Starting from scratch, List of things to get?

[Aimz]

Mel and Kerry I have emailed you the list this morning. Leeanne (blueiris) you did PM me but you forgot to include your email!! If you PM your address I will be happy to send it.

This is such a fantastic thread!

[Phteven]

Car seat, nappies, clothes, boobs and arms :P

[sushee]

Car seat, nappies, clothes, boobs and arms :P

Lol! Chloe, so right there. I didn't need, nor did I expect to need, bottles or formula at all for any of my four kids as they were BFed, so why would I waste money on them?

Most things I found invaluable with one baby, I didn't even use with another. I think the most useful things are things I bought after baby was born when I could tell what I needed (eg a sling instead of a humungous pram!)

[luey]

Some of these aren't strictly nursery but are handy all the same

A chair for the nursery, doesn't have to be fancy. When we were (still) having sleep issues with my DS if I needed to cuddle him to sleep it provided somewhere for me to have a rest if I was allowed to sit. I need to get a new one as my current chair is a round cane one wihich can be hard to feed in. A friend bought a cheap lounge from Ikea, she said in the early days when her DD wouldn't sleep she curled up on it too.

If you are planning on feeding on the lounge, I do, havea big sheet, blanket or something to put over your lounge where you sit. I wasn't real good at putting the nappies on in hte early days or DS was a big weer/pooer and we had a few explosions. Not to mention the spills. So much easier to wash the blanket than sponging the lounge. Not to mention more hygienic.

I love my rocker - $39 from Babyco plus blends in with our lounge - shame about hte rest of the stuff . It doesn't have a bar over the top but I didn't like the toys on them anyway, plus it can go almost flat to sitting up quite high. My DS has slept in it lots especially when he was colicy. I was given a frame type thing which can go over it/him on floor or folds flat for him on his tummy. I wouldn't spend a lot as one friend found she has hardly used hers. Another friend has the Baby Bjorn one and finds she needs to rock it for her DD.

A play mat is great, is often given as a gift though but you can get away with a blanket and a few toys.

I love my brest friend feeding pillow, even though it's ugly, I still use it though dS is getting a bit big. I am able to feed in public without it, you need to make sure you can do that but I found it helped my confidence and got the attachment right.

Tommee Tippee Closer to nature bottles, just buy two (big ones to grow into if needed). I found these were the best for giving EBM. I live out in the country when we are on journeys I would give a bottle while he was in his seat and top him up with the boob and change his nappy at our rest stop. It saved a lot of time in the early days when a feed would take an hour.

Cloth nappies - towelling, at least a dozen, I have one over my change table cover, again easy to wash and catches some spills. Flanelette cloth nappies are good for puttin in his cot over the sheet to catch spills. Much smoother too than towelling and saves so much work than constantly changing sheets.

High chair from about 3months, DS always tends to be awake at meal times and I was using the rocker but he really enjoys seeing us and I think it is good to involve him in 'family meal time'.

Muslin wraps, get the big ones - Target have 100x100cm. I wasn't given as many as I thought I would, 3 thin hand me down ones. Even with 7 I would find I had to keep track of how many I had clean and when I needed to wash. They have so many uses that I doubt you will regret having too many - wrapping bubs, drying bubs, sunshade for pram/car, light cover, spew cloth if necessary etc.

Mesh washing bags, at least 3. BAby socks and baby clothes can get all tangled up and lost. So handy to put the socks in together and not lose any. I put them straight into one of these so they don't get lost in the basket.

Washing basket trolley - saves bending over and enables you to maneuver it even if you have had a CS. I ended up with an emerg CS but I imagine that a lot of bending over/stretching may be uncomfortable with a VB.

We have a baby bath with the moulding in the bottom so when he can sit I will still be able to use it. I think it was about $25, infa brand. I have just put an infaltable bath pillow on the flat end to stop my DS from gettin a concussion when he pushes off from the other end. WE are not able to use the normal bath as it is too deep for me to comfortably and safely bathe him. Plus we are on rain water so I liek to save as much water as possible

Lots of baby clothes hangers. You can get them quite cheap. In the early days I had a colour for each size and it made it a bit easier until I learnt what clothes were what size.

I found the bonds 00 singlets were the same size as kmart brand 000. I was given some hand me down 0000 but have mainly used the 000/00 from birth. It comes down over their butt and prevents ride up. My bub was 3.6kg though (7lb15) so not really tiny. I would have one or two 0000 and 6 or so 000. It all deprends how spewy your bub is and how often you want to wash

I bought 2 really nice neutral cotton suits, they were ribbed, from best and less. They were on special for $5. They are definately worth a look for bubs clothes and singlets/bodysuits. Plus they havecheap cotton knickers if you need some for after the birth - I got 10 for $10 - and Ib hardly needed them but better to be prepared.

Good luck

[blueiris]

amysarah,i've PM'd you.

The 2 things i want to get new is the pram & the cot,my friends are giving us a lot of stuff,she even got me some washable nursing pads from her work too. I also want t get a change table that converts into drawers or a bookcase,i've seen these at IKEA. To me i'd at least get my money's worth doing it this way as we'd have a piece of furniture once baby has outgrown the change table part of it.

With the bottles i not sure which brand to go for,i like the Tommy Tippee close to nature(silver packaging) & the Avent brands. A friend used the Avent & swears by them.

I think i will also buy a vaporiser just in case,i work in a pharmacy & we've been selling a lot of these lately for young kiddies. Might be something worth putting on a babyshower wish list if people are having a wish list.

[Aimz]

I've sent it to you blueiris!

[blueiris]

Thanks amysarah