List of essentials. What do I *really* need?

[bymoonlight]

This is what I think I really need. I am ignoring the Mothercare checklist!

Have I missed anything:

Pram
Car seat
Moses basket/crib/cot + mattress
Muslims
nappies
baby wipes
14 newborn babygros
Lots of 0-3 babygros
Nipple cream (which is the best one?)
Baby monitor (is this essential?)
Nice blankets
Warm hat (winter baby)
Snowsuit
scratch mittens

What am I missing?

Socks
Vests
Cardigans
Nappy sacks
sudocrem
Maybe skip the muslims and just get some muslins instead
Massive supply of cakes and chocolate for you

Nipple cream - a pure lanolin one.
Monitor - I used one even in a tiny house until they were at least 6m+

Muslims? I think muslins might suit your needs better.

bymoonlight you needing Muslims just gave me a right belly laugh at work! Thanks, it was just what I needed

Moses basket is optional really, just some kind of bed.
Maybe some baby shampoo? I wouldn't get johnsons though it made mine very flaky. Breastpads. waterproof cover for your bed - for waters going - baby puking on-spilled drinks.
Boxset of something good.

Baby monitor depends on your place. I never used mine in my little 1 bed flat when DS1 was a baby. Even if he was in the bedroom and we were in the lounge, he was about 10ft away! However, if you need to close the door (for example, to keep pets out) or if you will be downstairs while baby is upstairs, you will need a monitor. I always kept DS1 in whatever room I was in when he was newborn too, so didn't really use it until he was a bit older. You could, if money was tight, not get one and see how you get on. You can always get one at a later date if you discover you do need it.

Camillosan is good for cracked nips. Cotton wool balls for bathing, and agree Johnson s stuff is harsh. Tescos is completely fine. Although they say just water for washing for the first weeks.
Big stretchy pants for you and maternity pads. Glam!!!

Cotton wool for nappy changes at first? A bowl or two for changing and topping and tailing. Possibly a healthcare kit with baby hairbrush, thermometer etc?

I would use baby sleeping bags (like grobags) rather than blankets. Much safer IMO and they look sooo cute in them

Nipple cream - I'm 30 weeks pregnant and have been using lansinoh as was recommended everywhere. It does really help at the moment; no experience with it in breastfeeding.

Moses basket - we'll be using the carrycot from the pram during the day (it's one suitable for overnight sleeping) and cot bed in our room at night. Cot bed will last at least 4 years hopefully (can be transformed into toddler bed) and with good deal from Kiddicare a lot cheaper than moses basket + cot + bed in a year or 2.

Also re babywipes - be careful which ones you get if you want to use it on a newborn. My best friend is a midwife and she said only to use Pampers sensitive or Johnson Extra Sensitive as the other ones are too harsh. Also check with your hospital if you're actually allowed to use them there as some only allow cotton wool + water.

I'd also add breastfeeding pads. And maternity pads for in the hospital/first few days/weeks after birth.

Definitely box sets! DD is 8 weeks and I'm on season 4 of buffy, you'll be pinned down feeding a lot of the time to begin with. I'm breastfeeding but suspect it will be the same if you are bottle feeding anyway.

We don't have a baby monitor and cope fine without it, I guess it depends a bit how big your house is.

You need vests (with poppers at the bottom) and sleepsuits (I find didn't people use babygrow to mean different things). 14 newborn sounds a lot to me, we had 3 newborn and 5 in 0-3 which was probably a bit stingy but was fine to go out and get more when we knew how big she was. The shops don't shut because you've gone into labour! Even if you have a rough time you can get dp or a relative or friend to get some for you. You also need socks and a couple of cardigans.

If you can get sleep sits with scratch mitts in, the separate ones seem to stay on for 3 seconds maximum, they're more trouble than they're worth.

For nipple cream lansinoh is supposed to be best.

We also got a cheap bouncer from boots which we found useful from the beginning for putting her in while we do things like cook, mine actually lives in the kitchen (maybe this is why I don't need a baby monitor! )

Lansinoh is great - cheaper on line.

Grobags?
Sling/carrier?

I found monitors essential and handy when going to parents' etc. We bought cheap basic ones though which were fine.

If you are planning on bf (guess so with nipple cream) then breast pads, nursing bras, possibly expressing kit?milk storage stuff and sterilising kit. Cheap, long line vest tops to wear under everything helped with feeding in public. Loved my v shape pillow too.

Loads of maternity pads, big pants, painkillers etc.

Sky tv/lovefilm/boxsets/newspaper delivery/magazine subscription/smartphone/tablet.

Snacks, fruit, junk food, drinks in individual units eg cartons etc. Packed lunch food!

Some way of cutting baby's nails. I use baby nail clippers.

Baby thermometer.

Room thermometer.

Did you have blankets? Cotton cellular ones are best.

You may not need newborn babygros - my first born was 9lb 3oz and went straight into 0-3.

I don't think you need a monitor. Unless you live in a castle, your baby won't be far enough away until 6 months.

You could also do without a Moses basket and go straight into a crib/cot.

