new baby on the way... where to get the essentials?

positivenote

Hi all,
we've our first baby due in july and we've just seen the amount of stuff that we will have to get? god it'll be expensive. is there a sticky for this or any previous posts on where to get the best value for everything from clothes/bibs/bottles/chairs/nappies etc etc etc...
thanks in advance

calex71

here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=251

or here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1092

Might be better places to ask and have a look.

dudara

Not a Consumer Issue - moved to Parenting

calex71 - don't encourage cross-posting. Wait for a moderator to move the thread to the correct forum rather than having multiple threads on the same topic.

dudara

lynski

this is easy - from friends, relatives, neighbours, jumbletown, for free of adverts.ie, car boot sales and when you have exhausted these then go to Tk maxx, lidl, pennys before any childcare shops.

Seriously, we had so much (mostly hand me downs) for our son and when we had our daughter we had learned you really need just a few vests and baby grows, some bibs, good baby book, thermometer, lots of nappies, lots of cotton wool, a cardi or two, a blanket or 2, a car seat and a pushchair. and really only the nappies and cotton wool need to be new (think we bought a new car seat for no2? yeah right!)
get people to make you some freezer friendly food, get some babysitting promises and use them, and the rest will be fine.

Blizzard

You should also consider checking out a related website - highly recommend eumom.ie. If you register there you will definitely get all you need I would think. Good luck.:)

greengirl31

Get as much as you can from friends/relatives. Things like a moses basket that will be used for about 2 or 3 months can be quite expensive ... don't go overboard on clothes cause you;ll get loads when the baby arrives .... start getting nappies/wipes etc now one pack at a time .. don't get new born anything cause your baby may be too big to fit in them when it's born - they;re only up to 7lbs I think ... if they're too big they'll grow into the stuff ... don't use a 2nd hand car seat unless you know where it's been - for big stuff like buggys etc the following website is fab ...
www.kiddicare.com
best of luck with everything :-)

wolfpawnat

Shop around. Get whatever you feel is best and look at all the stores for it, e.g. buggy, MacClarens of different price ranges are often on sale in one of the major stores at any time.

And start buying things like baby wipes, nappies, talcum powder wherever you see an offer on on them. E.g. BOGOF!!!!! It is worth it! I went a year without having to buy nappies because I stock piled them before my baby was born, as for clothes, ebay is another great place! Alot of the nicest things I found for my son were in Pennys, Dunnes and Tesco's!!!!!

Even now all his vesties are Dunnes as he stains them and they have to be thrown out after a while. I would also recommend getting more face clothes than bibs for the first 3-6 months, they are more absorbant and are somewhat more useful than bibs! (not to mention 3 for 1.50!!!!)

Seriously shop around and get things in drips and drabs, worry about the stuff you need first like car seats, buggy, sterilizers first and then after a few months think of things like highchairs, they clutter the place and are not needed til baby is 6 months!

Good Luck

Kimono-Girl

Hi,
we had our first baby last July and like you were worried about everything we had to buy, as we also felt it would be expensive

if you don't have friends and family around what we did was buy 1 item a month and break it down that way, in the end we ended up with more stuff then we knew.

if you have friends and family around then i would advise you to let them know what you buy or intend on buying, it avoids situations where two people buy you something and ask why you aren't using their gift. and also you'll find most of them will be happy to buy you a gift or group together to get you something.

also friends and family tend to buy lots of newborn clothes, and babies grow out of these so quick, honestly your best bet for clothes is pay as you need them.As mentioned tesco's do lovely good quality baby stuff at very reasonable pricing! all you really need is the hospital baby stuff and the hospital tell you what you need!

bottles you won't know until the baby is born, we bought avent (with the steriliser as it was a good deal) and ended up switching to Dr. Brown bottles due to colic.

and as mentioned always a good idea to stock up on wipes and nappies as they are on offer, should mention here though some babies don't take to certain nappies (eg. pampers caused a rash so we use huggies, but huggies also don't suit other babies) so don't stock up too much... we were also told use cotton wool and water and never to use wipes but you'll find after a few months wipes are easier so stock up on them anyway's.

hope this helps!

positivenote

thanks a million guys, all the advice has been great. any more web links as we have been looking in mammas and pappas and mothercare for the buggies and the changing unit thats like a chest of draws and they are asking for anything from 500euro for a buggy (with car seat) to over a grand!!!

Moonbeam

Just saw this on one of the ads at the side of boards.ie -

http://store.michaelguiney.com/store/product/185415/BUNDLE-DEAL-Blue/

Grawns

positivenote wrote: »

thanks a million guys, all the advice has been great. any more web links as we have been looking in mammas and pappas and mothercare for the buggies and the changing unit thats like a chest of draws and they are asking for anything from 500euro for a buggy (with car seat) to over a grand!!!

Mamas and papas are for people with money to burn. Also a total waste of money as your baby will probably only use them for the 1st year or so and then you'll need a new car seat and a lighter buggy. I got my britax system on kiddicare on special offer £99 for the buggy and £100 for the carseat.

Here's a system there for £109.99 - total bargain and excellent reviews
includes - Pushchair, Car Seat, Footmuff, Changing Bag & Raincover
http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_54_10751_-1_14051_80018_10001_14051

galwaylady

I had my first child a couple of months ago, and my sister got me Steri-soother ill tell you now this little gadget is a brill. No need for water, microwave or electricty.

ghosttown

One piece of advice, do NOT buy 'new baby' clothes in Tesco / Penneys / whereever yet. New baby is usually around 7-8lb.
Our 2nd lad was 11lb 6, and straight into 0-3 months.

Ended up returning a lot of unopened clothes bought in the previous few months......

Russellcruie

Why not BUY?

____________

Russell

heathersonline

check out rollercoaster as well

littlebug

A changing table seems to be a favourite yet expensive item these days. Yes I can absolutely see its usefulness but I wouldn't see it as a necessity if funds are low. Mine were changed on a changing mat on the floor, bed, table.... whereever. You also don't need the most expensive buggy. To me the most important thing were easy-fold up-ability and that it fitted in my small car so decide what are the most important elements for you and shop around accordingly. You'll probably get loads of clothes as presents but they're more likely to be little outfits so stock up on things like vests and babygros which they'll wear more in the first few months. Dunnes are fine for these. For much of the first year they'll grow out of clothes rather than wear them out so there really is no need to buy expensive stuff IMO. The amount of high chairs etc in attics across the country (mine included) must be shocking so do ask around!