First baby. What do we actually need?

[ThoroughlyForumed]

I'm 13 weeks with our first. Extremely excited. Starting to make plans to get baby things we may need in January sales (if they still happen!) as still think it's too early now.
Neither me nor DH are big on having stuff for the sake of stuff and I'm sure our lovely families will enjoy getting us plenty of non-essential lovely things for him/her.
My question to parents - what do we actually need for the first? Total essentials that we couldn't do without?

Following! 13 weeks on Tuesday these tips are great

Hi, this is all super helpful, can someone advise on milk??
I plan to breastfeed but thought it might be worth getting some formula ... what brands are best? Do I need to consider reflux ect?

Thanks

@CWF123 we had kendmil formula. Its vegetarian and doesn't contain palm oil which certain formulas do. You can buy it from sainsburys or asda or waitrose x

How did I forget - zip sleepsuits. I didn’t discover them until my twins were older and how I wish i had found them earlier since poppers are the devil especially at 3am in the dark.

I tended to buy Bonds Wondersuits direct from Australia when they were on sale (less than half the price of buying from John Lewis or similar). Other brands do them too, sometimes supermarkets etc. I don’t know why they’re not more common to be honest!

@Pebbledashery amazing I'll look into that brand and do some research.
:)

I agree with everything, our top 3 buys:
Travel system
Snuggle bath
Bouncer.

3 things that saved my sanity but not needed:
A bottle of ready made formula — he was breastfed, but it helped keep my mind at ease.
Dummies
Nipple shield — bought and never used

Things we never used:
breast pads
breast pump — got a cheap Tommee Tippee one that didn’t work.
Nipple cream

If you plan to Breast feed or express to feed (speaking from experience as a first time mum) our girl is almost 2 weeks old now and I didn't have a pump or steriliser bought because I wanted to breast feed. And although she was a trooper and got it right away- because of my section my milk was delayed and she lost a lot of weight. I WISH I had of bought a pump and steriliser and bottles and learned how to do everything in advance.

You can get breast pumps with very quick delivery (I got mine from Ardo when my twins were in NICU, with next day delivery) so I wouldn’t necessarily worry about buying an electric pump you may not need in advance especially as in the first few days you’re only producing small amounts of colostrum so if needed, you’d want to hand express that anyway. I think it’s a good idea to have some small syringes (1ml or 5ml) on hand in case you do need to hand express - they’re actually so handy to have around the house if you don’t need them! If you think you may want to pump, maybe buy a manual pump to have in case of emergencies and then if you need an electric one you can order one.

Don’t buy a cheap crappy one - they’re useless. My Ardo Calypso double pump did me for 12x pumping a day for over 6 months then the motor had an issue and they replaced it, again by next day delivery.

Amazon Prime subscription. Anything you haven’t got and decide you need is then only 24 hours away.

Boobs
Vests and sleepsuits
Car seat (even if rural you'll need it to bring baby home if you have a hospital birth)
Nappies
Somewhere for it to sleep and sheets
Blankets
-thats the only essentials honestly.
Cotton wool/reuseable baby wipes or disposable baby wipes.

Its nice to have large muslins to use as blankets, swaddles, spare sheets, mopping spills and sick, changing mat covers etc

It's nice to have a changing mat but a folded towel is fine.

It's nice to have a sling or wrap.

It's nice to have a baby gym or soft playmat to lie baby down.

And it's nice to have a bouncer so you have somewhere to put them when you shower/go the loo/answer the door.

@ThoroughlyForumed I am 29 weeks with my first so we are just getting everything ready now. Like you, I didn't want a lot of stuff that we may not use. My best tip so far is that so much stuff is available 2nd hand, and is often very good quality. I'm fortunate to have been given a lot of hand-me-downs but for other things gumtree has been amazing. It's a no-brainer for me: cheap, good quality stuff, less environmental impact, and I won't worry if baby doesn't like x, y or z if I picked it up for £10 2nd hand rather than say £75 new. I also have ordered cheeky wipes (washable re-usable wipes). Haven't arrived yet but heard good things.

@SinkGirl

How did I forget - zip sleepsuits. I didn’t discover them until my twins were older and how I wish i had found them earlier since poppers are the devil especially at 3am in the dark.

