Experienced mums: what did you wish you bought?

[Spooples]

Currently 26 weeks with baby number 1 and trying to start buying in bits for when she's here.

Ive had a look through the recommendations in my books and online about what to get, but is there anything in your experience you found was really useful but you maybe didn't know about it in advance?

What would be your top recommendation of useful things to buy for baby? Or even for child birth?

Cold water sterilizing kit didn't discover that till number 3 wish I had found it earlier I found it easier than the steamer

I can tell you anything you frequently see on Facebook groups sold as in new/ hardly used condition. Eg. Top and tail bowls, Moses basket, rockers.

Ikea high chair. It's the best one out there. £15 and so easy to keep clean. Way better than expensive fancy ones

The only downside of the IKEA highchair is that it doesn’t fold. If you have limited space in the kitchen you might find a folding one better, ours was super quick to fold up and down and only about 35 quid from Argos. But you’ll have ages to decide about high chairs.

Baby nighties. They make nighttime changing massively easier. And they look super cute as well.

FWIW I have 4 DCs but only realised envelope necked vests can taken off downwards when there is a poonami recently, after someone mentioned it on here.

There is so much suggested on here by OPs that I’ve never heard of before! I think that kind of makes the point. I agree with others that you should get as little as possible, then buy things when you think you need them.

For example- you don’t need a high chair until your baby can sit up, so no need to worry about that now.

Best newborn buy for me was a sling.

Good luck to you

Do buy changing mats and a box for changing supplies for every floor of your house

Do buy dupes to keep at Gp’s if you’re spending any serious time there to avoid moving literally everything

Do not buy stupidly expensive judgemental room thermometers. You’ve survived this long walking into a room and deciding to take off/put on a cardi. This does not change post partum I found

Here is a list of what I bought and used all the time:
Next to me Crib (s/hand) – new mattress, waterproof mattress cover and cotton sheets
Cocoona Baby – for when first born – absolute life saver and used when travelled too (new)
Ewan the sheep (present – was great)
B/F Rocking Chair (s/hand)
Buggy/car seat/sling (new)
Baby Bouncer (s/hand)
Muslin cloths (New)
Cheeky Wipes (new)
Play Mat (s/hand)
Vests/Baby Grows with integrated scratch mitts, cardigans (mixture of new/s/hand and hand me downs – good quality is better than cheap IMO – wash and dry better at higher temps without shrinkage – buy fewer and wear them more as they grow like you won’t believe…)
Nappy rucksack especially useful when baby is in a sling and you can wonder off hands free (s/hand)
Angelcare bath seat but also took them both into the shower with me/DH from day one (s/hand)
The only thing I had thought about more was the buggy. I wish I bought one that could have turned into a double as they next one came along earlier than I thought so I had to buy another one which I bought on e-bay. That said you already have one so no need to worry about that now. As for being behind – I didn’t start until 35 weeks so you have loads of time 😊. I breastfed and bought a electric pump but only later on when I tried to convince them to take a bottle.
Congratulations such an exciting time

Sorry and changing mats for upstairs and downstairs and a bucket for soaking dirty clothes/muslins in.

Thanks ladies, these are all brilliant!

(... but my heart weeps at the (albeit good!) advice for getting things "for every floor/upstairs/downstairs". We are currently stuck in a rubbish 1 bed flat in East London which costs 8 times my parents' mortgage each month! 😭. Roll on July when we can (hopefully!) move out of London!)

Oh yes and definitely not behind... I’m 38 weeks and am only just started to get organised! Finally packed my hospital bag at the weekend

Nappy bin and Muslin cloths have been really helpful. Lots of bedding as well. When dd was newborn, she coughed up a lot of mucus and I'd be changing her sheets 3-4 times a night for the first few days.

There was a big gap between my two, so I had to replace everything. That really whittled down in my mind what I needed.

