[Closed] Practical Baby Advice - what do we need?

A packet of baby wipes

One? Go and buy lots more now at the best multibuy/bogoff you can find.   You’ll never have too many.

Congrats and good luck!

Where are your muslins?! You should have no less than 500 ready to deploy at a moments notice

What is a muslin? Oh god.

As Kryton57 says - one pack will last you a couple of days.
Head to Aldi and stock up on wipes and nappies now. Worth getting a couple of weeks worth (probably average 7-10 nappies per day at the start). Then it's one less thing to have to think about in the initial chaos and worry that is new parenthood.

Oh, and congratulations in advance!

EDIT: I can still remember my Grandma, when she found out we were expecting, bought a pack of nappies everytime she cycled in to town or the shops. That saw us through the first few months and is something we'll never forget.

Ok - 7-10 a day. I think the current pack has 12 lol!

Are aldi nappies good? I guess by good i mean 'don't leak' and easy to put on.

Are wipes just wipes, or is there a good type and a bad type?

Incidentally, what are the wipes actually for? Wiping poo off? Or do you use bog roll for that (or your hands?!)?

Do babies need some kind of foot covering? Or are the baby grows sufficient? not needed
– I’m guessing I need a baby bath? Or is just basically a bowl? - baby bath is good, but not essential for day 1. We had a anglecare one which is cheap and sits in your normal bath.
– How many additional nappies do I need to get in? loads, but not too small - I would get 1 pack of each size for now (up to 2) then see which fits and get a tonne of that in
– Talcum powder – is that actually a thing, or just movies? we never used it
– Sudo cream? handy
– Some kind of bottle system? We’re planning on breast feeding, but presumably we need to transfer from the breast pump to a bottle to feed it. If you can breast feed (its tough), then bottles aren't needed at all - neither is a breast pump, the kid drinks direct. its a good idea to get them used to a bottle as an alternate, so your wife can go out or whatever. We got a massive thing of tommee tippee bottles + lids, it wasn't very expensive.
– Some kind of sterilisation system? What kind is best? Sterilisers seem to be a bit pointless\optional, the french (for example) don't use them at all unless the kid is severely premature. we had a steam based one
– A groegg to monitor the temperature? it will be too hot, or too cold, all the time, according to a gro egg. we had one with the first, didn't bother with the second. your baby monitor probably has a temp thing built in, just use that
– A thermometer for general ‘is the baby ill’ / ‘is this bath to cold’ purposes? handy and will last for ages, we got a bosch in ear job
– What do you dry a baby with? Standard towels? a baby towel with a little hood, as its cute, but a normal towel woudl do the job just as well
– Special bin for nappies? Or just bung them in the normal bin? we got a dedicated bin, but its just a normal, smallish one. When a poo has arrived it goes in its own bag then straight out the window (rear of the house) to be scooped up into the wheelie bin when things have calmed down
– Formula as a backup? What sort is good? pre-mixed if its just a couple for backup, but tbh if you have a pump I don't see why you would need it

nappy brands, some work well for some people, badly for others, so get a pack or 2 from your local shops and try them out. They all work fine. Baby wipes - don't get the absolute cheapest but otherwise they're ok, you might want to use water wipes for the first few months but they're pricey and a bit rubbish compared to normal wipes. Use with extra gunk when cleaning tough poos

what do we need

get as much sleep in as possible in the coming days, you will need it. Congratulations by the way!

what do we need

#PrayForEwan

Our 3 week old lad gets through about 15 nappies per day

boys piss when they have their nappy opened and shit squirts

they eat LOADS sometimes and other times nowt!

Don't stress, if you do the baby picks up on it and then it hits the fan!

Support mum loads in the night as it is super lonely

I'll try and remember the no nonsense advice my wife gives in response to these kind of questions...

– Do babies need some kind of foot covering? Or are the baby grows sufficient? baby grows fine in the house assuming the house isn't cold. Wrap up warm when out and about in winter. We used the big thick winter onsies (inc. sock bit) and a buggy foot muff thing if it was really cold.
– I’m guessing I need a baby bath? Or is just basically a bowl? - It's just a big bowl but shaped properly. They are pretty handy.
– How many additional nappies do I need to get in? - lots, and then some more.
– Talcum powder – is that actually a thing, or just movies? Just the movies, not good for respiritory - links to lung issues and now not sold in the USA I believe after some lawsuits.
– Sudo cream? Yep, very handy for sore bums. Keep it away from cats.
– Some kind of bottle system? We’re planning on breast feeding, but presumably we need to transfer from the breast pump to a bottle to feed it. We used tommee tippie without any issues. All the big brands are fine.
– Some kind of sterilisation system? What kind is best? Again, some tommee tippee thing. Looked like a plug in veg steamer. Easy to use and simple.
– A groegg to monitor the temperature? Yeah, or just any thermometer.
– A thermometer for general ‘is the baby ill’ / ‘is this bath to cold’ purposes? Use your elbow in the bath - it's the most accessible sensitive bit of skin for dipping. Water should feel neutral - not hot or cold.
– What do you dry a baby with? Standard towels? Yep.
– Special bin for nappies? Or just bung them in the normal bin? In a nappy bag and in the bin. If there's poo in it then in a nappy bag and on the back door step for chucking the the wheelie bin. No need for any special bin - total rip off.
– Formula as a backup? What sort is good? If you are planning to breastfeed then do not get formula in just incase. If it is there then when you are struggling one very tired night it will be too tempting. There is absolutely no shame in bottle feeding if that is what works. People are very quick to judge and have opinions but only you and your partner will know and feel what is the right thing to do. Her body, her choice.

