1st year baby essentials.

Hmm

As a father to an 8 month old boy, I can recommend:

Tommy Tippee Perfect Prep Machine - best thing you can buy if not using moms milk.
A Gopro - I recently got one, really wish I had got it before he was born, have made a cracking short video already.
Aldi Nappies and wipes - they are really good and great value.
Ikea High Chair
Out N About Nipper 360 pushchair.
Tommy Tippee Video Monitor with the sensor pad.
Avent Classic plus bottles.
Funky Giraffe Bandana Bibs
Cybex Aton Q car seat - with Isofix base
Concord Reverso car seat
Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo
Vango Camping Carpet - protect lounge floor / carpet

As a few people have said - use Ebay ect and buy second hand.
And again as a few people have said - don't listen to everything that people tell you, we had loads of conflicting advice from different "experts"
I can also recommend going to the Baby Show, good bargins.
 
I'm not prepared to read through 3 pages to see everyone else's suggestions, so these are my mine. I have four children, they have been invaluable:

Doo-Moo - Pop the baby in it while you answer the door, take a call, make a brew etc. Super comfortable for them and very secure. When they are asleep you can cover them with a blanket and there's no need to make the journey to their room. Our children loved theirs.

Bumbo - They'll be weaning by the end of Year 1, so this is great. Stick it in the middle of the table and pop their fat little legs in. Very comfortable, super stable and keeps them in one place while you feed. Don't bother with the tray, it's not needed unless you are letting them experiment with finger food.

Stokke Tripp-Trapp - These chairs are superb. Don't cry about the cost, just buy one and thank me later. This will last from Year 1 to Adult. They are excellent. Highly recommended.

Good luck.
 
Some stuff is worth buying 2nd hand.

We bought new Mamas & Papas bedroom furniture for eldest (Cot/bed, Drawers/changing unit, Tallboy) which set us back around £1,000. For 2nd child, we got the same set on Ebay for £200.

On the other hand, some of our stuff has fetched such a high price as we've sold it off, I don't think it's necessarily worth buying used.

Ikea high chair is great - cheap, easy to clean, and much more upright than many of the pricier ones. Obvs don't need it straightaway.

Bumbo was a waste of time, complete gimmick. Fortunately, sold ours on for pretty much what we paid.

Fisher Price Jumparoo was very useful with eldest, youngest less keen.

The jumper thing which hangs from a doorway - pretty useless.

Baby gym - we had a fisher price rainforest one. 1st child loved it, 2nd got some use.

Sophie the Giraffe chew thing was popular with eldest.

Highly recommend breastfeeding - it's easier for everyone.

Don't assume you have to use dummies. We never really noticed when one would have been needed, so didn't.

Don't buy many clothes in advance - just get loads of babygrows/vests for the first 3 months and pick stuff up as you realise you need it. Stuff that looks amazing on the peg doesn't always translate to what you will actually get use of in reality.

Good luck :)
 
Manly nappy bag with fold out changing mat
Nice coffee machine (for you)
Car seat that clips into pram
A blankie! (buy 2 and alternate then should the worst happen)
Teething "teabag" thingy, again forget the name but you put ice/chopped fruit in it.
Swaddling cloth. I was skeptical but it isn't the horrific thing you imagine.
Microwave sterlising kit + bottles (even if breastfeeding, babies need a bit of water too especially after a few months)
Travel formula dispenser (if using formula obs.)
Mammas and Pappas bedroom set (cot can be made into a bed)
Ikea plastic plates/bowels/spoons/forks (eventually), good value stuff you can shrug off when lost.

Forget:
Childcare books. They WILL defy the "norm". Common sense rules.
Changing table - ours was so mobile we never used it. Mat on the floor/couch was far more practical
Buying lots of clothes and fancy clothes - you'll probably get a lot as gifts. Baby grows are essential and practical, Nike booties are not.
A massive pram. Impractical and you'll be one of "those" parents getting in everyone's way. I forget the one we got but it was a three wheeler with soft wheels. Did the whole big stroller for all of a month before giving it away.
Flannel nappies. After a week you'll be chanting "kill all whales". It's not 1915.
Ikea furniture. Just no.

Wify insisted on everything new, now got a loft full of unused expensive junk you can barely give away. Read into that what you will.
 
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As previously mentioned, dont waste your money on an electric steriliser, they are overpriced and break frequently.

Microwave sterilisers are so cheap and so much less hassle.
 
Dont get the whole bottle maker thing.

Its around £100 and its not portable.

Why not just buy ready made milk? Its easier, portable and always ready.

And its only for 1 year, after that its full fat milk, so you end up with an appliance taking up space for no reason.
 
S@njay said:
Dont get the whole bottle maker thing.

Its around £100 and its not portable.

Why not just buy ready made milk? Its easier, portable and always ready.

And its only for 1 year, after that its full fat milk, so you end up with an appliance taking up space for no reason.
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Because its obscenely expensive compared to buying powder. We get through a can of powder in one week at approx £11, which is about 6 feeds per day so around 42 feeds. Those ready-made milk are about 79p / feed:

Powder - 26p / feed
Ready made - 79p / feed

So £11 / week or £33/week.

So for the convenience alone, those bottle maker things are almost paid off after the first month compared to pre-mix.
 
Buy tons of Muslin Squares... towels. You can never have too many of those. Put them all around the house too.

