Best baby tip, best thing you bought & most useless thing

[SoYo]

As the thread says! I'm currently 38 weeks pregnant and just wondering what sage advice you lovely mums can give a newby?

So:

1: Best tip for either childbirth, recovery or looking after a newborn
2: Best thing you bought that you wouldn't be without & would definitely buy again
3: something you didn't use/was waste of money/you wouldn't buy again!

Thanks in advance for all words of wisdom!

My worst was a nappy bin. They are rank, stink and are useless.

My best, hmmm had very bad back after birth, needed changing table ASAP. 20 quid on eBay for a nearly new mamas and papas. Perfect!

Baby is 10 months now and my favourite thing of the moment is a hippy hick hip seat!

Cubtree my baby is 10mo too, what is a hippy hick hip seat?

My most useless thing was a cot - DS simply would not sleep in it and ended up sleeping with us. Cot was used as a very expensive cat bed.

Best thing by far was a sling - we used it for a year until DS decided that he no longer liked it and preferred to be in the push chair. But it was great for getting him to sleep during the day and leaving me hands-free to do stuff. Even awake, he liked to be in the sling.

Best tip: If you get stitches then Durex Aloe Vera lube is very soothing when they start to heal.

Best buy: baby nightgowns so you don't have to cope with poppers when sleep deprived.

Worst buy: single breast pump - had to buy a double pump to get any volume.

All the best!

Childbirth-go with the flow. Don't have too many expectations of what you want or will happen. Baby makes an entrance however the hell he/she likes!
Recovery-take it easy, accept help. Let dp look after you. Sleep.
Newborn-never wake a sleeping baby. Baby will let you know when they're hungry. Don't wake ten for a feed. Fresh air knocks kids out to sleep. If you're struggling settling a baby, wrap him/her up warm and go for a stroll with the buggy. Or let dp go for a stroll and you take a bath.

Crappiest buy-gro egg. Cuddly toys.

Best buy- gro bag, comforter blankie, cellular blankets. Wine and pâté.

Good luck!

And take dark coloured pyjama pants to wear after childbirth. Two pairs minimum. My maternity pads leaked every time I had my babies and walking/hobbling to the bathroom with blood everywhere is not a nice sight for anyone to see!

Wine and pate!

This mamas and papas bath was expensive but so worth it! I Felt really comfortable bathing even a tiny baby, so much easier having both hands free!!! Bathing new horns scared me, I was convinced I was going to drown baby!

*newborn even!!!

Please bear in mind that my DC are now 14 and 16 .....

Best buy was a v shaped cushion to support my arms and shoulders while holding dc for feeding/holding/cuddling.

Worst buy was a breast pump. Never once managed to express successfully.

Now DC are older the best buy is definitely broadband!!!

I'd agree with going with the flow and having an open mind with the birth.

Best buy for me was the snot sucker from Boots (nasal aspirator), very satisfying! Close second was the Ergo baby carrier.

Biggest waste of money was also the cot for us too.

Good luck!

Tescos 99p maternity pads are the best I used out of the variety I bought.

Most useful: Maternity pillow from Arogs, cost a tenner. Loved it when pregnant and now use it to feed my twins on, very handy. Also my Angelcare sensor monitors, I feel much more relaxed while they are asleep since I bought them.

Most useless: Bath supports, waste of money. The girls hate them!

Great question :) there is thread a bit further down called help me learn from your mistakes or something like that - has laods of useful advice like this.

In answer to your questions I would say in terms of childbirth try not to have too many expectations - the more you relax, the easier your body will find it. There are no medals for getting through without pain relief, just think about the end result: a healthy baby and healthy mum.

Make sure you take lots of pics and video and cuddle your newborn as much as you can!

Our best buy was a base for the car seat so that it just clicks in and out of the car without having to be strapped in each time - great when it's raining and baby is screaming and you are running late!

I can't think of anything that was a complete waste of money but I wouldn't bother with a baby bath again - pref the sink or bathing with baby :)

My tip for new mums: a good drink bottle. I have one that has a bite-valve and a straw. Was the best thing I took with me for labour, first days in hospital, and feeding at home again. Doesn't spill, no need to open anything - just bite down to suck, no need to tip up to get the liquid from the bottom. Brilliant to have next to you in bed, no need to stretch (ouch!) to the side table.

Camelbak do a good one, or there's now other cheaper brands.

This is what I give all my friends at their baby showers now! So far had nothing but positive feedback.

Best tip - vests roll over their shoulders and down their body, much easier when soaked in poo

For childbirth, just go with the flow and try not to have any really strong ideas about what is going to happen. There are no medals awarded for how your baby is born. If you have to have a cs, don't get upset or think that you've done something wrong. If you want an epidural or pethidine, don't think you're not coping with the pain when other women did. Your body, your birth. Do whatever you need to get through it.

Best thing we bought was the Babybjorn. Obviously not everyone likes the Babybjorns, but some form of carrier or wrap will probably be a godsend.

Worst thing? Baby hated the bouncer, but that was secondhand so not the end of the world. I'd say just don't spend a fortune you can't afford on anything, and borrow or get secondhand everything you can. It takes a while to figure out what your baby does and doesn't like, so you could have wasted £100 on one of those swingseat things.

Not a baby item, but I had my DS 4 years ago and now have a newborn. Night feeds are unbelievably so much easier this time because I can go on my phone while feeding. I've read most of the Internet and got through a few iBooks too. So I would recommend a smart phone if you haven't got one. Ask people for iTunes vouchers for books if they want to buy you stuff. Or buy an ebook reader with a back light.
It stops you falling asleep with your baby if not co sleeping and the night passes so much faster.

