What are the 'essential buys' for a 1st baby?!

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What are the 'essential buys' for a 1st baby?!

153 posts & 79 voices | Started 2 years ago by MountainMonkey | Latest reply from MountainMonkey

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MountainMonkey - Member

To my surprise, having discovered over the last few days that this place is a fount of knowlege of all things baby - and a great source or advice and support (especially when trying to justify keeping bikes! ) I thought I ask for some specific advice...

So, our 1st baby is on the way in 12 weeks - and with sooooo much baby stuff out there, I was wondering what are the items that we actually need??

So, what have you found to be worth its weight in gold, really useful or just properly essential?

So far we have:

Moses basket
Pram/pushchair (bargain off here)
Car seat (p/x for some panniers!)
and a few blankets and clothes (we're having a little girl but my brother has boys)
A very nice guy off here has also offered us a front carrier, Bumbo seat, baby bath and some neutral clothes and grow bags - all for free, which is ace! (Thank you!)

So other than those things, what do you reckon we 'need'?

Thanks in advance!

Juliet

Posted 2 years ago #
danridesbikes - Member

pro plus

Posted 2 years ago #
woody2000 - Member

Nasal Aspirator

Loads of muslin squares
Baby bath or bath support
Steriliser & bottles(?)
Breast pump
Ear plugs

Posted 2 years ago #
gavtheoldskater - Member

a microwave...

1. for heating milk quick in the middle of the night (just give the bottle a really good shake so no hot spots).

2. for sterilizing bottles (graco i think do a really good m/w sterilizing kit)

and most importantly; the midwife does not necessarily know best esp when it comes to feeding!

Posted 2 years ago #
el_creedo - Member

Baby Bjorn carrier so you can get around without the huge burden that you'll find is the pram! Dad carries junior, and so Mum gets to be free, which I am told by my missus, is a nice break.

Posted 2 years ago #
project - Member

Somewhere for the nanny to sleep,so you can go to work and continue to ride bikes.

Posted 2 years ago #
clubber - Member

- Sterilizer and bottles (when you get onto bottles)
- Travel cot (depending on how long the moses basket lasts for but you will need it sooner or later)
- A 'baby bag' for carrying all the crap (sometimes literally) around in - ideally something uni-sex! and a portable changing mat (usually included)
- Microwave - really makes things a lot easier though it's not technically necessary
- The ability to ignore well intentioned advice on what you 'should' do. Do what's right for you.
- A million muslins

Not a lot more that you really 'need'.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bez - Member

Changing mat.
Bottles and steriliser if you can't or don't want to breastfeed.
Monitor (ok, you don't need it, but it makes life easier).
Cot.
An ear thermometer is handy for reassurance when they get their first colds and infections.
But most importantly, coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

And make sure you've got the house sorted well before it turns up. We had 12 weeks to go and that's when our lad arrived

Posted 2 years ago #
The Southern Yeti - Member

Baby monitor.
Baby bouncer - those door hanging things.

A decenct sized shed for the other half.

Posted 2 years ago #
NikNak7890 - Member

A nanny, or a job that keeps you in a hotel at least 3 times a week!

Posted 2 years ago #
mtbfix - Member

Get yourself a yahoo mail account and with it you can join your local Free-cycle group. We have got so much baby kit for nothing that it amazes me.

Posted 2 years ago #
nickhart - Member

a bucket with a lid. every now and again you'll have something that'll have to be soaked out of the fabric that it's in. a bucket with a lid was a great thing that very few people think of, saved us a packet when we soaked the clothes instead of binning them.

Posted 2 years ago #
Clembo - Member

I'll second the baby bjorn. We bought ours off ebay and its been great to use. Will probably stick it back on the bay soon as our little one is getting a bit heavy!

Don't buy too big a cot. We bought a cot bed but its so big, we can't get it through the door of our nursery bedroom to put it in with us! It took so much time to put together and I didn't want to takwe it apart, so we ended buying another cot for our bedroom.

Look for BPA free bottles and dummys. Don't contain any nasty chemicals

And lots of patience

Posted 2 years ago #
Clembo - Member

oh and we've found morrisons own brand nappies to be the best

and if you have a newish car with isofix points, get an isofix base. So much easier than dealing with safety belts. Depends if your car seat will work with one but I bet you can pick up an isofix base cheapish on ebay.

Posted 2 years ago #
SammyC - Member

Infracol - by the bucket.

Posted 2 years ago #
chakaping - Member

Apart from the Bumbo, the Playnest was probably the most effective infant containment device we used.

Can't add anything else to the sensible suggestions above.

Maybe try to go to Makro or Costco for nappies, I'm told they are significantly cheaper.

Posted 2 years ago #
s1m0n - Member

Plenty of wine (or drink of choice) to get you through the evenings when baby is awake and just will not settle.

+3 for Baby Bjorn.

If into walking, one of those back pack things when they get a little older - kid is nice and high up and love seeing more!

Posted 2 years ago #
grim168 - Member

A decent bottle of malt to lay down for 18 years. Also consider announcing the birth in the times. Something to keep. Newspaper of day top single / album. make up a little treasure chest.

