What baby must haves made your life easier

[FirstTimeTryer93]

Hello :)

I'm 11 weeks pregnant and have just started buying some bits and bobs for baby. Baby #1

What made your life easier with your first? 😊

-A sling to throw baby in to sleep/release hands if needed.
-We used cheeky wipes reusable wipes and I found them so much better, only need one/two per change so it's faster with a wriggling baby.
-Dancing veggies on YouTube 😂

A white noise machine, or Alexa will also play white noise.
A sling.
Not for my first but second, a robot hoover.😂

Breastfeeding, muslin clothes, a baby carrier. I didn't buy much to be honest, just bodysuits, sleepsuits, cardigan, fleece jacket, couple of blankets ... Co slept, no car

A sleep-safe bassinet/carry cot on the pram has been brilliant because then we haven’t needed another place (like a Moses basket) for baby to sleep downstairs and we can use it as her sleep space when away too. Not all of the newborn bits for prams are overnight sleep safe so worth checking!

Also recommend twice as many muslin cloths as you think you might need - you can never have enough especially if your baby spits up a lot.

• A good carrier/sling.
• swaddle sleeping bags (mine liked the Tommee tippee ones and did not get on with the love to dream).
• Don't get too many clothes beforehand, you’ll get loads as Pressies and maybe hand-me downs if you have friends with young kids. We had way too many 0-3 month clothes and I feel bad my DS has barely worn some of them! Also think about seasons for any clothes you do get.
• sock ons - to keep baby’s socks from falling off every two minutes!

I was a bit more cautious and didn’t buy anything until I was about 30wks, but if I had my time again I would definitely hold out until later! Now we have next day delivery, it’s so easy to get things and local WhatsApp groups generally give things away. I would wait for things like a cot until they’re a bit older. Ours didn’t go in it until 9m and it took up space as we got a cot bed thing. I wished I had got a smaller one second hand and then reevaluated when then needed a bed. Also so many outfits that were never used as they were the wrong size/season. It sounds counterintuitive, but plain white babygros are the best as the stains just get bleached out by the sun, even in winter!

We didn’t use the sleeping bags until older and we had a summer baby and swaddled with a muslin, then when colder used cellular blankets. Also I would wait until the baby is here to get a sling, then you can try them out properly, a few didn’t work for us.

More muslins than you ever think you need
A sling
Bouncer chair (ours wasn't musical or anything but great to just pop her in while I needed to do something, if she let me)
Baby mat and a tummy time cushion (as she hated being flat on her tummy)

Other than that it was just sleep suits, sleep bags, baby grows.

We have a Nuna sena sure travel cot downstairs but she never wanted to be left so very rarely used until she's got bigger and it was more of a playpen now.
Next to me cot - we have the tutti bambini cozee and was brilliant attached to our bed but she did co-sleep aswell when she was particularly fussy

https://direct.asda.com/george/baby/baby-playmats-gyms/playgro-fold-go-playgym/050750728,default,pd.html?utmcampaign=pla::Toys--All&utmsource=google&utmmmedium=cpc&dsrl=1254577&dssrl=1238816&gbraid=0AAAAADwhMoBLv2ER8d3HW5H3HWSySb5d1&gbraid=0AAAAADwhMoBLv2ER8d3HW5H3HWSySb5d1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqsSr4qPx-QIVmpntCh0tIwWvEAQYAyABEgJWYfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Travel activity gym. Could take it everywhere when little one was small and he played with it for ages.

Baby sling/wrap and nice muslin blankets. When the baby is a bit older definitely a bouncy activity center thing, worth its weight in gold for mine.

Don't go overboard on clothes

We only used onesies and vests. All the trousers and tops I bought never got worn as it's annoying with the constant nappy changing. I bought loads of 0-3 stuff thinking it would all get used, it didn't. I found that M&S baby clothes whilst pricier were more true to size and he got 2 weeks+ more wear out of them than the same size of Tu clothes.

An echo dot and smart bulbs, game changer! Red light bulbs for where baby sleeps, it's the colour that is proven to improve sleep.

Travel cot for the living room, next to me cot for the bedroom.

I found the square muslin cloths too small, the bigger size fit over my shoulder better.

Hand gel bottles in useful locations around the house

Get cradle cap shampoo ahead of time

Enjoy!!!

