Expecting a new arrival soon? Live in the UK? Not sure what you need?
There’s so much information out there for new parents in the US, suggesting what to buy, where to shop, how to prepare for your new arrival!
In the UK, it’s hard to follow these lists and make sure you have everything, or filter out the things you don’t need. All while understanding the conflicting health and safety advice!
We’ve put together a list of our favourite baby products and where we found them and things we didn’t buy, didn’t use or wished we had. We’ve also written a list of the best places for deals, offers and free stuff!
The list is split into categories. Take one at a time and work out what you want to get. We’ve suggested our favourite brands, but there’s often plenty more out there! This list goes up to about 4-6 months old. We’ll write a second one to cover weaning and more activities & play from when baby can sit up!
This is just our list – there are so many products out there, and honestly, you do not need everything. Baby needs a place to sleep and to be fed at the beginning!
Just to note, we’re first time UK parents. We’re not health professionals. All of the below suggestions are things we’ve learned from our own experiences raising our daughter.
If you’re looking for information about health and safety for babies and young children, make sure you visit the NHS website, or contact your midwife/health visitor.
And, just so you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Antenatal
- Bump to Baby Chapter – we live in Gloucestershire, so we did the full, in-person course. We also watched the videos. It was hugely helpful for preparation for labour & what to expect at the birth. We also used all the print outs – the hospital packing list was especially useful!
- Cozi gold – keeps our whole family on track – calendar for appointments, lists for to-dos and shopping we could share with other people, lists to track feeds, sleep times, nappies, everything we suddenly found ourselves wanting to track!
- Asda nursing pillow – could not sleep without this!
- Yoga ball – useful from about 20 weeks, only place I could sit comfortably at the end of my pregnancy. Used it after baby was born to bounce her to sleep pretty often.
- New Look maternity wear – good choice, low cost, multipacks of tops/underwear. Still wearing now & baby is 1!
Hospital
- TENS machine – I bought mine from Boots. It was the only pain relief I needed for a good amount of labour, aside from paracetamol, both at home and in the hospital. Make sure you take spare batteries – my husband had to hunt the hospital for replacements when I used up the first set!
Sleeping
- Snuzpod + cloud – kept by the bed for first 3 months. Moved away in same room after. She slept in here for about 6 months. Cloud white noise really helped her to fall asleep & self settle early on.
- HelloWorld baby monitor – for first trip away. Didn’t need a monitor until she slept in her own room, so not necessary from birth. This one picks up noise & sensitivity can be turned down.
- Travel cot (Smyths) – picked one with changing table on top (which we never used) and the mattress can be raised/lowered. We use travel cot sheets from Adsa.
- Ickle Bubba cot with Silver Cross mattress – both have been great for moving baby into her own room.
Daytime
- Swinging seat – newborn (Smyths) – very handy for baby to chill/sleep in in the early days. We would put her down for short periods so we could get a snooze in too. Midwife suggested baby should only be in here for 30 mins a day.
- Bouncer (3 months +) (Argos) – Once she was bigger this was handy to put her in around the house – in the bathroom while you shower, or in the kitchen while you wash up/cook. Shouldn’t use either when baby can sit up though.
- Play mat – we were gifted a very bright & fun playmat. Baby loved reaching for the hanging toys!
- Nuby piano play mat & tummy time roll (Aldi) – Baby hated tummy time, so the roll didn’t get used much. You can use a rolled up towel or even your leg – we found this much more effective. The piano mat was a Christmas gift, so she was possibly a bit too old. The piano for their feet might help with tummy time.
- Mamas & Papas Bug seat (3 months +) – A great, flexible seating option. Will go on floor, or strap to a dining chair, so great for sitting up to the table. Ideally baby should be able to sit by themselves before using a seat like this.
- ErgoBaby Embrace – perfect for baby wearing whilst getting jobs done. I used it for baking a lot in the early days. We also took on holiday which meant we didn’t have to take the pram on walks etc.
- Water mat – helps with tummy time
- Black & white books – baby loved to look at these. Put one on the side of the bassinet on the pram for on walks.