Every man, woman and their dog will give you unwanted advice and opinions. Babies really do bring them out of the woodwork. 90% of them can piss off. Just ignore those that make you feel bad about yourself. You will know who you trust and whether the advice sounds useful or not.

Mostly though, enjoy it. Babies are very resilient. Marketing people will tell you that you need to buy everything or be the worlds worst parents. We fell for some of it with our first. Not so much with the second and by the third we knew everything we didn't need. There will be no fourth!

Hi. Congratulations.

We went through this earlier in the year.

You seem to have the basics covered so don't worry about having 'stuff/things' too much. With restrictions being a bit better you should be able to get things as you need them, or next day from Amazon Prime.

Something I immediately found and continue to find useful that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere is a good quality, waterproof digital meat thermometer. Something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/NIXIUKOL-Thermometer-Digital-Cooking-Temperature/dp/B08DHVR82K/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=meat+thermometer&qid=1607520904&sr=8-5

It was really useful and reassuring for checking the temperature of reheated expressed milk/formula and is still used most days as a sanity check at bath time. Much more confidence inspiring than a colour changing rubber duck to tell me that I'm not going to scold my child.

Are aldi nappies good? I guess by good i mean ‘don’t leak’ and easy to put on.

Unfortunately this depends on the shape of the baby and can bit a little bit trial and error.

– Do babies need some kind of foot covering? Or are the baby grows sufficient?
no baby grows have feet

– I’m guessing I need a baby bath? Or is just basically a bowl?
This is good, just put it in the bath https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3153985

– How many additional nappies do I need to get in?
More than you can imagine. But some of the larger sizes too in case baby is big - you'll use them.

– Talcum powder – is that actually a thing, or just movies?
we never used

– Sudo cream?
bepanthen

– Some kind of bottle system? We’re planning on breast feeding, but presumably we need to transfer from the breast pump to a bottle to feed it
Some are a system, e.g. tommee tippee pump and bottles. I had to do a midnight run to asda for one so a pump (or being able to borrow) is advisable.

– Some kind of sterilisation system? What kind is best?
We just use a tomee tippee steam steriliser. Milton is cheapest.

– A groegg to monitor the temperature?
useful to know the temp of the room so you can put them in appropriate bedding. Grobags are marked helpfully.

– A thermometer for general ‘is the baby ill’ / ‘is this bath to cold’ purposes?
yes absolutely. every household should have one.

– What do you dry a baby with? Standard towels?
baby towels are just smaller towels

– Special bin for nappies? Or just bung them in the normal bin?
nappy bags for dirty ones and in the normal bin, wet just go in

– Formula as a backup? What sort is good?
midwife told us not to as the temptation is great and its available in every corner shop anyway. Powdered is a faff unless you have a prep machine too. Liquid obviously more expensive and goes off.

You don't need "stuff" just love.

If you do end up with bottles a bottle warmer is useful.

Microwave steriliser was what we used, dead simple

Dummy? Controversial with the NTC nazi party members but when you are desperate to sleep it’s a great silencer..

An ability to be pragmatic? Mini FFJA and mum both found breastfeeding impossible. Pressure from health visitors didn’t help. Don’t be afraid to swap to formula if it doesn’t work for you guys. I wish we had much sooner, it was a huge stressor.

Good luck! They’re quite hard to break, you’ll be fine! It’s a brilliant feeling.

Congratulations.

Here is some extremely practical baby advice.

Stuff isn't that important. As long as you have the basics you'll figure out very quickly what's the important stuff and what isn't.

Other peoples well meaning advice isn't that important. Listen to it all but be prepared to ignore anything that doesn't work for you. There is no right or wrong.

Other peoples practical assistance is important. If anyone volunteers to "help out" let them. Send them to the shop for more nappies and baby wipes. Make them do the hoovering. Whatever.

Buy more baby wipes and nappies. Bulk buy.

Look after yourselves as well. It's easy to neglect your own well being in favour of a baby. Don't.

STAY UP THE DRY END. I cannnot stress this one highly enough.

Don't worry. People have been having babies for ever. They were fine and you will be too.

