Shopping for First Baby

[ScottishRach]

After many years of initially unexplained infertility and two rounds of IVF, I am expecting my first baby within the next couple of months. Due to the difficulty in getting here we have been very tentative about everything and really just taking it all week by week, but it's coming to a stage where we need to start making some purchases, and where we might also be able to find some bargains in the January sales (though I'm not opposed to second hand in some items either).

As this is our first we are starting completely from scratch so I'm looking for feedback on what brands etc are good, and stuff that we might not have thought of that might be useful. We are definitely needing;

A cot and changing table

A travel system, which doesn't need to be as a set as I'm happy to buy items individually, but we will need a travel seat and buggy at the very least. We also need to buggy to be good at off-roading so it can be used in fields, muddy tracks etc.

Nappies - we're keen to try reusable nappies if anyone has any experience/feedback with those.

Clothing. Other than lots of baby grows, swaddles and some fun out and about outfits, are there any recommendations for useful items.

Bottles. I do hope to breastfeed, but know this isn't always an option. We have been looking at glass or silicon bottles, but both come with their negatives and positives so again any experiences/feedback with those would be great.

It's all quite overwhelming so any life experiences to help us along would be much appreciated 😊.

The nappy lady does starter kits for newborns of reuseables - I had this for my first, really recommend. Do you live near a John Lewis for buggies (and cot/changing table but can also get from ikea or secondhand)? The best advice I got was to buy one breastfeeding-friendly bottle - I had Minbies but others are available.

lets see

They will mostly be in sleepsuits for first 3 months its easier with all the nappy changes and if they spit up often that to.Babys were one more layer than you as they struggle to keep warm.So inside that would be a sleepsuit vest and outside add a snowsuit in winter a warm jacket in spring and light jacket/hoodie summer .So plenty sleepsuits/vests newborn size although can provide a good fit you may just want to go strait into 0-3 although baggy they grow so fast ,wont stay baggy for long

you dont need a nappy bin just a lidded bin with neutradol and nappy bags

cot can be second hand or new you can find like new second hand but mattress must be new .same with changing table

Bedding is it not recommended to swaddle to sleep .Place babys feet by bottom of cot and use a cot size flat sleet and cellular blanket to tuck in .This allows them to wriggle out ,some freedom of movement

dont buy a all in one carseat with pram you tend to get poorer quality carseat that way.Research the car seat ,cybex is quite good for safety so is axkid

bottles avoid nuk i found the teats so annoying ,breastfeeding if you have trouble just keep asking for advice/try for a few weeks before bottles .babys get confused if you try to juggle between the two.If you want to breastfeed its better to try until you learn.If how ever after a few weeks its still not working out dont feel bad if you do need to try bottles at least you tried

vibrate chairs are really useful

prams/buggies are pretty useless in the mud - I’d just get a good sling (visit a sling library if you are able)- I’d argue they are pretty useless in general and have only used mine about five times (she’s three now)- brought it secondhand but was still a massive of money .

The biggest congrats on your pregnancy and getting this far! We were in a similar position and held out from buying anything until quite far into the pregnancy.

depending on how much you will be using your car seat and how big your baby might be it might be worth considering an i size car seat size that has a new born insert. We did not know about this (I’m not sure if we would have gone for one) but it’s worth knowing that they can grow out of their car seat quite quickly. We had bought an infant seat and two isofix bases for the two cars and once he was about 8.5 months we have had to switch to
the next size up car seat and were told there’s seats that you can use from newborn all the way up to a few years old.

havinv struggled with infertility and a miscarriage I have been quite anxious all throughout pregnancy and once the baby was born and I have found the owlet sock really helpful. It shows baby’s heart rate and oxygen level which I found very reassuring to make sure he is doing ok. It’s far from an essential and quite expensive but has really helped my anxiety and it’s the most used piece of equipment we have.

I would also potentially consider some sort of a bassinet or a sleep safe baby pod that you can carry around the house with you. They sleep so much at the start that it’s handy popping them down next to you wherever you may be in the house. If you do buy a buggy with a bassinet you can also use it for them to sleep in around the house.

we personally liked the Dr Browns bottles but I have also heard during a baby class that Lanilosh is one of the closer ones to the anatomy of a woman’s breast.

we love Bonds sleepsuits, they are expensive but wash well and grow with your baby as you can flip the little feet cover over their feet or have it at their ankles as they get bigger so you get longer out of them. We had gone through a lot of next baby suits which we love as his legs are quite long. I order them directly from Australia as it’s much cheaper and they always have specials and sales on them.

we really don’t get all that much use of our buggy and this was the most expensive purchase. I think I would have gone second hand with it as it’s so bulky that we didn’t reach out for it much and prefer the sling or a travel stroller once he got a bit bigger.

other things that we use a lot are a baby bath with a thermometer. A sound machine and a shnuggle warm light that also shows whether the room is too cold, too hot or the right temperature. Next to me sleeper and sleep suits as he hated to be swaddled.

this time of year is great for picking up big ticket items in the sale. I also wouldn’t bother just yet with a big cot as they usually don’t use it for a few months anyways

Congratulations!

