Current Mums

Have a look at this link

http://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9402&KW=essential

yeah dont be sucked in to buying every single flash gadget as babies dont need them.
As long as you have a cot, blankets, clothes, nappies, booties, mitten and woolen beanies etc
A car seat, and things like that then you are fine

Babies need love and cuddles like catcase said, they dont need all the flashy things, cos they dont have a clue what they are but they know that you are their mummy

Edited by Sheza

Quite often the less fancy gadgets work best. For example when you go to buy a highchair I'd avoid the expensive ones with all the bells and whistles. They're the most disgusting things to clean. We were loaned one like that initially and i hated it.

We then bought a wooden one, which was acceptable, but within a week of owning it we went to Christchurch and stayed in a friend's house. They had a budget very very simple highchair (i.e. under $100). There were no bells and whistles at all. We really liked it and ended up selling our week old high chair and buying one very similar to it. I appreciate it every time I wipe it down which is several times a day.

Things that I wouldn't be without in the early day.
- flat nappies as burp cloths or some alternative which is just as good. I ended up with a very spilly baby and I would have washed more flat nappies than anything else when she was tiny.

- gripe water for the same reason. I'd recommend having one bottle in the house just in case.

- Avent breast shells. These are wonderful for relieving engorged breasts. Cost around $20 but worth every cent. I wouldn't even be bothered with nipple cream if you had these.

- Bath easy - not an essential but definitely really nice to have as you don't need to hold onto a slippery baby in the bath. It's a bit of towelling on a metal frame and holds bubs really well.

Edited by scarecrowfarm

I still use flat cloth nappies, they come in hanby for all sorts of things. Mittens!! I didn't have any to start with and Jack ended up with scratches all over his face because I couldn't seem to cut his nails often enough.

I too think flat cloth nappies are great - I use in the highchair to cover clothes/laps to catch food etc...  saves on lots of changes of clothes

Ooh and a wrap cloth/blanket.... which kept him warm when out of his bassinette.

One of them actually turned into his cuddly 'blankie' for a number of years!

This is really helpful guys. There are so many lists on the net but you don't know which ones are guided by paying advertisements.

Now, cots seem to be one of the most expensive things on the planet. Aside from trademe, where would you guys suggest we try? It doesn't have to be gold plated, but $600.00 for a basic timber cot seems a bit outrageous to me.

Danaj wrote: This is really helpful guys. There are so many lists on the net but you don't know which ones are guided by paying advertisements. Now, cots seem to be one of the most expensive things on the planet. Aside from trademe, where would you guys suggest we try? It doesn't have to be gold plated, but $600.00 for a basic timber cot seems a bit outrageous to me.

Places like Farmers and Kmart sell cots, the cheapest being around $299. If you waited until a sale, you could get about 20% off that price.
Do you want a new one, or is second hand OK? Trademe is a good idea, unless you have to travel quite a long way to pick it up (with the price of petrol etc, you could be adding on another $100 plus if it's not close by).

When we were talking about cots, the woman at the baby store said to base our choice on whether we would be planning to have more kids later on, and how many.
If you plan on having another 2-3 kids, buying a new (and nice) cot is a bit more warranted than if it's only going to be for the one.
But of course, in the end it just comes down to what you want, and what suits you.

Good luck making a choice, and have fun! Shopping for babies is great.