What are the baby basics?

[CatDean]

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I've found TKMAXX is always worth a look for baby stuff if you have one near you. I got a lovely changing bag there and blankets and a sleeping bag. I also saw the TommeeTippee breast pump there very cheap once.

Regarding baby boxes - It is handy to have somewhere to keep everything but you don't need a baby box. I'm using a 'really useful box' for nappies etc at that moment - I think it was about £6!

As soon as I annouced I was pregs with my DT's my mother put together a 'baby box' for each, and everytime she went shopping, she would buy one (well two) baby item and add it to the box.

When boys were born, I ended up with two useful storage boxes which we later used for toys and put all the contents in various places round their room/in the bathroom.

You will get loads as gifts, so buy the bare minimum to get your LO home from hosp, assess what you've got once everything has calmed down, then you can rush out/sent DP/DH out to top up what you are missing.

Our biggest flaw was - after 8 weeks in special care, our DT's were ready to come home (you'd think we would have been prepared) - we got home, went upstairs to put them in cot (travel cot in our room) and only had a 'bedding bale' from Babies R Us, which only included a cot duvet - WAY too hot and they don't recommend duvets for under ones anyway. Ended up spending £80 in Mother care on 2 travel cot sheets, 2 cellular blankets and two plain white flat sheets. Could very definitely have got these cheaper elsewhere, but panicked in my new motherhood state of mind.

DC3 will have every hand me down going, and we will be using a carry cot as opposed to a moses basket downstairs as I hated the boys sleeping on a folded duvet on the floor - just looked wrong....

DS (my only DC) is 2 months old and this is what I can't do without.

Muslins
Bodysuit vest things
Sleepsuits
Cardigans
Sling carrier thing (Baby Bjorn style, great for carry DS around after emergency c section, he loves it, I love it and we still use it all the time)
Bouncy chair
Cotton wool
Change bag (free from Boots Parenting club)
Olive oil
A couple of little hoodies (he hates wearing hats but doesn't mind hoods)
Grobags
Digital baby monitor (had an analogue one but the interference drove me up the wall; it also has a built in nightlight and lullabies)
Room thermometer (free with Grobag, but the one on the monitor is easier to read)
Dungarees with poppers inside the legs. Makes changing and dressing very easy. Much easier than trousers.
Nursing rocking chair & stool (on loan from friend, invaluable)
20 real nappies, 4 wraps.
Car seat, as we live in the countryside and need to drive a lot.
Mobile (Can entertain DS for hours, one above cot, one above change mat)
Hoody towels
ELectric steriliser and insulated bottle bag (if you are bottle feeding)
Those little wire clothes dryer things you hang on radiators
We used Moses basket a lot too, but it was given by a friend. Probably wouldn't have bought one if we hadn't got one anyway.

Bodysuit vests, sleepsuits, cardigan = warm baby, easy to dress.

Almost everything sourced from friends, rellies,charity shops, Ebay, Freecycle and small ads. Electric steriliser and monitor were new (as were car seat and cot mattress)

Things I have but barely/don't use

Baby wipes (use cotton wool and water, carry bottle of water in change bag)
Little outfits
Johnson's talc, baby shampoo and baby bubble bath (HV advised just water for first few months and this works well).
Nappy cream (have never needed it, but I massage DS with olive oil every day).
About 100 hats
About 100 socks (you only really need 3 or 4 pairs)
Shoes
Nappy sacks (I only use disposables when out for a long time or away. And I throw them away in old bread bags/supermarket bags/any other plastic bag I find hanging around the kitchen).
Scratch mits

... and don't forget yourself

Lots of wash'n'wear clothes - I live in jeans, sweat pants, long sleeved Ts (Primark, £2!), fleeces and hoodies.
A decent waterproof jacket and fleece (I am wearing my skiing stuff a lot)
Vitamin tabs (for when you don't have time to eat)
Cereal bars (for when you don't have time to eat, keep in car, kitchen, nursery, change bag, bedside table...)
Bio-Oil for CS scar
Good dressing gown

And get your hair cut before DC is born. I didn't. can't get it together to even make an appointmnent and my hair hasn't been cut since August!

bikerunski - good one about hair cut! I am planning to have mine done in Jan just before baby arrives.

