'll need it until you do.
We didn't know we'd need calpol when DD had her first jabs until she was screaming all evening, and NHS direct told us to give her a dose.
If we hadn't had it in our first aid kit, we wouldn't have been able to, and DD would have kept screaming.

It was the fact that my friend had given us all things that we wouldn't know we needed until we needed them that was the brilliant thing.

when there are no pharmacists open at 9pm.

Vegemite - best to get pure olive oil for things like massage.
especially when the baby is brand new. :)

Did anyone actually manage to use a nasal aspirator on their baby? As soon as I got it anywhere near DD's nose she was so not impressed

The other useful thing to have in is vaporub - put it on your own chest then snuggle baby - they get the benefit of the vapours but without having it on their own skin iyswim? Or olbas oil / karvol on a tissue near the crib is good for helping little stuffy noses.

Cold camomile tea applied on a cotton wool ball is great for sticky eyes (as is breast milk though somewhat tricker to apply... )

I used an aspirator on DS because he had birth-mucous stuck up his nose and would wake up coughing and choking if he wasn't saline-d to within an inch of his life. You do have to hold their heads a bit...

Oh yes def get karvol.

We used nasal aspirtor (the sucky one) when she was asleep.

nickelcognito ah gotcha. When I give babies their jabs I always tell parents to get some Calpol in just in case!!