- Coloured scarves – brilliant sensory play, with six in the pack. Can be used for other activities as baby gets older.
- Emergency blankets – This pack contains three blankets, and they’re huge! You can cut them into smaller pieces, put some in your changing bag and wherever baby plays. They’re brilliant for sensory play.
Changing & Bathing
- Wedge changing mat – comfy for baby. Looks neat on a dresser for a changing table when baby is not sitting yet. Great for using on the floor once baby is bigger.
- AngelCare bath seat – for laying baby in for a bath. Do not leave unattended! Could also be used outside, at the beach, in the garden – wipe clean.
- Changing bag – smart rucksack anyone would be happy to carry. Straps for attaching to pram. Has lots of pockets, insulated bottle holders and comes with a changing mat.
Feeding
- Tommee Tippee pump – didn’t use for long, but helped keep feeding baby when I couldn’t breastfeed.
- Tommee Tippee steriliser set – great set with loads of stuff.
- Nuby flasks – perfect for going out. Can make formula up as needed to NHS standards, but quickly!
- Mam bottles – Easy to use, self sterilising (in microwave). Different sized teats to increase flow as baby grows. Found some days she didn’t like these. Good to have a couple different types of bottle/teat.
- Mam dummies – Only ones she liked. Clips can’t go in steriliser!
- Muslins (Amazon/John Lewis) – have loads of these. Handy for so many things.
Travel
- Oyster 3 travel system – great pram set-up. Cybex car seat fits on wheels with adapters (bought separately). Bassinet for new born (also used for naps in the house). Stroller for when they outgrow bassinet & can sit up. Will last years.
- Cybex Cloud Z car seat – great little seat. Will go up to 15 months. Base will work with other models. The latest model lies flat in the car, and on the travel system.
- Joie 360 car seat – big seat, will go from new born to 3/4 years. Can’t be carried out the car.
Consumables
- Calpol – you’ll probably first use this after vaccinations. It’ll be more and more useful as they grow!
- Calpol vapour plug – there is nothing you can give a tiny baby to relieve a cold. We love this to use in baby’s room when they’re not well – it works for adults too! Don’t forget the refills!
- Infacol – relieves colic – an absolute lifesaver! When they will not settle, at all, try this with feeds. It fixed everything for us.
- Nimble milk buster – gets stubborn milk out of baby bottles and teats.
- Calpol saline drops – loosens all the snot in baby nose! Sounds gross, but really helps. Also much nicer to use than a spray.
- Pampers sensitive wipes – best lasting, don’t fall apart when used, good price.
- Aldi newborn nappies – very cost effective, as good as pampers.
- Sainsbury’s nappies for size 3 and up – same price as Aldi, better than Aldi.
- Pampers nappies – the best – but expensive, use their app to collect codes for vouchers, keep an eye out for vouchers on social media and buy when on offer. (We’ve also tried M&S which we liked, Asda are fine)
- Sudocrem – just use the grey pot – every nappy change. We keep a big one in the nursery & little ones everywhere else. There’s always a pot where we need it!
- Child’s farm moisturiser – best one we found
- Aveeno baby shampoo – very gentle & smells great
Things we avoided
- Perfect Prep machine – We didn’t feel this met our standards for mixing formula. We chose to mix up our bottles for each day & store in the fridge, warming to use. I read a lot of reviews where the machine grew black mould, so we decided it was not a risk we were happy to take. We did however allow nursery to use one to make her bottles there, with assurance the machine was checked and cleaned regularly.
- Dock-a-tot (or other similar ‘baby nest’ products) – these are not recommended by the NHS for sleep safety.
- A stand up bouncer – these encourage baby to stand before they are ready, and so increases the risk of muscles not developing properly. She has use of one at nursery now, so has not missed out on anything fun, but she did not start to use until she could stand unaided anyway. They’re also really big and take up a lot of space!
- Follow-on milks – these are unnecessary for babies, first infant formula (or breastmilk) provides all the nutrition needed until 1 year old. They are produced for marketing purposes as advertising rules mean companies cannot advertise first infant formula.