Posted 2 years ago #
clubber - Member

My son hated both bumbos and any playnests so my advice there would be try and borrow someone else's first or buy cheap ones!

Good point about the isofix - note that some cars (eg Ford) don't come with them but you can easily add them (£16 for the part for our Focus)

Posted 2 years ago #
waynekerr - Member

A scalextric set.

Posted 2 years ago #
tjr666 - Member

We need to get rid of loads of baby related items from when our boys were small(er) feel free to email me with stuff you need and I will see if we have it! (for free of course!)

Posted 2 years ago #
joolsburger - Member

Lots of all in one/baby grow things as they do tend to make a mess of themselves and need regular changing.

A portable baby changing mat.

We got a wooden thing that sits on the rails of the cot and makes a high level platform for doing changes which was really useful as my good ladys back was pretty buggered and crouching / kneeling was a bit hard.

Shit loads of muslins.

A sleeping bag thing that fastens over the shoulders brilliant they are.

Like this http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.203-1148.aspx

Posted 2 years ago #
MountainMonkey - Member

Wow, thanks guys - lots of great advice. And not too scary in terms of the amount of stuff needed.

Quite a few things I hadn't thought of though, so that's cool. We already have a micro-wave so that's another one to cross off the list.

Mr. MM very much likes the idea of some kind of 'child containment device'!

It's nice to know that most of the stuff still needed doesn't seem too pricey as well.

Just brace yourselves for some slightly unusual wanted ads in the classifieds!

Thanks again for all the advice and please keep it coming! I think I'll be pasting this thread into some sort of spreadsheet before too long!

Oh and Clubber - I'm glad you mentioned about the Ford Focus isofix fitting, I'm hoping we can get them retro-fitted quite cheaply as the car seat I p/x with the panniers, came with an Isofix base and the guy said it was definitely worth it, so need to look into that.

Posted 2 years ago #
MountainMonkey - Member

Thanks tjr666 - will definitely take you up on that!

Posted 2 years ago #
owenfackrell - Member

+4 for baby born.
Don't bother with a baby bath you will just not use it.
Agian the back carriers are good for weekends away when they are small.
we found a travel stair gate to be really usfull when visiting people who didn't have small kids and on holiday though that can wait till yours can crawl.

Posted 2 years ago #
Roter Stern - Member

If you want to keep riding I recommend getting a bike kid's trailer. I took my three out in our Chariot after about the 8 week period with no problems in fact the bumping around used to send them off to sleep and I got to do some quality hill training while riding on the flat!

Posted 2 years ago #
el_creedo - Member

oh yeah...

- A sign telling all visitors (you will get millions) that it's nice of them to come but that they can stay for an hour tops and that they have to make their own cups of tea/coffee (and one for you whilst they're there) AND wash up the mugs afterwards! if they want food, they should bring that too!

Conversely - Thank you cards for the multitude of kind goodies that you will get. We spent the first 3 weeks answering the door to the postie who had at least 2 parcels for us each day!

Posted 2 years ago #
elaine anne - Member

an 'orange bike' in toddler small size.....

a high tog baby snuggling blanket for the deep freeze temperatures !!!!! infact i wud keep baby in mums tummy ( DO NOT LET OUT TILL SUMMER...too **** freezin now.... brrrrrr... lol

oh you mite need a changing mat and 2 old towels..1 to put underneath and one to barricade yourself with, cos as soon as you take babys nappy off...they squirt right in your face ! lol

Posted 2 years ago #
GaryLake - Member

Chris King BB to match the headset?

IGMC...

Posted 2 years ago #
Mister P - Member

owenfackrell - Member

Don't bother with a baby bath you will just not use it.

We use our baby bath every day. The normal bath is huge so takes too long to fill or regulate the temperature easily. A bath thermometer is a very useful buy.

Posted 2 years ago #
GaryLake - Member

Dam you elaine, beat me to it!

Posted 2 years ago #
organic355 - Member

One of these:

Posted 2 years ago #
TheLittlestHobo - Member

One thing we did with both of ours was for the 9mths leading up to the birth we kept an eye out for bargains in asda & tesco. The ones where wipes were 2 for 1 and baby lotions etc. They tend to go in cycles and you save on some and pay through the nose on others. BUT if you buy them over a long period you can stock up at the cheapest price. You think i am joking but this saves a massive amount of money and it is so convenient to have a store of baby stuff in your house with all the essentials. Even disposable nappies of different sizes. Buy them when they are on offer and you save stacks.

Oh and trekster off here bought my little girl a comforter which was like a little soft toy with mini blanket included. It has been a godsend and stopped us having to go through the process of taking away my older sons big blanket.

Posted 2 years ago #
the-muffin-man - Member

A bit off tack from all the above!...

...get some life insurance if you haven't got it already.

Posted 2 years ago #
gavtheoldskater - Member

- A sign telling all visitors (you will get millions) that it's nice of them to come but that they can stay for an hour tops

thats really good advice, and i would add that you should also be prepared to tell 'family' to go/stay away at times.

Posted 2 years ago #

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