Your advice: Best pieces of baby equipment & what was never used?

[Jasmina]

Hello,

I'm a mum to be and seem to be creating a very long list of things I 'need / should have'.

I'd like your advice and wondered what are your best pieces of baby equipment and what they never used?

Thanks, x

[littleEDfamily]

Hi Jasmina - before we launch into it - are you just focussing on the first few months for now?

If so........here are my top 5.

1. Lots of babygrows (all in one type things)

2. A good monitor

3. A cheap wipeable changemat you can use on the floor

4. A change bag you like the look of with lots of pockets

5. A baby sling like a baby bjorn (or whatever - second hand if you like)

[buggie]

I wish I'd had one of these from the off - as it was I got one at 5wks and have used it with every feed since!: Thrupenny bits feeding cushion antoher big plus point is it's a local business.

Also sock-ons (proud to say we've not lost any socks in 6mths!) which are available in jo-jo and mothercare.

Finally, this Homedics sound/light projector is something we still use for daytime naps... haven't actually used the light projector, but the wave/heartbeat sounds are really soothing (would even settle hubbie and me back to sleep after night feeds!).

[supergolden88]

Best most used items

a humidifier - constantly in use in winter/whenever they have colds

a white noise app

Socksuit (best sleepsuits ever)

socksuit

Grow bag sleeping bags (or other non branded ones)

Stokke tripp trapp chair

Baby bjorn sling

Changing table (or any table that can be used as one - we used a Habitat kitchen unit with first baby)

lambskin liner for pushchair (also using a large one under bedsheets this time round)

baby bouncy chair (the more basic the better)

Breast pump (Medela are good) if you want to breastfeed

least used

Fancy high chair that takes up half the room (chicco or similar). Had to sell it baby hated it and I hated cleaning it.

Bumbo - both of my babies hated it and would lock their legs and launch themselves off it! Used for limited time only

Room thermometer - useless. First baby born in middle of heatwave. Second when it was freezing. Just use common sense.

about 10 different types of bottles bought because baby would not accept the bottle. In the end it's not the bottle or teat shape but how much you persist (and if they want to they will keep on refusing it till they decide to take it)

[Vik]

Definitely agree with a good feeding cushion.

A rocker for baby, we have this one http://www.tinytotsdirect.com/baby-gifts/Fisher-Price-Linkadoos-Infant-to-Toddler-Rocker.html which is the best I have had (4 babies, numerous chairs, rockers, bouncers, swings!)

Some sort of bath seat to support baby in in the bath so you can have a hand free.

And you really can't have enough sleep-suits and bodysuits in newborn and 0-3 months!

[new mother]

Good question. There's a lot of wasted stuff.

Wasted:

Bouncer thing that attaches from the frame of the door..

Rocker swing thing, quite big, that sends them to sleep. (but maybe useful if the baby is not a good sleeper)

I would recommend:

Babygrows and not bother about washing. you can get very cheap ones in JS etc.

Muslins

Books like "the first year" or was it "six months"? Anyway it was useful!

good monitor for peace of mind

camera batteries - take many photos early on - first bath, first walk, first smiles, we wer tried so we didn't and regret it!

organise list of people to tell immediately and then email the next day, in advance

later on - gloves with a string through them, separate gloves are a waste of time.

sunglasses that have elastic round them to stay on....

forget the baby float thing for pools as it keeps the baby so high up he/she gets cold out of the water.

not petit bateau - nothing wa sthe right size or proportions

but this is all so subjective. someone else will says that swings and petit bateau were fabulous. take an overview perhaps?

good luck. I;m excited for you. :-))

[sanity girl]

Best:

baby bjorn bouncer

widgey feeding cushion

maclaren buggy

changing table (saves back!) with drawers and shelves below for clothes/nappy storage

fisher price rainforest baby gym baby gym

baby bath support

cuddle dry towel

ikea antilop high chair when they are smaller, stokke tripp trapp for toddlers

Never used:

baby monitor - I figure if they aren't crying loud enough for you to hear them, then they will quiet down again! Don't see the point...

[slh2009]

Already mentioned but you can't have enough muslins!

Vibrating chair

[sophiechristophy]

All you need is a big bed and a cleaning lady. x

[candj]

Agree with above!

