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Despite firmly saying to myself this wouldn’t turn into any kind of parenting blog I couldn’t not share these responses. I feel completely lost about what you really need to get for a new baby. I know that most of the things we bought before for the boys not only were really expensive but both boys refused to go in them – I am looking at you bouncy chair! These suggestions are not my own obviously because I am completely inexperienced and I cant seem to get passed the first hurdle of buying any baby clothes. What I have done is researched each thing that was mentioned and listed them in categories if that makes it easier for you!
Before I get into my favourite suggestions were Gin, Grandparents, Pizza, Netflix, A dog walker and a cleaner!
Feeding
Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep Machine
We used this machine with Sonny and it, not surprisingly, was the thing that came out top of all the responses. If you are formula feeding it is a lifesaver. It Makes a bottle at the correct temperature in just to minutes making those late night feeds so much easier.
It looks like I am not the only one attracted to this gorgeous Scandinavian design. A high chair that grows with your child and wouldn’t look out of place in most homes due to the variety of colour ways. I haven’t used one but it is on my list of things to buy.
This was recommended a lot but having researched it I am unsure whether it is something I would feel I would need. Maybe it is more useful at the weaning stage and I am focusing more on what is required immediately.
For those breast feeding this has been the pump that was mentioned the most. I am actually surprised as I have seen a lot of talk about the Elvie breast pump on instagram and there is a significant price difference between the two.
Every I know that has just had a baby are using MAM bottles. There weren’t something that I knew existed when my boys were little. I love that they can be sterilised without the need of a big sterilising machine on your kitchen counter!
Bathing
Mixed reviews on this BUT if you are having a C-Section (which I will be) being able to bath the baby on a kitchen worktop and not bending down will be a lifesaver. I also think it might mean the boys ‘help’ if the bath was in the living room and they were sat with me. This is something I think they would really enjoy.
Sleep
Snuz Pod & Chicco Next2Me Crib
We had a moses basket next to the bed with my two boys and after having C-Sections I actually found it a struggle to lift the baby out while still lying in bed. Anything that will make this easier is a winner for me. Out of everything this is the thing I am most excited to buy. I am not deluded in thinking I will actually spend much time in bed next to my newborn (an 8 & 6 year old will see to that that I don’t!) but the idea that I am so close through the night makes me really happy. The Chicco was actually recommended more than the Snuzpod which surprises me as I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before. I am keen to hear everyone experiences on wha has been better out of the two.
Mixed reviews on the Sleephead but it seems to be a great solution if you aren’t buying a Moses basket or if you have older children. I really like the idea of one but as I was contemplating buying the Nuna Leaf I am not sure how much use it would get. I will need to do some more research into it I think!
This little gadget looks amazing. If you have a baby that wakes as soon as you stop moving or rocking the pram (I remember how frustrating that was) this rocks the pram for you!
BBHugMe Pregnancy Pillow (Gift)
I actually have been really lucky to have one of these gifted to me and it is in the post as we speak. Before accepting I asked my friends what they thought and they said it has been a hero product. It looks really versatile for sleep. Allowing yo to sleep on your front, side or back by offering a variety of support.
Travel
My favourite pram based on looks. We had the Mamas & Papas Urgo for Harbor and then the Mamas & Papas Armadillo with Sonny. I loved them both and the reason they were so great is because Mamas and Papas customer service was amazing. They replaced a wheel on the one pram when it broke and just super helpful. So I am tempted to look at what prams they do now before committing to the Bugaboo.
I have never heard or seen anything like this before. It folds straight from a car seat to a pram. Lots of you said this was a game changer for the school run and I can see why. I am nervous about the school run as I have to drive to the boys two schools and the car park is so tight I can barely get out of the car. I will really struggle with a pram. I may have to try and walk it but it is over 30 minutes each way. (Post C-Section that will be bleak!)
A baby carrier will be on the top of my list. Dog walks, football practice and generally looking after two boys just doesn’t seem plausible without one! Lots of suggestions fr the Ergo Baby Carrier and the Tula Baby Carrier. So I will look into these as well as a good sling carrier too.
Clothing & Other
Ewan The Sheep or White Noise Machine
Shop The Post
UppaBaby Vista is so much better than Bugaboo! Absolutely massive basket underneath for cramming in all the baby gubbins, and I imagine all the stuff that comes with two older kids on the school run!
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Ah thank you I haven’t heard of that one so I will take a look!
