Shopping Advice Needed

Hiya all experienced mums!

I know this is really early on (am now 12wks) however my mother wants to help me out with some shopping for baby. So she has asked for a list of items I will require that can be brought at the supermarket. That way she can buy 1 thing each week with her normal shop so it's not a huge expense towards due date for me or her!

So my question - how much of everything do I need? and what are nice to haves vs must haves?

All advice gratefully received.



Janine

^^ agreed, supermarket vouchers all the way.

I use chux clothes and water on my boys bum, huggies seem to make it go a bit red and i have a couple of big refil packs! Also brought about 300 newborn nappies and he was born a monster and outgrew them in about a week. Pigeon breastpads are fantastic, way better then j&j (IMO!)

Honestly, I still bypass the baby ailse at the supermarket. I do cloth nappies & cloth wipes, BLW and breast feed (and don't leak, lol - I still have the single pack of breastpads I got at my baby shower). There is nothing in there that is remotely relevant to us! I don't use soaps/lotions on DD either.

So I'd say that nothing is a *must* have and I don't personally find much/any of that stuff as a nice to have either. I guess you need to think about what kind of parenting style you'll likely have and then see what suits that.

I like Kebakat's idea of vouchers though.

I had lots of stuff (mostly gifts) that I never used...my daughter never took a dummy (I had 3 different types), my DD didn't spill much so all the small bibs went unused, I didn't use any type of soap on DD for ages, still have the shampoo I got as presents (she still doesn't have enough hair) and she never needed bum cream (still have all the samples from the bounty pack). It sounds a little snobby but I found I ended up hating lots of the clothes we'd got as gifts and tended to use the ones with nicer fabrics over and over, even although it meant I was washing more(sometimes more expensive but not always).

Things that spring to mind that I either loved or found very useful in the early days...old fashioned flat cloth nappy things (I used them for so many different things), my 2 merino wraps (I still use them now but as light blankets) my 2 muslin wraps (again, I still use them now for things), cloth breast pads (essential for me for the first 6 months), cloth wipes, oh after about a months I started to use the ecostore sleepytime bath solution which I loved, I loved the Gogo bags I got as a present but didn't start using them until around 3 months (and they're hideously expensive). We loved her hammock but we got a total bargain 2nd hand off Trademe as they were way too expensive for us to buy new. She spent a lot of time under her gym, but again that wasn't in the very early days.

Depends whether you're going down the cloth or disposable nappy route as to whether to keep an eye out for cheap nappies/wipes from the supermarket.

And yeah, I totally agree with vouchers; either from the supermarket or baby shops.

Edited by thesaff

^^ TRUE!!

Just wanted to put another vote in for flat naps, i heard they were good and brought 6. Within a week i had 30 and sometimes all 30 are in the wash

I agree with the others, we had lots of stuff bought for us and most got used but one thing I found really useful was stocking up on some of those pricey cleaning items and nice stuff for you (ie. nice shampoos etc). Infact I stocked up on heaps of stuff like dishwasher powder, shampoos, tinned foods etc and they made a huge difference while I was on maternity leave.

^^^Meals are a fantastic idea. I was so hungry for weeks after birth and so exhausted so quick meals and snacks are high on my list of 'musts'. Perhaps some bottled water or a few bottles that you can keep in rotation for the early days of BFing because you get so thirsty. I used to keep 2 Pump bottles of water next to my bed and often had to get up and refill them all during the night.

I'm in the 'cloth nappy club', hardly ever used baby products from the supermarket. So grocery/baby shop vouchers are a great plan.

Bexee's idea is also great, stocking up on other non-baby essentials. It's not really the baby that's expensive, it's the loss of wages while you're not working.

thanks for all the suggestions ladies, have compiled them and flicked them on for mum

swear she is almost as excited about the pregnancy as I am ... anyone would think it was her first grandchild not her 6th!

napisan babycare is great for soaking pooey or stained clothes but it's about $10 a pot so definitely add that to your list.

Disposable scented nappy bags (great for in your nappy bag for when you're out and about)

you can get feeding spoons etc at the supermarket..you'll need them before you know it!

to buy closer to when your baby is due - kiwicrush (frozen) - you'll need it after labour.

nuts, muesli bars and other healthy snacks for breastfeeding midnight munchies.

a tube of bonjela

T_Rex wrote: Honestly, I still bypass the baby ailse at the supermarket. I do cloth nappies & cloth wipes, BLW and breast feed (and don't leak, lol - I still have the single pack of breastpads I got at my baby shower). There is nothing in there that is remotely relevant to us! I don't use soaps/lotions on DD either. So I'd say that nothing is a *must* have and I don't personally find much/any of that stuff as a nice to have either. I guess you need to think about what kind of parenting style you'll likely have and then see what suits that. I like Kebakat's idea of vouchers though.

What she said  Almost everything is 'nice' to have not nessecary to have iykwim. And people are so kind- you'll find you get given heaps of clothes etc

I'm still so thrilled you're pg! hehe