what should i buy?

[tyaca]

ok - i have aaaagges to go

17 wks

BUT i'm really excited, going on first baby shop tomo.

what to buy and what not to bother with?

bath?
cot? what kind?
* car seat thing also turns into a carrier?

* clothes --- soo excited! lots of those little all in one vest things? how many? and socks?

* bedding -??? what?

and what else?

bath - no
cot - I got a cot-bed
car seat - great for doubling as a 'chair' for first few weeks
clothes - vests, sleepsuits, all-in-one coat thing if it's cold weather

pram/buggy?

congratulations

Congratulations!

Get a cot first before the bedding. Babies aren't supposed to sleep with blankets or pillows or duvets until they're about 1, so you won't need those right away.

Go for gowns and sleepsuits instead.

I liked gowns when my girls were newborns because they were open at the bottom and made it easier for nappy changes.

I think several fitted cot sheets to fit your cot are a real bonus in case your baby gets sick in the night - good to have 3 or 4 of these so you can wash/dry a couple and still have spares.

As newborns, they live in babygros at first.

I never carried mine in their car seat unless I had to because that thing is heavy.

I used a sling for both at first. I got a Coorie fleece one for DD2 because she was born in winter and a Kimmie one for DD1 because she was born in summer.

They don't really need a baby bath. You just wash them with water at first and we used the sink in the kitchen and then put them in the main bath with just shallow water.

As for cot, we got the kind that you can move the mattress up and down and lower or raise one of the gates.

Mine used grobags to sleep in from the get go.

dont get a bany bath, heavy to carry after filling - waste of money

mothercare do some fab sponge things that you can lay baby on in normal bath, i had one for dd2 and thought it was great..

muslin cloths...

car seat which fits onto pram is good so your dont have to disturb sleeping baby to one or the other

Oh yes! We got one of those reclining plastic seats for the bath and it was excellent! Used it for both girls.

pram/buggy....

i am on second floor of block of flats with coffin style lifts. never had the nerve to use them and so am hoping to avoid pram/buggy for as long as poss. was hoping to get one of those harness types things.

any good?

alternative is to put pram in lift ... press Ground Floor button and rush down stairs carring baby as best i can!

agree with the mothercare bath sponges for baby, they're great

ty all. dh discreetly not commenting on my growing list.

what's a grobag? and that's a def to no bedding? i didn't know that

A grobag is a sort of sleepsack for infants.

It worked for us.

But yes, no bedding at first.

I preferred slings, and for us, the Coorie and the Kimmie thingy from Brightspark worked best because my husband has dyspraxia and these slings are dead easy to put on.

We used terry toweling cot sheets and they've been great. Got them in Mothercare and they're still going strong after 4 years.

what are the muslin clothes for??? my sil puts them on her shoulder for lil one to barf onto. surely that's not it tho'??

Muslin clothes RULE. I cut mine in half and hemmed them up.

I still use them these days - to wash my face .

They're great for barf, spills of all kinds, boggies, makeshift bandages, etc.

I found I didn't really need much, tbh... remember that the babe may well sleep with you anyway, lovely friends and relatives will buy you loads of clothes and you've got time on your side to sort out the transportation issue!

Definitely don't get a bath. They're cumbersome and a waste of money. Spongey bath things far better or just get in with the baby for extra skin to skin cuddles - lovely. DS2 is nearly three months now and we have an Amby natures nest hammock for him to sleep in (since DS1 managed to break the crib we bought for him). Its fab. Really cosy and settles him well. Plus they retain their value and sell on ebay for practically the same price as you paid for them once you're done.

Be careful with clothes. DS2 is a right fatty and wore the newborn clothes for the grand total of one and a half weeks before they were too small. Good job they were already second hand from DS1!!

Sorry to hijack thread, but I knew there isn't supposed to be a pillow or duvet in the cot. Is it true there's no blanket either?

I was wonndering hte same susiemj. I have always used sheets & blankets, never gorbags.

Oh and tehre was a thread about 101 uses for a muslin, I will try and find it...

