To buy or not to buy

Shopping for a new baby can be a daunting experience.  Any first-time parent-to-be visiting a  baby equipment shop is surely overwhelmed by the quantity and range of equipment on offer.  If you chose to buy everything on offer you’d need a nursery the size of a sports hall and a major Lottery win to fund it!  There are the obvious necessities – cot, buggy, car seat – but what else should you spend your money on?  A quick survey of the Herts North Committee revealed the following tips on what to buy and what we consider to be a waste of money.  We hope it will be helpful!  If anyone wants to offer their suggestions, we’ll be happy to add them.

 

Best buy: Grobags - those baby sleeping bags you use instead of blankets.  They have saved us many a sleepless night from babies waking up cold after kicking off their blankets.  Much easier to wash and makes changing sheets a doddle. Also, baby-be-safe cot sheets from grobag - the sheets are cotton fitted sheets with extra pockets that fasten under the mattress using Velcro.  No matter how much those babies wriggle, there's no way the sheet will come untucked!

Worst buy: All those ordinary sheets and blankets I bought and never used again once I'd discovered grobags and the grobag cot sheets!

 

Best buy: bath sponge from Mothercare at about £7 which means baby doesn't slip in bath.  I felt so much happier with this in the bath when attempting to wash a newborn.

Worst buy: bath seat - one of those little round seats that are supposed to help baby sit up in the bath.  It is useful for only a very short period of time - baby has to be able to sit unaided but not be at the stage where he wants to stand up and move about the bath.  Plus we found the water had to be a lot deeper in order to cover the seat and keep the baby warm.  As we now bath our two children together, it was useless for the second baby as it meant the water would be too deep for the other child.

 

Best buys:  Any lightweight buggy so long as it reclines.  You may find, as I did, that reclining is critical to your baby's sleep. 
Formula Powder Separator - if you formula feed at any stage you will find this very useful.  No need for keeping the milk cold whilst you're out.  You just mix with your boiled water and feed.  Metanium - This is by far the best bum cream on the market, in my opinion.  Only a little bit is needed so the tube goes a long way. 
A nasal aspirator - this is excellent for getting those bogies that hover in the nostrils!

 

Best and worst buys: My best and worst buys are tied together really.  Worst (or most unnecessary anyway) buys were the cot and the high chair and the best buys were the travel versions of each!  The travel cot came in handy as a playpen - my son hated that but it meant I could stash him somewhere safe once he was mobile so I could grab a shower or make dinner. We took it on several trips as well, and actually started using it as his regular cot full-time (I had a mattress made to fit for extra cushioning in the base) when he was 19 months old.  It worked much better than his "proper" cot as he didn't wake himself banging head or limbs against wooden bars, and he couldn't lose the dummy out of the mesh sides! 
Likewise, the real highchair was hideous to clean and not very practical/portable, but the travel highchair - one of those bright coloured plastic booster seats with detachable trays - was brilliant.   It went everywhere we needed to take him out visiting, sat happily at our dining room table when strapped to a normal chair, and could be taken to bits and run through the dishwasher when it needed a good clean.

 

Best buy: Fisher Price “Classical Chorus” gym/piano, this has been a life saver.  I bought it when Max was about 2 months old and I can honestly say he's played with it every day since!  It transforms from baby gym to a ‘sit and play’ then ‘stand and play’ piano so at 16 months it's still a hit.  It plays classical music so is much easier on the ear than a lot of other musical toys around.  A great present to ask for at around £30.

Worst buy: too many newborn clothes as they were hardly worn.  I really only needed a few as he grew so fast.  Good tip that if anyone buys you a newborn outfit, just keep all the labels on it and exchange it for a bigger size.  They look so cute but it's such a waste, your friends won't remember what size they bought anyway!

 

Best buy: the Bumbo, a little rubber seat that retails for about £25.  Brilliant when visiting friends and used as a chair for feeding, as well as a general seat.  It is extremely stable and good from when they can hold their heads up to about crawling age, maybe older.  It is very supportive for the little baby and good for those who want to join in - I used it on the kitchen counter so she could see me cook, out on the lawn when I was hanging washing out etc.  Anywhere you want them to be but don't have enough hands to hold them!  Also very durable so will easily pass between friends and be good for second and third children.

Worst buy: baby bath.  Used it for a very small amount of time (possibly just the first few weeks) as it’s much easier to use the bath.  I think my brother-in-law has had more use from it to mix cement/grout for their house refurbishment!

 

Best buy: Braun Blender - about £15/20.00.  A hand-held blender that purees so easily.  Excellent for both first weaning and when going onto lumpier food as you can alter the "lumpiness" by the length of time you have the blender going.

Worst buy:  Avent Bottle Warmer - useless for our baby who, like many young babies, had zero patience!  The warmer took at least 6 minutes to warm properly and at the beginning, when I was feeding every 2.5 hours, this wasn't fun.  In the end I opted for the microwave.  30/40 seconds and a good shake to ensure you avoid hot spots did the trick! (N.B. never microwave breastmilk, microwaving can destroy the protective antibodies in the milk)

 

Best buy: Maclaran XT buggy.  I needed a buggy which would be suitable from birth (ie lies fully flat), easy to fold/unfold one handed (ie whilst holding baby/child in other) and could easily fit into the boot of a car plus shopping.  Priced at around £100, you cannot go far wrong).  I have used the buggy every day for 14 months now and it has withstood everything thrown at it including:

1. Being thrown in and out of car every day
2. More shopping on its handles than is recommended
3. A number of walks in the peak district cross country
4. A number of runs round Hitchin (you can push & steer with one hand).

The thing is as good as new!

Worst buy: 3-wheeler pushchairs.  I was going to buy a 3-wheeler until my brother told me they are really difficult and heavy to get in the boot of a car.  With his one, you had to remove the front wheel every time.  It also took up most of the room, leaving little left for shopping.  I have come into contact with 3-wheelers in shopping malls and you can see the frustrated moms trying to negotiate aisles with a buggy too large to fit through most and they also only fit in the larger lifts.  Although I don’t have first hand experience, I would only recommend a 3-wheeler if you come into one of the following categories:

1. You will be running round Hyde Park daily whilst pushing baby.
2. You will be taking baby out for hikes through field and woods (remembering that they do not go through stiles and are too heavy to lift with sleeping baby/child in).
3. You have more money than sense!

 

Best buys:
Painting apron - I have used a £2.99 H&M painting apron with sleeves as a bib for as long as I can remember.  It just gets wiped clean after use and drip dried or dried with a cloth and is much better than having lots of bibs adding to the washing (you can never get pureed carrot out anyway!)  Also a lot of bibs don't have sleeves so a painting apron is ideal.

A gardener's kneeling pad - cheap and available in most supermarkets.  I found this invaluable for all those hours spent kneeling beside the bath, which I found really painful for my knees.  Bought it when my daughter was tiny, and am still using it several times a week now she is 2½ so excellent value for money!

Worst buy: sheet clips - I bought those clips on lengths of elastic which you use to clip to either side of the sheet to keep it tucked in neatly.  They were really annoying and fiddly to get on and off the sheet and next time I'll just be buying bigger sheets so I can tuck them in properly!

 

Best buy: I couldn’t manage without my hippychick hip seat.  It is a seat that you can sit a baby or toddler on to carry.  Hippychicks are recommended by osteopaths and they really do save your back!  A firm belt distributes the weight of your child around your waist while your child sits on a bolster attached to it.  You need to use one arm to support their back.  It enables you to walk or stand up straight, while carrying your child.  They are available in Lewis’ and various baby/toddler catalogues and also at www.hippychick.com