Where to buy baby items in London

[Tropicaliyes]

I know this is a big ask but does anyone know where i can buy baby items in London?

This is my first baby and i am currently 16 weeks so currently looking at buying some items soon but nothing too big just yet (we havent bought a single thing yet just incase).

I don’t have anyone around me that has had a child recently and when my friends and family were having babies that was like 10-15 years ago and a lot has changed since then! They had mothercare, babies r us and similar places they could go but now they are closed and most things are online.

I found a nice CotBed with side storage (like draws/wardrobe attached) and it seemed really nice but further research found the website was a scam. I found the same item somewhere else and turns out it was a sister site of the first.. also a scam!

I now dont know where can be trusted as trust pilot had positive reviews for these places but i assumed they were paid for reviews🧐.

I can and will get some items on Amazon but some things i would actually like to see already built and in front of me so i can make an actual determination as some people have liked looks of stuff then complained on arrival which i want to avoid at best.

I think i saw online mama & papas is still around and have some branches here so i will look into them but i remember them being one of the expensive stores back in the days.. so anyone have any other suggestions? Where did you buy your LO’s items?

Thanks in Advance.

I got my pram for John Lewis (Silvercross).
Clothes mostly from Ando, White Company & Another Fox online.
Cot (Snoo) from online (happiest baby if I remember correctly).
Carrier online (Artipoppe zeitgeist) 😊

London is a big place :). There are lots of shops in local places (like I think there is a Jo Jo maman Bebe in Kingston) but a good place to start is the nursery section of John Lewis Oxford Street if you mean central London. You can even book an appointment with a nursery person there I think.

Or try some of the big shopping centres like the Westfields (depending which side of London you are) - I think there's a mamas and papas at Westfield White City

Richmond has a newbie and a pylo y pyret (sp!!) Try Westfield shepherds Bush too.

John Lewis for cots and prams/buggies

Argos for random bits. I think my DD cot mattress came from there though her cot was from John Lewis as John Lewis didn't have the mattresses in stock.

Baby clothes can come from Sainsburys, Asda, Boots, Lidl, Aldi, John Lewis, Tesco, Gap, H&M, charity shops, ebay and Facebook market place.

The supermarkets are really useful for clothes particularly if you live near a 24 hour store.

Lidl and Aldi randomly sell baby clothes and other bits and pieces which have been good quality.

The baby carrier we brought came from the manufacturers website after my DP tried it out from a sling library. The others I used I got off friends.

People started giving us vouchers and items from 28 weeks plus.

Oh and I started making a list on Amazon but because all the supermarkets and Boots have baby events plus the other retailers have sales, Amazon isn't any cheaper.

Harrods have a good selection of pram brands, even if you don't buy from there you can look and try them out, Tommys Uk is a good independent nursery store selling prams and car seats etc

Also baby nest London

John Lewis for pretty much everything. They also price match, when I found my bassinet cheaper in Harrods they refunded me the difference. I did all this online, as I hate shopping!!

When it comes to the smaller items -toys/ baby gros/ nursery stuff primark has some really beautiful things and some gorgeous wooden toys, it's definitely worth a look.

I fell in love with this bear rocker for my little one and it was only £30 I think - less than half the similar ones I'd seen in other stores for similar.

fashionunited.uk/news/retail/primark-to-launch-click-and-collect-trial-in-the-uk/2022062063679

Ikea for cot, drawers, linens, high chair, toddler cutlery and toys

mamas and papas (or better yet second hand M&P) for stroller/pushchair/carseat

h&m clothes

Facebook marketplace / local FB parents groups, and Vinted for clothes. Dont know why you’d buy new apart from car seat, when only used short time

If you are anywhere near Croydon then out on Purley Way is a Smyths Toy Superstore which has a big selection of prams, cots etc. There's a branch of Mamas and Papas almost opposite. Tkmaxx (almost next door to Mamma's and Papas) does a lot of stuff like sleeping bags etc.
Further down is IKEA. Loads of baby equipment there.

I would recommend The Baby Show for big items - got a Mamas & Papas Ocarro travel system and saved between £200-£600 (M&Ps direct would have been the higher end).

There's one at ExCeL in March which is good timing for you: www.thebabyshow.co.uk/excel?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=babyshowmar23search

Potty People on Bethnal Green Road, they’ve a shop on Amazon and a website 1stopbabystore

Tge shop is nothing to look at and the website isn’t gorgeous but it’s a great shop and they’re so helpful.

