It can be very overwhelming with so many baby products out there on the market. My best advice is stick to the baby essentials, out and about and nursery furniture. . Here’s my list of baby essentials which I have put together, hope it helps.
Baby Essentials
I started of with baby sleep suits as I know they will be practically be living in them for a while. I bought some lovely printed sleep suits ones from Mothercare. When my little one grew out of them I decided to try another brand. I looked at Junior Joy’s range of baby essentials and fell in love with their sleep suits, they are incredibly soft. They are so much softer than Mothercare and Next’s sleep suit. For the body vests I bought two bulk packs from Next. My little one was born in winter so I put a short sleeve baby vest then a sleep suit. (If you have a summer baby put a sleeveless vest on instead)
Why use Swaddle Blankets?
I swaddled my baby, which I highly recommend as your baby sleeps longer, cries less and great from their body structure. For Swaddling I used the Petite Piccolo Muslin Swaddle Blankets which are huge and super soft. The swaddle blankets lasted up to 5 months then she absolutely hated it!
After I swaddled I would then wrap a cellular blanket to give her that extra comfort. I love cellular blankets, they are breathable and have tiny little holes so your baby doesn’t get over heated. I also use them to cover my baby in the car seat and in the pram. They are fab in the summer time too!
Muslins a mothers’ best friend
Another must-have are Muslins, you can never have enough of them. I literally had a muslin attached to my shoulder the whole time I was feeding. They are everywhere, upstairs, downstairs, in the car, in my bag and at my parents house! I had my everyday plain muslins which I bought as a bulk pack, then I bought a set of 3 printed muslins which I used when I was out. They are super soft and I absolutely love them! My baby had acne on her face and having the Petite Piccolo muslins against her face didn’t irritate her at all.
- 10-15 Sleep suits
- 10 baby vest
- 5 swaddle blankets
- 5 cellular blankets
- 25 muslins
- 4 fitted sheets (mosses basket)
- 4 fitted sheets (cotbed/cot)
- 2 Flannette sheets
- 4 hooded towel sets (Baby Muslin Hooded Towel Sets, 6 months +)
- Changing mat (keep it simple, no need for the changing mats with pillows, believe me babies move around alot and they wont be laying on the pillow!)
- Flannels (I always use flannels to dry my baby’s bottom after I use wet wipes, to avoid any dampness)
- Baby bibs (my baby had reflux so I had to always have one on her during feeding time)
Out and About
I have the maxi cosi pebble as our car seat and after a day of test driving prams we chose the Bugaboo Bee 3 I found this pram light in weight, I was able to collapse it easily and take it in and out of my boot very quickly. My daughter is 20 months and I am still using it.
Nursery Furniture
I used a mosses basket, you can get them at a good price and the baby and toddler show. I found my baby was only in there for only 7 weeks and then I transferred her in the cot. She slept on a sleepyhead until she was 7 months. With the sleepy head as is was portable, I used to bring it downstairs so she was able to nap whilst I cooking.