I had a baby 11 weeks ago and here are my recommendations.

We got this pram and travel system, car seat is very safe and spins 360 so very easy getting both the baby and car seat in and out. The pram is also ridiculously easy and quick to put up and down, takes literally 10 seconds, it is heavy though. I find it lightweight and smooth to push.
https://www.mamasandpapas.com/products/ocarro-oasis-8pc-comp-kit-cloud-t-61931ss00?utm_term=43224447189157&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=uk+-+shopping+-+brand&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAmrS7BhBJEiwAei59iwfGxP_VYroapKx7D19wYExL7BmImYjCm4B24olyV0CSP-TU0g3ltRoCHAgQAvD_BwE

We got this bedroom furniture. I haven't actually used the changing table yet but presumably will when the baby is in his own room. It's gorgeous furniture, great quality and the instructions made putting it together fairly easy.
https://www.mamasandpapas.com/products/harwell-range-cashmere-s-rahla0100

Not reusable but we swear by Aldi nappies. We use Tommee Tippee bottles.

We have a moses basket and a next2me (snuzpod), we take the moses basket upstairs and downstairs depending on where we are and we put it inside the next2me at night to appear smaller and more secure as the baby then sleeps better.

Most of the babies clothes are from Next, good quality and good prices. We got loads of vests and baby grows and are getting more actual outfits now he's almost 3 months. Also get more muslins than you ever thought you'd need!

We got a schnuggle bath but we've used it twice and the baby just bathes with me. We use a Tommee Tippee temperature light for a night light and also to make sure it isn't too hot or cold. We use Ewan the sheep, unsure if it actually helps but it certainly doesn't hurt.

The best thing I did was premake nappy caddies for every room in preparation, ie with wipes, nappies, nipple pads/cream, nappy bags, muslins, bibs, a change of outfit etc. I fill them up as and when. I also always keep his bag stocked up so I can grab the bag and go without faffing about checking I have everything.

Good luck! X

We've never swaddled the baby, when we brought him home he slept with a cellular blanket tucked in and now we use a sleeping bag, we've got 2 so we always have one clean and we use the blankets for his pram/car seat etc now.

Congratulations OP! Such an exciting time.

Cot / changing table - baby will be in with you for the first 6months so a next to me style cot might be more useful to start with. Especially if you have one that wants to be very close to you all night. We have the next2me forever, as it lasts until age 4 and it makes night settling much easier.

Travel system - don't buy a car seat that comes included. They are usually not as good. There's a great car seat info group on FB called Car Seat Safety UK but basically I'd buy the buggy you want then the car seat separately. You can get adapters to put different car seats on buggy systems. Britax and Avianaut car seats are always recommended. I had a maxi cosi pebble 360 and personally i hated it. We have the uppababy vista v2 buggy (though there is now a v3 version) and it an absolute workhorse. Dd2 is using it now and it's still going strong.

Clothing - i personally just used sleepsuits. Especially for winter babies, trousers always ride up and unless you put tights underneath them, they'll end up with a gap between trouser leg and socks. Sleepsuits are so much easier. I also invested in a tuppence and crumble star wrap for short / carrier journeys as super quick to get on and off. Do you know what centile baby is tracking? We had to buy some emergency things as DD1 was only 5lbs 12oz when she was born and needed tiny baby size for a couple of months. Also if people give you gifts, then tend to buy newborn or 0-3 so don't go overboard. Just start with a few basics for coming home and then see what you need.

Bottles - i didn't use glass as I was too worried about breaking them, but I'd also say some babies can be really fussy about bottles. Everyone raved about mam to me but DD2 refused everything except nuk. Once we found the one she liked, we bought 8 so we only had to do one wash and sterilise session per day. If you are hoping to bf, the very best thing you can do is find your local ibclc lactation consultant and tongue tie practitioner now and contact them as soon as you are home. 7 NHS professionals missed DD2s 90% tongue tie and caused us so many issues. Get some highly qualified private support from the outset.

Also just to add on car seats, once baby is out of the infant carrier, please look into extended rear facing. It's so much safer than the UK law, which is frankly quite depressing. My v tall 3.5yr old is still very happy facing backwards. She went from the infant carrier, which last until around 12months into a seat that should last her until around 7yrs. We'll probably move her into a high back booster seat around 5yrs old when her sister needs the big car seat.

My favourite things were those big, long baby nighties. So, so much easier to do nappy changes in the middle of the night than sleep suits. I loved them!

Hi @ScottishRach congratulations! Some good advice above but what I’d say is think about your lifestyle as what suits one person doesn’t another. We live in a flat in a smallish city, so space at a premium and we don’t use the car very often. As such our pram has been our best value purchase, because we walk or bus most places. We got an oyster because our hallway is very narrow, they’re easy to get on the bus, and we are both tall, but friends have uppababy prams and love them (wouldn’t suit us as they’re quite wide). But if you drive most places, I can see a pram is much less useful! DS still uses his regularly set up as a buggy because we walk far, and he’s now 3.

