Buy My Baby Stuff
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buy my baby stuff
With all the teeny-tiny baby clothes and newfangled baby gear available today, it can be easy to go overboard on baby items in the first trimester. But before you grab a shopping cart and go crazy, there are a few things you should take into consideration.
Are you expecting someone to throw you a baby shower? If so, try to go easy on buying baby items until after your baby shower. Depending on how many people attend your baby shower, you could end up getting most of what you need from friends and family members.
Since the first event in 2016, Target has recycled a whopping 1,700,000 car seats, partnering with Waste Management to turn the used baby stuff into construction materials and products like plastic buckets and pallets. No word yet on when the second trade-in event for 2022 is, but the first was in April, so another will be coming along soon.
That said, I tend to prefer gender-neutral items, even with baby clothes (white onesies work well!). But if you like gender-specific items, knowing the sex of your baby is a perfect starting point to buy.
Another fantastic time to start buying baby stuff during your pregnancy is after your baby shower. You likely created a baby registry of items that your friends and family can gift you. Once your baby shower has passed, you can then purchase any remaining items on your wish list.
And a swing is a fantastic way to do just that. Because when you have a newborn, you need more than just one way to get your baby to sleep. A swing allows you to free up your arms and give him a chance to nap.
Tip: It might feel strange to add big-ticket baby items to your registry, but do it anyway. Some people like to go in on a group gift, and essentials like a car seat and stroller would be perfect for them.
I loved having a baby wrap, especially in the newborn stage, because that was yet another way for my babies to fall asleep. The more options I had, the more chances they could fall asleep, and keeping them snug in a baby wrap helped make that happen.
Even if you decide to nurse exclusively, buying or renting a pump gives you an option to hand the baby to someone else to feed. Pumping, especially in the first few days, also helps stimulate production and increase milk supply.
Most hospitals will send you home with samples of formula. You can also grab a few different brands from the grocery store and see which ones your baby likes. Once you know he takes to it easily, then you can buy in bulk or subscribe to save regularly.
This is what you need to weigh up when it comes to buying baby stuff in the first trimester. Only you can ultimately decide if buying baby stuff right away is totally necessary, or rather something you just cannot resist!
Instead of buying you may want to sit down and make a budget for your baby instead. Figure out the stuff you need, research roughly how much it will cost and then see if you have the cash to pay for it.
Start buying clothes and cute items in your second trimester after 13 weeks, then move on to big items (such as a pushchair and car seat) and practical essentials (such as wipes, a towel and baby shampoo) in the third trimester.
Most no-longer-new parents have those bags piled up somewhere, the outflow from what had been a frantic, and mostly misguided, intake process. The question of what the baby needs seems unimaginably complicated when you first encounter it. Perhaps you have asked it and have been rewarded with a six-page single-spaced checklist of gear that someone, somewhere, deemed essential for baby-having. Gear you may never have thought about one way or another before: A nursing pillow! A wipes warmer! A video baby monitor!
This means that all the baby gear you buy will, by definition, rapidly become obsolete. This will happen fast, faster than you can imagine. When I first proposed writing about this problem, I had a baby around the house. Other things came up. That baby is now a person who reads and writes and plays guitar and has strong opinions about automobiles and branded sportswear.
You just need enough equipment to help the baby sleep and eat and defecate and move along to not being a baby anymore. Nor is there any point in making that equipment fancy. In Finland, they send parents home from the hospital with a cardboard box full of standard-issue baby gear, and when the gear has been unpacked, the baby sleeps in the cardboard box. This is an excellent and enviable solution.
If that large, but not extraordinarily large, baby had been a wholly ordinary 50th percentile baby, the bassinet might have lasted two months instead of one month before becoming useless. Either way, it was not worth $400. It was not even worth $40. Our first baby weighed about five pounds when he came home, and he went straight into a full-sized crib.