Best tip for post-birth: get a 1l bottle of water with a sports cap. Fill with (warm) water and squirt it whilst peeing to stop the sting.
Best buy: a birthing/exercise ball to bounce on whilst holding baby - a fantastic way to comfort them.
Worst buy: baby clothes other than vests&sleep suits for first 3mths. Big pot of sudocrem - the freebie one from the evil bounty pack lasts months.

Best tip for childbirth: assuming you're going for a VB, walk around as much as you can between contractions to get things going and work with gravity. Bring glucose tablets and energy drinks to keep your energy up if it's a long birth.

Best buy: the v-shaped pillow. I bought it 14 years ago to help with feeding DD1. We also used it at various points to stop babies rolling off the bed or sofa. Now DD1 is bigger than me, but I've still got the v-shaped pillow (with a brand new cover) - it's used on our bed now for when I want to read.

Worst buy: baby bath and metal stand. Any old plastic laundry basket would have done at a fraction of the price, and the stand was too wobbly for us to trust it. We were also really worried about spilling the water all over the floor. It would have been much better at the beginning to use a laundry basket within the main bath, and just lean over the edge of the bath. However, we still have the baby bath, which has long been used as an extra laundry basket!

Tips...

1. Forget maternity pads, use lovely thick, long, comfy tena ladies. However many you think you need, take more. There is nothing worse than feeling you have to ration yourself. You can always get a refund from boots later.

The bleeding isn't that bad, but they are really comfy and you feel much more confident in them. Plus if you have any 'accidents' you are ready for them.

1. Take baby wipes to the loo with you. These are more gentle than loo roll
2. Request laxatives after birth (request from the midwife) to make that first movement less scary.
3. Take ear plugs so you don't have to hear other people's buzzers going off all night long (aaaargh).
4. Have one bag for you, one for the baby so visitors can easily find stuff for you. Maybe sort your bag into 'labour' and 'post labour' and send the labour stuff home with your dp after the birth? That way you don't have too much in hospital with you.

1. If you think you need the loo whilst recovering from the birth, don't put it off, thinking you will go in a minute, go!!! I made this mistake, thinking I had to settle the baby before going to pee. I ended up having an accident. As I was recovering from pre eclampsia I was peeing a litre at a time, luckily i was in a private room and managed to reach one of those cardboard sick bowls and filled that up Oh the shame, especially as my gorgeous consultant wanted to see me at the time I was peeing like a racehorse).

Biggest waste of money? Soft toys (I'm hoping my ds will play with then as he gets older), Moses basket (he hated it), swaddle wraps (he hated those too)
Outfits - he lived mainly in sleep suits

Good luck!

Best buy: super king bed for us (as became family bed for a while) and decent pram as walked / travelled miles....worst buy: moses basket, steriliser (just use dishwasher), breast pump!

In the interests of balance, although datedthedevil didn't use her swaddle wrap, it was one of my best things for my DS. Though my DD did not like being swaddled, so you never know what the baby will like till they arrive! I just tried swaddling with a cotton jersey blanket, then when I realised DS liked it, I bought a second-hand wrap off Ebay, which was so useful and convenient. worked like magic on DS.
Also I must mention how amazing white noise is for calming little babies, in the form of a hairdryer, food mixer, hoover, or various downloads. I never knew about this till I saw it on Mumsnet when desperate and sleep deprived! The hairdryer was often deployed to save our sanity!

Newborn tip: they sleep best on you/daddy
It's ok to. say 'no' to having visitors in the early days, or asking them, nicely, to leave.
You might not like the idea of dummy/co-sleeping/babysling or countless other things, but it's ok to give up your ideas for the sake of LO and your sanity.

Best buy: Ergobaby sling, a little set of stacking/pouring pots to hold exact dosis of formula (perfect for night feeds and when out and about), babygym, grobags, Antilop highchair (ikea), all-over bibs (ikea), bit o'plastic that we put under highchair to catch flying food (not ikea!).

Worst thing: cot and playpen, DS just went flipping NUTS whenever placed in one, babybath, bottle warmer (well, that was a gift, but still a load of bollocks), fabric cushion for Antilop highchair, plastic spoons (DS will only eat off metal - but who knew?).

Good luck and congratulations!

Best buy post c-section: enormous black cotton pants from Tesco. I'm talking size 18 if you're normally a size 10 kind of big. Don't even consider the disposable ones, scratchy as hell. Tesco cotton pants are cheap and comfy.

Best baby buy: jumperoo (godsend from around 4 months)

Worst buy: P&T double pram, Tens machine, soft toys.

Top tip: prepare for c-section. I wasn't expecting to end up having one, but did.

Best buys:

agree with smart phone and or kindle for night feeds / general night wakings. Would add decent slippers and dressing gown to that category too.

I have had a lot of use from the glider rocking chair with both my 2.

Moby wrap for newborn

Maclaren XT pushchair from a few months

Trousers with feet in (no poppers to mess with, no socks to lose)

dummies

maxi cosi car seat base (splashed out and had one in both cars - lots easier to get car seat in and out)

tommee tippee single bottle sterilser - ideal if baby is having the occasional bottle, could also fit small breastpump in to sterilise that.

Worst buy:

big travel system - too heavy, too wide, too expensive.

Best buy: v shaped pillow for feeding, being comfy in general. I second Kindle, or something similar for night feeds.
Worst buy: bumbo chair: baby never looked comfy, happy in it, barely used it.

Best tip: Don't try to be too quiet around the baby in the day (as my Mum put it: Hoover under his pram!) they need to be able to kip through regular day time noise.

Remember that birth does hurt, but not because you are I'll, and it's only temporary. And that now and then you will feel like you are the most sleep deprived person that ever lived. This too is normal, and will pass!

Congratulations, and good luck!