The second time around I went out of my way to find footie trousers for the early months so that I could dispense with the whole rigmarole of socks and booties. They are a must buy for me. Apart from those, a few t-shirts and some warm top layers, I skipped clothes entirely and kept him in baby gros for the first few months.

I also replaced the cot top changer I had the first time around so that I could still change nappies standing up but without the expense and space demands of a changing table. A moses basket I bought second hand for a few pounds because I knew it wouldn't be needed for long.

A beautiful folding bassinet I received as a gift went completely unused because there was no way I was travelling while he was small enough to fit it.

Pyjamas I didn't care about for Hospital as mine ended up having to go in the bin
More breast pads
More lanolin
A decent breast pump
A breastfeeding bra that actually got (I grew 2-3 sizes once my milk came in)
More maternity pads and maternity knickers

I’ve had my babies in the last century ... I bought a chair for feeding , a cot , a special chest of drawers ...

Only things that comes to mind that I’ve used are a cheap changing mats , lots of cloth nappies to let baby spit on ( the old fashioned ones ) and a bath for baby ... maybe a Moses basket . A few of those all in one pyjamas for baby is all you need , and a hat and cardigan . Lanoline heals the nipple well ... can’t think of anything else , even the cot was hardly used . Lightest possible car seat / pushchair system ...
A few blankets ...
really you don’t need much at all .

My 3 recommendations are:

1 amazon prime - so when you realise you need something, you can have it the next day.

2 If you are breastfeeding - a medala electric breast pump. Expensive but brilliant. Worth it’s weight in gold

3 a next to me cot. Brilliant. Even if you don’t sleep with the side down, there’s a mesh so you can sleep with your face near to baby

Congratulations!!

The IKEA Klammig changing mat is good. We had a regular changing mat but bought one of these, they are only £5. They fold down really small so are great for taking to other people's homes for a visit, holidays or just chucking in the car. Good for changing or as a mat, the back is waterproof so it didn't matter if a wriggly just-fed baby spit up.

If you plan to breastfeed non-sized nursing bras for the first few months, those that come in S, M, L, XL etc. tend to be more stretchy. Buy sized ones once your boobs settle. Get a tube of Lanisoh and use it constantly for the first month whether you are sore or not (you won't get sore if you use it).

More muslins than you could ever imagine you'll need.

A waterproof bag is useful for chucking wet/pooey/puked on clothes in rather than the laundry basket. Just empty the contents into the washer next time you do a wash and then throw the bag in too.

I literally came on to MN this evening to ask the very same question - so thank you v much everyone!

Yes to Amazon Prime- in fact in London OP you can sometimes get things SAME day! However do shop around a bit as Amazon is not always the cheapest for things like clothes compared to supermarkets.

One thing that occurred to me as I was walking back from nursery today is that I would recommend getting a buggy that gives you the option to keep the child parent-facing after they move from the lie- flat carrycot to the sitting up buggy position (which will be at about 5-6 months IIRC). Personally I much prefer to see my son’s face and chat to him as we walk along, and with parent-facing I can tell when he’s asleep, and he doesn’t bear the full brunt of the wind if we’re walking into it. Just a thought, we each have our own preferences.

We were temporarily in a tight spot when we had DS. Our friends were all buying everything ever invented for babies, and we really had to think, which at the time, I felt really guilty about. We didn’t buy much, and in hindsight, I’m glad.

Things we loved, and invested in, included:
A well researched travel system which suited our needs (& still carries a three year old when needed)
A stretchy sling
An Ergo carrier
A decent backpack with pockets, which we used as a change bag and then day bag
Gro-bags (bought later)
Vibrating bouncer chair
Tripp Trapp (bought second hand and still used by nearly six year old at the table
Giant muslins - laud over towel as change mat, feeding cover, lightweight blanket, floor mat.....
Decent feeding bras (if b/f)
Breast pads (if b/f)
Nice lounge wear (in case you can’t wear normal trousers after delivery/ need to answer door when you can’t get dressed etc.).
Sleepsuits with integrated mittens
Progress to soft footed trousers or dungarees
Bath rest (if doing bath time alone)

If you are looking at a cot, buy a corned, and see if it can be put beside the bed. We bought an adjustable height cot bed, that DH ratcheted to our bedframe. MIL made a solid bolster to block the gap at the back of the cot, when the cot mattress was pulled against ours. We then covered the bolster and matters with one sheet to prevent any space forming. The cot bed is still in use by DS2 six years in (he’s 3)

As others have said, many things can be bought second hand.

