Now tell me honestly, mums (and dads), were you 100% really really ready for the arrival of your little one? I had everything ready for Harvey’s arrival – clothes, blankets and muslins, dummies, bottles, steriliser, wipes and a million other toiletry related things. Heck, even his nursery was ready despite the fact he wouldn’t even be sleeping in there yet. I had everything organised and ready physically, but let me tell you, I honestly hand on heart was a nervous wreck on the inside.
What helped me?
Going back to having things ready, knowing that I had these things in place definitely helped. I was definitely a mum that went overboard when all I really needed were these basic necessities to get by the first few weeks/couple of months.
- Baby grows and vests. Now, I definitely brought way too many clothes for Harvey, and I also had a lot of clothes brought for me as gifts etc, but truth being told, he didn’t even wear half of them. Two reasons – one, he was born at 9lb 1oz and was too big for his ‘newborn’ sized outfits. Some fitted him, but he was basically straight into size 0-3m as he was big and chunky. And two, there were simply too many. Just having around ten to fifteen of each would see you through nicely.
- Toiletries. Again, I was gifted SO MANY toiletry bits and bobs at my baby shower and by friends and family. The inside of Harvey’s wardrobe has a shelf, and the amount of nappies, body washes, lotions, talcum powder, nappy rash cream and cotton wool I received was enough to fill the shelf. It was like having my own baby aisle at Boots inside a wardrobe! If you don’t get gifted any of that stuff, fear not! Just pop out and buy one of each basic necessity. (We personally use a Johnsons baby body wash, a Johnsons baby shampoo and conditioner and ohnsons night-time talcum powder for bath time; he also has Johnsons baby lotion for when we need it, and Sudocrem or Bepanthen nappy rash cream).
- Milk and bottles. If you choose to formula feed, like I did, then of course you’re going to need your milk ready. They tell you to take the ready made packs into hospital with you, but at home you’re gonna be making your own! I use Tommee Tippee bottles, a Tommee Tippee steam steriliser (and I also have a Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep Machine). I cannot count how many times I sterilised Harvey’s bottles before he arrived.
- I also ensured I had baby blankets and cardigans for Harvey. I had about three blankets in use at any one time – one in his pram, one we would take out with us to cover him over in his carseat (when not using the pram), and one for when he slept. I also had a gazillion knitted cardigans gifted to me, but in reality we only need about four, maybe five.
- Carseat and pram. Of course you need these, and whichever you choose is entirely your discretion. No one can tell you what brand to go for, because you pick the one that works for you. I just brought a complete set off an outlet on eBay (because it was cheaper, mostly), and was lucky enough to have carseat hand-me-downs from my cousin.
All in all, I think if you at least have the above all ready for your little ones arrival, you’ll be fine and make it through the first few weeks with no issues or worries. Anything else can come later when you’ve had your bonding time and decide to brave it out of the house.
Chloe's Blog 