We just had a changing mat, no table, and a special changing board which went on top of the cot, then changed baby on the floor once he migrated to the cot. Next to me was great and we just put the top of it in the living room during the day (easy in a flat). But we found we’d wasted money on some stuff and bought other things as we got used to our baby, so best advice is don’t feel you need much before baby arrives, what you personally need will likely change. Most things you can get delivered in 1-2 days if you really need to!

Congratulations OP! I know exactly how you feel, currently 39 weeks and waiting for our precious IVF baby to arrive anyday. We didn't buy anything until we were 27/28ish weeks as I found it too stressful and anxiety provoking to think about and almost got quite superstitious about it.
In terms of a buggy, have a look at the Mountain Buggy range, we got an excellent condition All Terrain from Ebay and bought a new bassinet to put on top. They have a couple of options for chunky wheels, different terrains. We chose it as do lots of muddy walks, country paths, holidays to the Lake District and will eventually want to run with baby so hoping it's our only buggy rather than needing multiple. You can also buy adapters to put carseats on top which we've done.

I won't relax until baby is safely here and know it will then be a different kind of stress but I know in hindsight I will wish I could have enjoyed and embraced the pregnancy more, which is 100% easier said than done! Wishing you and baby well.

We also need to buggy to be good at off-roading so it can be used in fields, muddy tracks

You probably want to look at the Out n About Nipper then. I wanted a pram that was good for walking, and am planning on maybe buying a second hand out n about pushchair when they're a bit older. I have seen quite a few people using it on muddy walks.

Mamas and Papas Ocarro - I bought this one recently, I got a travel system with the pushchair, carrycot, footmuff, changing bag, cup holder, car seat adapters and cybex cloud car seat for just under 700 quid from the baby planet website. I'll have to buy the car seat base separately though. Tbh I'm now doubting if it was the right choice as so many reviews have said it is very heavy, but it looks nicer than the out n about 😳😅.

Bugaboo Fox - very expensive, but lighter than the Ocarro, and looks lovely. There are different models: Fox 5 is the current one, but you can get a Fox 2 or 3 for cheaper, or buy one secondhand from Facebook Marketplace. I kinda wish we had done this. You can get prams professionally cleaned. There is also a compact version called the Fox Cub, but I couldn't see much about this one online.

Cot and changing table:

We've bought a moses basket (Clair de Lune from Argos) for the living room, and a SnuzPod4 next to me crib for the bedroom to start with. They can sleep in the SnuzPod for 6 months. I bought it in the black Friday sales from Boots, but there is also the older versions which are cheaper.

Cot - my friend is giving us her old old, we'll buy a new mattress.

Changing table - bought one secondhand from Facebook Marketplace for £25. It's a mamas and papas one and looks good as new. Quite a few of my friends said that they never ended up using theirs, but it's handy for storage, and if you have a c section then you won't want to be bending down too much.

Buy the essentials, and get the rest when baby is here. So much of what you'll use comes down to your baby's personality and temperament, and it's easy to waste a lot of money (we certainly did).

I'd focus on getting a cot, changing mat, basic pram, car seat and nappies.

Then, when you know what your little one is like, you can consider whether it's also worth getting a sling / off road buggy / bottles etc.

Personally our DD lived in her sling, we never used the pram / bouncer / etc. I found it very surprising that no-one really explained to us that every baby is so different in what they will and won't tolerate.

Similar position to you, IVF baby due early next year.

Some good advice I have received which I wouldn't have thought about:

Formula - have a few emergency bottles of ready to drink formula in the fridge. I also plan to breastfeed, but just in case it's not working it's so much easier to reach for formula you already have instead of rushing to the shops etc.

Baby clothes - try and buy for the age and season, no point getting lots of warm/fluffy clothes in age 0-3 if they are due in spring etc. I found this useful to bear in mind when going through second hand clothes.

Moses basket/cot - try have one upstairs and downstairs, that way you can put babe to sleep easily wherever you are in the house.

For changing table, we bought the long 8 drawer hemnes unit from Ikea. Just put a changing mat sideways ontop.
We used washable nappies and it gave us plenty of space to have a bowl with warm wet cloths in at the side. We used tots bots but they no longer exist.
We changed Ds at every single nappy change up there until he was toilet trained at 2.
And now it’s just his normal chest of drawers in bedroom without the mat ontop.
The 8 drawers have been a really good size. Top small ones fitted all nappies, wipe clothes, muslins, socks when tiny, and now just normal clothing. I use middle two drawers for clothes, and bottom two for out of season and to grow into clothing and toys.

We bought a mountain buggy, and it’s been great for woodland walks and snow

I’m a big reusable nappy fan. The Nappy Lady website has a great questionnaire which can help you identify the right brand for you depending on your priorities. We used Totsbots and found them brilliant, very few leaks and they lasted years (and are about to be used for our second baby). We also liked cheeky wipes as a reusable wipe option. They’re so much better than disposable wipes which are virtually useless imo!