What baby essentials

[Wallacemom]

Hi there mumsnet im new and at 18 weeks 2 days pregnant i think its safe to say in a full blown nesting mode, i was wondering what are baby essentials i googled it and had a list as long as my arm with us having our first baby due on the 20th of december i dont want tk seem crazy buying everything wr need only to upset family members who want to help but how many baby grows is too much and what nappy size should i buy to start off with and if im breastfeeding do i need bottles im lost i dont know what to do we have ordered the crib and travel system but us there a guideline list of basics that i can sort out and still leave enough for family to do??? And whats with the crying, leaking and strange moods im happy one minute and could kill the next minute over a towel being left on the floor, yesterday i went to pieces because our long haired cat wasnt brushed even the cat looked weirded out am i going mad??

Hey!

So I too am a first time mum. I am 34+5 today.

Here is what I have (have asked plenty of my mum friends what I need/don't need)

-moses basket

• no cot yet. Will buy once baby needs

-changing mat, one for house and one portable -decent changing bag (got mine on Amazon and it's like Mary Poppins' bag!)

• plan to Bf so bough a tube of lanisoh and a small manual pump , breast pads and nursing bras.
• have a tub of formula and bottles just in case anything goes awry with feeding

-baby bath support

• 7 packs of new born nappies
• huge box of wipes as they were on offer in Aldi
• stacks of cotton wool pads
• little grooming kit
• hand gel
• baby monitor
• car seat and base
• muslin cloths (loads.of packs as was on offer in Aldi)
• mix of gender neutral clothes size newborn and 0-3. (Although my best friend last night told me that you can change a baby's clothes up to 7 times a day! So I need to buy more)
• bouncer which converts to a Moses basket type thing
• play mat as was on offer and we had vouchers
• small pedal bin for nappies
• small basket to hold all of essentials for night feeding (cloths, nipple cream, nappies, cotton wool, 2 spare outfits and ziplock bags for any soiled )

As you are having a December baby, I would also include, rain cover for car seat, snowsuit type thing and plenty of blankets.

Oh! And I also bought a couple.of boxes of fybrogel for after birth and a few packs.of asda maternity disposable briefs and maternity pads.

And no you aren't going mad. Your hormones are all over the place. I cried over cheesecake last week....

Thankyou thats a great big help i forgot id bought baby gates and a monitor as well as a baby bath is nipple cream essential??? Is there a specific formula to but i bought baby powder, soap, baby lotion and baby shampoo about 8 bottles of each also what are muslin cloths for??? I sound useless but great list im going to use it as my guide thankyou so much xx

Fibrogel whats that for??? I had an emmas diary with that in and im still unsure about it, im over run with blankets its like a blanket city in my cupboard j knitted a few im off to lidl today to buy nappies and cotton wool and baby wipes as a box of 64 pacjs is on offer...bargain

Don't be silly! There is alot to get your head around.

Muslin cloths for feeding and general really. I hear they come in handy.

Yes, I bought all the shampoo and body wash too. Although it's only water needed for the first part.

I heard cream for nipples is a must from several mum's as your nipples will get sore and cracked. I got mine for £8 on Amazon for 40ml. Cheapest I could find.

What I found useful was downloading the Amazon app and setting up a baby wishlist. Then every month on payday I would go down and buy a few items off the list. X

Thats a great idea thankyou snowflake9 im pinching your handy lisf and definately setting up an amazon wishlist great advise on nipple cream thankyou for your help

First time mum here of a 2 week old girl.
Muslins x10000 you can never have enough
Perfect prep machine if formula feeding
Aldi nappies have been best for us
I wouldn't buy any clothes if you're having a baby shower - we are completely overwhelmed with so many clothes and baby is tiny so Iv had to buy a few tiny baby clothes
Iv got a puriflo baby nest (bit like a sleepyhead but cheaper) for the living room and she loves to sleep in that during the day.

About half of what they suggest!

Somewhere to sleep
Something to push or carry in
A car seat appropriate for newborn
Newborn size bodysuits & sleep suits (not many only used for a couple of weeks)
newborn nappies (again not many)
Wipes/cotton wool/bowls (old ice cream tubs work)
A changing mat
A bag for when you go out

Everything else is extra, or can be bought later, with 24 hour large supermarkets and online shopping you can buy things once you know how big your baby was born (mine was much smaller than expected so I nipped to Asda for tiny baby clothes when she was 24 hours old.
I found the sink was better than the baby bath as it saves your back, I put my changing mat on the chest of drawers we shared.

