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Essentials for Baby

  1. #1
    Polly is offline Registered User
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    Essentials for Baby

    I'm 25 weeks pregnant with my first child and very much a novice in this new realm. I'm starting to think about starting to shop to collect everything I need. Does anyone know where I could view an essentials shopping list for baby, and for me, of everything I should have???


  2. #2
    carang's Avatar
    carang is offline Registered User
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    beware of "essentials" lists. in reality, newborn babies, especially breastfed ones need very little. i believe that bumps to babes have an essentials list on their website. i've never had a look at it, but i've heard that their essentials are not exactly "essential" and that if most people bought everything on the list, they'd not have anything left in their bank account!

    you will need:
    nappies of some kind
    some one pieces
    some bedding for the baby, blankets, sheets or grobags
    depending on when your baby is due, maybe some warmer clothes


    the rest will depend on you. with my first, i bought a change table. with my second, i've thrown that out and will change her on the bed

    i have a cot for the baby to sleep in. with my first i had a bassinet, then a cot.

    i have bought a baby monitor this time round, didn't have one the first time. i bought i this time because with the baby in the cot, i'm afraid we won't hear her crying if we are in the garden. with my first sleeping in a bassinet, we could wheel him around to where ever we were.

    we bought a pram that is suitable for new borns. with my first we also had a front sling to carry him, but i found that when i wore it, i felt like i was pregnant again and it caused back pain. so that's gone with the second one.

    i bought a cheap brest pump for the first, but i'm buying a better quality one for my second and have thrown the first two that i bought out.


    that's all i can think of right now...pregnancy brain is on the rampage today!

    good luck and congratulations!


  3. #3
    barbwong_130 is offline Registered User
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    After nappies and clothes (but not many clothes if it’s a summer baby) the thing I found most useful was a baby carrier. I don’t think it matters which sort you use, although I liked the Mayawrap one best. But in Hong Kong with its crowds, traffic and hundreds of steps it is nice to have the baby up high and close. And if you don’t carry the baby you’ll end up carrying both baby and pushchair most of the time.

    I bought a cot for my first child but within three weeks she was sleeping with us. None of my others used a cot but with the last one I had a sidecar arrangement (like a cot attached to the double bed) so the baby could sleep in her bit of the bed/cot and my husband and I slept in the rest of the bed.

    Congratulations and best wishes,
    Barb


  4. #4
    bekyboo44 is offline Registered User
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    I would say the following-

    -Cot
    -Moses basket/bassinet (our newborn refused to sleep in his cot until he was five weeks old, we didn't have a moses basket but fortunetly he was quite happy to sleep in the carrycot part of his bugaboo)
    -Changing mat (can put it anywhere)
    -Sheets for cot (fitted)
    - Grobags (very essential, we started off with blankets but our son kept kicking them off), you need at least two to use at one time, in case one gets wet/dirty
    - Recieving blankets ( v handy for afternoon naps and naps in the pushchair on chill days)
    - Room thermometer ( we have the grobag egg, allows you to know exact temp. so you know exactly what baby should be wearing to bed)
    - Pushchair
    - Car seat ( I refuse to get in a taxi without one)
    - Baby carrier (tried the ellaroo, but baby hated it, switched to baby bjorn)
    - Baby bath and seat
    - Baby bath towels
    - Baby toiletries
    - Muslin squares (you will need lots!)
    - Bag for out and about, to hold nappies, spare clothes etc.
    - Breast pump
    - Milk storage cups
    - One or two bottles for expressed milk
    - Bibs
    - Clothes etc. includ. sleepsuits, short sleeved body suits (dbled as vests), socks etc. We found that we got given so many clothes as presents (my mum went a little crazy!) and didn't need to buy much before baby was born.
    - Thermometer for testing baby's temp.
    - Cot mobile
    - Play mat
    - Books! ( Just me, I can't resist children's books!)
    - Vibrating chair

    Happy shopping!


  5. #5
    carang's Avatar
    carang is offline Registered User
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    see, beky...i'd say that baby towels are NOT essential, why not use a regular towel? our baby didn't know the difference.

    a play mat? they're nice to have, but not essential. a baby would be as happy playing with a plastic lid for a food storage container as anything else.

    this is what i mean by, what is essential to one person is not to another.
    (ps. beky, i'm not picking on you just using those two as examples!)

    to me, essential means, what would the baby die without...clothes and nappies are the "essential" (even then baby won't die without nappies, but mummy might! LOL)

    if you are breast feeding you need even less. if you are formula feeding, then the list of essentials increases dramatically


  6. #6
    capital is offline Banned
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    essential for me:

    lots of really large recieving blankets to swaddle baby.
    a few clothes in small sizes. I wouldn't buy too many because you don't know how big your baby will be and how fast you'll move through different sizes, or in my case whether I had a boy or a girl.
    playpen to have in my room the first month and for travelling
    crib in baby room after the first month
    Sheets for playpen and crib, light blanket for swaddling or crib
    changing table. I love mine and used it until baby was 20 months. I have the ikea one that is also a dresser and the change table converts to a shelving unit, so once it is converted you can't even tell it was a change table.
    car seat and stroller.
    baby bath tub and small washclothes.
    grobag for when baby was older (after I stopped swaddling)
    diapers
    diaper pail. I just used a garbage can with lid for breastfed stools, until baby started solid foods, then I got one designed for diapers. The smell gets a lot worse!! If you are formula feeding you will probably want one for diapers right from the start!

    nice to have but not essential:

    breast pump, I had a manual medela. both my babies refused to ever take a bottle, so I used it very little. I wouldn't buy it ahead of time. If you only want to pump occasionally, then a manual will do. If you pump all the time for work, or for supply issues you will likely want a hospital grade pump. Not all brands are good. I like Medela, they have all different types of pumps for different pumping needs and are very good quality. I bought mine in Canada, not sure if availble locally.

    baby monitor. I never did use it in the house, I could hear the baby cry anyways. but I did use it when outside and the baby was sleeping.

    baby carrier. I didn't use one much with my first as I just held him all the time, but with more than one child this is a must have item. I have a bjorn, a moby wrap and an ellaroo meitai. The mai tai style is my favorite. Moby wrap is good for smaller babies(it is stretchy) and bjorn is not good at all if you have back problems, or once your baby is heavier.

    play mat.

    baby bath towels

  7. #7
    capital is offline Banned
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    I forgot to ask what is a muslin square? I have never heard of this. Is it a cloth diaper?


  8. #8
    joannek is offline Registered User
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    re: muslin sq - it's supposed to be cloth diaper (square pc of very thin cotton, usually sold in 10s or 12s in mothercare/b2b), but i think nowadays we only use it as burp cloths, putting on our shoulder when we're carrying an infant, covering baby up when napping.... cleaning out spit up milk.... etc. i bought 6 packs for the use around baby's room, she was spitting up EVERY time i nursed her in gross amt, so it was very handy. now i use them to wipe her bottles.


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