I can calm a crying baby in seconds. It's like a superpower. Hold the baby against your chest and do a little swaying dad dance while humming a tune in as deep a pitch as possible. I use the Pink Panther theme but pick one that you enjoy... You'll be humming it for four hours straight every night for the next eighteen months.

What is a muslin? Oh god.

Known as a Sick Cloth in our house. Get loads, babies produce all sorts of substances you'll want to wipe off your clothes, your face, the sofa etc pretty quick. Deal with a few messes then fire it in the wash.

If it’s not been mentioned, Ewan The Dream Sheep! And second plenty of muslims. John Lewis is nice for neutral clothes and we found their stuff lasted well through all the washes.

Other than that, don’t really have anything to add to above. You’re a prime target for retailers, both online and off. No doubt you’ll end up buying something that you’ll wonder why on earth you did in a year’s time. Don’t worry, most of us do it once or twice.

Questions in my mind about what else we need:
– Do babies need some kind of foot covering? Or are the baby grows sufficient?
– I’m guessing I need a baby bath? Or is just basically a bowl?
– How many additional nappies do I need to get in?
– – is that actually a thing, or just movies?
– Sudo cream?
– Some kind of bottle system? We’re planning on breast feeding, but presumably we need to transfer from the breast pump to a bottle to feed it
– Some kind of sterilisation system? What kind is best?
– A groegg to monitor the temperature?
– A thermometer for general ‘is the baby ill’ / ‘is this bath to cold’ purposes?
– – Special bin for nappies? Or just bung them in the normal bin?
– Formula as a backup? What sort is good?

Yeah, get some little booties, it's cold out. Babies, especially newborns need warmth, even in summer.

Yeah get a baby bath, bathing newborns is hard work and terrifying, just plonking them in the kitchen sink won't cut it.

Additional nappies? All of them. Keep no less than a few days worth about. Local shops will carry 2 maybe 3 sizes, there's about a dozen and you WILL have a favourite. Running out to most Dads is a hassle, we'll make do with one 3 sizes too big or even an old tea towel in a pinch, to Mums though it's enough to cause a full-scale meltdown, avoid that shit.

Talcum powder, not in 2020, I'm sure some do, there's an unproved, but credible link to cancer and in any case if inhaled it can cause lung issues. It's also not very good for the skin (source, my wife who is a wound healing specialist nurse and skin expert.)

Sudocream yeah, plenty of. Don't piss about with the little pots, that's for teenagers with zits, get the baller, fist sized pot.

Some kind of bottle system, yep, I found the symbol ones you stick in the microwave work best.

Some kind of sterilisation system, see above.

A Groegg to monitor the temperature? Sounds like something to worry about to me, but if it makes you feel better.

A thermometer for general ‘is the baby ill’ / ‘is this bath to cold’ purposes? Yes, learn was normal baby temps should be and memorise that shit. It's a good sanity check for when you're being paranoid, and a good check for when you need to act. Stick your GP's number in your phone because WHEN they get a little temp, you'll shit yourself. Our GP has always been outstanding with ours, certainly when they're under 1, I've had to call them 3 times and the only answer I've ever heard from them on the phone is "Don't worry, come down and we'll be waiting for you".

Baby Towels, yeah, they're no different to adult towels, but they come with cute animals and usually folds you can place their heads in and wrap them up etc.

Special bin for nappies? Or just bung them in the normal bin? - speak to your council, most will give you a special coloured bag for them. It will amaze you how quickly it will fill.

Formula as a backup? What sort is good? ****ing right, Breast feeding is hard and sometimes just doesn't work, at worst you'll want a back-up for when it's 3am the Baby is screaming, Mum is in floods of tears of frustration and guilt because they won't latch or whatever or it's just too painful and it's time for you, the least haggered of the 3 of you to make a decision. Familiarise yourself with the instructions now, not when you're day 36 into sleep deprivation. Honestly it's the worst, you just can't think sometimes.

- Thermometer
I never found one that wasn't just a random number generator.

- Sterliser
Can't see any need for anything other than the microwave job

- Special bin
God no

- Dummies
Not on your list - well done, totally correct

STAY UP THE DRY END. I cannnot stress this one highly enough.

Or don't be pathetic and actual support your wife. Your average man isn't really this pathetic is he?

Or don’t be pathetic and actual support your wife. Your average man isn’t really this pathetic is he?

You can provide much better support from the dry end. That's the end that needs your help.

I know this because i've been down the wet end. Repeatedly, including one emergency caesarian

Yeah you'll basically get really good at arranging stuff so you can do things one handed but only practice will get you there.

Babies are proper ace and super resilient but you'll only realise this by #3 where you wonder what all the fuss was about. So enjoy the journey! Congrats dude.

It's good that you plan on keeping this minimal as a super maternal mum not only can want all sorts of material things (expensive prams, tons of car accessories, outfits for all scenarios) but also occupies the moral high ground.

You can't have too many wipes but nappies will be grown out of so bear that in mind. A couple of big packets (36 / 72??) will get you going though and they're not that expensive and can be donated elsewhere if you do grow out of them.

