Awaiting the arrival of the little one is a mixture of excitement, nerves, uncertainty and it’s not uncommon to feel a little overwhelmed in terms of the emotions and information to take in. To make life easier, here’s a quick checklist to help you make sure you’re prepared for B Day.
| PREPARATION ACTIVITY | DADVICE VIEW |
| Sleep | |
| Bedside crib | If you want the baby sleeping right next to you the SnuzPod is a good option. |
| Sleeping bag | The Lullaby Trust recommends quality sleeping bags as they prevent your baby’s head from being covered by bedding. |
| Feeding | |
| Bottles | Plenty of options out there. Some babies are fussy about the teat. We used the Tommee Tippee. Note: the teats have different ‘levels’ which allow a increased throughput of milk as your baby gets bigger, so the teats will need replacing. |
| Steriliser | There are different types of sterilisers: – Electric Steam – we used the Tommee Tippee steamer which sterilises up to 6 bottles in 5 minutes – Microwave – UV |
| Bottle warmer | If you don’t want the faff of warming bottles in freshly boiled water, you can get electric bottle warmers like the Tommee Tippee Easiwarm Bottle Warmer. You should not microwave bottles as they can create hot spots. |
| Bathing | |
| Baby bath | Baby baths like the Skip Hop Moby Smart Sling offer safety and comfort – they are designed to keep your baby in a comfortable and safe position and typically come with different meshes/accessories to modify your baby’s position as they grow. |
| Bath thermometer | Essential purchase to ensure the water isn’t above 37 degrees celsius. They’re ten a penny on Amazon but here’s a link if you can’t be bothered to search. |
| Shampoo | There are plenty of baby shampoos available that are designed to be gentle on your baby’s skin and hair, such as J&J to Aveeno. |
| Towel | You can use a normal towel at bath time but baby towels are smaller, softer and typically come with a hood to help dry their heads and keep them warm. |
| Clippers | Kits like the Tommee Tippee Healthcare Kit have all the grooming kit you need, including nail clippers. |
| Nursery | |
| Changing top | Changing units like this are great – they enable you to change the baby at waist height rather than kneeling/stooping over on the floor, plus they provide convenient storage space. |
| Changing mat | There are plenty available. Here’s one. |
| Nappies | Cloth nappies have less of an environmental impact, but they take more effort. If you’re going for disposable nappies, you’ll get through a lot of them, and there’s a reasonable difference in price between own brand nappies like Aldi and Tesco (which according to Statista was the best selling brand in 2021) and Pampers, which often gets the best reviews. Best thing to do is don’t buy multi-packs at the start and try a few to see what fits best. |
| Nappy bin | Nappy bins are an essential item to have next to the changing top. We used the Tommee Tippee Twist and Click. The cartridges containing the waste bags, which are cheaper to buy in bulk, can still work out expensive after a while, so a cheaper alternative is to just buy a set of the refill bags. |
| Wipes | You get through a lot of these. You can go for your trusty Huggies or plastic free Cheeky Panda wipes. |
| Nappy cream | There are a few brands available. Sudocrem has served us well. |
| Sanitiser gel | Great to have something like this next to the changing top to quickly disinfect your hands after a nappy change. |
| Getting around | |
| Buy & instal car sear | Check out the dedicated page here. |
| Sling / baby carrier | Ignore Piers Morgan, there’s nothing wrong with doing a Daniel Craig and using a sling. However, they’re a faff to put on and you have to be super careful to make sure airways are not obstructed. Baby Bjorn have a great range of carriers that support inward facing and outward facing (for when baby has enough neck strength) positions. |
| Buy and setup buggy | Check out this page. |
| Changing bag | Never leave home without at least a travel changing matt, nappies, nappy bags and nappy cream. You can either go for something elegant like this or play dress up and pretend you’re a marine with this. |
| Nappy bags | You can get cheap plastic nappy bags to help dispose of dirty nappy bags, but these are more environmentally friendly. |
| Mini hand sanitiser | Very handy to have in your changing bag when you’re out and about and there’s nowhere to wash your hands after a nappy change. |