One thing that you bought/received that was a 'lifesaver'?

[Ymamiss]

Hi, I'm expecting my first baby, and am really overwhelmed with the choice of baby things available to buy, e.g. bouncers, cribs, bumbo seats, playmats, etc.

What was the one thing that you had that you definitely felt made a difference to your overall wellbeing/sanity?

Thanks in advance!

A bath seat with suckers on....

Bloody marvellous and very cheap

washable towelling bathslope
This book

Ewan the dream sheep

Baby has just moved to her own room and I'm bit sleeping as well without him! (She, on the other hand, sleeps fantastically well!)

Miracle blanket swaddle blankets.
Rocking stand for the Moses basket.
White noise thing - slumberbear or Ewan the sheep.
Blackout blinds/ curtains
Lansinoh

Tommee tippee perfect prep machine

Three sided cot. It bought me sleep. I can't emphasise enough how precious that is with a little one!

They're quite expensive in the UK but I was recommended one on mumsnet which was great - it comes from.Germany Amazon. You can get the cot, mattress, sheets, bumper and delivery for about £120 IIRC.

You can use your UK Amazon account on the German site, and if you use Google Chrome as your browser it'll translate the pages for you.

here is is on German Amazon

My daughter is 13 weeks and my top items so far are:

The Snuzpod: beautiful crib that is next to my bed with the side down so she is right there. So easy for night feeds and for bonding, it's lovely. I'll be sad when she grows out of it! It's also a really smart looking piece of furniture.

Angelcare bath: it goes into the main bath and supports baby 100% so you can have your hands free. She loves it and is totally safe. It's brilliant

Moby wrap: once you get the hang of how to tie it and put the baby in it, it's brilliant for around the house. I prefer something sturdier for being out and about, and have the new Ergo 360 which I love too

If you plan to breast feed:

Comfortable nursing bras! Breast pads, I like the Avent ones the best. Medela breast shells- they collect milk so you can wear one while you feed baby on the other side. It's surprising how much you can collect. Then if you have breast milk freezer bags you can store it for later on. Totally fuss free.

Muslins. You don't need pretty fancy ones, but you need LOTS!!

Finally, an insulated cup with a lid. And someone to make you tea on demand!

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and your baby xx

Stretchy sling (I used a kari me)

Washable breast pads, the disposable ones made me really sore

Water wipes, only discovered these with my second, saved the faff of cotton wool and can use from newborn

Upright bouncy chair, so refluxy baby could watch me shower happily!

Various 'baby holding receptacles' - sling, vibrating chair, swing, playmat (many borrowed!) to have a 'safe place' in any room.

Bath support made of sponge

Snot sucker!

Velcro swaddle wrap

A freezer full of meals.

Expecting DC2 and my must-haves are a co sleeper crib and sleepyhead.

For baby, a poddle pod. Mine absolutley loved it and she'd nap for hours in hers.

For me, lansinoh nipple cream, it was really amazing. And crop-top vesty type things instead of a bra for when milk comes in.

Teddy bath support sponge.

Overwhelmed with the amount of replies...thank you so much!

Lansinoh and some nipple shields - essential for both babies and enabled me to get through the initial difficult stage of breast feeding.
A pillow - again for BFing. I was able to get in the right position by placing baby on the pillow.
A door bouncer - only used for high maintenance baby number 1. She loved it and it kept her busy whilst we ate ( shovelled food in as quickly as we could!)
A sling - only used for baby number 2 who loved to snuggle and be carried (still does and she is 4 years old now!)

co-sleeper (the same Fabimax discussed earlier). It makes your life so much easier if you can just pull them closer for feeding and slide back, without barely waking up yourself.
Babybjörn bouncer
little later - jumparoo

Oh, also I had some baby bath thing that fitted over the bath and had it's own drain to drain into the bath.

Utterly marvellous back saving gadget but I don't know if they still do them?

Wrap slings (both DC) - life is so much easier when you can use both hands!

Netflix subscription.

Dummy (DS2 - he had dreadful reflux and just wanted to suck on me 24/7, total lifesaver even though I hadn't planned to use one).

Bath support - just had a simple cloth thing on a frame from Mothercare, did the job just fine.

Vibrating bouncy chair.

Sorry, that's more than one thing! I didn't buy very much baby stuff at all though compared to many of my friends who spent fortunes on unnecessary stuff they barely used.

For me it was the tommee tippee perfect prep machine (not so useful if you are breastfeeding) and a chicco nightlight projector thing.

For dc1 - toaster and PVR (sky+ box on freeview)
For dc2 - baby sense breathing monitor (front sleeper with reflux) and stretchy fabric sling used until nearly 2. Oh and acres of muslins.

Wow, what a helpful thread! Expecting no 1, so nothing useful to add, just wanted to say thanks

Fantastic thread, thank you! Lots of items added to my 'wish list'!

I just thought I'd add it's worth waiting until your baby is here to get some of the items if you can so you can see what your baby is like. Mine will not go in the bouncy seat at all,but the majority of babies seem to love it. Luckily we borrowed it so no money wasted. They are all different. Best wishes OP

Sling.
A changing table that had a bath under the changing mat. Didn't have one for DC1 and bathing was always a bit traumatic, got one for the second child and we both loved bathtime - it was an ugly yoke but so worth it for the 2.5 years of nappies and however long in a baby bath.
A TrippTrapp high chair (but you won't need that for an age)
A Maclaren one-hand folding buggy (can't believe I bothered with a cumbersome travel system - handy for country roads. Only. I know several mothers who only used a buggy for After PFB's.

hiring the bedside cot (nct bednest) for the first six months was our biggest lifesaver by a million miles.

also an insulated lidded cup for tea while bfing.

and a close caboo sling for round the house or at things like baby cinema or just getting him to nap out and about as super easy to slip on and off and he'd even transfer out of it into pram/carseat once asleep.

Cot top changer or a changing table. If you have any kind of dodgy back or have a CS this will save your ass a thousand times over. We still use ours for our toddler.