Most Used Baby Items

When you have a baby you can be at a loss at to what you'll need. Here are my recommendations of things I found useful and will use with any future children!

1. Baby carrier

We’re outdoorsy people with a dog. We enjoy our walks and always have so a baby carrier seemed like a good idea. We bought a baby bjorn carrier and have used it almost every day. It’s brilliant for walks, great for taking a baby shopping and has definitely been one of our most used baby items. So much so we have bought a backpack style toddler carrier now she’s outgrown.

2. Travel System

We bought a Recaro Travel system. The pram and buggy were well used, however the pram in my opinion doesn’t fold down small enough for the car. If you’re buying a buggy you should check out how small it folds prior to buying, that’s definitely what I’d do next time. Without doubt the car seat part of the travel system has been the most used item. My daughter is now 13 months old and still in the rear-facing car seat.

3. A Bucket With A Lid

This sounds strange but in it we keep everything we need for nappy changes, it’s easy to carry and keeps everything close to hand. It’s been invaluable. The only downside I’m finding is that now the baby is getting more adventurous she likes to empty it all out over the floor!

4. Highchair

You will need a highchair sooner than you think and once your baby starts being weaned he or she will be sat in it A LOT. Don’t get a fancy one – I won a Stokke Tripp Trapp one and haven’t used it – to be fair it doesn’t help that it has no safety straps. We use a simple Cosatto one with straps and a tray, try and get one with a cover that easily comes off and wipes down.

5. Baby Walker

Ignore anything you may read on the internet saying walkers stop babies from learning to walk properly. You probably had one and don’t fall over when walking into town. I bought one with an activity centre on it and the baby has spent many a happy hour in it. Make sure you get one with anti-roll pads on the bottom and it goes without saying DO NOT let your baby use one near the top of stairs. Ours has and will always remain permanently downstairs.

6.Baby Gates

Buy these early, we didn’t and ended up racing out to buy them when the baby suddenly decided crawling was the best thing ever. We have four baby gates and used them to herd her into the rooms we need her in. We have one at the bottom of the stairs, one on the top, one on her bedroom door and one on the living room door! As we have a dog they act as a wonderful barrier between the pair.

7. A Floating Bath Pillow

This proved extremely useful when baby was too big for the baby bath but too small to support herself in the big bath. Bought for me by a friend with 2 kids I thoroughly recommend them. Basically a net full of polystyrene balls it supports baby leaving your hands free for washing and playing!