However, top tip - don't go for a complete restyle just because you are in the last bloooms of pregnancy and feeling brave - once baby arrives u won't have time to faff styling it! Also DON'T have a new fringe put in if you have never had one before - I did this before DT's came home from hosp (a friend spoiled me and took me out for the day), I spent the next few weeks when they were first home, blowing the fringe out of my eyes everytime I was feeding because both hands were occupied holding bottles or burping babies - drove me INSANE!!! if you have an existing fringe, buy LOADS of clips/slides to pin it out of the way.....

You can bath a newborn baby in a washing up bowl - much cheaper than a "baby bath" from a special shop.

But not worrying too much about buying everything before the birth is a good idea, you can get presents and freebies and work out what you then really need.

Don;t forget that the shops will still be open after the baby arrives too!

If money is an ongoing issue then washable wipes will save you a fortune as will real nappies.

primark and asda along with tesco is the best place to buy brand new cheapo clothes for newborn.
grobags are important too, but in primark you get one for £8, where as anywhere else, Mothercare for example it is £25 +. I bought mine from TKMaxx, the same product but instead of 25 quid i spent 13 per grobag. Better looking than Primarks.

best advice would be not to buy n impulse. I bought few thinbgs llike mobile cot, and now I am thinking : do i really need one?? probably not, if I am going to buy travel system with carrycot there....

good luck with the birth!!
xx

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primark asda, tesco -great for new clothes. grobags- go to TKmax. they sell the same ones for £13 that ypou will find in Mothercare for £25

"The newborn baby has only three demands. They are warmth in the arms of its mother, food from her breast, and security in the knowledge of her presence. Breastfeeding satisfies all three." - Dr. Grantly Dick-Read

You really don't need much, and as someone else has said, the shops will be open once the baby is born and you will be smothered in gifts.

Relax, enjoy.

Oh, and get a sling not a "carrier".

I second greenmonkies, sling NOT carrier.

Another sling fan here. Freecycle could help with your budget if you've got the energy.

Thanks for that info on slings and carrers, I will show to all my doubting friends and family who think I am just trying to be some sort of hippy with the ring sling rather than a Baby Bjorn!! Got a fab red ring sling on eBay for 99p!

This baby is our 3rd, we thought DD was going to be our last so gave away/sold all our baby stuff, decided otherwise as long as this baby has used things...

this one has-
Pram (mamas and papas 3-in-1) that will last from birth to about 12mths no problem, cost £50 off ebay!!

Cot, bought solid pine cotbed from ebay for £50, bought new mattress from TKMaxx reduced from £160 to £37.

Sling, again from ebay, same one i had with DC's so tried and tested, cost £7 inc p&p

Will buy a used Moses basket for the living room when tiny, and will sleep in our bed until about 3mths when moves to cot.

Nursery bedding- will be buying cot set new from asda direct at £37 for bumper, cot blanket/quilt and matching mobile.

Baby bouncy chair (feel its needed in our house) new from mamas and papas for £30.

Muslins, as many as i can buy before baby arrives!!

Clothes, sleepsuits etc, I started buying unisex babygrows etc when we were ttc, have since been buying from charity shops and been given a bin bag full off freecycle, also bought a massive bundle off ebay for £9. Both the freecycle bundle and the ebay bundle together have kitted out myself and my pregnant sister in sleepsuits and vests a plenty for the first 6mths!!!

Baby will bath with me and DH.

Got baby bag free from boots parenting club.

I will BF and wont buy bottles unless i need to for expressing, and i hand express too (can't use pumps) so that saves a good £25-40 easliy.

Have used all the bouchers from my bounty packs and joined boots parenting club, tesco baby club etc and used all nappy & wipes vouchers so have already got 1st mths worth of nappies stocked up and has cost me only £4.70 so far!!!

Boots currently have their huggies starter packs on buy-1-get-1-free... you get a pack of 1st size nappies, a pack of wipes (handy for poo's but i use cotton and water for just wee's) and either a pair of socks or a travel size pack of wipes, handy for baby bag!! It is only £5, but a single pack of nappies is £3.75 normally!!!

And that is everything we will buy for the arrival of this one!!