What can't you live without?

[jenny7722]

Hi all :)

Baby is due in 8 weeks, I've being buying bits and bats throughout the whole pregnancy, I have a lot of clothes, a pushchair and the car seat. Don't yet have a bedside crib or a bouncy chair or anything like that.

What items could you not live without with your babies?

If there's anything that's a must please feel free to let me know as it's my first baby and there seems to be a lot of new items and gadgets about these days that it seems like our parents never had or used. Any of it any good?

Tia :)

Think about your day, where will the baby sleep durring the day/night and where will you put them when awake? Do you have changing and bathing stuff? A theremoter is a must.

I loved my morrck baby blanket. It goes into the car seat and doesn't fall off - was a godsend!
I buy them as presents for all new parents :-)

I would research now but wait until the baby is here to buy because that's when you will know what will suit your baby and what would actually make your life easier, especially in terms of sleep (night and day) and the logistics of getting out and about. Our best purchases (many made post-birth) are:

Next to me cot
Baby Bjorn bouncy seat - pricey but very light so easy to move around house when holding baby with your other arm, will last until 2 years old, and the baby can bounce it on its own.
A sleep sack for the carrycot/pushchair - much easier than wrestling baby in and out of a pramsuit
Schnuggle bath - I have a bad wrist and a wriggly baby, this supports him solets me bathe him on my own.
Grosnug -newborn sleeping bag great if your baby likes swaddling and/or kicking blankets over his face.
Sling
A big stack of muslins (Primark ones are surprisingly soft)
Clothes-wise I like the kimono body suits for a newborn
White noise app for your phone

Muslins......lots and lots of muslins
Washable nappies
Lanisoh cream
Breast pads
Baby bath
Thermos flask

Sling so you can get things done round the house but still able to have them close
Footmuff for car seat - don’t have to faff around with pram suit as he is so warm wrapped in that (we have maxi cosi pebble)
Breast shields - my baby had trouble latching this is what enables us to breast feed and last baby I needed them as my nipples so sore

Perfect prep machine was my godsend! And my moba Moses basket. So easy to clean which was brilliant bad she was a sicky baby, it didnt creak like a wicker one and is on the slightly bigger side so baby was in it nearly a year does look slightly like a wash basket though!

I didn’t bother with any bats 🦇
The best thing we got as a gift was a playmat. She is very clingy but will lay on that for 20 minutes or so which is a godsend!
A Spotify subscription for white noise and lullabies!
I got a £40 bouncy chair from Mothercare. It’s nice and vibrates as well as playing white noise and lullabies.

Perfect prep machine
MAM bottles
Dummies
Muslins
Gro bag

Sorry to hijack OP but what do people use Muslins for? We have two and that’s enough?

@NicoleNoPants We use muslins for everything! Wiping up baby sick, covering yourself to protect against said sick, DD used to lay on one in her cot so I didn't have to change sheets so often because of possetting, ditto the bassinet for naps and the pram. Also, make shift sun shade, wiping snot, a large one for laying DD on at Baby groups.... A million and one uses :)
Now DD is 7 months I have cut a few up and use them as dusters. They continue to have a million uses!

What I cant live without (apart from muslins) is our Ikea Gulliver cot which is attached to our bed (side taken off) so it is at the same height as our bed. This means we are cosleeping/bedsharing, but its so much safer and means that when DD transitions into her own room, she doesnt have to get used to a new bed as she has been in this cot her whole life... Definitely the best thing I've done for both my DD's

My sling. I like country walking, not the sort of places I could take a buggy. By week two it felt like house arrest.

I felt fat and a bit down, so lots of fresh air and exercise with ds snuggled in a sling cheered me up and got rid of my tummy.

Sleepyhead

Thanks everyone!! So so helpful :)

I bought loads of muslins after people told us to buy lots and we have barely used them! Our baby is one now and must have been sick about five times in her whole life, she never even posseted, and never brought anything back up when we burped her. We could never work out why people had told us to buy so many!

Oh, and as for what we did like, we really liked the angelcare bath support/seat thing. Made bathtime really easy.

My first one I had the same issue with struggling to find any real use for the multitude of muslins or working my way through the ton of babygrows I thought I would be changing constantly. The second, I regularly ran out of muslins as I used them constantly. Better to have them and not need them as they are inexpensive.

Oh second angel care! Get a nappy bin as well, OP!

The thing I found useful was having duplictes of things spaced round the house. So I made sure I had changing stations with all the things I would need, spare clothes, blankets etc and somewhere to put the baby down on every floor so I didn’t have to carry things up and down stairs or walk myself every time I needed to change.

I have two things, a sling and lots of muslins. Sling was great and always has been for the early months dog walking. I used the nct close caboo as it was suitable with low birth weight babies. It has carried 3dc and will be used for the fourth in the spring. Muslins as my first was a reflux puker and dc2 was a projectile vomiter, I have many they were an essential.