After seeing and comparing what other people have bought, there are a few items I wish that I think would have been useful in the first few months of having a newborn. Most of the items are luxuries as (obviously) I’ve managed to bring Tobias up so far with no problems!

The first items I wanted to mention are items that I have since purchased, both for Tobias and future babies but I would have liked to have had them at birth:

The first is the next to me crib, this would have been so useful for those night time feeds and the ease of moving him. The next item would be a swing instead of a bouncer, the bouncer was useful to put Tobias down at times but didn’t aid with colic, I have been told a few times that the swaying action can gently ease a baby who is suffering with colic. I wish I had purchased the pacapod changing bag sooner, they’re just made with parents in mind. The separate bag system makes items easy to find and a nappy change can be completed quickly and efficiently without pulling out all my bag contents. The best part is the key chain, simple I know, but I have lost my keys, numerous times and the key chain just eliminates this. The final item that I have since bought is the leaning bath seat, I naively thought a baby bath would be suffice, however the bath seat is a must for people doing bath time on their own. I loved my bath seat and now use the seated bath seat for safety as Tobias loves to try and climb out of the bath.

The items which I will have on my buying list next time are:

Sleeping bags, I have only started using these since Tobias moved into his own room, however they would have been so useful from the beginning, so I’ll be buying some smaller ones in all different togs in the future.  The Sleepyhead, I’m in two minds about this product or something similar. I think they are great for newborns to feel secure and safe, however trying to wean them off sounds horrendous. They’re a huge price and once they’ve grown out of the smaller one, there’s the added cost of the next size up – are they really worth it?  Another item I wish I had is the  milestone cards, I did something similar to this idea on Facebook when Tobias was a newborn but I seem to have forgotten to keep up with it each month since. I think the cards would prompt me to keep up to date and to make sure I have all the lovely memories for when my children get older.

Pushchair, again I’m in two minds, the silver cross surf has served its purpose, however I wish I had considered the size of the basket and the hood for when he wants to sleep, prior to purchasing this particular product. I already have my eye on the new silver cross wave, which can be converted to hold one or two babies. I wish this was around when I was choosing originally. I feel the same way about the car seat we went with, I’m happy enough with the silver cross simplicity car seat as we have never had any problems, however I bought it in beige and now wish I had bought it in black. As I have since found out that you can’t buy separate accessories for it. I also think I may have chosen a maxi cosi baby seat as a newborn seems to lie down more in them.

Finally, the highchair, I wish I would have gone for something more lightweight and I wish I had considered how much cleaning is involved! The one we have is on a circular base and I struggle to clean in the middle and because of the weight it’s hard to manoeuvre. I would also say to always consider the tray as well, you don’t need cup holders, they just take extra cleaning!

I hope this helps others as well as helping myself, there’s so many items on the market, I just didn’t know which were useful and what would work for me! It is just a matter of trial and error!

Much love
Rebecca