And in my experience I only ever got shat/pissed on a couple of times during changes - again prep and coordination is everything.

I wouldn't bother with that Argos bath thingie up there as it involves filling entire the bath. Get something like this https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4125840, that placed within the bath will take about 15 seconds to fill from a high volume tap and can also be used to ball up sheets covered in piss, shit and puke to cart from being rinsed out in the bath / shower to the washing machine.

Oh and don't buy any actual clothes - you'll get loads as presents and invariably wear none. Just baby grows (get a non-white one for 'going out') and when things settle you can think about getting properly dressed.

Dummy? Controversial with the NTC nazi party members but when you are desperate to sleep it’s a great silencer..

An ability to be pragmatic? Mini FFJA and mum both found breastfeeding impossible. Pressure from health visitors didn’t help. Don’t be afraid to swap to formula if it doesn’t work for you guys. I wish we had much sooner, it was a huge stressor.

Yep.

I wish I gave my Daughter a dummy, you can take those away, she found her thumb instead and still sleeps sicking it at 6, with her buck-teeth. I'll be a couple of grand out of pocket and will suffer a lot of teenage tantrums and tears for braces in a few years.

As for the 'Breast is best' Nazi Health Workers, this is one of the few times Dad can step-up. My Wife, who is a massively strong Women, and a pretty high-ranking Nurse felt pretty intimidated by being pushed to Brest feed by them, I had to act as her advocate.

All the basics covered there...

We got through tonnes of cotton wool and warm water instead of wipes for bum wiping etc, but wipes would be fine too...

Nappies, nappies and more nappies, and those scented bags to jam as many into as possible.... just don't breathe in when you tie the bag up...

Nipple cream for the wife if she's breast feeding...

If you have a boy, i recommend making a miniature paper hat type thing out of jay cloths to cover their willy when you change their nappy... Our one would pi$$ for england when he was having his nappy changed, and if you aren't careful it'll be up your t shirt and in your eye before you know...

Bank as much sleep as possible, you'll most likely need it.

Recharge your sense of humour, cos lots of things will come to test you in the next few months...

Remember to enjoy it, especially the cute little squidgy cuddles...

I’ll be a couple of grand out of pocket and will suffer a lot of teenage tantrums and tears for braces in a few years.

You might be surprised. Teenagers these days practically demand as much orthodontic treatment as they can get.

Braces are cool now.

We have a 1 year old here, and I was clueless pre-arrival. Key things I found, in no particular order:
- a steriliser is a good thing to have if you're using bottles. We were using 6 bottles a day, so a good Philips steriliser (and set of bottles) has been well worth it.
- dummies are good. We've limited ours to just bedtime, so the sprog isn't using them during the day. Also we have a couple of teddy rags - small soft cloth things with a small teddy at one end - which have proven very handy.
- We got a good pushchair/ carseat/ travel cot system; in our case Uppababy. The carseat fitted onto the buggy for the pushchair, the travel cot attachment was absolutely priceless and became our default daytime sleeping/ cosleeping/ etc sleep setting.
- a bouncy chair thing, I think ours was baby bjorn? Just a little tiny thing that holds the sprog and slowly bounces backwards and forwards. It did amazingly at soothing the sprog, and it'd sleep in there too.
- finally, the Contented Baby by Gina Ford, and a firm belief in schedules. We bottle fed with breast milk, which meant that we knew precisely how much the sprog was consuming and when. From there we were able to build a schedule and stick to it, and, after 6 months, arrive at sleeping 10pm to 7am, which was an absolute lifesaver.

That's probably the single most important lessson for me. Whether you want to feed breast milk or formula is entirely up to you, but knowing how much the baby has consumed is absolutely vital to build any kind of confidence that your child isn't starving, that you can let them sleep another hour, etc.

As for the ‘Breast is best’ Nazi Health Workers, this is one of the few times Dad can step-up. My Wife, who is a massively strong Women, and a pretty high-ranking Nurse felt pretty intimidated by being pushed to Brest feed by them, I had to act as her advocate.

We got this a lot and it's absolutely horrendous. You have mothers at their lowest ebb, knackered and struggling, who feel that they *should* be better, should have an amazingly quiet baby, otherwise they're failing and killing their baby. And you have this entire system of people - some qualified healthcare workers others not - catching them at their lowest and forcing yet more pressure on them.

Ultimately, the decision is yours as parents. It's not set in stone, you can change your mind; but when people come to tell you you "should" be doing something else, you have to own your decision and politely tell them to shove it.

The wife had some really difficult times, and I think much of it boiled down to this sense of "I should be..." - the "should" part became her worst consideration I think, and we gradually moved away from that, towards realising that nobody else has a single clue either about how to raise our child.

