These are a few things I learned that I wished someone had told me to save me money!!
Unnecessary:
Cute little baby outfits for the first 3 months! They are just not worth the expense imo. They grow out of them SO fast. It's a mission to get those floppy little arms and legs in and take a month of Sundays to take off and put back on when changing those nappies. Just get lots of cute sleep suits, it's basically what Autumn has been in for the last 2 months. Of course I dress her up if we're going out somewhere or to someones houses, but for every day around the house and going out, a sleep suit is ace.
If you're bottle feeding: Bottle warmers. Waste of space, you can feed formula at room temp. It actually helps them digest it better. I don't boil water and let it cool, I just get gallon bottles of distilled water and make it up with that when ever she needs a feed. She uses around a gallon a week now and its 80cents a gallon.
Baby Socks: Total waste of time, they don't stay on EVER.
Toys for the first 3 months are pointless. Autumn only just started getting interested in things to grab and put in her mouth in the last few weeks.
Nappy/Diaper Genie ~ Total crap!! Just stick them in the bin!!
Anything brand name that is 60% priced up than the generic. I use Target own brand for all things. Bubble bath / lotion / nappies / formula. (I asked the pediatrician about the own brand formula vs name brand. She said it was like coke vs pepsi. Basically the same, just which one you prefer the taste of)
Butt cream/Talc etc. Just buy it when you need it. I have a stack of butt cream for Autumn but have never used it as she aint suffered from nappy rash once!
Massive nappy bag! Mine has been made redundant after 3 months cause it was just too much lol. I just shove a couple of nappies, wipes and a change of clothes and a bottle in my handbag and away I go.
"Special" baby towels. Bunch of crap! I used it once and it didn't dry her at all, just stuck to her, I just use our towels now.
"Special" baby clothe washing detergent. Over expensive waste. I just use our normal washing detergent, I just use a lot less of it on her clothes. (we use sensitive unscented brand)
Those cute baby hats! They will swallow the LOs head for the first 2 months lol. I put one on Autumn and it came to her chin!! She wore the ones the hospital gave us for the first couple months.
Necessary:
Swaddle clothes. Those little arms and hands would wake Autumn up 74432 times a night if she wasn't swaddled. It also helped her recognize her bed time routine as I only swaddled her at night. (she now sleeps 12 hours a night)
A couple of nice warm blankets. Those snow suits/coats won't fit for a while and are really hard to get on sometimes, so a good warm blanket to put over the LO when you go out is a must.
Night light. If you want to get a bedtime routine down, its a good idea so you don't turn on the bright lights to feed/change in the middle of the night and wake them up totally. Just enough light to see what you're doing.
Re sleeping arrangements. Autumns nursery is all ready for her and has been since I was 8 months pregnant lol. However she aint slept in it once. I have a little bassinet next to my bed which she sleeps in at the moment and a pack and play down stairs which she sleeps in during the day, this later turns in to a playpen.
Regarding buying all new stuff in regards to pack and plays, bassinets, I just got mine 2nd hand from consignment sales. You can get things for 3rd the price and as bassinets ect are out grown so quickly, it seemed pointless paying 90 bucks for a brand new bassinet when I got it for 18 bucks 2nd hand.
If you're going to use a dummy, don't get any until you've tried the ones the hospital supplies. I brought some cute little pooh bear ones for Lil Miss. Do you think she wants them? Does she heck!! She prefers the ugly green hospital supplied ones!!
Baby mirror for the car. Its one of the best buys I've done. It straps on the back seat so it's facing the rear facing car seat and then you look in your rear view mirror and can see baby. My one plays music and if Autumn starts crying, I can switch that on and it soothes her to sleep.
I hope this helps!!!
Just regarding hospital bag ... You won't need half the things you pack! lol. I took a small carry on suitcase. The only thing I used out of it was my shower gel, toothbrush/paste, towels, pillow and hairbrushes! Oh and my clothes I wore home.
I wore the hospital gowns while I was there as you'll be quite mess 'down there' for a couple days, They supply you with plenty of food while you're there. I was too exhausted to read magazines etc.
Re packing for the baby, I didn't use ANYTHING I took for her as the hospital supplied it all. The only thing I used was an outfit to take her home in. They supplied nappies, wipes etc.
The thing is, I don't want to end up investing in things that aren't really necessary in the end (like 20 bodys for a newborn when they will only grow out of them in like a week or 2!)
I was convinced getting a bottle warmer was a yes yes but now not so much