101 uses for a muslin

Surely you have blankets. I always have for both of mine. They'd freeze otherwise.You just have to make sure you put their feet at the end of the cot/hammock or whatever and they can't lift the blankets over their heads don't you?

ditto sleeping bags (grobag make the official ones, you can buy them from loads of places these days), they're fab. You get a discount from grobag as a mumsnetter. Mothercare sheets (I bought jersey ones and they're still fine after nearly 4 years) and the cot from them v.good too. No other bedding required until lo's one as other's have said (cot bumper if you fancy).
I think you asked about socks. Just annoying under 6 months but babygap by far the best as they stay on.
Car seats - there will be a thread in Products about current recommendations from which. Maxi Cosi do one with Isofix which I can thoroughly recommend as all you do is click the car seat in rather than strap it in which can be v.v.frustrating. Expensive but worth every penny as they're also the safest car seat out there.
Might be worth starting a thread in Products about pushchairs, plenty of experts will advise you there.
Enjoy your trip out! Remember if you want to save a bit of money, you can find an NCT secondhand sale nearby excellent for the big items like cots.

buy yourself some really nice bubble bath. happy papmpered mums making happy pampered babies.

about 2 dozen muslin cloths should do it

tyaca, although everyone's diff, i love grobags, but check coz you can't use them straight away: they're for 6 month plus or oveer a certain wieght, i liked them coz when your little one gets active and starts kicking off sheets blankets etc the grobag stays put and follows them round the cot when they wake up at the other end of thecot facing the other way!! my dd lived in babygro's for first 3 months: never liked thought f tiny tiny babys rigged up in jeans andt he like, and it's much easier for you dressing them when they're very small! If you use babygrioes for a while then you get them normally with feet in so you won't need socks straight away. Car seat weigh a ton, so you might not want to carry one around: if you aere wanting to clip it on your pram, have you thought about an attachment that turns your pram into a cot think where your baby lies don=wn? We got one to with out mamas and papas pram, called a mypod, it's a big plastic version of a moses baket with really chunky padding, and our dd lived in this for first couple of months as it was used on pram when we wnt out and she was alsways in it in t he hopuse so she felt safe in a smaller space and she slept in it coz she had a paddy in her cot bed for a few nights think coz she was in such a 'big ' space!

and get a baby einstein DVD. not cos it'll make the baby a genius...no, but because they geniunely grab babies attention more than any other TV thing I have ever seen. is appropraiet from birth, you can assuage your conscience that it is not that you are propping baby up in bouncy chair infront of TV so you can have 5 mins to go to the loo, no it is educational and therefore giving them a headstart in life. excellent win win investment. also dvd player!

I second the baby gown thing for night time nappy changes baby gowns

A few blankets wouldn't go amiss.
I bet you will need a buggy at some point, so maybe look at one of the lighter weight ones which can be used from birth - eg maclaren techno? It can get heavy carrying babies in slings - and carrying baby with shopping is hard work! If you have a car you could always leave your buggy in the boot and use sling to get baby upstairs?
Agree sleepsuits best for newborns - people might buy you a couple of outfits anyway.
All in one snowsuit (like a little coat with legs) useful if it's a winter baby - i saw one in la redoute catalogue which can be coat or all in one so bit more versatile.
Little support thing to use in bath much more useful than a baby bath (but someone said the one that goes on top of bath with plug is good).
Would also recommend good waterproof undersheet/matress protector for cot as our matress got bit stained quickly.
I also think moses basket and bouncy chairs are useful.
Check out websites like kiddicare.com as they do have some really good bargains - especially if you don't get hung up on particular brands.
Enjoy!
oh and a waterproof coat with hood - for you! pushing buggy with umbrella is really irritating...

you'll need blankets, if only for when you go out to wrap baby up. I haven't heard anywhere that you can't use blankets with a baby, agree with ehcim they'd freeze otherwise, it's the foot to the bottom of the cot rule that you have to stick to with sheets and blankets. However baby sleeping bags are brill as they cant kick them off.

Our baby bath has been used as a paddling pool this summer so not complete waste of money, although didnt use it to ever bath ds. bath supports are great though.

loads of muslins and bibs (my ds was a dribbler).

Not sure i'd bother buying a moses basket again. ds wouldn't sleep in it after about 5 weeks so was in his cot bed.

Nappy bins was great as i didn't have to keep going to the outside bin every 5 mins with a wet/pooey nappy.

join boots baby club - you get loads of vouchers for money off things.