Couple of suggestions -
Cotton wool balls for wiping eyes and face.
Gloves? Newborns can scratch their faces
Non-bio washing powder for clothes, the bio stuff can irritate their skin.
Little nappy change tip, lift it up at the front then hold it ready to catch any wee that seems to be initiated by the cold air.

– Formula as a backup? What sort is good? pre-mixed if its just a couple for backup, but tbh if you have a pump I don’t see why you would need it

Breast by day and formula by night. Four bottles to be sterilisied in a microwave. Set up a bottle before bed and set the timer.

as been mentioned above, if breast feeding doesn't work out, fair enough. Mrs Yeti took our first to some form of coffee morning who were all advocating breast is best, and it destroyed her confidence as it just wasn't working for her. Do whatever works for you. this goes for lots of things, where the baby sleeps, what it eats, what nappies to use, going back to work etc etc.

Breast by day and formula by night.

Not always that simple though, the best boob milk is supposedly produced at night and it may also result in night time pumping - which is even more lonely than nighttime feeding

Has anyone mentioned PND yet? Depression is a huge problem and can take months to fully rear it’s ugly head. This is an area you really want to keep an eye on as post natal depression isn’t good for anyone

Facebook marketplace is full of used baby stuff in good nick so if you're not sure you'll need something you can pick it up cheaply off there and bang it back on there when you're done. There's not much sense buying new when a lot of 2nd hand stuff is only used short term, if at all.

night time pumping

I think that's how he got into this trouble

And second plenty of muslims

I was waiting for the spellcheck....and it came

The number of times we were out, and one of the kids would ask for a muslim...

– What do you dry a baby with? Standard towels?

We experimented with air drying but, turns out, holding your sprog out of a car doing 70mph is an arrestable offence.

I think that’s how he got into this trouble

Shoulda stuck to the lonely version.

– A breast pump (with Bluetooth!)

That'll need pairing. 😀
RM.

That’ll need pairing

Bra-vo.

Where are your muslins?! You should have no less than 500 ready to deploy at a moments notice

Came here to check this had been said. Was not disappointed. You need an endless supply of them and pro-tip - don't bin them when baby (and any subsequent babies) have no need as they are great for polishing cars and general garage pottering uses. I have bags of them that I am sure my kids will inherit when I shuffle off.

Lots of good advice above, apart from the baby bath. Don't bother - if she has a c-section she won't be able to move it. Bung the nipper in the bath. An inch of water, sorted.

Don't buy too much "stuff". Most of what you buy won't be much use and you'll only work this out from having a go.

Get a Prime subscription.

Make some freezer food now. Or have friends who can bring some grub round.

Beware relatives. It's your baby, your rules.

Facebook marketplace is full of used baby stuff in good nick

absolutely this

both clothes and toys

and babies.

Questions in my mind about what else we need:
– Do babies need some kind of foot covering? Or are the baby grows sufficient?
vest and baby grow will be fine indoors, blankets or sleep bag when sleeping, for anything outdoors Id say vest, baby grow and a winter/snow suit - this is what we are doing at the moment with a 9month old
– I’m guessing I need a baby bath? Or is just basically a bowl?
Yes, we still use this one which we got from John Lewis Bath, has a bump in it so they dont slip under the water, small enough we could use it in the kitchen till he started splashing and now he sits in it with it in the bath
– How many additional nappies do I need to get in?
Id say one or two more, then a pack a week for life... dont buy too many as they are size/weight specific and you move up through them quickly, we are at size 5 at 9 months, dont think we used newborns either as junior was big...
– Talcum powder – is that actually a thing, or just movies?
never used it
– Sudo cream?
use lots of it on the bum at every change, when a sore appeared we used bepanthen
– Some kind of bottle system? We’re planning on breast feeding, but presumably we need to transfer from the breast pump to a bottle to feed it
we picked up a tommee tipee steriliser so got the bottles that fitted in that!
– Some kind of sterilisation system? What kind is best?
see above
– A groegg to monitor the temperature?
not need right now, the baby will be in the same room as you for months now, consider when shipping to own bedroom if baby monitor doesnt do it
– A thermometer for general ‘is the baby ill’ / ‘is this bath to cold’ purposes?
yes, we have a digital one does his temp and water temp
– What do you dry a baby with? Standard towels?
we have cute baby towels with a hood on them
– Special bin for nappies? Or just bung them in the normal bin?
we had a special bin but in the end never used it and put them in the normal black bag
– Formula as a backup? What sort is good?
we planned to breastfeed but as a back up I picked up a couple of bottles of ready to go stuff from Aptamil, just needed warming to be given to the boy, then if breastfeeding doesn't work you can switch to powder formula which is cheaper

Most of the above matches with my rather current experience. One thing though, you ask for the baby Haynes manual - have you spotted the baby Haynes manual?

https://haynes.com/en-gb/baby-manual-3rd-edition?gclid=CjwKCAiAiML-BRAAEiwAuWVgghNl5URAuO1ob_gxej_u-m5O_IJuVIDA3BmpBmUbfovv98jdfqbasRoC69kQAvD_BwE

I found it very handy from -1 month to 4 months. Baby now 7 months, so I think we’re doing ok. Book is simpler and more balanced than most. And handy troubleshooting flow charts at the back where you normally look for wiring diagrams.

