Right, remind me, I've only done this twice before, What do babies / mummies NEED?

[CharlieAndLolasMummy]

I mean love, security yada yada.

I have to get my head round this one.

Ok on list is

sling
some clothes
chocolate and dvds for me (for bf, obviously ;-) )
car seat
nappies

There must be something else.

I want to write a big list and take it shopping and then it is done

I am working on the principle that there will still be shops around after the birth.

I am very about feeling the need to do this, but I cannot get my act together here and I only have a month left.

maternity pads, disposable or very cheap knickers for the early days?

changing mat or table, or old towel or summat

breast pads if you tend to leak

hmm, it's all very focused on bodily fluids isn't it. Will try to think of less icky matters.

Trying to cast my mind back...

Babygrows/vests/a hat and warm all-in-one

Breast feeding stuff if you're planning to BF - Lansinoh cream & breast pads I seem to remember were very helpful! Oh, and a cosy BF-ing cushion. M

Earplugs for when someone can look after baby for a couple of hours and let you try and catch up on some sleep...

Somewhere for baby to sleep, and blankets

Baby will need a snowsuit if you are using a pram. It is very very cold.

Gin.

Don't get everything in newborn size - DD was 9lb 12, was out of size 1 nappies in a week and didn't fit into some new born clothes at all!

is this really the MINIMUM I can get away with?

ps I have plenty of gin, I have 2 kids already. This surely is what cushions are for...

Actually I think you're pretty spot-on with your first list. If you're going to co-sleep. And even if you're not, you just need a basic cot and one of those little zipup bag things.

New babies are terribly basic, they don't need much at all. Demanding, but basic.

Depends how much you want to spend and how low-fi you want to be.

So being really analogue you could just have:

A sling for carrying up to £40, or you could make one (have a look at the mamatoto project for instructions) from old cotton!
Baby clothes say from freecycle or friends with older babies (free) or from second hand stores (couple of quid)
Cloth nappies pre-loved from freecycle (free) or on the nappy lady classifieds (say, about £100 all in for everything)
No need for bedding or bed if you co-sleep. If your bed's too small, put double mattress on the floor and and get single mattress and put it next to it and you have a king-size bed.
No need for anything if you're breastfeeding and I'm sure there are plenty of MNers who will be happy to send you half a tube of Lansinoh free for postage (or just free) if you ask nicely.

So you see "lentil-weaver" = cheap! And you can save the money you would've spent and buy yourself lots of books to read when bfing, or take out a subscription to Sky sports if you like that sort of thing, or there's a myriad of other stuff you could do with it.

I only wish I'd taken my own advice. But you learn these things the hard way!