Experienced mummies... how much did you buy and how much did you need?

[Muffintops87]

I am trying to work out a checklist of essential things that I will need for when my little one arrives but there is so much I foresee me going over board and buying too much and buying useless things that I don't really need.

So how much did you all buy in terms of clothes etc. and how much did you really need?

Also anything that you could not have lived without?

Trying not to bankrupt myself!

Brilliant thread (pulls pen and paper)
Thank you from all the newbies

Baby is 6 months old Monday - things we needed and we're a godsend
Sleep suits - all ages, only just started in outfits now- was in sleep suits daily until very recently.
Vests
Nail clippers
Stockpiled unscented wipes and nappy bags (only just opened last box of nappy bags after getting 5 boxes of 250 off amazon)
Massive knickers (for me not baby)
White noise app
Baby sleep bags as he'd kick off blankets and refused to be swaddled (tesco or tk Maxx are great for these)
Manual Breastpump (just moved onto formula and he's had a bottle of expressed every few days since birth, I think that's helped the transition)
Car seat
Isofix Base! Godsend in a 3 door car.
Pre mixed formula (really struggled to bf the 1st few days and giving some of this saved my sanity and really helped me through the nights, when I'd wake I'd try bf again and after a few days we were fine)
Virbrating rocker/bouncer chair - we got a Fisher price one which can be used up to 3 years.
A few change mats - one in bathroom for naked play while I shower, one in his room, one in front room.
Bathroom support seat- much more useful thatln baby bath.

What wouldn't have been bothered about -
Sling - ds has never been snuggly, happy to lay on a playmat by himself since birth.
Muslins - ds very refluxy, found them not absorbant enough, ended up buying a cheap pack of hand towels for around the house.
Baby bath - used it twice then just started putting him in the big bath with me.
Carrycot part of travel system - the pushchair part lays flat so would have been fine from birth so seems like a waste of additional money.

Brilliant thread (pulls pen and paper)
Thank you from all the newbies

I bought a shed load of breast pads on MN advice and then hardly leaked at all. Don't buy in bulk until you know if you're leaky! Amazon delivers them next day if you're squirting like a fountain!

Thanks so much everyone this has been gold!

Also following with interest and making notes. At the moment struggling with trying to work out how many of the offers of 'oh I have a sling/playmat/buggy I can give you' are actually going to pan out before I start buying thing.

So much useful information. Thank you all you experienced mummies

Please keep the advice coming! Another newbie madly scribbling...

I would also disagree with not bothering with newborn sized clothes - I would definitely have at least a pack of short vests and some sleep suits - you can always just wash a couple and then if they're too small you've not lost too much and you can exchange anything else for next size up. Both my husband and I are very, very tall with huge feet and our little girl (just arrived!) is just over 8lb, very long and fitting easily in to John Lewis newborn size with room to spare. I suppose it probably depends where you buy from - does anyone have any up to date advice in terms of relative sizing between shops?!

John Lewis newborn is huge, I think they are nearly the length of Next 0-3.

That said I also had a velour suit from JL in both 0-3 & 3-6 it was tiny.

I would definitely have a pack of newborn and a pack of 0-3 once baby is here you can decide if you need more. Other option is to buy a bundle from ebay, newborn gets worn for such a short time they'd be practically new.

That makes a lot of sense then MrE - I've tried her in a mothercare up to 1 month sleep suit this evening and it's only a tiny bit longer, and a lot slimmer fitting than JL newborn. Why aren't these things standard?!? How infuriating...!

Generally speaking I found Next clothes huge, followed by M&S. John Lewis more variable.

We bought a mix of 0-3 and newborn sized clothes with us to hospital. DS was nearly 8lb and the 0-3 stuff was comically huge. There's much more chance you'll need newborn stuff than not I'd say.

If you want a sling and have a bad back, don't look at the ones in John lewis. Find a sling group near you or look at some slings/baby wearing websites and learn about the different types there. The ones which are commercially available tend to be less supportive.

Minis They aren't standard because shops like to confuse us. Lol.
Actually you just have got me thinking. Could the varying sizes relate to the average sized baby around the world and few clothes being made in Europe???

However that brings me to the reason babies need clothes that kind of fit. In a baby grow that was too big, DS would pull his legs up into the body, then straighten back out, not always getting his legs back in properly, ending up like a mermaid with both his legs stuck in the same babygrow leg. We had the same issue when we moved him up a size, the size below would be too short and the next size too big.

The advantage of different brands being different sizes is that they don't grow out of everything at once if you buy from a range of different places.