Things I never really used:-
Breast pump/ sterilising stuff
Most of the blankets we were gifts (stuck to 2-3 decent ones)
Plastic high chair that trapped food

SoyDora Mon 10-Dec-18 13:07:31

Orsy2017’s post above proves how individual it is... some of the things she’s said don’t bother with were extremely useful to us, and a lot of her must haves were useless!

Kindly elaborate!
I don't think I mentioned anything 'must have' at all.

Thermometers are another gimmick. Why not just 'feel' the baby. As I said I'm pretty clued up about science and you DON'T need a thermometer to tell if your baby has a temperature. They'll let you know well before the thermometer will.
Seriously, if you don't want to spend a lot then don't. All baby really needs is you at the end of the day. Everything else is materialistic. My baby is a year now and he still rooms in with us. We still haven't done his room. Some people like a nursery, some don't. I couldn't bear the thought of him being away from us and a year later he's still there. Much easier just to peek out and see he's fine rather than worrying if he's okay in a different room. Admittedly I have a large house and his room is on a separate floor to ours, so that is part of the reason. I didn't much fancy falling down the stairs in the middle of the night due to sleep deprivation!
Happy shopping whatever you decide!

Honestly I agree with everyone else, I brought stuff like the perfect prep, bottles etc but breastfed so used them maybe twice! But I did use the steriliser (for teething toys and for when I would try and get DS to take a bottle! He wouldn't!).
I would recommend the beside me crib and lots of muslins, but I never used a Moses basket or a nappy bin or anything like that. We had things like Ewan the dream sheep and other similar things, but DS never cared for them.
We didn't have a thermometer but DH went to Tesco one evening to get one when DS was poorly so no need to panic buy everything in advance.

Baby bouncers and play mats, again I got a 2nd hand bouncer for £15 off FB which DS loved, my SIL lent me a £200+ space rocket looking bouncer and DS HATED it! Play mat was a waste (though it was a gift so didn't cost me anything!).
I would have some clothes, blankets, nappies, wipes, car seat, pushchair and somewhere for baby to sleep to start with and then get other bits as you need them.
We'll massively scale back for DC2!

Re thermometers and “feeling” the baby. You can wash clothes by hand but most of us prefer to use a washing machine now that the technology is there!

Thermometers are hardly expensive and useful so you know if the temp is going down after Calpol. Doctors seem to prefer using them to just guessing by feel after all, and you’d think they’d know... .

Orsy2017 I wasn’t criticising , just saying it’s different for everyone. Don’t think elaborating is necessary!

Regarding bedding for sicky babies - it's always helpful to have a muslin or a small folded sheet under the baby's head - if they are sick it's much quicker to change than stripping the whole bed.

Highchairs definitely not on the horizon for a while, but I love our baby bjorn one (hand me down, but now I've had one I wouldn't ever choose anything else). It folds, so really helpful in a small house, and doesn't have any bloody annoying straps. Straps on highchairs are always utterly revolting, and also a pain in the arse. The IKEA chair is good for cafes, but the footprint is enormous, we never had enough space (unless you take the legs off after every meal time).

Similarly if space is an issue take that into account when you're looking at buggies. It's one area where slings definitely have the advantage! Also if you fall when carrying a baby (whether in a sling or arms), then it is instinct to protect the baby by twisting as you fall. Prams with dodgy brakes or a loose grip on a hill also pose a risk (ie prams and slings both have very minimal risk to baby, make your own choice but don't be scared of either option).