You are an excited parent to be, but nine months is a long time to wait. At what point do you give in and start making trips to the baby shop? Too soon and you could run out of money and space before the baby has even arrived. Too late and you could cause unnecessary panic!
Lets think about the baby items that you actually need to buy before the baby arrives:
Nursery furniture and decorations
Depending on the amount of free time you have you might need to start shopping for this quite early on. The nursery might need completely redecorating, so it is worth bearing that in mind and being realistic about how long it is going to take you to get it all ready. The last think you want is to be painting and decorating when the little one has arrived! Nursery decorations should probably come first, then furniture when the room is ready. You probably want to start on this about five or six months before baby is due.
Car seat and pram
You won’t be allowed to leave the hospital without a proper car seat, so this is something that definitely needs to be bought first. These are quite technical items that require a bit of research. Does the seat fit in your car? Do you want a pram that turns into a pushchair or a demi grow that you can convert into a double or twin mode? These are all things that need to be thought about, so I would suggest looking at these at least three months before the baby is born so that you have time to get it right rather than rushing and buying the wrong one!
Toys and books
You might want to buy some to go in the nursery, but these aren’t things that definitely have to be bought before baby arrives! Some people might even wait until after the baby is born so that they know whether it is a boy or a girl.
Nappies, creams etc…
This is something you will need to think about in advance. Are you going to use disposable nappies or recyclable ones? How many will you need? The chances are you won’t be able to leave the house for the first couple of days so it is worth making sure you have plenty of supplies in stock – that goes for food too!
Clothes
You will need a few little outfits for the first few days. Hats are important to keep the baby warm, and also think about clothes that are easy to get on and off without having to pull them around too much. You will probably be worried about hurting the baby, so a romper suit that involves lots of tugging over the head probably isn’t the best choice!
When you start visiting baby shops is up to you, but there is a lot to be thought about and quite a lot that needs to be bought ahead of the baby being born. You might not feel up to a shopping trip in the first few weeks, so bear that in mind when you think about when to start shopping. You can always shop online too, but again make sure you leave enough time to both do your research and get the items delivered to you in time – you don’t want to find yourself making a last minute run out to the baby shops! You will undoubtedly receive a lot of gifts too, so that is worth bearing in mind to make sure you don’t end up with two of everything, especially if you are having a baby shower!