Most used

Cot top changing table

Sleep suits/baby gro in unisex colours (future children)

Zillions of muslin cloths

Mclaren techno xt

Quinny zapp and maxi cosi combo for infant plane travel

Sponge bath support

Grobags

Baby bjorn

V-shape pillow for pregnancy and breastfeeding

Medela pump in style breastpump (for travel and home use)

Tiny love cot mobile

Cotbed

What we had and never used or hardly used-

Travel system buggy

Stokke explory buggy

Baby monitor

Baby swing

Giant plastic baby bath

Medela electric breastpump (the small one)

Millions of fiddly and fancy outfits for a newborn

[Saila]

used

electric breast pump

bt monitor

wilkinet sling (all the time)

bumbo

bath seat

grobags

one of those portable high chairs - kept in car boot - brilliant

never used:

bugaboo - just didn't work for us, sling much easier

manual pump - waste of time

cat net - another complete waste of time

tommee tippee baby monitor - really sht

[sillywoman]

Most useful:

sheepskin fleece (ended up with 2, one for cot & one for car seat/pram - still in use as comfort blanket 14 years on, shhh don't tell!)

rocky, vibratey chair thing - from birth

brightly coloured, mozart playing, mobile

towelling Z shaped bath frame

changing table & mat(old kitchen table in bedroom)

V shaped pillow

at least 25 MUSLINS

Pram big enough for baby to hold a proper pram mattress (baby stayed asleep after walks for much, much longer), also with pneumatic tyres & moveable front wheel (IYSWIM?)

Microwave steriliser for when babies were older & having bottles (sorry NCT!;-))

Never used or ditched early on:

Baby monitor. baby is with you constantly (for safety) for first few weeks, then worked on same theory as sanity girl.

Room thermometer - common sense a better & more accurate indicator.

grow bags - just preferred cellular blankets, plus fleecey sleepsuits in winter.

slings - tried 3 or 4 different types but all caused shoulders to spasm badly & found couldn't sit down in them without waking baby so had to stand all the time - was exhausting!. Just couldn't get on with them personally, but plenty say otherwise.

How exciting Jasmina - congratulations & good luck. May the Gods(Godesses?) of easy birth & placid babies be with you!

[Otta]

For us, it was lots of babygrows, lots and lots of muslins, black and white shape books and mobil (this was the absolute best thing). Good sling.

[ladywotlunches]

Best piece of advice I was given pre-babies was at my NCT class (thanks, Sillywoman!) where we all got a list of things we thought we would need (or I think we used pictures?). Then we were told to half it to the essentials. THEN half it again and so on until we got to two or three things we couldn't live without. Nappies and a babygro I think.

Of course, you do in reality need much more to make your life easier, but as you can see from the varied lists a lot is very subjective. When you are thinking about everything try to see through the marketing hype and imagine yourself using (or living without) the item.

Oh, and you will get given lots of luxury/frivolous items when baby is born. Don't bother buying any clothes other than vests/sleepsuits for the first size. And yes, you WILL need newborn stuff unless you're carrying a 10 lb-er. 0-3 is really 1-3 months!!

Good luck!

[Dorothy]

For me it was the rocky chair thingy. Not sure how to describe it - it was more substantial than a bouncy chair, nice and comfy and padded. It could lie pretty much flat, and had rockers on the bottom, so you could lie baby in it and rock it with your foot whilst watching the tv and drinking a well deserved hot cup of tea. If baby fell asleep in it during the evening you could carry it up to the bedroom and leave him/her be for a few hours until the inevitable wakeup. But you could also sit baby up in it, from 3 or 4 months up to 6 months. Incredibly handy. More useful than a bumbo because it could be used from birth.

[karter]

Good thread Jasmina and very useful hope you are feeling ok, we have been given alot of items. I have purchased a monitor just to have in the house as it's a big enough house though. Have also purchased thermometer, toys etc. Have been offered more stuff from friends/family and they are incoming. Probably wont use alot of this stuff we have been given and purchased (as people tell us and say on here too) but will certainly pass them around to other parents if they need them too in the future. Is this stuff taught as part of nct classes?:-S

BTW kid has not arrived yet but imminent but anyone know how much TENS machines are to rent?

Thanks

[littleEDfamily]

PS beware of accepting too much stuff from well meaning family members / friends... we are often prone to often wanting to 'get rid' and you'll end up with a house full of tut!

[The Nappy Lady]

Top things for me, which I didn't find / know about first time around, and loved and used loads 2nd time;

Baby Night Gowns - these have either an elasticated bottom or a ribbon drawstring. Either way, no evil poppers to do in the night when bleary eyed - fantastic.

Also babygrows all the way for daytime until baby is at least 4, if not 6 months old, so practical and comfortable for them and easy for you. Plain white good for future babies, but you can also get some really funky printed ones now, which I think make them feel a bit more 'dressy' if you feel the need!

Cuddledry Towels - just the most clever thing ever and really do improve bath time. Relatively expensive, but worth every penny in my opinion. You only need 1 or 2 and can always ask for them as a gift from a relative if need be.

Sheepskin for the pram - loved it.

Breastfeeding necklace - to distract baby from developing bad habits like hair pulling, opposite nipple tweaking or scratching whilst feeding. Used from day 1 so DD2 always played with the necklace, not me (phew)!