White noise machine that plays all night rather than the Ewen sheep type thing
Different to above but I preferred vests and leggings, I hated doing the poppers on sleep suits and my girls had huge feet so I had to cut the feet off to get any wear our of the ones I had.
Nipple cream (use liberally)
Burts bees and metanium nappy cream
Don't buy too much initially as you will get gifts and with next day delivery you can order what you want/need
Babies only need you, milk, nappies and some clothes initially xxx

I had the equivalent of this almost 30 years ago and I still think it is the best gadget ever! https://www.boots.com/tommee-tippee/tommee-tippee-full-range/tommee-tippee-twist-and-click-advanced-nappyd-disposal-bins-system-white-10259522

I wish with my first I'd not been so precious about the tommee tipeee perfect prep and formula in general! I was intent on breast feeding and stupidly didnt even buy any formula in! I couldnt get a hold of the little premade bottles and baby ended up poorly and struggled to feed, pumping wasnt working so had to be mixed fed at first. A screaming baby and making milk via kettle and cooling when just out of hospital sleep deprived is no fun! I would recommend buying the mini bottles of formula with the teets on and even a perfect prep and formula in for emergencies. You can always sell the prefect prep if dont require it later, they have really good resale value.
With dc2 I learnt my lesson and bought one and lucky I did as he was poorly too and couldn't feed!

Baby sling
Next 2 me crib
Zip up sleepsuits especially for night time changes so much easier than buttons

Cheeky wipes
Snoozeshade for the pram
Stretchy bamboo sling (Hana)
Cuddledry towel for baths
Ubbi nappy bin (no cartridges/special bags)
A really long phone charger and a good coffee flask! Both get used every day

Realistically all you need at birth is 5 vests, 5 sleepsuits, a hat for hospital, somewhere for them to sleep, 2 x cot sheets & cellular blankets, buggy, stretchy sling and car seat. Everything else can be bought in supermarkets really.

Sling. Go to a sling library and get fitted/borrow one for a couple of weeks first. The one I thought I wanted was actually really uncomfortable and I ended up buying one I had never even considered (and used it until DS was about 4).

An upstairs and a downstairs changing mat, and a little bouncy chair for popping baby down in to go to the loo/make a cuppa etc.

Pre made shop bottles for the first week or so. Takes the stress off sterilising etc.
Baskets with wipes, nappies, dummies, bibs, cream and chocolate!beside your bed and another one downstairs.
Pre cooked / batch dinners.
One of those formula dividers so you can have it measured out in advance for the day.
Vests - whatever you have, double it 🤣
If I had my time again probably a changing table as had c section. It wasn't the end of world as could sit on bed.
After that we just had bouncer, basket and cot. Mine didn't take to moses basket so luckily had cot to fall back on.
I also wouldn't buy a travel system buggy again, I'd use my money on an excellent stroller instead.
Oh also those mirrors for the back seat of the car were a godsend.

I bought one of those wrap sling things for about 3 quid off ebay. Baby loves it and I have free hands.

Swaddle blankets with velcro as my baby is a wriggler, I also have some gro bags.

Angelcare bath seat. Not worth buying one new though, I got ours cheap on Facebook marketplace.

A friend gave us a chest of drawers with a changing table top which has worked well and as others said we have another mat for downstairs.

Big muslin cloths!!! Good for everything! BF, sun cover, blanket, floor mat, emergency diaper 😖, ....

i-Angel carrier from 4 months

Rolled up baby changing mat for out of the house (baby changing tables can be nasty!). For in the house I got those EVA puzzle mats. Easily scrubbed in the garden or bath tub.

Doggy poop bags for diapers 😅

Big cotton circles and little container with water instead of wipes

Thanks so much everyone, this helps so much! Xx

Nappy bin. Spare changing mat for downstairs. Nipple cream if breastfeeding. Some pre made formula bottles with sterilised teats in case breastfeeding doesn't work out/or need something quickly if formula feeding. Breastfeeding cushion/cushions for formula feeding. A doona car seat - wheels fold out so can push like a pram - v handy for things like school runs/if need to pop into a shop etc - can be a bit pricy though. The babygros where the mittens are part of the sleeve - scratch mitts always fell off my kids. Baby nail clippers.

I'm interested in getting one of those sleep safe bassinets too. Have you got a stand for yours? I was looking at the silver cross stand and it's £100 just for some wooden legs!!!

Sock ons
love to dream swaddle wraps
dummy
sleepyhead
sling
Decent pram with big wheels
Ewan the dream sheep