The first-trimester shopping list: buy, borrow, or skip
A calm checklist that sorts the genuine essentials from the lovely-but-optional, before the marketing gets to you.
First, breathe
The baby aisle is designed to make you feel underprepared. You're not. Newborns need surprisingly little, and much of what they do need can be borrowed or bought pre-loved. Here's the honest sort.
Buy (usually new)
Nappies and wipes, a car seat, and a new cot mattress. The consumables and the safety items where history matters.
These are the short list. The car seat should be new or fully verified, and a cot mattress should be new, firm and correctly fitting for safe sleep.
Borrow or buy pre-loved
Clothing, a cot, a pram, a carrier, a bassinet, a baby bath, and most gear. Used for weeks or months, so pre-loved saves the most and risks the least.
Newborn clothes especially: buy them second-hand, since they're outgrown before they wear out. A cot is fine used if it meets the standard, paired with that new mattress.
Skip (or wait and see)
Newborn shoes, most gadgets, top-and-tail sets, and a dozen going-out outfits. Wait until you know what your baby and your life actually need.
A lot of the "must-haves" are nice-to-haves. You can always buy something once you find you need it, often the same week.
The one-page version
Buy the consumables and the safety items new. Borrow or buy pre-loved for clothes and gear. Skip the rest until your baby tells you otherwise.
References
For the second-hand items, follow the usual checks: car seats need a known history, cots should meet AS/NZS 2172, and a firm, well-fitting mattress matters for safe sleep. Sources below.
Related reading
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Kit out the essentials with pre-loved pieces from families who've just been through it.
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