Which baby things are hard to get in a hurry once the baby is here?

ochre_puzzle_94744 Oct 2026

There was a thread this morning about baby purchases people regretted. We're trying to settle the same argument a different way. First baby, due early next year. My partner has a spreadsheet and wants it all bought by December: cot, pram, steriliser, bouncer, the works. I'd rather get the basics and buy the rest once we know what the baby needs. Partly money, partly that our flat is small. We've agreed on a test to settle it. Anything that can't be sourced within a day or two after the birth gets bought now. Everything else waits. The problem is neither of us knows which things fall in which list. So, from people who've been through it: what turned out to be hard to get quickly, and what could someone just bring over the same day?

3 comments

lemon_kite_44324 Oct 2026
This is twelve years ago, so allow for things having changed. Hard to get quickly: a car seat, which we needed to bring her home from the hospital, and a cot that fitted our room, which took weeks to arrive. Easy to get the same day: nappies, muslins, clothes, a night light for feeds. The one thing I would not buy early at all is a bouncer. Ours sat unused because she disliked it.
- ochre_puzzle_94745 Oct 2026
  Car seat for the ride home was on neither of our lists. It goes in the buy-now column, which my partner will count as a point for the spreadsheet :)
cedar_balcony_38345 Oct 2026
We were in a small flat too, and my one regret is the big cot. Our son slept next to us in a basket for months and the cot stood there holding laundry. That was seventeen years ago, but I'd still say: anything you can get delivered in a day, you don't need to buy in advance. Probably doesn't settle it between you two :)
fern_pigeon_34145 Oct 2026
In our house my amma and atha kept bringing things before the birth, mostly clothes and blankets, so we bought very little ourselves. If the grandparents are around, wait and see what arrives. You may end up with three of everything.
- violet_bookmark_83066 Oct 2026
  Same with our second, last year. We bought almost nothing beforehand because we still had our son's things and family filled the gaps. The only thing we rushed out for after the birth was a different bottle, because she refused the one we had. No way to know that in advance.