Despite being told left, right and centre that newborn babies really don’t need much stuff, it’s impossible not to get sucked into the world of baby shopping and it can be really quite overwhelming! On one hand I know that a newborn doesn’t need all the stuff, but on the other I feel like you only have your first baby once and there’s no harm enjoying that. So I feel like I’ve been somewhere in the middle when it comes to shopping. I’m letting myself enjoy the process and buy a few unnecessary bits just because they’re cute, but I’m also trying to be practical and not go too over the top. In fact one of my tactics has been, instead of asking friends and family what I should be buying, I’ve been asking what was the one thing they bought that they ended up not needing or using. Of course you have to factor in that every baby is totally different and what works for one might not work for another, and that’s something no-one knows until the time comes. So I’m well aware that a few things I buy might end up being a waste (and will be sold or given away) no matter how much research I do. I thought it would be helpful to the other first time mums out there to chat about how I’m approaching the newborn shopping and share a checklist I’ve created, which is basically my sisters’ and friends’ edited into my own. I’ve decided not to share my list for feeding or my hospital bag/post-partum because it is so personal and dependant on the person. I will be sharing what was in my hospital bag at a later date, after the baby is here.
I think it’s quite common for people in the UK to start thinking about shopping after their 20 week scan, so that’s what we did and we didn’t jump in head first, we eased our way in. I started by researching online and chatting to friends and family. Compiling a Google list that Rich and I could both log into and edit helped me get my head around it and stopped me impulse buying every time I saw something cute. In fact we didn’t even go into a shop until I was maybe 23 weeks. I’m aware that a baby doesn’t go into it’s own bedroom right at the beginning, but we don’t want to be decorating and sorting out a room with a newborn so that’s something we want to sort beforehand. I gave Rich some specific jobs so that he could be involved and know exactly how he could help, so he was in charge of researching things like baby monitors, cot mattress and baby carriers/slings. We made sure to communicate on everything, so it was a shared job and something we could. both enjoy. My YouTube recommended videos are now filled with “newborn essentials” videos and buggy reviews but it really helped to form an opinion for ourselves before going into the shop to test the products out. We knew quite early on which “big buys” we wanted to get like buggy, car seat, cot etc but the first things we started to buy were the less-scary, more affordable items like a bath seat, muslins and baby grows. I then realised that I would quite like to start sorting the room out so that the things we buy have somewhere to live and the shopping bags don’t fill up our hallway. I’ll be sharing a full room tour nearer the time on my YouTube channel!
I think what’s important is to try and form your own opinion of what type of parent you want to be. It might be completely unrealistic and I’m sure it’ll change and you’ll learn once the baby is here, but there’s only so much advice you can take – I think it’s important to take it all with a pinch of salt. I’m open to advice from the people close to me, we’ve taken it all onboard but some things we’ve just decided whether it’s for us or not. And to be honest, there’s always Amazon Prime if you change your mind!
I’ve kept this blog post a little short and brief because I chat about this in depth in today’s video. So head over to my YouTube channel if you want to hear me talk more about newborn shopping.
Click the link below to download my newborn shopping list.
Photos by Emma Croman
My H&M striped top – link
My H&M Jeans – link
Design Letters Baby Book – link
Dungarees – Zara (sale)
PR Gift | Mokee Cot – link
PR Gift | Kit + Kin Muslin – link
PR Gift | My First Years personalised baby vest – link
Tommee Tippee First Aid Kit – link
