What do I really need to buy???

[trish1200]

I keep reading that there are a lot of things that new mums buy and never use. In your opinion what should I or not buy???

 

[Pyrrhic]

my best buys: muslins, bottle warmer, nursing chair, breast flow bottles

worst buys: avent breast pump, avent bottles, baby bath, moses basket stand

I also managed to not buy her even one item of clothing, and she already has way too many. When she was in newborn clothes (she's only just come out of them this week) I used tended to use the same 5/6 sleepsuits and vests over and over again.

 

[aidensxmomma]

This is my opinion on the "bigger" stuff that was a lifesaver with my son and some of the stuff that he didn't use at all.

Good Buys: Bouncy chair, Playyard with the vibrating mat, some form of rocking chair

Things I didn't Use: bottle warmer, wipes warmer, too much clothes. lol

I just cannot think right now, so sorry this wasn't more helpful.

 

[ColtonsMom]

What are you interested in buying? Its been so long since Colton was a newborn I hardly remember what I bought and didn't use. I never bought anything fancy though.. like expensive bottles, warmers, etc.
I know some of the things like activity things.. he used and liked his swing, bouncer and his playyard. We didn't/dont use.. play pen, bassinet (ended up cosleeping), bumbo (too big for it)
.. I cannot think of many things we had as a newborn.

As they get older though..
Waste of money: walker - especially if you have carpet
Must have: jumperoo, activity table

And good things to NOT overbuy: baby shampoo, we got like 5-6 bottles, and are still using our second bottle right now. You use like a nickle size amount and it cleans his whole head with lots of sudz. the same with lotions.
and good things to splurge on: lots and lots of baby wipes, we use them for everything from cleaning diapers and puke, to cleaning him off after he eats. baby socks, in bigger sizes.. they are so wrong with the sizes, Coltons in like 2-3year old socks!!

I might add more later, or if theres anything you are interested in and want to know if it would be a good buy.. Coltons getting whiny so must go

 

[tinytoes]

Things I found were a waste of money: Shoes for babies under 6 months. Economic puhschair - spend the max you can afford I say. I tried to make a saving and ended up buying 2 cheap ones before giving in adn getting the one I really wanted, which is so much easier to push and makes shopping etc sooo much easier and we go for lots of walks.
Nursing cover - more trouble than it was worth.

Really useful: Cheap simple bath chair.
Cardigans not jumpers for little ones.
A simple sling for when baby was under 3 months - he didnt like stroller before then.

 

[Vickie]

Good buys: bouncy chair, jumperoo, exersaucer (she can spend up to an hour in this thing)

bad buys: bumbo, hardly ever use, play pen (was given to us and we ended up selling it on craigs list we just don't have the room), never bought a changing table just keep the things on her dresser by her crib and change her there which has been really convenient and saved loads of room, agree with tinytoes on the stroller. We have a nice one but it's big and a little bulky. Didn't want to take it on a plane so we bought a cheap umbrella stroller and we both hated it. Ended up leaving the thing in Texas and are going to buy a better quality umbrella stroller for here.

 

[Rachiebaby24]

Good buys....muslins...bibs!!! and lots of baby wipes...i always buy in bulk,...

i never spent much and most of my playthings (inflatable activity ring, swing, bumbo, bouncer etc) was all second hand from a friend....actually all my stuff was second hand apart from my cot and gifts....

also dont buy too much newborn.....people always buy you cute outfits and they arent in newborn long at all...

 

[Ema]

Best buy for jacob were : Bumbo, Activity station(loves it!!) Walker and jumperoo!!

Worst buys: newborn clothes he was only in them for a week or so , Vibrating bouncy chair- cheap one was far better, swing- he only went in it twice and cost 100!! Cream nursery decoration ( i went with 'i love my bear theme' spent over 500 on it and within a few weeks of him being born thought it was boring and went and redid it in the mothercare 'zoo' range and its bright and colourful now) Actually anything cream is a waste of money if you know the sex as i wanted him in bright colours etc xxX

 

[princess_bump]

best buys - boucey chair, jumperoo, muslins, bugaboo cameleon and maxi cosi car seat, milton products, avent iq steam steriliser, lots of blankets and sleepsuits

worst buys - avent bottles and warmer (switched to MAM's very quickly), swing - she didn't like it that much and cost £100, bath support - baby bath is fine and once she was bigger enough switched to bath seat, all the cute little outfits and shoes (though i still would buy them again )

 

[PeanutBean]

