The Yummy Mummy’s Survival Guide. Liz Fraser
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for impractical bonnets and My Baby’s First Photo Album schmaltz instead. Her face displayed a look I can only describe as something between disappointment and disgust. I bet she regrets it now. I became so used to having a muslin square over my left shoulder to catch any post-feed spills that I frequently walked around with one even though my baby was somewhere else. They are also indispensable for lying your baby down on if you need an emergency change somewhere less than spotless, as a very thin layer in hot summer months instead of a blanket, or as a makeshift sunshade if you’ve left yours at home as I always seemed to.
15. Bibs
Loads and loads and loads. Soft ones which do up at the back are best, unless you want to smear egg into your baby’s hair as you remove it. Done that many times.
16. Changing bag
This will go with you everywhere from now on, and should be able to fit a nappy, wipes, a bottle of milk, a food jar, a spoon, one change of baby clothes, small toys, a travel changing mat and some lipstick. It doesn’t need to be designer, but something pretty which you will be proud to carry everywhere with you will do.
17. A baby sling
This is not in case you do break one of his arms while getting him dressed, but to carry him around in if you don’t fancy heaving the pram over any rough terrain, or when you could do with sharing some body heat. Front carriers (aka papooses or slings) are very useful for times when a wheeled vehicle is unnecessary or inappropriate. Make sure the part near your baby’s mouth is removable and washable—it will get disgustingly pasted with slobber and bits of sick. That covers the essential items you should get for your new baby. It’s a huge list, and it costs a large fortune, but, unless you subscribe to the ‘swaddling clothes and an old rag doll’ approach to childcare, then you should find them all very useful or even essential. Best send your bank manager some flowers, smartish.
Things You Will Feel You Should Buy, but Don’t Need and Won’t Use
The Ultimate Luxury Baby Gear—Because Looking Good Doesn’t Stop with You
And some cheaper alternatives…
I am always happy to buy second-hand baby clothes and toys, but somehow when it came to the basics of pram, cot, high-chair and so on, I had to have them new, clean and unexposed to another baby’s snot and spit. Just a personal thing, which probably involves some irrational motherly pride too. You can get some fantastic second-hand bargains at car-boot sales and by looking on good old eBay, and never be too proud to accept a hand-me-down from a friend or relative. I’ve just inherited a friend’s buggy, as our old one finally caved in after seven years of hard wear, and, while it’s not the loveliest piece of baby equipment I’ve ever owned, it’s free, and it’ll do the next six months perfectly.
If none of this sounds appealing, and new is really what you’re after, try these for value and no loss of style:
High Street Clobber
Mothercare has come a long way since the days of shapeless dungarees and flowery blankets. They stock all the necessary basics at reasonable prices, and just occasionally you can spot a really stylish piece.
Other stores to take a look at, while you are actually shopping for yourself and not your baby, include Boots, Argos and John Lewis, and if you can set an entire Sunday aside, then never forget Ikea. Flat-pack equals better value, remember?
Online
This is the best place to start to get an idea of the styles you like. If you can bear to buy without touching and smelling first, it’s also the easiest way of baby-furnishing your house. Search under ‘baby equipment’ and you’ll have enough choice to satisfy even your high standards.
TOP TIP: I have heard miserable tales of cots and prams arriving late, with bolts and screws missing, leaving the baby to sleep in a drawer for a few weeks and Mummy unable to go out until the extra parts arrived. Order online items with plenty of time to spare, and be ready to get your Ikea ‘how does this fit together’ head screwed on.
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