Baby in a 1-bed flat - what do we actually *need* to buy?

[Glitterygreen]

Hello, I'm looking for some advice from people who have done all this before! :)

Currently living in a (luckily spacious) 2nd floor 1 bedroom flat and expecting our first baby - very early days but just thinking ahead at the moment.

I am wondering what you would consider essentials that we really need to buy/make space for and what you've bought that ended up unnecessary?

I'd be grateful for advice on cots in this regard too - is it OK to get just one that lasts throughout, even if it won't fit at the side of the bed? Or is it better to get a Next2Me and then buy a 2nd when necessary? Is it better to just have a Moses basket that moves back and forward from bedroom to living room?

We do have a loft for storage for bigger items if they are only used for a few months/weeks, but would prefer to minimise that where possible.

Really appreciate any advice, thank you. Also sorry if this is in the wrong place, I wasn't sure where to put it.

Personally I found a bedside crib invaluable. You can get some which have wheels which would be handy in a flat because you could have one crib that you just move around as needed. I rate the Tutti Bambini Cozee (looks good and easy to fold for travel or storage) but I can't remember if it has wheels.

If I were you I wouldn't get a separate Moses basket. Once baby outgrows the bedside crib you'll need a cot or cot bed (cot beds are bigger and last longer, depends if you have space).

One thing that I suspect will be essential for you is a good carrier like an Ergobaby. You didn't say whether there's a lift up to your flat (I hope there is?) but either way you'll need a safe and easy way to get baby up and down the stairs, especially if you have other stuff to carry.

As for pushchair, something light, compact, easy to fold and unfold.

I found a bouncer very useful in the early months and I recommend the Baby Bjorn Balance one, as it can be folded flat for storage. It's expensive but you could look for a second hand one. The fabric seat part is machine washable.

Don't bother with a changing table, you will need somewhere to store baby's clothes and nappies though obviously.

Do you have a bath in your flat?

It's difficult because one person's need is another person's unnecessary but just look at the short term and buy as you need rather than buying it all months beforehand because you'll find out what you/your baby likes early on.

Basics for me would be:
Travel - 0+/i-size car seat, lie flat pushchair and/or sling.
Sleep - cot/Moses basket/crib, mattress 3-4 sheets, 2x cellular blankets
Clothing - 7-10 baby grows, 7-10 vests, 2 cardigans, 1x hat
Bathing - bath support, 2 packs nappies, wipes
Extras - ear thermometer, snot sucker, folding change mat

Thanks both :)

No lift sadly! But not too many stairs. Carrier will be a must...can you get car seats that also double as carriers? (Sorry, could be a stupid question but I am totally new to this!) Pram will likely live in my car.

We do have a spacious bedroom with enough room for a 'proper' cot, but it wouldn't be able to go right next to our bed. Still in the same room but didn't know whether it might not be close enough to us in the early weeks and months?

Thanks for the hint re cots on wheels @NameChange30, I will take a look at those and one moving back and forward would be ideal really.

Yes we've got a bath :)

Basically for space and finances I'd like to get as many one-stop-shops as possible unless there's a good reason not to (potentially like the cot).

I was glad to have a changing table! We had a baby in a flat too (still do but have now moved to a two bed)

We bought a chest of drawers and used the top for a changing table, so it was somewhere to store the baby’s things.

Shnuggle bath, baby bouncer, never bothered with a carrier. Would just nip down with buggy and load what I needed to and go back for baby, then run up and open door and put things inside then go back for baby when we got back. Had a backpack changing bag which was a very useful purchase as could usually just go down in one go.

Never had a separate Moses basket. Just the next to me. But we did have a little snooze cloud that we could lay on the sofa for him to sleep on.

Unless you are planning another baby in the near future, I probably wouldn't take up valuable storage space but try and resell on Facebook Marketplace/eBay as soon as its no longer in use.
You won't have the hassle or expense of moving it if/when you move in future.

Most things can be bought secondhand which helps with costs - except car seats and cot mattresses 🙂
Things like bouncers or baby baths are often only used for relatively short periods so often available in good condition.