John Lewis

It isn’t in London a it is in Glasgow, but they have an on line shop and for Customer Service you can’t get better than

www.pramcentre.co.uk/

Ooh thank you so much for these suggestions!! I didnt even know that John Lewis had a baby section tbh!

since london is pretty small we call travel to all parts of London to look around but we are in East london and the Excel baby show suggestion is just what i was looking for and in walking distance and like you said @BettyOop99 it is perfect timing as i will be 3 ish months away from delivery by then!

Bethnal Green is also down the road from us so @Camdenish thanks for that suggestion also, since its tower hamlets i wouldn’t expect it looked great tbh but as long as it does the job then im fine with that! So happy these places are nearby!

@Needmorelego Croydon is a bus (or train) trip away and so totally doable! I like the fact everything is all in one place including IKEA as I wanted to visit there but this one sounds great as i can come out and visit other baby stores also!

@Barleysugar86 is that a website for Primark? Haha funny i didnt know they even had a website, let alone done baby items! Btw that little bear rocker is cute!

@thestateofit i have never heard of that place before but thanks for the suggestion, im going to look into it now! Same with @ThisIsTrifficult ne er heard of that place either… got some researching to do!

@FlopFit we have a Westfields here in Stratford but it is nowhere near as good as White City and i think it doesnt have as many shops either so i will take a visit to White city also and Kingston i can visit when im going to Croydon since they are nearby.

Thank you so much, there are a few places i didnt even know done baby sections like John Lewis, Harrods and TK max so im glad i know now so i dont just skip straight past them on my search!

the baby clothes and stuff im not too worried about since they can be found everywhere but it was the bigger items im struggling with. I also dont use Facebook so marketplace and such isnt for me and Vinted is also not somewhere i would go for my stuff let alone baby stuff but if people never bought first hand, there would not be second hand items for sale in the first place.. I don’t mind reusing the first items for future children but id much rather buy fresh especially for my first child if i can afford it, but i guess to each their own.

If you’re in Stratford and have a car then it may be worth having a look at Gallows Corner in Romford for the massive Tesco and there is a Next and Argos.

Baby shows in March/April I think.

There are people giving away used cots all the time on freecycle. Moses baskets too though I realised that new ones don’t really cost much anyways.

With second hand moses baskets, like cots, you need to buy a new mattress.

Sometimes due to the size/manufacturer of the moses basket it is nearly as cheap to buy a new one rather than a second hand one

With all car seats, even if you buy a second hand travel system, all ways get a new car seat unless you know and trust the person you got it from.

Oh and the baby shows are a good to collect free bottles.

That way you can try different brands out on your baby and work out the one(s) your baby likes.

@olderthanyouthink I dont drive yet (trying to pass my test currently) but Romford isnt too hard to get to, can get one direct bus from where i am (although its super long) or a train but if i was to pick too much up that cant go on public transport we would just get a cab. Does that Tesco sell more than the likes of Gallions Reach? I haven’t been there for a while but i dont remember them doing anything more than baby clothes and toys for LOs?

@olderthanyouthink yeah if its the one linked above then that one is in March. Im due on the 9th July so not too close but not too far from the show date.

At this time i wont be needing to buy any second hand items, we will purchase a next to you cot (side sleeper) for the early days which isnt that expensive and then sill buy a Cot Bed for when baby grows out of the side cot. That way the cot can be converted into a bed and will save on money not having to buy a toddler bed and child bed later on… we plan to use all those items again for our second child too. We also planned on getting a Travel system so we can get a car seat with the pram and that can also be used once the baby is a toddler and hopefully will be walking after that. We have a lot of savings for the LO and their upbringing and anything needed until adulthood (and will continue adding to it (so we are not too worried about the cost of buying brand new vs second hand).

@Reugny we plan to stay away from plastic and i cant imagine the shows will have any/many free samples of glass/steel bottles to try out? Either way im not too worried as i plan to breastfeed and then should that not work have a line up of non plastic items to use when the time comes.. we actually have some brand new bottles we need to give away as they are plastic and we realised after we are not happy to use them with our baby but know others would be happy to get them.. just trying to figure out how to give them away 🤔.

I just wanted to add, my partner and I have had a real hard time before we even got to this point and at no point were we given “hand outs” help or support when we needed it the most. We were made aware than when you hit rock bottom, its down to you to pick yourself up and climb to the top (a d we are still climbing). As a result we planned well in advance to have a baby (i mean years and years) and made sure we never need to ask for support or go without (or our child go without) just because we cannot afford it.. we personally lived that life together and it is not nice not knowing where your next meal is coming from or how we will afford to furnish our house etc. we are now in the position where we don’t mind helping others but have set ourselves up to not need to ask for help or seek it (financially speaking).

Also try Natural baby shower in Surrey.