best things to buy

[squirmyworm]

hi all - I'm trying to put together a little basket of essential stuff for a friend who is having her first baby. I've read the great stuff you've all contributed to on presents for newborns but I wondered if you could give me any suggestions as to the absolute 'couldn't do withouts'- as I'm looking for this to be practical rather than fluffy in any way. For me it's my Tigex change mat (warm, shaped and cleanable under a hot tap), my Reassurance 8 monitor and my little sleeping bags. What else have people looked at every day and thought 'I'm so GLAD I got one of those...'

A swaddle me fleece - BRILLIANT
Contoured bath seat

Second everything already mentioned. LOADS of muslins so you don't have to worry about running out because you didn't get time to load the washing machine. Ditto babygros and sleepsuits. A baby gym (only if you are feeling v. generous though). A sangenic nappy bin (although I know this divides people quite sharply). Some of those film processing envelopes so you can send your negatives off because you won't get time to go down to Boots. Changing bag to take out and about (would go for a rucksack style next time). Nice 'outside' blankets for wrapping round baby when in buggy or car seat. Nipple shields/camiliosan/lansinoh in case breastfeeding painful (not sure suitable for a present though!). Oh, and MN books!

bobux shoes!

A bottle of wine, some brie and some chocalate biscits.

and pate!!!

My baby box was brillant i use to fit all the nappys - wipes -bags etc in it and it was easy to move from upstairs to down stairs.

No to bath seat, no to baby bath. but yes to bath mat(john lewis do cute patternded ones)

A mate of mine made a baby box up for me and it was great

She put a pack of nappies, baby wipes, nappy sacks, nappy cream and a travel changing mat in one bit. In another bit she put baby lotion, cotton wool, baby bath, baby shampoo, a really soft baby sponge and a few little bath toys. In the third part she had a pack of 3 x Boots bottles, a dummy (with holder to go on clothes so you don't lose it) and a baby feeding set (fork, plate & spoon set from Heinz). Finally resting on the top was a lovely baby album for me to keep a record of DS1's acheivements.

I thought this was a fab pressie, and have got to say it stuck in my mind more than the other pressies DS1 got (not that they weren't lovely )

Muslins, definitely, absolutely essential!

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Ditto on the muslins.
Also recommend the travel changing mat esp if your friend is bf as that was all I needed to carry with me for the first few months, in fact it still goes everywhere with us and ds is 2.8 (guess who is still not potty trained). I imagine it would not be as useful if you have to carry bottles with you anyway.

I used muslins a lot, but also had quite a few of those very small flannelette sheets (Mothercare) which were great for putting over under dd's head when in her crib/pram/cot/playmat etc so if (sorry, when) she was sick or had sicky dribble I could just swap the little sheet rather than do a full change. Hmm, not that I'm a domestic slut at all

I fifth muslins.....Used for absolutely everything (including ds wearing one David Beckham sarong-stylee when mum forgot to pack change of trousers and ds leaked....- he looked dead cute. Now when ds gets grizzly I can hand him a muslin and he calms down and drifts off....)
Vests (about twice as many as you think you need!)

Terry nappies, cos someone once told me she'd bought them, used disposible ones, but found them priceless for changing their baby's bum on. (Cold baby mat, I used water instead of wipes ...terry nappies are great for soaking up excess poohiy water.) Even if you use wipes, it's softer and warmer to put them down on the mat first.

Socks that are towelling on the inside so they don't fall off

Plain white babygros that button up all the way down the front (we got given so many cute hard-to-put-on wash-at-40C outfits)

DH loved the wrap-over vests that fasten at the front too

Small cards (15cm square or so) with black and white line patterns or simple drawings (face, boat etc) drawn on them. DD stared at those for hours.

Baby Mozart video (ok, this isn't an absolute essential!)

Horseshoe shaped bf'ing cushion, (for hands-free bf'ing)

Kamillosan nipple cream

Aqueous cream & emulsifying ointment and a note explaining that these are kept behind the counter at the chemist because they are so cheap and they don't want people to know that they are just as good as baby lotion / vaseline etc!

Family Tax Credit application form

And - FFS - Metanium. No one, not even a HV, tells you about that. And it's the only thing that works

Does Kamillosan nipple cream still contain peanut oil? If so I would go for another one which didn't. If it never did and I've got my facts wrong - so sorry.

Coorie fleece pouch.
Wilkinet carrier.
Cloth nappies.
Bf pillow-easy to make youself btw, that goes for the fleece pouch too.
Adjustable baby chair.
His comforter- his shawl.

Metanium definitely!!
Muslins definitely!
A pack of towelling nappies for a disposable nappy baby is really useful too!
White sleepsuits
Sensitive wipes
A dummy (well, I am partly glad I got one of those...)
Bibs....and lots of them even for a breast fed baby!!
And some Always Ultra night time sanitary towels....way better than those maternity pads the size of surf boards!!
Ooooh - and the biggest 'must have' if breast feeding is Maws breast pads - they are like Always Ultra for boobs - no wetness!!!

this is so excellent everyone - thank you.
wish I'd know all this before I had mine! didn't know about mumsnet then - how much angst would that have saved ...

one question - what is this metanium thing?

...and if its a REALLY good friend (and you can bear to do it...) a promise to babysit (just once!!!) when she's ready!

I never used a single muslin in my life!

My sister gave me some terry nappies that I used

i wondered the same thing squirmy (about metanium) - had to look it up on google ... it's a nappy rash cream apparently!

coddy - nappies are just as good for drying bums, but muslins are better for protection when weaning and for putting behind baby's head in the cot (so any sick doesn't go on the sheet and so he doesn't feel the cold white sheet).

The mothercare coloured muslins are just fab!