I’m the opposite, barely used the next to me and it was a pain to take up and down for travelling. Used the Moses basket, then went straight into the cot when too big (in our room). Not sure if it was the cot, but the first night they went in they slept uninterrupted for 12hrs!! Used the Moses basket so much when they were small, bought another one for downstairs. I’d recommend the stardust bugaboo travel cot. It literally pops open with one hand, has a newborn insert with proper mattress so you could use as a next to me, stores so small so can quickly pop it up in the sittting room and use as an impromptu play pen or crib if you need to go to the loo, make a tea etc. I wish I had bought one sooner.

Instead of a changing table, could you get one of the changing mats that sit on top of the cot? My Mum has one from when my siblings and I were babies (so fairly old now!) but I did a quick google and they still make them. It sat on top of the cot during the day/when the baby isn't in it and then got put to the side whenever the cot was being used. It definitely saved space.

Buy this travel cot
Travel cots aren't great for long term because of the mattress quality, but if you then later buy a better mattress once your LO is old enough to sleep on the lowest level (I bought one from Asda) it will be great.
My baby hated his snuzpod and hated his IKEA cot bed. He slept in his travel cot in our room the whole way through.
I would recommend getting a baby bath shnuggle.

Changing mat ontop of regular drawers

Babybjorn bouncer - folds flat to live under sofa/ behind door

Babyzen yo-yo pram ( can carry on arm like bag and baby in other). Car seat can attach as well if needed. Stores small folded on hook/ shelf/ behind door

Rucksack for baby stuff out and about. Means your hands free going up and down stairs with baby in arms, car seat or sling.

The one thing I really needed in a flat compared to a house was a nappy bin. Not necessarily a specialist one, but a bin with a bag that could be taken down to the bins when someone was leaving the flat. (Whereas in the house you just took the dirty nappy out to the bin each time.. our bins were down two flights and across the gardens to the car park...)

Baby carrier
Pram you can carry one handed (without baby in!)

I wouldn’t bother with one of those bloody bedside cribs. Almost everyone I know who had one said it was just an extremely expensive side table and the baby would not sleep in it.

My experience was the same. A Moses basket is much cheaper and, therefore, less annoying when they just won’t sleep in the bloody thing.

You actually need remarkably little stuff for a baby. I found that I just didn’t use many of the things people insist are essential. I would actually suggest a bit of a wait and see approach to what you need.

I had a cotbed for baby in my 1 bed flat. Used the moses basket during the day and when he got bigger a travel cot with a proper mattress. A Mattress is only around £20
You can get changing tables that go ontop of the cot but I had an actual changing table as the shelves were great for baby’s clothes and supplies.
Had a bouncer and a big box for baby’s toys.

Yes definitely agree with PP on the nappy bin.
Mine went in the cot bed from the beginning, daytime naps were in the pram in the lounge which was a YoYo for the tiny fold. The Tripp Trapp highchair is a good space saver as it doesn’t have a tray and we had the newborn pod for it initially. We had a cot top changing table but eventually just switched to a map on the floor.

We had a changing table in the bathroom. (Which was quite spacious). All the nappies and wipes were there, basket of clothes (and dirty ones could go straight in laundry basket), nice and warm for dressing baby after baths too.

We had this when our baby was born except it wasn't a spacious one bed, it was a very small one (with a decent sized bedroom though luckily). We lived there until baby was about 8 months and it was totally fine!

