Starting to buy things, what do I really need?

[erised]

Am 21 weeks and now starting to buy baby things. What things do I need and what were your favourite newborn must-haves?

Thank you! Added to my list :)

Honestly, you need very little. Your baby needs food (are you BF or FF? If the latter you need more stuff, obv.), clothes (which you will get millions of, so just get some babygros and nappies), somewhere to sleep (cot, Moses basket, with appropriate bedlinen?) and something to transport him/her in when out of the house (sling, pushchair), and a car seat if you have a car.

In terms of things not strictly necessary but useful, a changing mat, a Grobag. Entirely useless — changing bag, elaborate outfits, miniature newborn shoes.

I'm hoping to breast feed but would like to have a back up just incase.

Muslins, sleepsuit with built in mitts (M&S and next) and one thing I found really useful was just to pickup a pack of nappies and wipes on every weekly shop and have a stock pile at home. If you do this gradually you don't really notice the cost either (aldi and lidl own brands are great, much softer than pampers imo). Lansinoh nipple cream if planning to BF. A swaddle blanket is also very useful in the first few weeks.

Most things can be picked up once baby arrives so don't feel you need to buy everything in advance. Amazon prime will be your friend!

A Haakaa breast pump
So many muslins
A grosnug or groswaddle

A sling.

Following with interest . 15 weeks here and keeping a list !

I wouldn’t buy a sling till the baby had arrived, and then I would experiment via a sling library before buying. The expensive sling I bought in advance was very uncomfortable with my CS scar and wasn’t used much.

A silicone breast pump. I bought a Tommee Tippee and a cheap one from amazon. The cheaper one was much better. It’s lighter so you can attach it and focus on feeding the baby from the other side and it just stays on.

Don’t buy too many nappies the grow sooo quickly. My son was in size 3 from about 8 weeks (looked huge but poo up his back out the nappy all the time with size 2s). I ended up with lots of unopened packs of size 1s and 2s.

Top and tail bowl. I don’t bath the baby every day so this is a godsend. Also good for those poop explosions.

A good changing bag (not expensive). Make sure it has lots of pockets so you can organise it. Leave it packed and just top up occasionally.