Minimal baby shopping for permanent travellers - ideas please!

[MrsBadger]

Imagine, if you will, that you are an Australian expat arriving in the UK with her British husband 6 weeks before your first baby is due.

You have absolutely no baby stuff.

You're renting a house that has no baby stuff.

You plan to stay for a few months before flying to Oz to stay with your family for a month or two, then probably to Pakistan for your husband's next posting.

Money is no object but shipping stuff is obviously going to be a pain.

A UK friend has offered to take you to both Ikea and the biggest Mothercare in the known world.

What do you buy?

car seat.

bugaboo as first bed, pram and the carrycot folds flat for easy storage, flying etc. playmat. clothes obv. fold falt booster/highchiar with tray(first years maybe?)

think thats it?

to add to list, travel change mat & bag, couple of gro bags prob summer weight, sling.

El cheapo bouncy chair which comes apart and goes flat.

the graco padded reclining chair (lays flat and can be a bed, sits up and can be a first highchair)
a sleeping bag
folding change mat with pockets for wipes and nappies
buy a cot from Ikea and give it away - get your family in Oz to sort one out for you while you are there

you are a great friend mrsb but has she really not organised herself at all

We had a really old Graco padded chair and it is still going strong on its seventh baby somewhere in Oxfordshire
They are excellent
Borrow a cot MrsB or just buy a basic one from Ikea as suggested then give away
And also agree about that mini-folding change mat with pockets for a couple of nappies and travel wipes, it's a top gadget

sorry I meant the chicco one

depending where she will be in Aus - family could borrow or rent what she would need in terms of cot, car seat etc too.

as someone else has said - good change bag and mat - travel bag for babe.

summer weight sleeping bags

good sling

a good pram as someone else has said that can be transported as luggage.

Would not spend a lot on car seat as they are not able to be used here in Aus.

some nice baby clothes and that sort of bits and pieces.

oooh suncanpoy thing for pram, a good one like a protect a bub.

Instead of a normal cot, perhaps this travel one. Lasts until 3yo, has mosquito net, can buy a sunshade also, so would be useful in Oz/Pakistan with the hot weather, can use in garden, and indoors poke into a corner out of the way. Very compact and lightweight as well.

Little Life Twin Arc Travel Cot

Or they could do what was suggested on a thread before - don't bother with the cot and just use a suitcase!!

I was just thinking along those lines too scotlou. suitcase or drawer. Or MC used to do a 3-in-1 travel cot, folds well has wheels. (we used whilst travelling).

errr... I think you guys are all suggesting a lot of stuff. We're talking tiny baby.

Pram - why? Neither of my kids enjoyed the pram until a bit older - sling is sufficient.

Playmat - why? The kiddy won't even be rolling or holding - whats wrong with a blanket on the floor.

Changing bag - why - I've never bothered wioth a 'proper' one. esp if you bf.

Sleeping arrangements - moses basket which you then leave behind?

Car seat - important - but mcare have £60 ones - not too pricey

ooh, good suggestions everyone

Didn't realise Aus had different carseat standards - are there any that meet both? Or better buy one, leave it here, then a new one in Aus to take onward?

I think a cheapy moses basket, plus a cheapy Ikea cot if necessary are good ideas.
Holding off the pram purchase if they can get away with a sling also sounds sensible but I can see the benefit of having a pram that can go on the plane easily (and is a moses basket too) might appeal as well.
Shame Mothercare have such a rubbish range of slings / carriers though - anyone know anywhere in Oxon that stocks Coories / Hotslings/ Hugabubs / Didymos etc?

Enid, I know, but they are the epitome of itinterant nonplanning 'travel light, carry a credit card' people.
Not sure how happy she's going to be to discover she's flying halfway round the world to a 'developed' country only to give birth in remotest west Wales though...

Golly the Australian carseat laws are scary.

As well as strapping the babycarrier in with the seatbelt you have to put a bolt into the chassis of the car (ceiling, floor of boot, parcel shelf of a saloon etc) to take a top restraining strap like this .

Looking like it's best to buy a UK one for here and a new one over there (though tbh I'd recommend they use the UK one in Pakistan or wherever as eg a MaxiCosi is a lot lighter than any of the Aus ones I can find)

mrs badger - you can hire car seats here so I would buy them something they can use that is not too expensive in the UK and then pass it on to someone else or take it for use in Pakistan.

Then organise family to hire one for them when they get to Aus - much easier. You can hire them on a monthly basis.

Ergo carrier