Need to start prepping for baby, not sure where to start!!

[preggersteach]

Just had 20 week scan yesterday and luckily all was well :) dh wouldn't really talk about baby actually arriving until that was done but now feels a bit real and not really sure where to start with getting ourselves ready for baby's arrival! I feel I know nothing at all!! Going to start with a couple of possibly crazy basic questions - what do babies sleep under or in? As in I know Moses basket or whatever and sleep suit but are they under sheets or in a sleeping bag thing from new born?! Also what do babies where during the day when out and about? I get hopefully lots of time will be asleep so in sleep suits but what about when we go out? Baby due in July as well so realise won't be one of those very big warm looking suits! Any help would be gratefully received!

A moses basket is good. Sheets are potentially dangerous, as babies can wiggle under them, so buy a couple of sleeping bags (you'll need more than one in case of vomit!), probably in a 0.5 - 1 tog for the summer, plus a couple of fitted bottom sheets for the basket. You might want a room thermometer for the summer to make sure it's not overheating.

In terms of clothing, it's really up to you. I'd choose comfy stuff for during the day, so in the summer this could be rompers, t-shirts, summer dresses etc. My DS got gifted some beautiful newborn outfits that were very impractical such as jeans and hoodies, so avoid anything too fiddly.

My top tip is to buy a load of white vests and sleepsuits for the new born stage (maybe 10 of each), we made the mistake of buying loads of cute outfits for DD in new born but she never really wore them.

Also DD hated sleeping bags and we ended up using cellular blankets

For sleeping you will probably be taught how to ‘swaddle’ in the hospital. Some babies love it, some not so much. Dd would wriggle her arms out and I don’t blame her - it looks horrid and I’d hate it!

For wearing in the day, it’s up to you. We plan to keep this one in sleepsuits until they are a good few months. They will be more comfy and we will have one less thing to wrestle with! No doubt they will get some outfits as gifts, which I will swap for store credit until it needs something in a larger size.

Babies are hugely over commercialised. They are big business. Within your means, buy what you want and enjoy it - it’s great fun, especially first time around.

But your baby just needs you and the bare essentials.

When I had my last baby (she's 4) the sleeping bags weren't suitable from newborn...maybe things have changed? I had a great little swaddling blanket that was shaped. Will try and find a link.

Can't find god specific one I had, but there are loads out there! The one I had was thin cotton fabric, perfect for warmer weather. I swaddled my son in just a nappy.

It might help to have a gro egg room thermometer, as that will help you to work out how many layers etc your baby needs.

Baby sleeping bags are amazing. Deffo get one dont bother using blankets as they can be dangerous to begin with if they get on babies face. Get on the right size for a new born. They have size labels on like clothing.
Dont get pillows or cot bumpers at this stage either as they can also be dangerous.

My baby would not sleep in his moses basket AT ALL EVER and it only lasted in terms of its size for a couple of months anyway as he was a big baby.
This time I am getting a chico next to me or snuzpod crib... they attach to the side of your bed and when you need to feed the baby in the night you can just roll over and do it without getting up.

Id agree with PPs saying not to buy any clothing that is too fiddly as you will probably need to change the baby quite often. Especially if you are out and about it can be an awful faff dealing with buttons or complicated clothing.
My son had some little tshirts and trousers as a newborn but they were all legging type trousers that i could just pull on and off.
My daughter I have got a few little dresses for (couldnt resist!) but ive made sure they are short ones with no difficult fastenings and then shell just wear tights which i can pull up and down.
Apart from that just LOADS of babygrows. Baby poo is very runny sometimes so you may end up going through and even ruining quite a lot of baby grows.

Muslins are really useful I had a big stack of them and used them for all sorts. Drying babys hands, lying over the grass to put baby down, as a bib, wiping babys face. Much better than always using baby wipes which can make baby sore. I also didnt start using baby wipes until a few months in, just used cotton wool and warm water for all cleaning.

Ours was born last July in the middle of a heatwave. Loads of vests and sleepsuits in case it's not as warm.
We used a snuzpod with a sleepyhead in until they went into their own room at 6 months.

Our ds is five weeks old. Clothes wise he wears a vest and a sleep suit or babygrow (same thing as far as I can tell) most of the time, and the same at night. we change his clothes morning and evening but it's all variations on the same theme. He's just into 0-3 months sizes now, and so has a few actual outfits, trousers and tops, and all of the newborn stuff is too small for him. He currently weighs about 12lb so that gives you an idea of how quickly they grow out of things.

Bed wise, he sleeps in a Moses basket, it has a fitted sheet, and then he sleeps either wrapped in a swaddle blanket which is just a giant muslin cloth, or tucked in under a cellular blanket, which gets tucked into the mattress and goes under his arms, up to his chest. if it's very cold (my dp and I both tend to prefer a cooler room) then I pop a woollen blanket over the top. I found the Moses basket on eBay, in fact I have two, one upstairs and one downstairs, and I paid about £10 each for them, both came with stands too. I did buy brand new mattresses for them though, because of sids guidelines, you can get them on amazon.