Oh - one of those inflatable donut things for them to sit inside once learning to sit up....invaluable for about 2 or 3 months, then pack away until number 2 comes along!

Ditto, one of those push along brick trolleys when they are learning to walk....same as above, only needed for a fairly short space of time, but so essential when it was!

For us - Babydan play pen, which can be opened up, changes shape to need etc. Has been used as a room divider, a fire guard, a pond guard, a play pen.....a stair gate across an awkward landing area where a normal gate wouldn't have worked. Really, really useful bit of kit, depending on your home / dangers therein etc.

Proper changing unit, which actually had a baby bath under the change mat. Fantastic, saved my back (changed DD1 on the floor initially and wrecked my back and knees very quickly). So much better being able to change nappies standing up, even if only for the first 6 months which is when you are doing changes with the most regularity.

Lots of muslin's for mopping up, burp clothes, discrete breast feeding, swaddling (mine were big enough for this), etc. etc.

Errr.....cloth nappies and washable wipes...but I have to say that otherwise, I wouldn't be The Nappy Lady would I ;-)

Things I ditched;

Room Thermometer - total waste of time, DD1 born in heatwave so it just kept 'alarming' non stop.

Baby moniter with no.2 - she was either in with me, or right next door, so I'd hear her if she was truly upset, if not, sleep on!

One of those wrap around slings (Hug a Bub)...hubby loved it but way too much faf for me, give me an Ergo every time.

Those tiny pop up travel cots - well, they are OK, but the minute your baby can sit up they are useless, and before that you could 'create' a bed out of some folded blankets, cushions and the like if you really needed to. Or just get a 'proper' travel cot from the start.

I'm sure there is more, but I can't remember any more!

[Ko]

really useful were baby bjorn sling, bouncing baby chair for when they are 2/3 mths old, muslin cloths. try to get a moses basket secind hand - very useful but only used for a few months. also baby sleeping bags ('grobags') are really useful when they are old enough (they have a minimum weight on them) to keep them warm at night. good luck xxx

[dulwichyogini]

very helpful thread.

[Jasmina]

Oh My Gosh!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

So very helpful. Everyone has been wonderful. I really appreciate the time you've all taken to share your advice.

xxx

[Ko]

i also loved motorised rocking chair - does the rocking for you and soothed baby - we used this for months and was really good and worth its weight in gold!

our baby loves his fisher price rainforest mobile even now he is 16 months. it plays various tunes plus a rainforest sound which is very relxing to help themdrop off. bought this model after seeing lots of good reviews particularly about the rainforest sound option.

xxx

[D]

Don't forget cotton wool for nappy changes

Maternity sanitary towels for yourself

a dim light for night time feeds - as dim as you can (it's surprising how bright a light can seem in the middle of the night) but enough to be able to see clearly to help your baby latch on to the breast.

Glad I didn't buy:

A 'purpose built' swaddling blanket - a spare Moses basket sheet (or was it a cot sheet?) folded once into a triangle did just fine for me, and besides, I only swaddled at night for maybe 2-3 weeks max.

[Ruth_Baldock]

Agree with D; also buy more than you think you'll need re: maternity pads. I didn't and ran out in the middle of the night.

Useful:

Muslins. A million uses (used to shove mine in my bra for nightime boob leaking). We've still got all 37 of ours (!)

Baby rocker/bouncer/chair thing. We had one that vibrated, what larks.

Gro-bags. Cheeky S still sleeps in his at 15mo.

Cotton wool.

Bath support

Baby oil, non-scented.

Baby Einstein DVDs; entertained him as a teeny tiny thing, still do now.

One of those light show mobiles. Became a staple in our night-time routine.

Hooded bath towels

Baby sling/carrier. I didn't get on so well with the Bjorn, but different strokes etc.

Baby leggings with feet attatched. If that makes sense? So, like the bottom half a babygro.

Jumperoo type thing for when Seb was 5+ months- it had a seat that swiveled 360 degrees and it was a godsend.

Antilop highchair from Ikea.

T

Useless:

Cutesy baby outfits, for when baby was less than 6 months. Baby gros are fine.

Scented baby products. Ditto scented bathproducts.

Fancy baby moisturisers. e45 is fine.

Huge, bulky pram. I had a c-section and it made getting out and about really hard.

Baby nappy bin. WHAT A CROCK. Sainos value nappybags are 25p a pack and do the job just as well.

Manual breastpump. Go electric.

Inflatable swimming ring. Seb hated it.

[SarahLP]

Problem is every baby and Mum is different, so apart from the real essentials - vests, sleepsuits, muslins - it will vary enormously and you only find out by trying. So try to borrow from friends or get stuff second-hand. If you haven't already got one and can afford it, definitely get a cleaner. Hugely improves quality of life.