If you have or know someone who has had a baby, you probably know how the first few weeks or months are – a total fog.

I wasn’t really sure if it was night or day or the bloomin’ twilight zone. Therefore I’m so happy we had prepared ahead of time with some essentials.

But did we really need all of those “must haves”?

When I started this post I wanted to share five things that was loved in the first few days, weeks and months and five things that maybe were not unloved, just less needed.

As I was writing, I asked friends to tell me some things they loved and things they now feel were not really needed in that first baby bubble time.

I received a lot of tips of what to make sure you get before birth, both for baby and for the parents, but not as much about the less needed things.

So stay tuned as I’ll do yet another one of those lists of essentials for new parents.

 

The good stuff:

First of all, buy as little as possible. In the first few weeks you’re not really gonna need an awful lot. And as you go on you’ll notice you won’t need all of those things.

 

Everyone told me to make sure the pram is of good quality and most of all fits your daily life. If you know you’re going to be in the city a lot and on public transport, make sure the pram is easy to navigate and light so you can get on and off the bus/train without issue.

We opted for a Bugaboo Cameleon3. It’s great to navigate around the city, easy to get on and off buses with and it works great for long walks with our dog.

 

One thing we absolutely LOVE are muslin rags. I honestly don’t know how many we have but they’re everywhere in the flat: in his pram, in the lounge, in the bedroom, in the kitchen, in his cot, in the hallway.

It’s great for a snotty baby nose, baby sick (there’s a lot of sick from babies) and basically any mess.

 

A baby nest is a great idea to get. You can use it in the pram, in the bed or the cot bed and on the sofa. After coming out from the belly the little tiny human loves being snug. We use a Sleepyhead, but there’s lots of other ones out there. Look it up and see which one you think would be best for you and your little one.

 

Bedside baby crib/cot bed is great for always being close to your baby but not having to worry about co-sleeping. Not saying you should worry, but the midwives at the hospital told us we shouldn’t let Alfie sleep in the bed with us in case we rolled over him in our sleep – cue panic mode! 

We were gifted our SnuzPod luckily. I loved it! But we already have to change it as he is growing like nothing else.

 

If you’re breastfeeding I’d say get a breast pump. Even if you only use it to help with engorging breasts, and that will happen from time to time. 

I’d go electric. Reason is when you’re exhausted and in pain wanting to relief your big bosom the last thing you want is to hand express those ladies. This is a right jungle as every single one has been reviewed saying they’re the best etc.

We settled for this Tommee Tippee. It’s ok. Probably not the best out there but it does the job. It is a bit noisy though so in the middle of the night I can not pump next to the sleeping baby. But all in all very happy with it.

 

The not as good as the good stuff:

The main thing again is to just not get or buy too much of anything in the beginning. 

All babies are different and until that big lump of love arrives you won’t know what you need more or less of.

Here are a few things you don’t need to stress over according to myself and a few of my friends.

 

When babies are in the very beginning of life they can’t really do too cold or too warm drinks. It messes with their tummies and no one wants a screaming baby if you can avoid it. 

Therefore we got a bottle warmer. For that pumped and saved breast milk or that formula kept in the fridge. I mean, sure, we use it weekly – but we could also just put the kettle on, put the cold bottle in a bowl and poor the hot water in the bowl.

 

Cup holder for the pram. I had this dream of how I would walk the dog with the baby in the pram and on that pram handle I’d have a nice cup of coffee. Well I tried, but because the streets, parkways and pavements aren’t as flat as the floor in your home, I had more coffee outside the cup than in it. I have still used my cup holder but for Alfie’s bottles when out and about.

Don’t worry guys, I still drink my coffee. In a normal mug in the comfort of my sofa or in a cafe.

 

Stuffed animals. I mean, sure they are really cute and cuddly but for the first few months they are more for you than for the bubs. At least our experience is that Alfie hasn’t really started caring about fluffy toys until now when he is almost six-months-old. Don’t stress about getting them. You’ll also most likely get lots of stuffed animals as gifts once your baby arrives, so don’t waste your money.

 

Please don’t get me wrong and of course your child needs clothes but it can be very easy to go over the top as baby clothes are just too cute to handle sometimes. But trust me, you will get given loads and you also don’t know how quickly your baby will grow.
Start small with a few changes of baby grows and sleep suits and then start add as you go on.

Wait and see how fast your little one grows. It’s so different. Alfie is now somewhere around 70cm tall and is not even six-months-old.

Some babies are shorter and some taller. Some are bigger, some are thinner. Just hold back a bit. It’s so unnecessary if you get a heap of clothes you won’t have time to use.

 

Moral of the story?

Don’t get too much stuff. Wait until the baby has arrived and you are a bit more settled in the role of a new parent. Then you’ll see a bit more of what you feel you really need.

Enjoy your day and hopefully you’ll get to sleep well, even if it’s only five minutes at a time.

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