In the corner of my dining room there is an ever growing pile of stuff. Carriers, car seats, strollers, blankets, jackets. In the living room there’s toys, books, more blankets…now while I’m not what you’d call an obsessively clean person, I do like things tidy. Or I should say BB (before baby) I liked things tidy. What you don’t realize when you’re pregnant and excitedly buying all these things is babies come with lots of STUFF but nowhere to put it (and the complete inability to tidy up after themselves).

So I thought it’d be useful to share what I really needed with Thea in the hopes that maybe you too won’t end up glaring at a mountain of stuff while you eat dinner…

Somewhere to put them while you do stuff – when they’re little a bouncer or playmat are perfect. We got some secondhand so had one in practically every room. The bouncer in the bathroom so you can shower is a winner. As they get older move on to everyone’s favorite the jumperoo.

Somewhere to change them – some people use a mat on the floor but to save your back and get some added storage space for the millions of nappies and wipes and muslins you’ll accumulate, I love a changing table. We even have two, one upstairs in her room and one downstairs, again the extra one was secondhand. Maybe this makes me lazy, but I’m happy not to cart poo explosions upstairs.

Something to hold them so you can use your hands – one word, baby carrier. The day your baby weighs enough to go in one a whole new world opens to you. Personally I prefer a carrier to a sling as they can use it longer, especially if you get one that the baby can go in forward facing (when they’re more aware of the world and staring into your chest no longer holds the same appeal).

Something to push them around in while they sleep (and set them down in while you eat!) – basically this is your pram, or when they’re older stroller. People spend a shed load on these but controversially I wish we’d got ours secondhand. Thea ended up hating her lie flat pram so we moved to a stroller as soon as we could. You don’t really need anything fancy, you just need a good blanket to wrap them in. Thea sleeps just as well in her cheap and cheerful holiday stroller as she does in the fancy one.

Something to clothe them in – we got loads of clothes secondhand and I think this is definitely the way to go for the basics. Buy bundles on eBay and often you’ll get things that have only been worn once or twice. And whatever you do, don’t buy jean overalls for a newborn. They look cute but they are a faff and never fit properly. BUY ONESIES!

Something to keep them warm – we have ended up with about a million baby blankets when really you only need four, one for their cot, and three for their pram/stroller in varying thickness depending on how cold it is.

So there’s my two cents. But so it’s not just my biased views you’re getting, I also asked my NCT group of super mums for their must haves:

My must have would have been the milk machine (tommee tippee perfect prep) and bouncer chair. Still absolutely love the bouncer chair!

Buy a sling so you have free arms when baby is big enough to go in it.

A next to me and sleepyhead. I’d also suggest buying the sound sleeper app for white noise. Jelonet and lansinoh nipple cream and lanisnoh nursing pads if you breastfeed as they’re super absorbent.

Ditto the next to me (we have snuz pod which is same thing) I also recommend sleepyheads but once you’re in them it’s hard to get the baby out of them (when they move to bigger cot). PERFECT PREP is a must if formula feeding.

As for essential equipment, Jelonet and a next to me cot.

Buy onesies; indulge in a few cute outfits but for the love of god BUY ONESIES. To the uninitiated poppers may seem a ball ache but compared to getting a newborn into socks, trousers, tights, tops and mittens it’s a fricking breeze