Advice - take it or leave it!

[JordieC]

Just thought I'd post a quick thread on buying baby stuff now that I've had our gorgeous girl and know what is good to have! Of course this is just my opinion and you can take it or leave it but if you're starting to buy things here a couple of things I suggest you don't need! Of course if you're a millionaire then you can buy everything but these few things I think you can make do without!

Keep in mind my girl was 3.75 kilos at birth, on the larger side, so if you have a tiny baby then these things might be more useful for you!

Baby bath - Fisher Price one - great looking and quite handy for first few weeks but honestly she has nearly grown out of it and we used uit about a dozen times. We mostly shower her cause it's much easier!

Baby Cocoon - to carry her in when visiting (easier than pram in houses). Once again very handy for the few times we used it but she has nearly grown out of it as well and we really didn't use it as much as we thought.

Cradle - loved it because it rocked and looked cute but once again - she grew out of it quite quickly and is now loving the cot (when she sleeps!)

Just a few things I thought you could save money on - about $200 (we got the cradle on ebay). Those things could be borrowed. anyway have fun purchasing!

[Millsy7]

Thanks! Just out of curiosity how much money all up do you need to get prepared for bubs? I am only 7 wks and have just started to look around. I am trying to figure out how much roughly we will need before bubs arrives?

[Enchanted]

I honestly couldn't tell you how much we spent Millsy. I do know however that we spent near $1,000 just on the car seat, cot and pram. So then there are clothes, nappies, blankets, wraps etc. I am probably missing something really obvious too ROFL!

If you are on a budget (or even if you're not) ebay is definatley worth a look and also if you google something like 'baby factory outlets' heaps of places come up that sell cheaper (well less than RRP) stuff for bubs.

Not sure if that was any help though!! I am sure though that plenty of other BB's will have a better answer for you!!

[hannahfroodoo]

I think you can pretty much spend as much or as little as you want Millsy. It's up to you and your budget.

Like Jordie pointed out - there's a lot of stuff you can buy that you really don't need but some are nice to have.

If you don't mind 2nd hand - your local paper is well worth checking out since you can get some great stuff that is in pretty good nick.

We got all our gear for about $1500: We bought our cot off ebay for $150 and spent approx $1100 at the baby store for the following:

Car seat
pram
nappy bag
baby bjorn active
baby rocker
glider chair (for me!)
cot mattress
bassinet mattress

And of course the other little things like nappies and clothes made up the rest of the $1500. It's worth making any 'big' purchases all at once since most shops will give you a discount for spending over $1000. We put ours on layby a few months before my due date - most baby shops will let you have a long layby.

Remember people love to give you things - especially for a first baby - so don't be afraid to tell them what you need if they ask. Also, if you know people who have kids, you might find you get a lot of offers to borrow some of their gear.