Things We Bought Before Baby Arrived: What Was Actually Useful

When you’re getting ready for your first baby, it’s really easy to feel like you need everything.

Everywhere you look there’s another “newborn essential” or “must-have baby item”, and when it’s your first time, you don’t really know what’s actually useful and what just sounds useful.

We bought quite a few things before baby arrived. Some felt like obvious essentials. Some were more about peace of mind. Some were probably us being first-time parents and trying to feel prepared.

Here’s our honest take on what we bought and what we think will actually be useful.

The sleep setup felt like the most important bit

One of the first things we wanted sorted was somewhere safe for baby to sleep.

We went for a bedside crib, along with fitted sheets and waterproof mattress protectors. This felt like one of the most sensible purchases because it’s something baby will use every day.

The mattress protectors are one of those boring-but-useful buys. Not exciting, but almost definitely worth having ready.

We also bought a few Love To Dream swaddles in different sizes and TOG ratings. Sleep is one of the big unknowns, so anything that might help baby settle safely felt worth trying.

The GroEgg room thermometer/nightlight also felt useful. It takes a bit of the guesswork out of room temperature, which is one less thing to worry about.

Changing stuff is boring, but probably essential

The changing bits are not the most exciting things to buy, but they’re probably some of the things we’ll use the most.

We bought nappy caddies, a changing mat, a nappy bin, Sudocrem, cotton wool pads, wipes and other little cleaning bits.

The nappy caddy feels like a simple win. The idea is to keep nappies, wipes, cream and muslins together so we’re not constantly walking around the house looking for things.

The nappy bin was one we weren’t completely sure about, but we can see it being useful, especially in the early days when there are a lot of changes.

Feeding was the hardest thing to plan for

Feeding is tricky because you don’t really know what you’ll need until baby is here.

We bought bottles, extra teats, bottle brushes, sterilising bits, bottle warmers and a few portable feeding items.

Some of it might end up being more than we need. But our thinking was that we’d rather have some basics ready than be tired, stressed and ordering things in a panic later.

The things that feel most useful so far are the bottles, bottle brush set, steriliser and RapidCool. The more expensive feeding gadgets are the ones we’ll have to judge properly once we’re actually using them.

Bath time felt a bit scary, so we bought things to make it easier

Bathing a tiny newborn sounds slightly terrifying when you’ve never done it before.

We bought a baby bath support, a bath thermometer, a rinse cup and a few gentle bath/skin bits.

The bath support feels like a good buy because it should make those first baths a bit less awkward. The thermometer was cheap and simple, but useful because it removes another bit of guesswork.

Some things were really about peace of mind

A few things we bought were less about daily use and more about feeling prepared.

We bought a baby monitor, an ear thermometer, a nasal aspirator and an electric baby nail file.

The baby monitor felt like an obvious one. The thermometer also felt sensible because it’s the kind of thing you don’t want to be buying for the first time when baby is already unwell.

The nasal aspirator and nail file probably won’t be used every day, but they feel like the kind of things we’ll be glad to have when we need them.

We also bought an Owlet Dream Sock. That’s definitely more of a personal choice and probably not something everyone would want, but as first-time parents we understand why people buy things that help them feel a bit more reassured.

Getting out and about

We bought a few things for travel and leaving the house too.

The baby car mirror felt like a really practical buy. Being able to see baby in the car seems like something we’ll appreciate.

We also bought a baby carrier wrap, a pram fan, a pram rocker and a little pram toy.

The baby carrier is one we’re hoping will be useful around the house as well as out and about. Anything that gives us our hands back while keeping baby close sounds like a good thing.

The pram fan and rocker are probably more situational, but they felt useful enough to have ready.

Toys and little extras

We didn’t go too mad with toys, but we did buy a few early bits.

We got a play gym, tummy time pillow, wrist rattles, a high contrast soft book, a teether, milestone cards and Ewan the sheep.

The play gym and tummy time pillow feel like useful early items. The high contrast book and wrist rattles are simple, small and easy to store, so they seemed worth having.

The milestone cards are definitely not essential, but they’re a nice little keepsake.

We also bought things for mum

One thing we noticed is that a lot of baby prep focuses completely on the baby, but recovery matters too.

We bought postpartum recovery bits, breast pads, colostrum collectors, nursing cups, a Haakaa pump and a breastfeeding cover.

Some of these will depend on how birth, recovery and feeding go, but it felt sensible to have a few things ready rather than trying to figure it all out afterwards.

Things we didn’t rush to buy

There were a few things we didn’t buy straight away because they felt more like “later” items.

Things like car window shades, baby swim bits and baby sunglasses might be useful, but they didn’t feel as urgent as the sleep, changing, feeding and recovery basics.

There were also a few fun personal bits we considered that definitely aren’t baby essentials. Those can wait.

What feels most useful so far?

If we had to narrow it down, the things that feel most useful before baby arrives are:

• Bedside crib
• Fitted sheets and waterproof mattress protectors
• Swaddles
• Nappy caddy
• Changing mat
• Nappy bin
• Bottles and bottle cleaning bits
• Steriliser
• Bath support
• Bath thermometer
• Baby monitor
• Room thermometer
• Car mirror
• Baby carrier
• A few simple sensory toys
• Postpartum recovery bits

Those are the things that feel the most practical and realistic.

Final thoughts

The biggest thing we’ve learned is that baby prep can get out of hand really quickly.

There are so many products that look useful, and when it’s your first baby, it’s hard to know what will actually help and what will just sit in a drawer.

Our approach ended up being: sort the things for sleep, feeding, changing, bathing, travel and recovery first. Then leave the more optional bits until later.

We’ll probably look back after baby arrives and realise some things were brilliant and some things were barely used. But that’s part of being first-time parents.

We’re learning as we go.

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