In the first two months we have used:
Lots and lot of vests and sleepsuits and not so many outfits/proper clothes until recently. Nappies all seem to leak at first or he's wee everywhere during a change so we were changing his outfits all the time at the start. All my nephews were much bigger than Byron so we hadn't been passed on enough newborn clothes, but you won't know how big your baby is until you get one! Byron only went into 0-3 months in the past couple of weeks.
You can get plain white sleepsuits and vests for supercheap from Asda and the likes.
Booties - keep socks on and feet warm in the winter.
Moses basket - hasn't worked out for us.
Rocker chair - lifesaver as the only place he would sleep at first.
Bouncy chair - just getting into it now.
Playgym and cot mobile - loves looking at things now.
Steriliser - didn't think we going to use it in the end but then I got super sore nipples and expressed a while so it's been good in the end. We got a Tommee Tippee one that came with three bottles and so far we haven't needed more.
Muslins a must! You can't have too many! And also flannels which we use all the time. Only need a couple of towels though, enough that you've a spare if one gets covered in poo. You'll want a tonne of bibs is you ever feed with a bottle.
We use a baby bath tub but not a top and tail bowl and haven't found any of our supports any good yet as they seem to inhibit leg splashing!
Sling was no good as he hated being cooped up in it but we were able to return it. However, we use our Bjorn carrier a lot.
We seem to have far too many snowsuits, two is more than enough, but they've been bought for us or passed on. We rarely use any mittens though as either the coats or suits have fold over cuffs or his little hands are half way down the sleeves anyway.
For toiletries and the likes, lots of cotton wool and some olive oil and baby soap. You don't need any brand stuff and won't use it at first even if you like it.

 

[AC81]

best buys - burp cloths, bibs, wipes. we only bought sleepsuits/vests in terms of clothes - everyone else will buy outfits (which are a total waste when they are so tiny - we just washed the same babygros again and again). shoes are also a waste of time for babies - you'll spend the whole day picking them up off the floor. things i wish i'd bought: a moses basket or crib

 

[mylittlebubs]

he's 5 and half months old now
good buy for us :
reusable nappies (for the first 3 months, saved a lot of money on buying disposable ones, at night i used disposable ones though)
bouncer,
bath toys,
thermometer,
muslin,
car seat,
sterilizer tablets (milton),
playmat
walker


bad buy : too many newborn clothes, mittens, socks, too big baby bag (to put baby stuffs in when we go out,
now we got another smaller one),
bath chair,
only used it for a couple of months,
sleeping bags (he hated it),
shoes, mil bought too many i think 10 pairs and he only worn a few of them , once each of them and maybe last 10 minutes . He kicked them off,lol
walkie-talkie thing (you know what i mean),
bottle warmer (never used it), breast pump,
too many avent bottles (i used a few times because i Bfeed),
sling (he was too young and when he got to 4 months old when his neck was strong he was already too heavy for it,lol)
too many soft toys

 

[lollylou1]

best buys for me
plenty of vests and sleepsuits
muslin squares and bibs
bouncer chair
playmat
blankets
silly little things like hair brush and baby sponges

worst buys
bath seat as she just flops anyway and needs to be held up, but i bought sponge one and its brill as she loves bath time so it doesnt restrict her.
all the tommee tippee bottles as she reacted bad to them
spent a fortune on a moses basket and she was in it for 8 weeks and outgrew it she was only 7lb 9oz born!!!
bottle warmer was a waste as i use the microwave(i know very naughty)
nursing chair - she was fed in bed with me when she was in moses basket in our room and now she as been going through the night we have only sat on it a few times not worth the money although ours was only ikea one for £30
all bathing/cleaning products as my HV has told me not to use anything on her skin as i shouldn t need to

Lou
xxx

 

[Christine33]

if i had the time again i would not buy:

changing unit (baby grows out of very quickly plus they take up a lot of space and are expensive) just get a cheap changing mat from the supermarket and bath baby in your bath.

moses basket (as above and we struggled from the transition of moses basket to cot)

expensive clothes (baby grows so fast cheap ones are the best, ie. asda, tesco, primark)

buy lots of bibs, nappies, baby wipes (asda have a nice Angels range), muslin clothes....

tommee tippee bottles - go straight to Dr Browns if you want good bottles (if your going to bottle feed).

I also wasted £60 on a breast pump not realising you could rent them from the NHS - i only used it for about 2 months and then gave up expressing.

in terms of toys ali didn't think much of:

his activity mat - got fed up and just wanted to picked up and held. some babies love them but he didn't. i gave it to a charity shop!!!

Baby nest (as above).

Toys he loves are:

books (loves em - turning the pages, textures etc)
baby walker
baby bouncer on the door
other toys like rattles that flash and makes sounds
building bricks
musical books

i would advise you buy a good quality buggy that allows a variety of different positions as i bought a pretty inexpensive buggy from boots that made my little guy uncomfortable. we now have a really good one from mothercare and he is happy in his buggy now. i also got a really nice little vibrating chair from Argos (mammas and pappas - only £20 and he loved that as a small baby - outgrown now but i could move him around the house in it and the vibrating sent him to sleep).

good luck!

 

[nikky0907]

Best buys : bumbo, jumperoo, bouncy chair, cot mobile, playyard, swing, muslins, I recommend some baby lotion and wipes...

Not so useful things: Hmmm....can't think now. Every baby is different and likes different things.
I recommend not buying much newborn stuff as they grow out of it really quick.Also you don't have to buy any stuffed animals, thats all you'll be getting from other people that your whole house will be swamped with it.