The best thing we had in the early days were nighties - long old fashioned night dresses with an open bottom, they are hard to find but I know mothercare and john lewis have them at the mo - great lifesaver when having to do nappy changes in the night - no faffing with hundreds of stupid poppers in a dimly lit room!
we used sheets & blankets whilst baby still in his crib, grobag when he moved into cotbed. (look around as in matalan and supermarkets they are a fraction of the price of the branded ones) We put the baby in a moses basket during day and crib at night but as long as they have a change of scene it doesnt matter. We were lucky as we were given a mosese basket as DS was so big he outgrow it by 8 weeks!
I took lots of the clothes we were given as presents back and exchanged them for 6-9 and 9-12 months as we had been handed down loads of smaller stuff.
If you plan to breast feed then just a couple of small bottles in case it doesnt go to plan and I would hold off from buying a steriliser as we just used large tupperware box and some milton for first few weeks. I would also second putting off buying a pump until you are comfortable BF. And we used small tupperware to "top and tail" & for changing in the early days.
Dont go mad on your buggy/pram, My son is 20 months and ALL of the mums from my antenatal classes now have 2 prams/buggys or just a maclaren type buggy. If your baby is due soon, you may get away with only needing a lay flat buggy rather than a big old pram that you will be fed up with in 6 months time!
Only buy a couple of those hooded towels as they outgrow them so quick! although I love my cuddlerobe - very expensive but the best thing we biought & we still use it daily!
We have always bathed DS in our bath, DH used to get in and hold him when very tiny. and we too have a cupboard full of baby toiletries as DS is allergic to most of them!
Also I would recomend a play gym - one with bits that you can adjust - buy second hand if you can. And if you buy a bouncy chair, then I reccomend the fisherprice one that goes from birth to toddler - my DS still loves sitting in his. As they start sitting, those rubber ring things are great too as they allow little one to sit up with support.
We had a bumbo which DS hated! I passed it on to a friend whose little one loved it. So if tempted buy second hand.
The other thing parents to be always forget (as its not needed straight away) is a highchair - if any one offers/requests to buy you something, i would suggest that.
Ds wouldnt wear scratchmits - still wont wear gloves! but we used Next sleep suits as they had flaps that you could fold over their hands.
Dont buy too many size 1 &2 nappies as we had LOADS left over! (DS was a big baby that grew very quickly!)
I also loved my baby bjorn sling but depends on size of baby. I stopped using it by 20 weeks but my SIL used it before me with her preemie till she was nearly a year old!
Still too scared to use nail clippers (am very heavy handed) so bite DS nails although his dad has just started clipping them.
something for in the night that plays music ifor settling baby, DS has a teddy that you pull a string - much easier than winding up a mobile numerous times!
I am carboot and ebay queen and also check on the NCT website for nearly new sales in my area regularily. I rarely buy anything brand new unless I have too! Most baby stuff is used so little that it is easy to find 2nd hand in near perfect condition.