23 weeks and not bought A THING. Help?

[Flowersflowers121]

Hiiiiii everyone :)

I hope I'm not alone in not having bought anything for baby yet haha I keep hearing conflicting advice about barely needing anything, and then making sure I'm organised and have everything haha

Mummas - Please hit me with your must-have essential items for the first month or so🙏

A crib and/or moses basket
Vests and sleepsuits
Blankets
Car seat
Pram/buggy type thing
Changing mat
Nappies
Baby wipes

They really don’t need much. With my first I didn’t buy anything till I was 30ish weeks. You’ve got plenty of time!

With this one we’ve still got next to me cot, muslins, bouncer, bath (never used it much, found it much easier and nicer for one of us to take her into the shower), hakaa breast pump thing. Bought a bag of second hand babygros from a friend and a sling a couple of weeks ago and need something to put it in downstairs. Got a changing bag but doubt we'll use it much.

They need somewhere to sleep in your room and in your main living space, some clothes, car seat if you drive, push chair or carrier, nappies, boobs or some bottles.

I bought nothing for ages! Got the next to me cot when I was about 30 weeks

a few packs of nappies& reusable wipes

a few packs of vests and sleep suits

car seat

buggy

nothing else

Thank you, guys!! taking notes hahaha :)

Don’t panic. I’m not buying anything until due date

Its personal choice but with mine i wanted to wait till after my second scan to make sure everything was good.But not to far along going out shopping sounded like hell lol.Do what feels right for you not other people

kids under 2 need one more layer than your wearing to keep warm

so for example

cold day
mittens
hat
vest
sleepsuit
coat with thick blanket or snowsuit

so a few changes a day ,then work out how often you want to wash things.Should give you a idea of how many .I recommend asda for baby clothes

Now for car seat go to a facebook group Car Seat Advice UK ,This will help you not only find the safest car seat but one that fits your car.

pram what ever fits best in the boot of your car or what ever is lightweight for public transit

cot for upstairs and Moses basket for downstairs if you want one,flat sheets,cellular blankets .When they start kicking the covers off a baby sleeping bag

vibrate chair optional i find it helps them sleep when they are suffering with gas .Swings are good but they tend to threw up in them

breast or bottle up to you ,but for bottle you need steam steriliser bottles the right teats,bottle brush,unscented washing up liquid .Breast just some button up shirts make sure you pack a spare in the changing bag in case they threw up on you .Breast pads i recommend asda ones they are most comfortable .A breastfeeding cover if your feeling shy

i am sure theres a bunch i missed but hopefully someone will cover that lol

@rosydreams ahhh, so helpful! Thank you so much. I'll be a FTM and don't have any "mum" friends, so feeling a bit clueless until I start my NCT course in Feb haha thanks again xx

if you do have money for a nice pram though cosatto have some really cute prams

www.cosatto.com/collections/sale/products/wow-2-pram-and-pushchair-wildling?nosto_source=cmp&nosto=643478348

www.cosatto.com/collections/sale-8bc84f/products/giggle-quad-with-footmuff-bundle-into-the-wild

@rosydreams so cute!! Do you know if they sell these in any high street stores or just online? Not sure if I want to try some out and see what I get on with best or just bite the bullet and order a pram online haha :)

there does not seem to be many shops that do usually they are non chain stores local small baby boutiques .There used to be babyrus and mothercare but without them i'm stumped

Crib / Moses basket
Pushchair / sling / both
Carseat
Nappies
Wipes
Baby grows
Vests
Cardis
Pram suit / coat (if it's likely to still be cold where you are)
Muslins (not as many as people say you need though IME)
Baby bath (if you want one - it isn't essential, but it saves water or if you get one which holds the baby it saves your arms)

If it makes you feel any better I’m 35 weeks and ordered my travel system and car seat earlier this week, we’ve just borrowed a Moses basket and a friend is giving us a next to me crib thing. I need to grab a few sheets, I have about 2 blankets left from previous babies.
Ive been asked what we need by friends and family and have directed them to swaddle/sleeping bags and muslins.
I have a couple of bags of nappies given by a friend, and a couple of packs of vests and sleepsuits in the smaller sizes but not buying anything else til I know what size baby needs when he arrives.
You’ll need maternity and breast pads for you, and then stuff for breast and or bottle feeding.
Babies really need very little in the early days.