I tended to buy Bonds Wondersuits direct from Australia when they were on sale (less than half the price of buying from John Lewis or similar). Other brands do them too, sometimes supermarkets etc. I don’t know why they’re not more common to be honest!

@SinkGirl do you mean you would get them delivered all the way to the uk from Australia? Did that cost a lot in shipping?

Id sack off a moses basket and get a next to me type crib instead. Very few people I knew used moses baskets when bought.

Sling
Bouncer
Vests/babygrows, a few comfy outfits, hats, snowsuit. I would definitely say only wash what you need as you go along, I returned sooo many unworn clothes and exchanged them for bigger sizes
Couple bumper sized nappy packs
Used water and cotton wool for first few weeks as opposed to baby wipes
Toiletries, I found aveeno the best
A few sensory toys
Pram/car seat
Blankets
Muslins
I breastfed, although I was adament I wouldnt use formula (personal choice) and bought breastpads, feeding cushion, I was gifted a hospital grade breastpump but a silicone pump does the job. Nipple cream, nipple shields (life saver), milk storage bags, 2 sized 0 teat bottles, electric steriliser but milton is more than sufficient. Used all of the above a lot!
A nest for day time supervised sleeping
Nursery furniture

Used my phone for white noise
Never had a room thermometer
Had a basic sound monitor

I bought most "high cost" items second hand, saved an absolute fortune and sold it for what I paid as I went along.
Anything else after baby was born anazon prime was my best friend.
They dont need much really.

@HotDiggidy2017 yes I get them sent from Australia. I have twins so I tend to order quite a few in the sale (last order I placed was between Christmas and new year and each suit was about £9). It’s free shipping over a certain amount - sometimes I’ll have to pay customs fees but last time there were none and as it’s children’s clothing you can technically claim the fees back.

I’ll buy them when their sales are on, and then even with customs fees they’re half the price of buying in the U.K. :)

Ooh they’ve got their 40% sale on now - each suit is about £7. If you buy 8, you get free international shipping (they go up to 24-36 months).

Gutted my boys are getting too big for the biggest size now!

www.bonds.com.au/zip-wondersuit-bzbva-3y4.html

I buy zip suits from Carters or Old Navy online from Canada.

@SingGirl Carters and Old Navy go much bigger, up to age 6 I think. They are slim fit so I size up. Amazon have started stocking Carters too including zip suits in bigger sizes but they don't have as much choice. Cheaper than doing a bulk order though.

I had a carrycot that fitted onto the same wheeled base that the pushchair seat fitted when baby was bigger. Never had a moses basket, I think the cats would have loved one though. The carrycot was the perfect indoor bed until big enough to go in the cot - and I used to put the carrycot in the cot anyway, so the location looked the same and the transition was easy. My mother did get a swinging crib for my second, which was cute but completely unnecessary.

Never had a baby bath, the tot was bathed in the kitchen sink or came in the bath with me after about 6 weeks old, topped and tailed on days when I didn't have a bath. I didn't have a breast pump, just expressed by hand when necessary. Didn't get a steriliser, I was lucky with breastfeeding and on the rare occasion that a bottle was left for the babysitter, I just boiled the paraphernalia. Didn't have dummies, no criticism implied to those that do, mine all happily sucked their hands.

Essentials for me: a sling, I used to 'wear' the baby indoors as well as out dog-walking. Muslins, lots. Ditto breast pads and Kamillosan. Cotton wool and water instead of wipes. Gowns for the first weeks, easier than babygros for nappy changing with minimal disturbance. Bouncy chair so baby can see a bit of what's going on. Baby monitor with a receiver that I could hook to my belt if I went out to the garden. Now, I'd include a car seat that swivels to face the car door as essential, they weren't an option when mine were babies.

You're bound to be given loads of clothes and toys so just buy basics to tide you over the first weeks, you can't always plan a wardrobe if baby is bigger or smaller than 'average'! Have fun shopping, and enjoy the wait!

[quote user68634]@SingGirl Carters and Old Navy go much bigger, up to age 6 I think. They are slim fit so I size up. Amazon have started stocking Carters too including zip suits in bigger sizes but they don't have as much choice. Cheaper than doing a bulk order though.[/quote]
Thank you so much, will check it out!

Gap have some too in the U.K. for anyone looking but we are sizing out of them