I suppose the other advantage of different places having different sized clothes, different fit I found M&S to be shorter and wider then Next.
Next fitted DS better but other babies would fit M&S better.

Wow that is a lot of amazing advice, thanks everyone.

When hubby comes back from his trip to America in a couple of weeks we are going to go around a few baby and children markets.

I have been looking at a lot of sleep sacks/bags and its really hard to know what ones I need. They seem to either not have a tog rating or not say what age they are for! As baby is due in January I am going to get a couple of the thicker ones and maybe one of the middle-thickness as our bedroom gets very cold at night.

Following with interest, thanks to everyone who has commented so far!

Supermarkets do brill gro bags and tend to be the 2.5tog so perfect for winter

Baby is 12 weeks and so far we have found the co-sleeper crib and sleepyhead to be brilliant so would definitely recommend! We bought two packs of newborn vests/sleep suits and two packs of up to one month. I decided we'd buy more once we knew how bid he was. In the end we got given so much we didn't need to buy more! Ds was 6lb 11oz at birth so was in newborn for a good couple of weeks.

One tip I picked up from somewhere that I found helpful was to put a vest, sleep suit, nappy and hat in each size (newborn and up to one month) in a carrier bag and put it in your hospital bag. Much easier for oh to find when you've just given birth and can't move!

Aldi nappies are great and they also do newborn wipes which are very similar to water wipes but 59p as opposed to £3! I buy them in bulk!

Cellular blankets are really useful as they don't make the baby too hot but can be layered easily. Aldi often have them in their baby and toddler events. Aldi b&t events generally are great actually, there is one starting in Thursdsy next week.

Oh, one more! A Milton cold water steriliser is great, cheap, portable, no waiting for anything to cool down and keeps everything sterile for 24 hours.

Moses basket or co sleeping crib
Clothes babygrows you can never have enough due to baby sick or nappy accidents
Bouncer chair
Changing mat
Muslins squares and lots of bibs
Electric steriliser
Bottles if not breastfeeding
Perfect prep machine

I spent a lot of money on bedding that was never used - sheets, cellular blankets, blankets, coverlets, quilts etc.

DS slept in the Moses basket with just a fleece blanket over him and then went into gro-bags in the cot.

Also, keep the labels on clothes that you buy/are given. DS was enormous and we could have done with exchanging stuff for the right size or season if I hadn't enthusiastically de-tagged and washed everything..

I have a funny feeling fleece blankets aren't recommended for night time because of suffocation risk. Cellular blankets have holes so if baby does get them over their face they can still get air through the holes.

If you're on a tight budget, I either didn't buy or found I didn't use...

• Moses basket, we had a crib which lasted until 5 and a half months when DS went into cot
• Top and tail bowl
• Bulky clothes like coats - warm cardigans were much comfier for him. Shirts with collars just looked so uncomfy on him, he'd be in them for 10 minutes them back in his babygro
• a million different 'non-spill' sippee cups - this one is one of the cheapest and the best. Not non-spill but better for his teeth, and the lid doesn't come off when he flings in on the floor. www.toysrus.co.uk/babiesrus/tommee-tippee-essentials-first-cup/TRUP1446300001/CF0001?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping&utm_content=desktop&camp=CA:google:MCF:desktop&gclid=CIW91tPVl88CFdIV0wodvGkJwg
• Changing table - a mat on the floor is safer
• Could have done without baby bath, the mothercare fabric bath support was really comfy for DS and did him for ages
• A bottle warmer - totally crap and unreliable, boiling water in a jug was better.
• Proper matching specific nursery furniture. I'm jealous of my friend's mismatched gorgeous second hand stuff! Totally could have done without the wardrobe!
• Cot bedding sets. Bumpers are unsafe, as are unbreatheable blankets. Just buy a couple of sheets and baby sleeping bags (I got good ones for reasonable prices in TK Maxx).
• Baby shoes, until they're walking, otherwise it can restrict their wee feet growing properly.

I REALLY second the Aldi Mammia nappies! Asda Little Angels are also good. Depends on the shape of your baby though, different brands fit different babies. Don't overstock on size 1 nappies, DS was in them for only a couple of weeks. Bulk buy wipes though, we go through a crazy amount.

If you plan to breastfeed don't buy a pump/bottles/steriliser yet, but do the research to decide where to get it and which ones you'd choose, as you may need to get them fairly suddenly. I wish I'd found out where I could get nipple shields at 6am on a Sunday morning before I found myself driving around at breaking point! Buy Lansinoh nipple cream too. I'd also recommend their bottles if you're buying some.