The vista is brilliant. We bought it with my middle two who are 15 months apart. The basket is the best. Big enough to house a sleepy toddler
We swapped our iCandy For a Bugaboo second time around so that we could have the toddler seat. The Bugaboo looks great but honestly is not a nice pram/buggy and I really prefer the iCandy. The Bugaboo storage is challenged, you can’t get ANYTHING in with the bassinet and even once you’ve moved onto the push chair there is a bar across the basket which limits what you can put in. My Tiba and Mark back pack doesn’t fit for example. I would have my iCandy back any day of the week!
Joolz geo 2 are fab as a huge basket and bouncy
As bugaboo are great too
I have grown up children, 2 small grandchildren and was a childminder for over 10 years and now have been a nanny for 9 years so I have pushed numerous prams etc over that time.
There are so many ranges, styles etc nowadays
I think always good to look at your life style, your car ( as some are big to get in the boot ) and try out as many as you can in shops if you have any local to you. If you were near me ( Leicester there is a great shop that is small and personal and offers fab customer service too ) nice to have person explain in full to what is what and nice to push to have a go
Many congratulations too and you will know once you have seen that pram you want ☺️Xx
We have the Uppababy Vista and have also got the Uppababy Minu for our second child. It’s great for travel and fitting in the car as it’s very compact and I love that it’s got a brown leather handle. It’s the little things after all! But the big basket on the Vista is brilliant. Huge congrats to you on this very exciting time!
Agree! Plus very famous with celebs too 😉 (Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalie Portman to name a few)
100000% agree! I don’t know why the Bugaboo is so popular. It’s nowhere near as mum friendly, the vista can turn one handed on a sixpence, massive basket, easily collapsible and the bassinet lifts off with one button at the top rather than trying to press a button on each side whilst leaning over the bassinet! I had a c section and the uppababy vista was so easy to use.
Agree! Uppababy is the best pram out there!
we have the uppababy vista, love it. So spacious compared to others
Agree 100%. Thr Uppabbay Vista is by far the best pram out there. My friends with Bugaboos constantly complain about various design flaws (the fact the handlebar can’t be moved, so you’re sliding a newborn underneath it, has to be up there as one of the daftest things about it). It’s super whizzy and a dream part c section.
Definitely the Vista over the Bugaboo. So much easier to collapse and I think better made too! Basket underneath takes a whole weeks worth of food shopping and some!
Next 2 me crib is my favorite, I have used it with every baby. You can adjust the height to your bed and the whole side opens up so that it really feels like an extension of the bed.
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So many people have raved about it! I wish I’d had one with the boys!
I had two sections and used the Next 2 Me – it was 100% the best thing I bought
Have you come across the Cybex Priam? It’s so great looking and is the which.com product Of 2019 (I’m slightly obsessed with which reviews 🙈) I just got it for my baby due in May and so excited to use it!
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Ah no I haven’t heard of it! Si is also obsessed with Which 😂 I’ll take a look!
And they do an electric version of the priam now! I loved my priam!
I have this pram too! Although I don’t need to use it now. The seat is a good size and very lux and has a good sized basket underneath. I got this in 2016 and it still looks pretty new even though It’s been thrown about a lot and dragged though the mud! 😂😂😂
Hey! Great recommendations, I have a snuzpod but anything right next to the bed is a life saver 😄 just to say with the Hakka, it’s not really a pump – its designed to catch the letdown of milk from the other boob when the baby is feeding that would otherwise just be wasted going into a breastpad. It just uses really light suction to do that, so if you wanted to properly express, you’d still need something like the Elvie. The Hakka is fantastic though, especially in early days when your still trying to establish the right amount of supply x
Congratulations on your news!!
I spent a silly amount of time researching prams and opted for the mamas and papas ocarro, it’s suitable for all terrain, has great reviews and has won a few awards.
It’s fairly lightweight in comparison to other similar prams and they’ve just brought out a new range of gorgeous colours/fabrics (sod’s law post purchase!)
Congratulations Cara! Such lovely news! If you like Mamas & Papas then you’ll like the Ocarro. We had this for our little boy & loved it! Brilliant on roughish terrains, we dog walk to the park & along the river and it was no problem. Plus it folds with the buggy seat part attached as one, which a lot of them don’t plus it looks super stylish! x
Congratulations on your pregnancy!
I am currently 20 weeks pregnant with my second child, my first being 6 years old so I know what you mean about having to start it all again!!
This post has been really helpful in showing the new products on the market and what is recommended! Xx
I absolutely loved the bugaboo and their customer service was absolutely amazing when I broke the brake (trying to squeeze it into a mini). I was totally honest and said I just rammed in a boot of a mini and they sent me a new chassis next day, free of charge! Absolutely amazing.
The uppababy looks great too..big, extendable hood, good basket and lay flat option.
