What could you not of lived without?

[BecaLime]

Hello, 1st time Mum to be here....

Please tell me an item you could not have lived without for Mum or baby?

I have asked all my friends and it’s really helped me get prepared.

A decent baby bouncer that can be used from birth for baby, gro bags that can be used from birth and my iPad for night feeds
Having my second now and getting a really good heated cup with a lid so I can still drink hot drinks with the baby

Our grolight! We used a lamp for the first few weeks, then tried a little mobile night light, before discovering the grolight. Life changing - could do nightfeeds, change nappies and even change sicky sheets with it - without me and baby being woken up so much it was hard to go back to sleep. 18 months in and still using it, will definitely be purchasing for next baby!

The Angelcare bath seat. Suitable from birth and warms up instantly. Means you’re handsfree to wash baby.
A sling! Dd spent the first 3 months strapped to me because she wouldn’t settle any other way.
Sleep sacks. Soooo much easier than faffing around with blankets.
Breast pump for when I was engorged and dd was asleep. I still have breastmilk in the freezer from all my pumping 😂
A vibrating baby bouncer. Dd loves hers and it meant I could have a coffee whilst she sat in it.

Shnuggle bath, made it so unbelievably easy, and we could do it on the kitchen table whilst my C section healed so it was easier for me.

Also long charging wire for hospital bag for your phone!

Ewan the dream sheep has been a big part of getting (now 7mo DS) to self settle and sleep through.

A moses basket, without the stand.

Dd used to sleep in it on the floor in the lounge so I could shut my eyes when she'd nodded off during daytime feeding while I slept in the same room. I put it on the floor in the bathroom while I showered. Dd slept in it during our first few camping trips (1st one when she was 3.5 months old).

A v shaped pillow - brilliant for me when pregnant and fantastic now for feeding and DS's tummy time etc. He loves it!

A travel grobag.

It has holes in for the car seat/pram straps so they're secure and you can easily put them down while out of the house in the evening then transfer them to bed when you get home without disturbing them.

A decent thermometer. Teething babies, poorly babies etc get awful temperature spikes, my thermometer kept me sane and stopped me calling NHS constantly!

I’d say my best buys were:

Fisher price newborn to toddler rocker - still use it now and DS is almost 17 months - is ideal for putting him in it if I want a shower. Handy for having an option to put baby down quickly and safely too.

Karibu baby folding bath - again still in use and expect it will be a good while yet. Saves filling the whole bath everytime. Can start out using kitchen sink though.

Somewhere safe for baby to sleep downstairs that you don’t have to keep lugging around. I was gifted a family crib that did the job and kept the Moses basket upstairs.

Tenvisty webcam we use as a baby monitor, cost way less than anything billed as a baby monitor. Still in use although you won’t need this straight away.

Beanbag filled breastfeeding pillow - much preferred this to my other solid one as you can manoeuvre it better into a comfortable position.

Chilly bottle for water - breastfeeding is thirsty work and now I take it out with us to fill his cup. Likewise decent travel cup (put it in your hospital bag as the tea cups in the day room of our hospital were thimble sized - I was in a while!)

Extra large muslin cloths - have a look for Aden and anais ones, they’re often on sale in TKMaxx. Lovely and soft and can double up for swaddling, breastfeeding cover etc.

Calypso double breast pump - found out about it via Mumsnet reviews it has been worth the money for me but I did have to pump continuously from birth while we waited for DS to have a tongue tie cut. I use it more sporadically now but it’s worked out great. Stock up on milk bags too for the freezer if you intend to breastfeed.

Didn’t bother with grow eggs but I do have a couple of Ikea nightlights that have been really handy.

I also found it useful to have a number of changing mats, one upstairs, one down, one ready to go out in the nappy bag. Bonus if they are washable as oppose to just wipeable in my opinion (I like our cheeky wipes one best for this reason).

Cheeky wipes - Expensive initially but a real worthwhile investment over disposable wipes.

Morcck blanket for the car seat.

Im 30 weeks pregnant so cant offer much advice on the mother and baby side of things.

From a pregnancy point of view though, i'd say a pregnancy pillow. Its really come into its own at the latter end of the 2nd trimester and now the 3rd trimester when literally everything you do is an effort to lug yourself around.

Thanks for your replies, very helpful 😊 The pregnancy pillow I get as I can’t sleep without mine now 😂

Perfect prep machine. Lifesaver for formula feeding.

Jumperoo when a bit older, my DD loved it with all her heart. Hours of entertainment.

SwaddleUp - a type of swaddle that you popped them in a zipped up. Allowed her arms to still be above her head. Stopped the startle reflex!

Our little boy hates blankets and the sleeping bags too. Were at our wits end until we found 2.5tog sleepsuits that replace blankets.

The Tuppence and Crumble star wrap is fab for car journeys and anywhere you’ll be taking a top layer off and then putting it back on again eg shops, doctors etc.

As PP have said, a bouncy chair. Our DS had reflux and for the first six weeks would only sleep on me or in the chair.

The Huckleberry app is AMAZING for keeping tabs on sleep, feeds and nappies. I started using it to track sleep and now I couldn’t do without it to help me see how my sons feeding patterns have changed etc. It’s free and once you’ve used it for a couple of days it’ll start to recommend ‘sweet spots’ when it’s the optimal time to put baby down for a nap. It’s free but there is an option in the app to subscribe to premium and get a sleep plan from an expert based on your data if you want to.