Hello ladies - when will you start acquiring "stuff" for the baby?

[Easter2020]

Hi Ladies,

After a long journey I am 15w and growing.

My question is a practical one: I am quite old (late 40's) and it used to be a real no no to buy anything baby related up until very close to delivery. I can see the point of this, not least so all that stuff isn't cluttering the house before the little bean makes its arrival. However, its much easier to budget and also to get bargains in the sales if you can plan and buy ahead of time.

When did you/do you plan to start getting the more expensive items like transport systems etc?

Thanks

I'm 22+3 with twins and have only bought clothes, a few blankets and a couple of toys so far. Not even contemplating buying something big like a pram or cots/crib yet. I'd say start when you're ready. If you see something you like or it's a bargain, go for it, but try to hold off on big purchases for a while if you can.

I'm wrestling with this myself. I'm 14 weeks pregnant and really feel like we need to start buying things to spread the cost. I can remember my whole life hearing it's 'bad luck' to buy the cots too early and I know it's just old superstition but it kinda sits in the back of my mind.
I think we will start buying a change unit and maybe car seats etc in the next month or so, to take advantage of sales. Lots of good bargains on fb and eBay too for items that can be used second hand.
Xx

20 week scan for us. We aren’t superstitious but by that point we knew the baby had grown as expected and chances of abnormalities and miscarriage/stillbirth were incredibly low.

If I were you I’d wait until after Christmas - unlikely to be amazing bargains before then - but start compiling lists and zoning in on what you want to buy. I chose my car seat etc well in advance and was saving for baby equipment and maternity leave from very early on in the pregnancy but didn’t buy until later.

The one exception was a second hand Snuzpod that popped up on Facebook marketplace at £40!

We started buying after the 12 week scan to spread the cost. I’m 21+6 now and we have clothes, next to me, blankets, travel system, perfect prep. The bigger things we are picking up when on offer, so hoping nursery furniture and car seats will have a decent reduction over Black Friday or Boxing Day.

I don’t think there is a right or wrong time personally, it’s what you feel comfortable with. We had 2 MCs before this and we always said if it happened again (reason a lot of women put it off a while) then everything can just be put away.

I'm 27 weeks and started buying things in the last few weeks. Still got loads to buy though. The only major thing I've got is a pram that got delivered today.

From 20 weeks onwards - watch your Facebook market place / mum2mum sales etc in your area. Most baby stuff lasts less than 6 months - as a FTM choose one or two special items you'd like to buy new, but the rest, save yourself a fortune and get second hand and usually great condition.

One of the ladies on my NCT would only have new and for example spent over £1k on a pram and accessories and was really upset she had to go back to work when her boy was 8 months - I thought to myself well if you buy second hand you could have had another few months at home with your baby but each to their own!

I’m 15 weeks with twins and having had the experience of a very sick baby who didn’t survive, I won’t be buying anything until after they are born. If you are buying everything (ie don’t have other children), I would buy the essentials after your 20 week scan but wait on the the bigger stuff.

I darent buy anything until we'd had scans and even then after the 12 week scan, was just a babygrow. From the 20 week scan we've bought pretty much everything else (in now 32+1) but almost everything has been second hand or gifted (aside from carseat and mattresses).

Buying things early literally cannot make anything bad happen to baby. Obviously, there is a risk with every birth & baby that the worst could very sadly happen but not because you bought a pram at 12 weeks.. I really believe you should allow yourself some excitement & enjoyment of baby shopping, particularly if it’s been a tough road TTC.

We started buying for our first daughter at 16 weeks as Black Friday hit & we got a really fab deal on the pram/travel system. We also picked up a few toys & clothes in said sales. The next round of spending was at Christmas at 20 weeks - again, great deal on the cot/furniture in the Boxing Day sales. And Mothercare/Boots had packs & packs of sleepsuits & vests at half price. I think I got the bulk of 0-3 & 3-6 month stuff on Boxing Day!

Second baby, I bought a lovely sleepsuit as a little celebration at about 16 weeks (I have Hyperemesis & it was the first time I was well enough to leave the house since 6 weeks!) and I’ve been picking up bits & pieces as I’ve gone along. We don’t need much this time as second daughter & we’ve kept absolutely everything!

@Easter2020

First of all massive Congratulations!
I was stuck with this myself honey it's really hard what to do as loads say don't do it it's bad luck and what if Anything happens etc... it really stressed me out. But let's face it like others have said buying a pram isn't going to hinder your pregnancy is it? If it makes you happy and it helps spread the cost do it!! me and partner decided to start getting little bits like clothes, blankets, nappies anything that could be put up into storage after 12 weeks. We decided on this because we needed to start getting things slowly to spread the cost out.

I'm 24+5 and I must admit we are pretty set up already because of bargains we have dropped on. We have all the nursery furniture ( O Baby Range), limited edition silver cross travel system and the next 2 me crib already! They were all bargains which couldn't be missed. I haven't paid full price for any of the major item. Everything is still in the original boxes in our loft not hurting a sole. We've also got a few bargains from Facebook market place and eBay.

I hope this help 😘 xxxx

I'm 21 weeks and I know it's partly just silly superstition but I haven't bought anything yet and want to wait as long as possible. That said, the prices in Mothercare now that they're closing down are crazy cheap so I'm trying to convince myself to start shopping a little bit earlier...

I'm 13+5 and started buying stuff pretty early... Found a second hand Boori Sleigh cot for £15 on Ebay (when I was 10 weeks) in great condition and have already decorated the box room (which has been needing doing for the 6years since I bought the house) Also got loads of hand me downs from my SIL including changing table/drawers.

This is also my first and I'm 37. I will also be keeping an eye out during the sales.