All the best of luck, such an exciting time. X
Huge congrats! I found the main difference between the next2me and the snuzpod was the size, the snuzpod is much smaller so doesn’t last as long. Our little one is only 2 months and when we stayed at a friends recently he stayed in a snuzpod instead of his usual next2me and he was already almost too big for it (it does look nicer however, just not as practical in my opinion).
Joolz Geo is great for paths etc but still smart enough to be in ‘town’.
DEFINITELY get on the MyExpert Midwife stuff! Spritz fro bits a lifesaver!
Sleepyhead didn’t work for us, but sold it for about the same amount so all good. Had my Moses basket still but ended up buying the Chicco off FB as he HATED it and it’s a total winner.
Also Tony’s chocolate for you…x
Congratulations on your news! I’m currently 29 weeks + 3 days and it’s interesting to see what has been recommended.
I can’t recommend anything yet as we’ve not used them but here are a couple of the things we’ve gone with –
Travel – Mama’s and Papa’s Ocarro Cloud Z 10 Piece in Onyx. As someone has mentioned above it’s won several awards, we also upgraded the car seat which allows it to recline when on the chassis.
We also got the BabyBjorn Carrier Mini.
We had the Nuna Leaf Grow delivered yesterday and it looks really good, I like the fact that it will last a long time unlike other baby bouncers etc.
In terms of sleep we’ve gone with The CoZee Bedside Crib.
Good luck with your pregnancy 🙂
We had the Cozee with our second how is 10 months now and it was brilliant. So sturdy, more space that the snuz pod so lasted longer and also it was really easy to travel with we took it to stay with family and nights in hotels.
We reused our Joolz Geo 1 from the first time round, I still love it. But my sister has the Ocarro in the grey twill and I am so impressed. The thing I liked about the joolz was that it collapses in one piece and you don’t have to take it apart. But the Ocarro has so many other features I love like the handle flipping over, the padding in the seat is so supportive and it is really light.
Can get a full weekly shop for 4 in the Vista basket!! It’s amaze balls! We live on Dartmoor and it goes on the moors most days go walk the dogs etc. So happy for you Cara, such lovely news. Although it’s made me think….. could I do one more 🤷♀️! Xx
Hi Cara thank you so much for doing this post and huge congratulations to you. I’m nearly 19 weeks pregnant with my first and finding everything completely overwhelming! I don’t know about you but I don’t want a heavy pram that I can’t lift into the car so the Bugaboo Fox looks like a great shout. Was going to look at the Stokke Beat too.
Anyway happy shopping and enjoy your pregnancy x
Ooooh have you seen Mini Maisons gorgeous change mats? You definitely need to include them and such a brilliant small biz!! Xx
I agree with other comments, Uppababy is great but we have the Cruz rather than the Vista, it’s smaller. The only advantage of the Vista is that it can be adapted to fit 2 kiddos x
Love this list, I’m due with my 3rd around the same time as you and things have changed so much since my last. We’ve gone for the Mamas and Papas Ocarro this time, it looks amazing got a great deal on it as well. Good luck with everything! X
I loved the tutti bambini cozee next to me cot – I thought it looked really stylish and has all the plus points of the chicco.
Congratulations to you and family I’ve currently got a 3 month old and can vouch that post c section the Next to me is fab.
Also I don’t think it’s been mentioned yet but the gro light has made night changes/feeds super easy as it gives a low blue light out of your normal ceiling light when you switch it on at the wall and then if you click it off and on again it’s your normal light. Total game changer. Boring buy but super useful.
Ohhhhh and we were gifted a nodpod baby blanket by my mum. It’s a blanket with legs so easy to transition from car to pram to bed. You can find nodpod on insta 🙂.
In terms of photo opportunities a milestone blanket is a lot of fun too.
Good luck x
I have the Bugaboo fox and its brilliant!!! Pushes so easily and looks great. I love how you an change the hood canopy too or the seat liners if you fancy a colour change for summer/winter. If you’re looking for a little more storage then the Bugaboo donkey is the same as the fox but with a side basket, if I were to buy again I would have gone for the Donkey xx
Dont spend loads on a morkk blanket….a folded ikea fleece and a few holes snipped with kitchen scissors for the straps worked brilliantly! I had a bugaboo bee, really compact and handy.
The BEST changing mats are from Mini Maison, such gorgeous designs. Would 100% recommend
Controversial but not a fan of the uppa baby! John Lewis do two hour nursery appts for free. We did one this week and the icandy peach was our fav. I’m tall and the bugaboo fox felt really rattley when you extend the handlebar. The uppa baby didn’t feel as nice as the icandy and I don’t think the finish is as good. We only tried all terrain as we have three dogs (including a crestie, obvs).