My view:The first year

This is the first of an irregular series of posts where I will try to share some of our experiences from Luke's first couple of years in terms of equipment we found useful, weaning tips and summaries of published advice, to try and cut through some of the masses of information available to new parents.

This post deals with some of the essential equipment you will need as a new parent:

There are so many gadgets on the market, sometimes its difficult to cut through the advertising spiel to decide what you actually NEED rather than what they want you to have. The good news is, the absolute essentials number less than you probably think.

From personal experience, this is our list of absolute essentials that saw us through the first year:

1. Bottles and Teats (We stock avent, tommee tippee, Dr Browns and Vital Baby)
2. Bottle brush
3. Steriliser
4. Expressor
5. Breastmilk storage bags (We recommend Lansinoh products for Breastfeeding mums)
6. Lanolin cream
7. Nursing pads (Have you tried Lilypadz, the award winning non-disposable pad?)
8. Large muslin cloths
9. Handheld blender
10. Flexible ice-cube trays (The absolute best we have found are by Pea in the Pod, see the bottom of our breastfeeding product pages)
11. Freezer bags
12. Some plastic feeding bowls
13. Some shallow, plastic baby spoons
14. Bibs
15. Highchair

I would add to that list, the following optional items which made our lives easier:

1. Microwave steriliser bags (there WILL be days when you forget to put the steriliser on!)
2. A bouncy chair (we used it for feeding whilst our son was a bit floppy for his highchair)
3. A waterproof splash mat for under the highchair (Saves washing the floor after every meal)
4. An extra kettle (so that we always had cooled once-boiled water for bottles)
5. A portable bottle warmer (so you can feed on the go)
6. A wide necked thermos flask for keeping food warm

Fortunately all the above items are available from Kiddies Kitchen - your one stop baby food and feeding accessories shop.

posted by Richard @ 7:54 AM