I CBA to read through that lot, but:

- nappies and sacs
- baby grows (white)
- lots of bibs
- wipes
- nappy cream
- car seat
- rocker chair
- bath
- sleep basket
- hats & gloves (inside)
- all in one (outside)
- microwave steriliser

Anything else, buy when you need it

Also look for baby sales (NCT usually do them) once covid is under control. Along with Facebook Marketplace it is a great way of buying all that baby stuff you want/need.

We have a garage full of stuff we want to get rid of once they open back up. But they ain't getting my muslins!

Think everything is pretty well covered, but if it's not been mentioned look at reusable wipes. Can't remember what ours are called but they're way better than using disposable ones (for us). Think they're Australian. You'll still want a few packs of disposables for when you're out and about.

We couldn't get on with reusable nappies, but ymmv.

We do have a special magic nappy bin, because we were given it. It does a good job of masking poo smell, which can be a godsend when it's pissing down and you're on your own, but I dunno if I'd buy one.

We alternate between Bepanthen and Sudocrem. My nearly 2 year old finds it hilarious when I say bumpanther.

A packet of baby wipes

You can basically clean an entire child and an entire house with baby wipes. You will soon find you are never more than 2m away from a packet.

Get some condoms as well. My wife recently did a six week post birth check on a mum and discovered she was pregnant. She didn't take the news too well! (the mum, not my wife, she's not pregnant)

Don't over think things. You'll work it out and you seem to have the basics covered.

bumpanther.

At least buy me a drink first

If it’s not been mentioned, Ewan The Dream Sheep!

Just incase it hasn't been mentioned. Wouldn't bother with that. We got one as a gift. It's pretty crap and chews batteries for c.30 quid I'd be miffed

We ended up with a 15 quid Amazon white noise machines worked much better for us.

At least buy me a express me some milk to drink first

Fixed

Just incase it hasn’t been mentioned. Wouldn’t bother with that. We got one as a gift. It’s pretty crap and chews batteries for c.30 quid I’d be miffed

Would you still be miffed if it was named after you? At the moment that's all I can see.

Thank you everyone - this is an amazing response. Getting on to local mosque for the Muslims now.

Also, can't believe I didn't actually think of googling for an actual Haynes baby manual!

As mentioned NCT sales are great for clothes and stuff. We also joined a childrens clothes exchange which probably saved us thousands.

We got on well with the Gina Ford books, but others may well disagree.

Breast feeding seems to be difficult to get the hang of, a good nurse/midwife can help out here, helping mum to get the hang of it.

We were advised not to use babywipes to start with, just cotton wool balls and warm water. Setting everything up at a changing station simplifies things and practising on a doll helps build a bit of confidence.

Enjoy, its a great journey.

forgot my bath temperature tip. If you have a thermostatic shower above your bath, figure out where on the dial is the right temperature for a warm bath, then just set it to that amount for every future bath and fill it up with the shower. perfect temperature every time without faffing about with hot/cold taps. We're still using this with our 4 year old.

shower mit over the shower head stops all splashing whilst you're filling it up, too

15 quid Amazon white noise machine

old mobile phone + youtube video of 24 hour white noise is free 🙂

Ewan the dream sheep +1 (I too thought of this immediately when I saw thread title and OP).

Does indeed eat batteries though, I bought some rechargeables pretty quickly

Congratulations OP - just want to second the posts for;

Buy all the baby wipes and nappies you can.

Muslins always to hand.

Ewan the dream sheep (and spare batteries).

If your wife is breast feeding - sleep when the baby does and don’t get bullied in to continuing if it doesn’t work for you.

Other than that just hugs, love, try not to stress and be there for each other too.

Get some condoms as well. My wife recently did a six week post birth check on a mum and discovered she was pregnant. She didn’t take the news too well! (the mum, not my wife, she’s not pregnant)

SIX WEEKS! I’m sure it was 3 months before I was allowed anywhere near ‘there’.

Babies need very little, stuff for changing, stuff for feeding for everything else get Amazon Prime and work it out as you go.

Just incase it hasn’t been mentioned. Wouldn’t bother with that. We got one as a gift. It’s pretty crap and chews batteries for c.30 quid I’d be miffed

Turn off the red light, batteries last ages

Turn off the red light, batteries ages

But then you wouldn't have the faint demonic glow as well as the freaky sounds!

Yeah we passed on the demonic glow 😀

Wipes, when you see bulk boxes on offer, buy them. I came home with 10 boxes of 12 packs and they were all used.

Breast feeding, my rhyme to help out was
Tummy to mummy, nipple to nose, open up wide and in it goes.... I thought it helped but my wife found the societal pressure to breast huge. She also found it immensely lonely at night.

