After a year of working at Winstanleys Pramworld I’d say I feel pretty confident in the knowledge that when my time to become a mum comes I’d know which baby essentials I'd need and which impulse buys I can resist. Some products are pretty obvious, but some you may have looked past during your pre-baby preparations. To make your life easier here's a list of the items you can't live without and are actually the unsung heroes of baby products.
Baby puke and spit up is going to be a pretty common feature in your life for at least the first year and so rather than using your blouse Muslin cloths are going to be your saviour. Don’t just buy a pack of 6. Buy in bulk. Think big.
Parent consoles are convenient storage pouches designed to hang on the handlebar of your pram. You’ll have an image in your head during your pregnancy of a shiny new nursery bag - maybe a designer Pink Lining, Pacapod or Storksak? Whatever the bag you’ll tell yourself and your partner that the expense is necessary you’ll use it all the time for everything until your baby goes to school? No! Most days you'll throw everything into the pram basket. You'll need to keep some essentials to hand though (think keys, purse, toy, lip balm, comforter) and a parent console is great for this; no more rummaging around in the world's biggest and most expensive changing bag.
3) Pram and Car Seat Raincovers
It sounds simple but you must not take these for granted. Most prams and strollers come with one included - you must keep it safe during the 30 days of the year it doesn't rain! You don’t want to be getting a universal one that is ill-fitting and of poor quality.
You can picture it can't you... your sleeping baby in their car seat in the back of the car. You just need some bread and milk, maybe a huge bar of chocolate as a quick pick me up, from the local store. The last thing you want to do is wake a sleeping baby by transferring them to their pram for a quick nip. Keep the pram chassis in your boot, put the car seat on to chassis using the adapters, and there's more room in the boot for the rubbish you do(n’t) need and all the chocolate that you see on offer!
These often get forgotten as you will have concentrated on the Moses basket, crib and/or cot, but remember your baby will lie, sleep and have little accidents in your pram carrycot as well as you go about your normal life out and about. I'd buy 3 at least so you have 1 being used, 1 in the wash and 1 spare.