When the baby gets old enough to eat from things other than nipples, it will need a high chair. High chairs are incredibly cumbersome and disgusting. The more features they have, the more disgusting they become. Get the minimum high chair you can get away with. We had too much high chair, and I was perpetually envious of the white plastic Ikea high chairs we got in restaurants.
As you'll have a newborn, it makes sense to get the newborn baby grows, right? But it can be more of a dilemma than you might think. On our forum, diggys_mum discovered that there was mixed opinion on what to do.
Of course, if your baby's really early you might find even the newborn stuff too big, if they're late and bigger, you might need to skip straight to 0-3 months. Here's what sizes other mums have bought for their newborns...
"If going out, trust me, it's better to buy mostly 0-3, but not too much. I've sold most of his baby grows in that range as I had over 20 and I can say now that 12 is more than enough and the same with vests, etc.
"But I agree it is better to have the clothes a bit big than waste money. I would advise you buy a few multipacks from Asda or Tesco or Sainsbury's. They are very cheap for newborn stuff and then, if you want, you can spend a bit more on 0-3 month stuff."
"Looks like I have way too much 0-3 too! Hoping some shops will let me go in and swap the stuff that still has tags on but I stupidly loved removing tags and washing all of her clothes because she was overdue and I just love the smell of Fairy non bio."
Babylist is a free, all-in-one baby registry that lets you add any item from any store, as well as things like help, favors and cash funds. Your registry should be as unique as you are. Start your Babylist now.
Voluntary safety standards require a high chair to have a three-point harness with crotch restraint to prevent a child from climbing out, as well as a fixed crotch post so he can't slide out. If these two features are accounted for, a hand-me-down high chair is fine. Avoid high chairs with arms that lift the tray over the baby's head.
This is the only newborn baby shopping list you will need. You can totally rely on it to make sure you are ready with everything you actually need when your baby arrives. All based on my experience as a first time mum and from comparing notes with other first time mums.
Ewan The Sheep has become a bit of a cult classic for new parents. There are many white noise machines to choose from, just make sure to choose one that is specifically for babies to make sure that the sound levels are suitable for delicate baby ears.
Baby monitor, the trend is to have a video monitor, so you can see and hear your baby during their nap times and then later on when they are in their own room. This is currently the best-selling video baby monitor on Amazon.
So I did also end up buying a baby sling, which I totally and utterly loved using. My baby daughter felt so much more snuggled into me than she did in the carrier, which was great for comforting her and a lovely experience for me.
These bottles have an anti-colic valve that reduces excessive air flow, which is a sanity save for both mother and baby. Plus the silicone teat has a 95% latch rate, which means that it is beyond likely that your baby will take to these bottles with ease.
We had the Stokke Tripp Trapp chair in natural wood and it really does last from the baby days right up to adulthood if you want it to, though we sold it on once our daughter started primary school, as she then felt she was far too grown-up to be using it!
The Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler Rocker chair has calming vibrations to soothe your baby, clackers and rollerball toys attached to help stimulate them and keep them amused and has two recline positions.
There is a lot of debate over whether you actually need a baby bath, but my vote is firmly that you do. Unless you go for a baby bath support, which is the item I am going to add to the must-have baby shopping list.
It's not hard to see why it is so popular, it is lovely and soft to touch, whilst also being ergonomic and it warms very quickly to the baby's own body temperature and the temperature of the bath water, so your baby will be lovely and comfortable in all senses.
Even though finding out you are pregnant can be one of the most joyous moments in your life, I would suggest you pace yourself before rushing to buy lots of stuff for your baby and the nursery. Maybe satisfy your urge to spend by buying yourself some first-trimester of pregnancy must-haves.
Nappies are a big expense. Your baby is likely to be using them until sometime between 18 months (super early in my book) and 3 years old. Of course some kids need them for longer. Whilst buying your first packet of diapers will be a thrill, buying your fiftieth will be less so!
I really hope this list of baby essentials have helped you put together a baby shopping list that means you are ready for the arrival of your newborn baby with plenty of energy to spare for making the most of the first few days, weeks and months with your precious new baby. 041b061a72