We switched to bottles and used a Philips Avent steriliser and bottles. And a tommee tippee perfect prep machine. Expensive but the bottles were made in minutes not ages, makes a difference at 3am. My neighbours gave theirs milk at room temperature as it's quicker still.

My wife liked the donut pillow to sit on following the birth.

Reminds me we have no2 coming up soon. Better dig out the newborn hand me downs

Baby wipes were too harsh for the first born so it was cotton balls and water for her.

We use MAM bottles, they sterilise in the microwave without the need for any other pieces.

No two babies are the same. Our first slept through by 3 months the boy has slept through twice and he's 17 months! He took to the boob far far better than his big sister though.

Worth noting that Tesco (other supermarkets are available) is open 6am to midnight and will sell you pretty much anything you might need urgently.

If anyone asks if they can do anything to help, get them to make you ready meals. A pile in the freezer or delivered daily helps when you're sleep deprived.

Good luck and make sure you take care of yourself too. You'll be fine.

Cargo bike.......

Don’t stress, support your mrs, anything you need or want you can order or will get given by people trying to get rid of there stuff!

Breastfeeding is best which is well proven but as said above feeling pressured will not help your mrs.

(mrs db is super qualified senior midwife)

And congratulations!

Some great advice. That dream sheep is weird. Don’t get a Angel Care alarm thing as when my daughter rolled off it and it went off during the night I did actually piss myself. Bottle feeding can be interesting , my wife went out and left me a bottle of tit milk which I promptly managed to empty down the sink. So I made a big bottle of formula which my daughter had never taken, she hoofed the lot and slept for 7 hours ! It took me 2 weeks to confess , one sleepless night as we lamented in what I had done I admitted it, we fed her again and she slept. She was hungry it seems. And still is at 7 , it’s like watching a cement mixer 😂
Anyway good luck, it’s ace and terrifying and awful and amazing all in 30 seconds. Look after your Mrs as that’s all your job is for 6 months.

Great advice here, when baby is old enough to have a comforter...ours had a bear head on a towel buy two of the favourite one they never put down. Our little un who is 7 now still has hers and still takes it to bed. When she was 2 it got lost, the shop we bought it from had discontinued the line as well. She wouldn’t settle without it and I found 2 new ones on eBay....at £25 each....I bought both and have kept the spare one just in case. If you look people are always selling these things on eBay for 5x what they cost so it must be a common thing 👍😂

Top notch advice so far. We’re waiting for our second to arrive.

Only thing I haven’t seen mentioned -
First couple of days it’s eat, sleep, nappy. Every 2-4 hours round that cycle. If eat doesn’t happen on that interval you need to make it happen. That’s why you’re gonna need more nappies than one pack!

I’ll always remember spending the night on the maternity ward, little family across the ward gleefully telling the nurse in the morning “yeah we all slept great for 8hrs” and the nurse whipping them urgently into a feed.

But don’t sweat it, as above, you can still go to the shops! Just get the first couple days covered and get some home cooked dinners in the freezer whilst you got some spare time.

Some of the best advice we got has been echoed up there ^^^

Lots of folks will say 'we really needed XXXXX so you should definitely get that' but they have no way of knowing whether it will fit your family and you. For example, lots of folk saying that Ewan the Dream sheep is great, but our son absolutely hated it*. I could barely remember any of the advice anyway so would usually end up asking folk as and when issues arose. Anyway, you can figure out lots of stuff as you go, and don't be afraid to abandon ship on an idea and try something new.

Congrats and best of luck!

*he's almost 3 now and found him in a cupboard. He calls him 'Creepy Sheepy' and he's good pals with his stuffed puffin so it wasn't money wasted after all.

Lots of AA/AAA batteries!

Lol - some good advice on here.

Buy some decent coffee, or a coffee machine thing (even the dreaded nespresso) - you will value this above anything else you buy. Oh, and an audible subscription.

We've had 2 - now 2 and 4, and I love every minute with them. Even being up all night with them at various points - wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Overall, my finding is: nothing is particularly complicated, but its the non-stop/constant nature of it that's challenging. Therefore, you should buy things that make your life easier/simplify.
Obviously this is situation specific, but here are a few that worked for us:

Lots of people recommending microwave steam sterilizers. We had a Milton tub thing - you just store everything in there, it's always sterile, and you just take out what you need and shake off the excess. Seems much less faff to me.

Nappy bin. We have one - an odorless one, next to the changing table. Yes, you could bag up the dirty nappy (and wipes.... with one hand), then take the nappy outside to the bin. Or you could just open the little flap and drop it in right there, then change the bin every other day.