Pram - yes
Car seat - yes
Moses basket/crib/cot + mattress - wouldn't say that a moses basket is essesntial but it depends on what you think will work for you. We managed fine with a cot and a rocker chair thing that lay flat for daytime naps.

Muslims - lots of muslins is a good idea
nappies - don't buy too many in the smallest size as you may find they don't fit for long!

baby wipes - yep! I lasted 3 days using cotton wool and water with DS1 and one nappy change with DS2 before I cracked open the baby wipes.

14 newborn babygros - depends on the size of your baby but may be too many - my DS1 out grew them in two weeks and they were squishing DS2's feet from the day he was born (8lbs5oz so not huge!)

Lots of 0-3 babygros - yep, although I was given lots as presents when DS1 was born so ended up with a ridiculous number of them and they only fitted for 8 weeks...

Nipple cream (which is the best one?) - not an essential, you may find it useful but I know of a lot of people who didn't.

Baby monitor (is this essential?) - I found it reassuring but you can manage without.
Nice blankets - they don't have to be nice
Warm hat (winter baby) - yep
Snowsuit - yes, but only if it is actually a cold winter...
scratch mittens - not an essential but you won't know until you have the baby whether they are or not!

Agree as well with vests. Not so much with cardigans as DS1 (summer baby) never wore them and DS2 (very cold winter baby) hardly did. Socks - no if the baby grows have fitted feet on them.

Definitely waterproof mattress protector for your bed, boxset of something good to watch, nice food/cake/chocolate, nappy sacks and breast pads.

Nappy rash cream - depends on your baby, not all need to be covered in the stuff. Baby wash/shampoo - personal choice thing too.

Good luck!

x-posted with loads of people!

Persuasion - I watched Buffy with DS1 - didn't take me long to work my way through the lot! and I watched the musical one a few times

Annoyingly with DS2 I mostly watched cbeebies.

I have 15 week twins- here goes...
Baby coat hangers. You will need these as many multipack t shirts and trousers/leggings only come with one hanger. Can buy them from mothercare.
Sun shades for rear car windows- don't laugh, the sun can still be bright in winter! £5.99 a pair in Mothercare I think.
I bought blankets and didn't use them at all. Admittedly it was summer though. Gro bags seem better but not from newborn.Useful from about 10 weeks or so. Also, the John Lewis and Mothercare versions are better and cheaper than gro bag.
I bought cotton wool in abundance and did not use ANY.
I used sensitive baby wipes for bums from day one and have had no rash problems.

Cross posted with almost everyone! Cotton Wool balls are a pain and get stuck to meconium. I found cotton wool pads for removing makeup much easier. I use huggies pure baby wipes and haven't had any problems but the midwives do recommend just cotton wool and water.

With sleeping bags dd was too small for them at first so a blanket came in handy.

And more maternity pads than you expect. You can get thin ones with wings which I found useful as an extra layer underneath the thick ones for the first week.

And takeaway menus

Ooh bymoonlight I've been wondering the same thing! And at what point do you start shopping for it all? (Due early January and not sure if I'm being prepared if I start in the coming weeks, or just getting ahead of myself!).

Also, when do you use a sleepsuit/babygrow/vest? Do you need to get all kinds for different times of day?

Lots of sensible comments but really, just don't buy too much, there is £millions to be made in marketing 'essentials' to new parents .

Never needed nipple cream.

Never used a monitor, just don't understand why you would need one unless you lived in a mansion; funniest thing ever when I visited a friend who lived in a flat, baby was in the next room and she kept the monitor in her hand the whole time. I do think people who use monitors often have a tendancy to rush in the minute their baby makes the tiniest sound, no wonder so many babies can't self settle.

awaits flaming

Its looking increasingly like I will need a c section.

Will I still need maternity pads?

I have heard horror stories about the constipation afterwards, can I do anything to help this?

Can I take anything before the section to help with the pain/healing?

Any other c section tips.

Also hospital tips as I may be in for four days afterwards. I know the food is terrible, what can I do about that?

Non-bio washing powder
Breast pads
Flannels (soaked in hot water and wrung out) can help if breast become large and hard in the first few days after milk has come in.
Savoy cabbage in fridge
Get measured for feeding bras in last few weeks

When you do get a monitor (we didn't use ours at all until 12 weeks) consider one with video screen if you can afford it.
We've got this:
www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-MBP36-Camera-Digital-Monitor/dp/B00BGAMDA8
They do a one-cam version

Yoni I am due the end of Jan and am having my 20wk scan today!!!

I wanted to wait until I had this scan before I bought anything so after today I will start slowly buying things from the list.

One of the things we has to go out and buy was infacol and gripe water. Ds has terrible wind in the early days. I wish we'd already thought of it so we had it to hand!

Like others have said the main things we used were vests, socks, cardies, baby grows, cellular blankets, nappies, cotton wool balls for washing/nappy changing, lanolin nipple cream.

Don't buy too many clothes as you don't know what the baby will weigh. My friend had loads of newborn stuff and had a big baby that went straight into 0-3 where as I had a premature baby and had to go out and buy tiny baby stuff and he wasn't in newborn for 3 months!

I brought an expensive electric breast pump which I used twice as I preferred the hand pump the hospital gave me.

iPad and phone were very useful during night feeds!