First time mum of a 2 week old here- totally agree with everyone's suggestions. I would add a swaddle blanket! My dd loves being swaddled to sleep and I was crap at it. So 3 pieces of Velcro have given me hours of sleep back!

Your baby needs something to wear, something to sleep in and to bed fed. That is literally it. Don’t fall for marketing gimmicks. You will work out what extras you might need, and what will be useful, as you go.

We used cloth nappies (highly recommend) but size 1 will fit pretty much any newborn unless they are quite prem or exceptionally enormous.

For clothes I would buy a few sets in newborn and a few in 0-3 and then buy more once you know how big baby is. We wasted a whole load of newborn stuff as DS was 9lbs. You’ll get loads of 0-3 as gifts too. I would tend to stick to sleepsuits and vests or vests and little cotton trousers. Avoid dresses, jeans etc. They are a massive faff and will barely get used.

If you plan to breastfeed, think very carefully about whether having formula in the house will actually benefit you. Personally, I felt that there were very few genuine ‘emergencies’ that would require formula to be there right that second, and there is always a 24 hour garage open nearby. I also didn’t want to open myself up to extra work sterilising etc if I really didn’t have to!

I actually have a full tube of lansinoh that was barely touched. If you’re going to a hospital that gives out Bounty packs, there is a sample in there so I would wait to see if you actually need it. All supermarkets have it.

These are things I found essential when dd was born 6 months ago:
Snuggle baby bath - for bathing baby and needing no hands for support.
Tuppence and crumble star wrap - instead of a coat / blanket. Dd has never worn a coat and was a January baby
Grosnug - instead of panicking about how many blankets baby should be in at night. Can be used in swaddle mode or with arms out. Prepares them well for a sleeping bag.

I would buy a really good thermometer and have some infacol to hand incase you need it.

Lots of vests and baby grows - everyone else will buy outfits.

Dummies and bottles, buy matching ones as will have the same teat shape. I love our mam ones, dummies come in a handy box to microwave sterilise them and you don't need a seperare steriliser for the bottles either.

I wouldn't bother buying bath products, you might not want to use them at first but I was bought a lot anyway.

I used loads and loads of child's farm moisturiser on dd and myself.

Mum of two here. You can in fact have too many muslins. Ideally, I'd say two or three big ones (to drape over buggy, blanket in a pinch) plus about six small ones. I bought way too many and it's a waste of space!

Thanks everyone for your advice i think ive managed to actually cover all bases and feel a lot more positive super advice from you all xxx

So what I could not live without were:

• Moses basket as in reality baby will be where you are and sleeps a lot so doesn't do all their sleeping the crib. It doesn't last very long though as they do outgrow it quickly so a cheap one is fine.

• Nappies a few different sizes initially. I bought that late so that if I could ensure if had a big baby who wouldn't fit into the small ones I could exchange it at Boots by keeping the receipt.

• Bodysuits and then sleepsuits on top. It is difficult with sizes but m and s sizing is newborn, 0-1 and 0-3. Baby was in newborn and 0-1 for a short time but as an 8lb 1 baby the newborn was a better fit for the first couple of weeks. This is M&S though. I found next to come up much smaller. Personally I didn't bother with outdoor clothes apart from a cardigan but I did have friends who like to dress them in outfits going out but I'm sure you will get those as gifts.

• Muslins and the dribble bibs.

• Gro bag. It is easier than swaddling with a blanket and they come in different togs.

• Electric steriliser just in case breast feeding doesn't work out. Much quicker than Milton. I used tommee tippee and they came with bottles which are also needed.

• Again it may be worth getting a tommee tippee perfect prep machine just before your due date so it is there and you can use if you need to. If you are using formula it is ESSENTIAL. I was adamant I would be BF but it just wasn't possible and baby was jaundiced and I ended up using formula. I will never forget asking my parents to try to urgently buy the prep machine, steriliser and bottles before I got out of hospital and then returning home in the middle of the night sleep deprived and having to assemble them both urgently as baby needs to eat every 2.5 hours!! No one told me you could buy ready made formula.