You don't really know what's going to happen with feeding until it happens. As above - there are plenty of breast-feeding nazis out there - these should be shown the door as soon as they reveal themselves as such. There are too many stories of mums being made to feel inadequate because of these people - Literally ask them to leave.
If breast feeing isn't working, you can use formula - it's fine. Both mine had breast and formula - and honestly, it's the best of both worlds. Some people will tell you that once babies are bottle/formula fed they won't go back to the breast, but that's not my experience, and the flexibility was very valuable. Believe me, if your baby is crying because they are hungry..... you will just do whatever works (and that's the only "right" thing)

Otherwise, there are very few things that I feel that we couldn't have lived without. I would respectfully suggest that you don't need a thermometer for the bath or the bedroom - but an in-ear thermometer is good to check that they are not sick - fevers in young babies can be very serious, so you need a thermometer if only to put your mind a rest. Get a braun in-ear one.

Otherwise just try to enjoy it.

It was said above, but in the delivery room stay up the dry end.
Also. Don't watch this...
https://www.reddit.com/r/educationalgifs/comments/k9y005/extracting_a_baby/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Flask of warm water - topped up with the spare water in the kettle whenever we made ourselves a drink for a ready supply of tepid water for cleaning baby and mixing formula. Worked for us as we mostly used cotton wool pads or flannels for nappy changing and cleaning and as formula was the only option due to medication. Buy the formula you can get hold of the easiest as they can get brand loyal.

Our demon is now 2 months old.

Make sure you have some decent headphones. Sometimes nothing you do will stop them screaming, so put some music on.

We got an angelcare nappy bin for next to the changing table as it's convenient and some of the poos are horrendous. Odour free.

Plenty of muslin cloths.

A snow suit for when out and about. Don't waste money of clothes, all of ours we're off marketplace/gumtree/vinted. Cost sod all which is handy as they outgrow them in weeks so sell them again and get your money back (minus postage.)

Hands and toes get cold so get some socks and mittens. We got plenty of vests and baby grows that have sleeves that fold over at the ends to keep hands warm, work a treat.

A proper baby bath helps, we just put it on worktop in the kitchen so no bending over (might not be an issue for you but I'm old and rickety.) I use my kitchen probe (for roasts) to make sure water is correct temp.

If you get a Moses basket just get a second hand one and get a new mattress, they only use it for a few weeks anyway.

Aldi premium nappies are great. Even when there are some disasterpoos there is no leakage. Their cheap ones and Lidl own tend to leak in an explosion. Aldi baby wipes are the best we've used, you can buy them by the box for about £2.60.

Plan meals that are easily eaten with one hand - having to rock a baby in one arm to stop it screaming in your face makes dinner time a right ballache so do everything you can to make it stress free.

Also make sure mum has some easily to prepare lunches for when you aren't around.

Of course breastfeeding is best but it's incredibly stressful, painful and takes too long. We got 2 second hand electric breat pumps, bottles and plug in steriliser from Facebook/similar. Missus pumps every 3 to 4 hours but takes 12 minutes so even at 3am she's straight back to sleep. Even this means a surplus so she can have a beer/wine with dinner and throw away the next lot of milk whilst we use the stash. Most importantly it means I can do the feed whilst the missus sleeps. You owe it to her.

Don't worry about screwing up. Baby has no idea what's going on and won't remember anyway.

I don't think it helpful to refer to anyone as a breastfeeding 'Nazi'. Someone trying to promote something which is clinically proven to help both mother and baby longterm is quite literally the opposite of a Nazi. I remember that in those emotional hours/days following birth it can be overwhelming but with the right support it should be achievable for most. In retrospect we were lucky that due to a complicated birth we stayed in for two nights and had all of the support we needed, round the clock. A close family member was rushed out following a relatively simple birth and received no support at all. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Good luck OP xx

I'm amazed that the NCT course didn't give you this information. Maybe it depends on the teacher, we got loads of detail like what you're asking for (though it was 12 years ago!). Give them some feedback.

Nazi's too strong but the militant breastfeeding lobby made the first six weeks of motherhood / parenthood a misery for my wife and I.

She was determined to breastfeed and stuck with it through cracked nipples, mastitis, near constant crying (all three of us), we took all the support we could and paid for counsellors from place like La Leche. The health visitor really made her feel guilty for not being able to do it.

In the end it was my mum who lost her rag and ordered us to give her granddaughter a bottle. It was like a light coming on, poor mite had been hungry for nearly 6 weeks.

I remember the next visit from the health visitor. My wife (me too) was terrified of what she'd say. I took the day off to be there for support. What she said just infuriated me more. She had a poor record (maybe due to the area we live in, there is a link between social class and breastfeeding, like it or not) and was 'on a warning' from her management chain to get her numbers up. She'd privately thought that my wife wasn't going to succeed but felt she couldn't intervene, partly because of the impact on her numbers but also the stigma for us as a nice middle class family turning up to our middle class baby classes laden with Tommy Tippee bottles and formula.

It still hurts 16 years on that I didn't act sooner. I also wish I'd taken it up with her bosses as she wasn't being treated fairly either, and she was as distraught as us the day we 'fessed up.

The mantra is 'breast is best'. What the baby needs is best.