Baby stuff - what you actually need and your recommendations

[Cremeeggsareforever]

Hello! We are buying for our baby and I wanted to check to see what others feel you do/don't really need, and stuff that you wish you were told to get sooner, or wish you hadn't bothered with. I'm a big organiser and don't want to miss anything.

I'm hoping to get sorted earlier than others might have done themselves because of bad PGP - my husband works long hours and is walking the dog most of the time at the moment, so I don't want to be sending him out shopping on his tod.

Stuff I think is needed (or helpful):
Pram
Cot
Crib/moses basket
Bedding for the above
Changing table - not a necessity obviously
Changing bag and mat
Bottles, steriliser, bottle brush
Breast pump if wanting to express, formula if wanting to FF
Clothes - sleepsuits and bodysuits especially for the first couple of months. We have been gifted so many bundles of clothes that we don't need to buy any more for a long time!
Nappies, body lotion, sudocreme
Baby scissors for nails
Scratch mitts
Room thermometer
Blankets
Car seat
Bouncer (not essential but I would like one for downstairs)
Play mat (not essential)
Baby bath/bath support and baby bath products, flannels and soft towels
Wipes - water wipes for newborns
Muslins
Dummies (if we decide to use them)
Thermometer
Cellular blankets/gro bags (I've been advised you can't use gro bags straight away)

Summer baby so no snowsuits needed, but I've got one anyway that a friend has given me.

Have I missed anything major? Is there anything non-essential that you wish you had been told to buy? Yes, this is my first baby if you can't tell! I've obviously checked the NHS websites etc but I do like to get the views of other mums.

You can get grobags for newborns. As long as you have the right age and tog it's fine. My lb is 4 weeks and put him in a sleeping bag because he sleeps better in it.

I know you've put down muslin cloths but I would buy loads. You will use so many in the day.

A white noise machine or teddy. You can get apps on you phone if you don't want to buy one.

Also baby oil. I use child's farm baby oil which is coconut oil. There are a loads of different ones you can get.

Close caboo sling !

Gro snugs can be used from
about 5lb

Don't bother with scratch Mitts - get the built in ones

Dont bother with a baby bath. They are a faff! Filling them, emptying them and storing them is more trouble than it is worth. Instead get a moulded support, the baby lies in it and it suctions to your bath. Can be used for first six months or so.

Lots more muslins than you think you will ever need. A changing platform that sits on the top of the cot is good but you do need to take it off when baby is sleeping in the cot.

Also we never used a moses basket, they are not in them for very long.

Monitor for when they are sleeping and you are downstairs if you are in a house.

Have you thought about a carrier? Either a cloth wrap or something like an ergobaby? My daughter wouldn't go in the pram/pushchair until 8 months! Can be very useful for about the house too, I used to cook with baby in the carrier sometimes.

To be honest you really don’t actually ‘need’ that much. Most things you can buy you can totally manage without. Different people will tell you different things are essential. For me the most important must have - amazon prime subscription. All babies are different and like different things. One baby may love a bouncy chair another may hate it. Anything you decide you need once baby is here is only a click away and delivered next day! Look into whether you have a sling library near you before you buy one. Gives you a chance to rent one and try it out first to see if you get on with it.

I hated scratch mitts and baby baths. Due to reflux I rarely used a play mat but the bouncer was indispensable as he wouldn't sleep in a Moses basket.

I found a Star Wrap really helpful - I do a lot of driving and they are thin enough for you to use under the straps.
If you BF a side cot is helpful too.

Something that made a huge difference in settling and getting our little one to sleep was a Love To Dream Swaddle Suit.
It's like a regular swaddle suit except baby's arms are up and have more freedom, so they can suck on their hands if needed but aren't startled awake.
Since putting LO in the swaddle suit from 2 weeks old, we started having 5 or 6 hour long stretches of sleep every night, which is amazing for a newborn.

Also if you're breastfeeding, a breastfeeding pillow will make feeding much more comfortable.

Well I got hundreds of muslins and didn't need them because I didn't have a sicky baby so I'm not sure loads are imperative for all!

I got a bulk load of baby lotion and didn't use it at all. I second scratch mitts - don't bother with them as they get lost so easily plus most bodysuits have them built in!

Newborns need:
Car seat
Moses basket/crib
Pram
Plenty of babygrows
Cardigans and hats
Jacket/snowsuit
Plenty of nappies and wipes
Cotton balls
Baby bath
Baby wash/shampoo
Nappy cream just incase
Bottles/steriliser/formula if that’s what you plan on doing
Muslins
Blankets
Infacol just incase

Everything else can be bought NDL after they have been born.

Play mats and bouncers are great from one month+.

I like the sleepyhead but it isn’t a necessity.

Tbh I think we used pretty much everything we had, of your list the only thing we didn’t bother with was a changing table as we just keep the mat in the living room.

Pretty much all babygrows have built in scratch mitts so I wouldn’t bother, and dd wasn’t really a scratcher anyway so they were a waste.

We did have far too many clothes which I still feel a bit guilty about. Lots of it was given to us but I also bought stuff I liked, so much stuff only worn once or never even worn.

Newborns don’t actually need baby wash/shampoo. I was given a hamper of bath products from work and most of it is still in the cupboard.

You can get grosnugs, which are grobags for newborns that swaddle them (but are hip healthy). Dd stayed in hers until three months then moved into sleeping bags.

Thank you so much for your helpful comments. Definitely food for thought and I will look at the grosnugs. She shouldn't really get cold at night as she will be in the same room as us and it will be the summer but I prefer the idea of using something like that than a cellular blanket, which is what I was told to use. I thought the rule was no blankets at night time until 1 year..

It’s all so personal. Some of my essentials are things that people said don’t bother wise and vice versa. My close caboo was a waste of time as my baby hated the sling. I’m hoping child no.2 gets more use out of it. Conversely we got an extra large baby bath and my nearly 3 year old is still using it and that was one of our best buys ( but a waste for a previous poster).

You say thermometer but I’d say get a good in-ear one. We had a manual one at first that had to go under the baby’s arm pit for 3-5 minutes. It was stressful and crap. The upgraded digital has been so helpful and is something I wouldn’t be without.

To be honest i find muslins useful for more than just "sicky" babies.
I have used a muslin for the following:

• A lightweight pram cover when baby is asleep in public
• A lightweight nursing cover
• As a swaddle cloth that's not too hot, good for summer (but you need a bigger size for this purpose)
• A cover for any pillow or surface i'm feeding on, as my baby is a messy feeder
• A quick rag to wipe up spilled milk out of baby's mouth, or to catch my letdown when baby pulls off and it's spraying everywhere
• A plaything for baby, as he is starting to like grabbing things and feeling different textures.
• An extra blanket for baby if we're somewhere we need to rug up and his one blanket isn't warm enough
• Also of course i have used it as a burp cloth, but usually i've got a face towel or cloth wipe handy as well.

They can also be used as an emergency nappy, if folded up a certain way to be more absorbent.