Things that I would always recommend to anyone needing to save space:
-Baby Bjorn bouncer (folds flat so we slid it under the couch when not in use)
-Dockatot/Sleepyhead - we were given this as a gift and it came in very handy, my baby used to nap in it in the living room during the day and it takes up very little space when you shove it down the back of the couch) put it away. (just note that they don't recommend that babies sleep in it unsupervised)
-Microwave steriliser
-Stokke flexi bath - it folds flat which is super handy and we used to just bathe him in that on the table/living room floor which saved our backs a lot of grief

We bought a couple of cheap changing mats, one for bedroom and one for living area and used to just put the nearest mat on the nearest available surface to change him. We also bought loads of storage basket for our open shelves in the living room and threw all of the baby stuff in there- nappies, baby clothes, miscellaneous crap, all went in the baskets so it was very easy to tidy (even if inside the baskets was an absolute state 😂)

We also were an upstairs flat with no lift so I used a sling carrier mostly when on my own, and we had the baby zen yo-yo+ which folds up teeny tiny for storage and also only 6kg so you can easily carry it downstairs over your shoulder even when holding the baby. Bonus points for being able to close and open it one handed too.

I would also look into the Doona car seat stroller. It's a car seat with wheels folded into the side that you can fold out so it converts into a stroller, no extra pieces needed!!

Good luck

I only ever had Moses baskets for all of mine. We just moved it around. When it came to a cot we had a really nice expensive wooden one for our first 2 but moved and got rid of it. For our third we bought a cheap ikea one, it did exactly the same job. It was a lot smaller so would definitely be better for a flat situation. For our first 2 we had a fancy changing table/bath but by number 3 a cheap ikea bath and change mat that slotted under and behind the couch, did exactly the same job, but easer to empty the bath water.

As someone else said, everyone is different. Personally my advice is just go for the basics, Moses basket, change mat, bath and then once baby is here see what you’d like to get that’s different.

I had my first 2 outside the uk, my Best Buy by a long shot was a click and go pram frame that I could just attack the baby capsule to. It was so light and folded so small. Closes thing in the uk is the travel systems, I would definitely consider one. You also don’t need to buy expensive, they all do exactly the same thing. But do consider the weight especially if you carrying it upstairs.

We used Mam bottles which will don’t need a steriliser at all, only a microwave

Thanks everyone, these are really good suggestions.

Definitely on board with the nappy bin, we will need that for sure as bins are downstairs in the car park.

I had considered a changing table for the bathroom (big bathroom) but it tends to be quite damp and cold in there if the heating isn't on so might not be worth it. I think a mat should be fine for changing unless I end up with a C-section obvs, or I'm also interested in the ones that go over the cot if we do go for a proper cot.

It all seems so overwhelming when you're just starting out!!

We have enough room to have a bigger cot in the corner of the bedroom (opposite the bed but not next to) but I just think I'll be up and down all night checking the baby is breathing🙈 Whereas I could keep a moses basket/small coat right by my bedside and reach over more easily, and for feeds too. Am also thinking if we had a moses basket I could easily move it back and forward from bedroom to living room every day, but I also know lots of babies don't sleep in moses baskets so do I want all my eggs in that basket? (literally).

It is just the mattress that needs to be new for a cot? So could get the cot/frame itself 2nd hand maybe and just get a new mattress?

It’s only the mattress you have to worry about being new.

A Moses basket, mattress and bed linen (including a few spares)
Several sleeping bags
A pram that’s easily foldable and a sling
You don’t need a changing table, we have always used a changing mat on the floor
Nappy bin
We have a very small bathroom and we used a baby shower mat

It depends so much. I'm reading these agreeing and disagreeing.
It depends if you want to bed share or not. If you want to use a carrier or buggy.
If you want to put them down lots or have them on you in a sling.
If you're using disposable or reusable nappies.
I didn't really need much, the bed side cot ended up storing washing that needed putting away. I didn't use a Moses basket as they just slept on me. And I used a carrier/sling loads.
But it's so personal.

Change mat
Baby jogger with adapters for car seat and cosy toes (VIB is compatible)
Vibrating bouncy chair - check charity shops
Next to me crib. Like pp has said, get one on wheels.
Baby bath

I wasn't in a flat but dds room was small so I put her changing mat on the chest of drawers in her room. My son had a changing table and it was never used.

I would get as much as you can second hand and sell on. My dds furniture was actually my sons nursery furniture and I painted it white.

Charity shops and Facebook marketplace are excellent aswell as local selling sites.