What to buy when, in pregnancy

There are two ways to get the shopping timeline wrong: too early and too late. Too early means a pushchair chosen in week 10, before you know how you will spend your days. Too late means a car seat taken out of its box in the maternity hospital car park.

Between the two there is room for a calm plan, which we split into four stages. The weeks are approximate; if your doctor tells you that you might give birth earlier, move everything forward by a month.

The timeline in brief

First trimester: nothing

There is no baby product that has to be bought in the first three months. If you feel like doing something, read: the newborn checklist shows you how short the real list is.

The only purchase that makes sense now is for you: clothes in which you feel good as your body changes.

Second trimester: you choose, you don’t buy

It is usually the period with the most energy. Use it for the decisions that need thought, not for shopping bags.

The car seat. Find out what kind of fixings your car has (ISOFIX or only belts), read the car seat guide and check the compatibility list for the models you are interested in. If you can, try the infant carrier in your car, in a shop.

The pushchair. Go to a shop and push a few. Fold them. Lift them. Put them, if they let you, in your boot. Ten minutes of trying says more than ten hours of reviews. The questions to start from are in the pushchair guide.

The cot. Measure the space in your bedroom. Decide whether you want a co-sleeper for the first months or a classic cot straight away – the cot guide compares them.

What you get from others. Now is the time to ask friends and relatives with older children what they have to give. Find out what is worth taking second-hand and what isn’t, so you can say “yes” and “thank you, no” without awkwardness.

If relatives ask what to get you as a gift, a wish list with the big things helps everyone. Otherwise you get twelve blankets.

Weeks 28–35: you order and assemble

Now is when the big things are bought. The reason you don’t wait longer: some pushchairs and cots take a few weeks to be delivered, especially in rarer colours or configurations, and assembly and trying out take time and a back that still bends.

To order:

• the newborn car seat and, if you chose that way, its base;
• the pushchair;
• the cot and the mattress, in the exact size;
• sleeping bags, sheets, a mattress protector.

To do:

• Assemble the cot and leave it to air, with the mattress out of its plastic. The new smell needs a few weeks to go away.
• Fit the car seat and practise. Fix the base, put the infant carrier on, take it off. Tighten the harness on a soft toy. You want the movements to have been done once already before discharge day.
• Fold and unfold the pushchair until it comes without looking.
• Wash the clothes and bedding with a fragrance-free detergent.

To buy, a little: 6–8 bodysuits, 4–6 sleepsuits, two small hats, a pack of size 1 nappies, nappy cream, a few muslin cloths. The exact quantities are in the checklist.

Weeks 36–40: the last things

• The hospital bag, packed and left by the door. We wrote separately about what to put in it.
• The infant carrier in the car or by the door, with the base already fitted.
• Supplies for yourself: postpartum pads, breast pads, nipple cream.
• Food in the freezer. It is not a baby product, but it is the most useful thing you can prepare.
• Phone numbers to hand: the doctor, the maternity hospital, the paediatrician or family doctor you will register your baby with.

Don’t start renovations, new furniture or changing the car now. If they weren’t done by this point, they can wait three months.

After the birth: the rest

A large part of the classic lists can be bought once your baby is home, because only then do you know what you need:

• The breast pump, the sterilizer, extra bottles – they depend on how feeding goes. See bottles, breast pump and sterilizer.
• The monitor – while your baby sleeps in your room, you can hear them.
• The baby carrier – best tried with your baby in it.
• The bouncer, the play mat – after the first weeks.
• Clothes from size 68 upwards – when you know how fast your baby grows and in which season they will wear them.
• The high chair – around 6 months. See how to choose a high chair.
• The second car seat – when your baby approaches the limit of the infant carrier.

For what you can skip altogether, see what not to buy for a baby.

How to split the spending

We don’t give prices, because they change from one week to the next, but the order of priorities is stable:

1. The car seat – no saving on approval and on fit with your car. Buy it new.
2. The mattress – new, firm, the right size.
3. The pushchair – the biggest expense and the one where choosing for your situation matters most. It can also be found in good condition second-hand.
4. The cot – a simple one, compliant with the standard, is enough.
5. The rest – a little, and topped up as you go.

Our recommendation

Choose in the second trimester, buy at the start of the third, and aim to have three things ready by week 36: the infant carrier fitted, the cot aired, the bag by the door. Everything else can be sorted as you go, with a phone and a courier.