Don't let the Mrs get wound up by the midwives and health visitors about breast feeding if she's struggling to make enough milk. Mix it up with formula. Baby will be happier, you will be less stressed too.
 
Arthur Hucksake said:
Buy tons of Muslin Squares... towels. You can never have too many of those. Put them all around the house too.

Don't let the Mrs get wound up by the midwives and health visitors about breast feeding if she's struggling to make enough milk. Mix it up with formula. Baby will be happier, you will be less stressed too.
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She will for sure struggle to make enough milk if she's mixing it up with formula.
 
Outside of the obvious I would say nothing! We spent a fortune on the 1st child most of it was never used..

I think the best advise is to make sure you communicate with your partner.. the fist few months are really stressful! she will be wanting adult conversation and support so make sure you can provide..

For all of our children we have also had an agreement on who does what / when at night.. it's an important balance to get right to ensure your partner has time to get some sleep and rest but also so you can function for work.. the routine we always ran was from the time I got home till 2am I would look after the children baby.. wife can then have a bath relax and get some sleep.. Integral to that was a breast pump to ensure we had milk for feeds when she was sleeping.

Re breast-feeding vs. bottle.. both of ours started breastfeed.. with the 1st the misses got terrible infections from the start.. she kept it up till about 6 weeks in but by that point was more blood than milk coming out so the 1st went on to bottle (mixture of some pumped which was bearable pain wise and formula).. 2nd was breastfeed pretty much till she was weaned.. two points here.. firstly do what's right for baby / wife.. midwife / health visitor but so much pressure on the wife not to give up on the first but frankly we should have swapped earlier.. is enough pressures with a new baby without having a hormonal hysterical wife upset about something they can't control.. she was so much happier once she could enjoy looking after the baby rather than dreading feeding time... second point is I see no difference in my children.. both are very bright and reached development milestones at similar times.. sure breastfeeding does have its advantageous (and is more convenient!) but its got to be balanced with the situation.
 
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Two things stand out for me as the father of a 14 month old;

1) Tommy Tippee perfect prep milk maker machine.
2) Microwave plastic steriliser, i know no different but my parents commented about how amazing it was compared with the 1980's method of dissolvable tablets etc
3) IP IR Camera for his room. Kept my partner much calmer and saved her so much walking and risk of disturbance over checking him constantly. She just leaves the feed on all of the time on a laptop/phone near her around the house when he is asleep.

All of the other junk i can take it or leave it.
 
AmyS said:
Baby nail clippers are essential. For when they're a little older, a travel cot for around £30 which can be used as a little playpen rather than pay £80 for one marketed as such.

I haven't really used the Bumbo seat I bought, and I regret spending £800 on a Quinny pram, which has been used around 6 times and is pretty hard to fold down.

I've just bought a £60 buggy which is way easier to manage.

My baby is also more interested in the remote control and my phone than the toys I have bought, so I wouldn't go overboard with toys.
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It's easier to bite their nails than use clippers :) obviously some people won't want to do that, but it is the easiest way!
 
A lot has been mentioned already but thought from my experience.

Do get:

Muslins...lots of them!

Baby wipes

A cheap analogue radio you can detune for white noise (calms baby really well)

Lightweight easy to use pushchair

Second hand baby grows etc

Grobag - Used to love picking my boy up in the morning, and getting to unzip the bag and feel his lovely soft, warm feet.

Cold water steriliser - so simple and keeps everything sterilised for 24 hours so everything is ready when you need it. Much better I found than a steam one as then you had to wait for things to cool down before use etc.


Don't bother with:
Bumbo - my little boy (9lbs at birth) barely fitted in it once he was strong enough to sit up and he hated it.

baby bath

baby monitor (unless baby born in the summer months when it'll allow you to be out in the garden as baby sleeps)

Nappy disposal system - nappy bags are quicker and much cheaper
 
ci_newman said:
Because its obscenely expensive compared to buying powder. We get through a can of powder in one week at approx £11, which is about 6 feeds per day so around 42 feeds. Those ready-made milk are about 79p / feed:

Powder - 26p / feed
Ready made - 79p / feed

So £11 / week or £33/week.

So for the convenience alone, those bottle maker things are almost paid off after the first month compared to pre-mix.
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Bearing in mind a baby will slow down milk intake over the course in the first year.

But yes its is cheaper with powder, we used pre mix as it was a lot easier.

However if we did have the Bottle maker from day one we might have stuck with powder.
 
The IPB said:
It's easier to bite their nails than use clippers :) obviously some people won't want to do that, but it is the easiest way!
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Aaaah no, my sisters do this with their children, it makes me wince!

I always imagine them tearing too much of the nail away, or accidentally biting them.
 
S@njay said:
Bearing in mind a baby will slow down milk intake over the course in the first year.

But yes its is cheaper with powder, we used pre mix as it was a lot easier.

However if we did have the Bottle maker from day one we might have stuck with powder.
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What is this bottle maker? I've had a quick search but can't work out what cost's £100 quid just to make a bottle.

I personally have a few tubs which holds 3 servings of milk powder. Then just bring a bottle filled with (cooled boiled) water and mix it up as it's needed. Cheap, quick and easy.

Edit: Nevermind, found it in another post. I personally wouldn't pay out for the Tommy Tippee Perfect Prep Machine.
 
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Its a machine which makes a measured perfect sterilised bottle at the right temperature with one button press. Its called a tommee tippee perfect prep machine, very easy to find if you google that.

One of the very few baby gadgets which is certainly worth having.
 
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