The gro company 1 tog growbags are brilliant! They have poppers at the arms to make the arm holes smaller for small babies and also a travel feature so you can use them while baby is in the car seat so if you’re out a bit later in the day you can just get them ready for bed before you leave and put them straight to bed when you get home. When my LG was newborn (April baby but had a really hot summer that year) we would sleep her in a vest, sleep suit then a blanket in the Moses basket. As soon as she was in her cot at about 6 weeks she was in growbags instead of the blanket. You’ll probably be bought a lot of clothes but get some sleep suits, vests and rompers for daytime clothes, and maybe a cardigan to use as a coat? You can always use blankets as an extra layer?
I’d also really recommend a video baby monitor, it helped me to relax knowing that I could check in on her without disturbing her

Also out and about, layers are the key, I find. So ours gets a vest, baby grow, bootees, cardigan and hat, and a blanket if necessary, or vest, baby grow, snowsuit, and blanket if needed. It means layers can come off if we go from the outside to the inside. Hats for outside but not inside. I also like the babygrows with the foldover mits, they stop my dp scratching himself, where he just seems to pull off the little scratch mits.

I would recommend getting a gro egg room thermometer too. It comes with a little leaflet which recommends what to dress your baby in depending on the temperature of the room. It was a god send in the early days when we were getting ready for bed.

We started using blankets for sleeping but as soon as I used a sleeping bag I didn't look back. Babies are good at kicking blankets off apparently. I would spend my nights constantly pulling my boys blanket back up.

Buy sleepsuits, lots of sleepsuits. I was given so many jumpers and jeans when I gave birth and never used any of them. They're a faff. Sleepsuits are your friend, I promise. My boy is 6 months old and has only ever worn jeans once.

Not all babies like sleeping bags and sometimes hard to cuddle babies in one.
I think it’s nice to have baby grows and day clothes.
Moses basket good with fitted sheets and blankets .

Grobag do a really small sleeping bag now that I used with my little boy. I think it did him until he was about 3 months.

www.gro-store.com/penguin-pop-gro-snug.html

Here it is. They have a fair few fabric designs now. They were fantastic for us and I plan to use them again with the next one.

I haven’t read previous posters but here’s my 2 bucks-

• Get a chicco next to me crib for baby to sleep in. Get this instead of Moses. Get it second hand if you like and just buy a new mattress
• for sleeping during the day I bought a sleepyhead so that I could put her down in whatever room I am in. I wasn’t a massive fan of how it helped her sleep (as many are) but it was a very useful and portable nap space .
• I would recommend swaddling for the first 6 weeks or so and make your life easier by getting a proper swaddle blanket eg groswaddle or miracle blanket. Get 2 of these (or even 3) to account for accidents and washes. Then move baby into Grobags- the great thing about these is they are safe and also tell you exactly what to put on so baby is perfect temperature.
• I’ve yet to have a baby through summer so can’t help you on that bit 🙈🙈

Good luck!!

Also.. guess how many bibs you might need... then multiply by 10

I would recommend the chicco next to me cot. My little boy hated his Moses basket so we bought that and it was a life safer!
We'll be using it with our baby due in May and have invested in the sleepyhead deluxe this time too, which will fit inside the next to me.
And cellular blankets too instead of sheets, or the sleeping bags!

Thanks so much for all the advice! Need to get a shopping list sorted now I think!!x

The grosnug looks great! Thanks for the link! (I know I'm not the op, sorry! )

You will be doing far more laundry than you can imagine, so make sure everything will wash and dry easily, and not need ironing. A tiny pair of denim jeans with fabric thickly bunched up round an elastic waist takes far longer to dry than mini leggings. Cotton dresses that need ironing will get worn once then sit in the ironing pile until they are out-grown (or is that just me?).
You will be getting your hands wet and drying them a million times a day - if you are used to being in an office or similar job you will notice the difference, so get some rubber gloves for cleaning and use a good hand cream regularly.
The classic advice is to buy the minimum possible beforehand. If you are bored on maternity leave you might enjoy browsing for baby clothes then, and will have a better idea of any gaps in baby's wardrobe after all the gifts. Also, save your money for buying toddler clothes as you most likely won't be given so many nice ones.
Definitely try a sling, you might use it as much as a pram, and can also use it around the house. Read some websites about what sort of sling is safe and for the right age.

Sleepsuits for the first few weeks. Don't bother buying and fancy clothes because you'll end up changing them about 5 or 6 times a day and it's a massive faff in anything other than sleep suits!

Muslins - more muslins than you ever thought possible..!!

They fold under baby's head in the Moses basket (so that you don't have to keep washing 10 sheets a day - just 10 muslins) and can be used for swaddling, wiping, mopping up - in fact, for pretty well everything...!

Baby gros. Vests with envelope necks and poppers down the bottom. All in very washable fabrics. Cellular blankets also in very washable fabrics. Some sort of crib or cot that goes right by your bed for night feeds. With a bit of luck you will develop the art of feeding a baby and putting it back again without actually waking up fully...

Don't buy too much! It's very easy to get carried away spending money on equipment you'll never use (top & tail bowl, anyone?).

Clothes are fun to buy once the baby is here. Just start off with vests and sleepsuits and a hat, which is pretty much all they need in the early days.

Accept with thanks all the offers of stuff you will get from friends and relatives. Babies actually need very little. Children start getting more and more expensive as they get bigger. When you're wondering how on earth you're going to pay for swimming lessons and cubs and the next school trip and yet another pair of school shoes you'll regret blasting £200 on a shiney buggy with all singing and dancing attachments that you actually only used once.