What equipment does a baby really need?

With the Royal wedding tomorrow and my ten year wedding anniversary just around the corner, I have been thinking about how different people’s views are in relation to which amount of money they ‘should’ spend on things.

Particularly where weddings are concerned, the general consensus is that a vast amount of money must be spent in order to have the perfect wedding. An average wedding cost around £25,000 in the UK. Wow! For one day, that’s a lot. When you start putting that into context and thinking about how many weeks you could buy your food shop for or how many holidays you could go on that figure seems crazy. Yet, lots of people do it.

For my own wedding I spent £5,000. We had a church wedding, followed by a reception in a local hall. There were just short of two hundred guests. Everyone was fed, there were decorations and flowers. Now I give you that there has been inflation in the last ten years but even taking that into consideration I still spent a lot less than most people at the time.

No, I didn’t have all of the fancy things that lots of my friends had at their weddings. Having a small budget also meant that I had to say goodbye to the dress of my dreams which was £5,000. I still liked my actual wedding dress a lot but I must admit I did like the £5,000 one more. If I was getting married again tomorrow I wouldn’t pick my actual dress or the £5,000 one so it’s just as well I didn’t spend all that money!

What I did have for £5,000 was one of the best days of my life, one that I will always remember. All of my best friends at the time and family were there to help me celebrate. I got to marry the man of my dreams. Who ten years on, I am happy to say I would definitely choose to marry again, unlike my dress. :/ By not spending extra money on our wedding, we were able to buy a house shortly after. It felt palatial compared to our one bed flat that we had been previously living in. We also didn’t get into any debt. I can’t think of a worse way to start a marriage than with a ton of debt looming over you for the next however many years.

Again, when it comes to having babies what people choose to spend their money on differs wildly.

Personally, I would have happily paid thousands to attend my hypnobirthing classes (thankfully, I didn’t have to) as I saw that as an investment. What is the point of having a beautifully decorated baby room with all of the latest kit if I was too traumatised to enjoy any of it?

I find it funny when speaking to people if their initial reaction is that birthing classes are a lot of money yet they had a very expensive wedding and have a fancy pram that folds itself with the touch of a button.

I didn’t spend a lot on baby equipment and new furniture etc. as I just didn’t see the point of spending money on those things. I would rather wait to spend my money on their first cars, sending them to university or helping them to move out. I must note, I’m sure that last point will be as much for my own benefit as theirs.

I understand that people get whipped up in the excitement of buying things for the baby while pregnant. Shops pay people a lot of money to promote and arrange their products so that you ‘need’ to buy everything.

Truth is there is a whole array of things out there that you really don’t need. Such as, cot bumpers. If you haven’t already read my post about the dangers of these pop over and read it now.

Below is a list of essential things that if I was a first time mum again I would definitely want to buy and would use in baby’s first year.

0-3 months

Pram

A Moses basket, with stand.

Cellular blankets

Baby grows with built in scratch mitts – a cuff that folds over the end of the arm.

Plastic backed bibs – Reduces need to change clothes when sick has sunk through a cloth bib.

Muslins – quick drying cloths to wipe up anything coming out of your baby.

A few books

A couple of toys – literally a couple as they can’t control their hands to play yet and receive enough entertainment from chatting to you and looking at patterned wall paper.

Nappies

Nappy changing mat – on floor

Sudocream

Cotton wool

Bowl for water – pound shop

Aldi baby wipes

3-6 months

Sophie the giraffe

Rattles/things to chew

Bubbles

Dummies

Cot bed with good quality mattress.

Sleeping bags- match tog to age of baby, what will the season be when they will use it?

6-12 months

Walker – the kind they stand and push (Zimmer frame) not a seat with a tray that they whizz around in.

Cube – with counting beads, flaps etc all attached.

Rocking horse

Cardboard box – Hide toys in, put child in and pull around, Hid child in and pop out of. Boxes are the most played with toys.

A small selection of cloth books, mega blocks, instruments.

Tommee Tippee – bowls, spoons, sippy cups.

Cover all feeding bibs.

Ikea high chair

Depending on season – A Wallaboo if it will be cold before baby is 6 months old.

A Koo-di sun shade when it is summer.

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