• baby hated having baths in the baby tubs other than the shnuggle one It makes our life and theirs easier as you have your hands free

• cot and pram toys. Even from day 1 they need something to look at when on their back

What I bought but didn't find that useful was:

• that sheep! Can't remember it's name but it made no difference to DS sleep.

• baby monitor. He was with me most of the time and our house is small enough so we could hear him.

• breast pump. That was an expensive purchase which I didn't use as didn't end up breastfeeding. If you do buy it, again I would leave in the box and buy late so you can return if you need to.

The bedside cots are excellent.

Nipple cream is a must

I used lots of soft fluffy blankets and the really large muslins are good.

Just get lots of basic all in one sleep suits I like the M&S ones best their multi packs are great.

I didn't bathe my DS a lot when he was really little... But we did use the baby bath as he got older.

I wouldn't bother with a fancy changing bag just get a nice spacious bag you actually like - I find a backpack really good I've got a cool sweaty betty one it's good for if he is in the sling.

A cloth sling is nice when they are small.

Netflix and lots of box sets!

But honestly most stuff just pick it up when you need it.

Just to offer a different opinion... We have a 6mo and are very into frugality and avoiding unnecessary expense. There are so many things on here we either didn't bother with and haven't missed, or did buy but haven't used them:

Moses basket / cosleeper / sleepyhead - we strapped a normal full sized cot to our bed (with the side down). & when he's in the living room he just naps on the sofa. Why buy something so expensive that he'll outgrow in a few months?

Changing bag - we just use a backpack that we already owed. You don't need fancy pockets.

Lanisoh - DS struggled with latching and so I've used nipple shields instead from the beginning (the mam ones, they're great - perhaps add them to your list)

Baby grooming kit / nail clippers - I just nibble his nails while he feeds

Monitor - he's generally always with us, but also we live in a small flat so I can hear if he cries from another room

Nappy bin - we use scented nappy bags instead and put them in the kitchen bin (not the best for the environment admittedly)

Prefect prep - only buy one if you know you're going to formula feed from the beginning

Breast pads - glad I had some just in case but I bought way too many and now never use them - my nipples just don't leak much. My advice is don't buy more than one pack of anything until you know you need it - instead get an amazon prime account and whatever you actually do need will be with you the next day!

Following!

I second amazon prime. I had a NICU baby and I started ordering stuff to be delivered to home the second day after he was born.

That said, I ordered a £25 breast feeding cushion that I didn’t use for that, next day we went to bottles.
So you have the power to order but have a think about

Following

Following with much interest! I like the idea of the amazon list 🙂

You probably need to calm down OP, my DD is two and we're still on the first bottle of baby shampoo. Sounds like you've got your baby covered well into adulthood.

You really don't need much for a newborn:

• somewhere to sleep (if you're using a cot upstairs then you'll need something else downstairs)
• pram
• car seat
• a few vests and babygros in newborn and 0-3. We had three in each size which was enough to get us going, someone popped to Tesco for us the next day to pick up a few more plus we had a ridiculous amount of gifts.
• No more than two packs of size 1 nappies.
• cotton wool or water wipes
• somewhere to change baby. I love our changing table but lots of people are happy enough with a changing mat.
• id buy one blanket just to ensure you've got something for leaving the hospital, but honestly you'll get bought so many
• nipple cream. It's expensive but it lasts forever. Use it after every feed even if you don't need it.
• maternity pads
• breast pads, you'll need these from about day 3/4 when your milk comes in
• I didn't have any nursing bras or clothes initially but actually it would have been far more comfortable if I had. I'd suggest getting some soft ones for the early days (although I used these all the way through) - you can get sets of three on amazon for about £12.

Other things that you'll need later (that people could get as gifts if they're asking for ideas):

• bouncer
• baby monitor
• baby gym

Anything else you can buy as you need it. Supermarkets stock most things or there's always amazon prime. I certainly wouldn't be buying any expensive kit like a perfect prep when you're not even planning to formula feed. Same for steriliser - mam bottles can be sterilised in the microwave if you do find yourself in need of a sterile bottle at short notice. Wouldn't bother with a pump - you'd want an electric one really and they're pricey so you don't want to be buying one if you don't use it, and you shouldn't pump for the first six weeks anyway. As above, can easily pick one up if and when you decide you want one.

Agree re PP you don't need a lot of shampoo - my DS is 6 months has loads of hair from birth and I'm on bottle 2!