My essentials with my second were
pram
car seat,
next to me cot
breathing/ video monitor ( we had the angelcare)
lots of vests
lots of sleepsuits with integrated scratch mitts
lots of bibs / muslins ( some babies are very dribble/ sickly)
nappies
big pots of petroleum jelly ( very good for little bums)
2x nappy caddy 1 each for upstairs and down
2x changing mats
perfect prep machine if you’re not bf
steam steriliser/ brush/ bottle draining rack
lots of dummies
Stretchy sling
Star blanket / wrap thing worked instead of a coat for pram and car seat and saved wrestling tiny arms and legs into sleeves
little hat for outings
cellular blankets

Oh and mine loved the arms up swaddles

I'm 22 weeks and for my Christmas gift my mum made me hospital bag for me (there's a recent thread on her with essentials for your bag) so that was my starter kit and my parents also bought a bassinet for downstairs (ill be elective so I will need a light basket).

This is 3rd baby so we've kinda learned what is essential now.

Pram
Chicco next to me magic (I'm going for this time as previous babies had reflux and Snuzpod didn't tilt)
Car seat
Baby bath and top and tail bowl (I was never confident with a slippery baby lol)
I just started buying Muslin swaddles (aiden and anais are lovely)
Muslin cloths (again I liked aiden and anais but in January there will be an Aldi online and instore baby sale and their muslin squares and towels are really soft)
Baby wrap for carrying (I loved this as I could wear it everywhere)
Baby bouncer (Use to use mine when DH when back to work so baby could see me in the shower from door way)

Then stuff just like 2 changing mats (upstairs and down), bottles or perfect preps, I had 2 nappy caddys (upstairs and down, with bum cream and nappies).

From past experience I learned sterilisers and warmers were rarely used, Mam bottles can be done in the microwave if you choose to bottle feed too.

Sleepsuits with built-in scratch mittens.

Congratulations!

Thanks everyone!!! Super helpful stuff <3 x

Hi @Flowersflowers121 awww it's ok, i didn't buy anything until i was about 30 weeks!

I got a car seat, pushchair, cot, bedding, nappies, bottles, steralisor, travel bag, newborn clothes (not too many as i got alot of gifts), baby seat bath thing from mamas and papas, blankets, formula milk, wipes, baby bibs, hopefully i covered everything! Congratulations on your bubba 👶🍼

Aside from the essentials lists above, what I've found useful so far:
2x changing station - one upstairs and one downstairs. Basically a mat and a caddy with nappies and wipes etc
Pump - cheap manual pump to help my milk come in. This is now on my essential list!
Stretchy sling AND structured carrier. My DS didn't like the stretchy sling in the end. Bought a baby born mini and a close caboo on eBay for a tenner each.
Baby bath support
White noise machine
Gro egg room thermometer
Cellular blankets- mine hated grobags until week 4
Extra long phone charger!
The "your baby week by week book" (my now go to gift for baby showers)
Star wrap (although I have a winter baby)

For the hospital bag, a sandwich bag for theatre with an outfit and a nappy in it. Is been in labour for almost 24 hours by the time of my section so this was essential organisation!

Good luck - I'm a FTM too and it's amazing

If you are making decisions regarding prams, car seats, bedside cots etc. then I recommend booking the John Lewis baby personal shopping service:

www.johnlewis.com/our-services/nursery-advice

It was so helpful to us as first time parents and gave really invaluable advice and an opportunity to try all the products. There was no pressure to buy anything from them however in case you did want to buy from John Lewis, they give you a discount code after the appointment if you spend over a certain amount on baby things which is really helpful if buying all from new.