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When to start buying newborn baby essentials
When should you start buying baby stuff? A practical pregnancy timeline covering what to buy early, what can wait, and how to prepare calmly.
Is there a “right time” to start buying baby things?
The Role of Psychological Readiness
Pregnancy timeline for buying baby essentials
What baby items should you buy first?
How to spread baby purchases without overspending
What you don’t need before baby arrives
Preparing for baby without feeling overwhelmed
FAQs around buying baby essentials
The journey to parenthood is an incredibly exciting time, however it can also feel rather overwhelming, especially when it comes to preparing for the arrival of your baby. It’s important to remember that there is no one correct way to do it. Some parents go all out and buy everything straight away, whilst others prefer to take their time and wait until later in the pregnancy. What truly matters is preparing in a way that helps you to feel organised rather than overwhelmed. This guide has been designed to help you understand what to prioritise in each stage of your pregnancy, and what can wait until after your little one is here.
Is there a “right time” to start buying baby things?
If you were to believe all the advertisements aimed at expecting parents, you would be forgiven for thinking that you need to buy everything for your baby as soon as you find out that you are pregnant. However, the timing for buying all your baby essentials is deeply personal and will depend on many emotional and practical factors, such as cash flow, how much space you have in your home, how far along your pregnancy is and your own comfort levels.
The Role of Psychological Readiness
Quite often parents are slow to buy anything for their baby in early pregnancy due to emotional factors. Being psychologically ready is vital. Worries around the risk of miscarriage or superstition are common reasons why expectant parents put shopping for baby essentials on hold. They will usually wait until they feel a certain level of confidence around the health of their pregnancy. This is why many parents feel more secure in buying items for their baby after the first trimester, or specifically after the 20-week anomaly scan, where the health of their baby is reaffirmed, and the risk of a complication occurring is less likely. However, preparation often begins much sooner, through researching products, writing checklists, and planning the layout of the baby's nursery.
Pregnancy timeline for buying baby essentials
You can alleviate a lot of pressure by splitting the preparation process into stages. This will help to manage your spending and ensure space is not being taken up by bulky items before they are needed.
First trimester (0–12 weeks): planning, not shopping
In your first trimester the focus should be on decision making, researching and planning rather than purchasing. A good place to start would be to start researching baby essentials, such as the safety ratings of various car seats. The Key Regulation : ECE R129 (i-Size) This is the current "gold standard." When looking at a car seat, check the orange label for "R129" or "i-Size."
It is crucial that you never buy a second-hand car seat. You can never be sure that it hasn't been involved in a minor car accident, which can compromise its internal structure and overall safety. Planning ahead can include drawing up a baby essentials checklist, agreeing on a budget for larger purchases, deciding where the baby is going to sleep and how you are going to feed your baby.
Second trimester (13–27 weeks): when most parents start buying
Often referred to as the "golden period" of pregnancy, you tend to have higher energy levels and a decreased risk of complications in the second trimester. By now, the 20-week anomaly scan has been completed, and expectant parents tend to feel a lot more confident, reassured, and start to buy their baby essentials.
It is around this time that parents start sharing their exciting news with the wider family and friends. This often leads to discussions around gifts for the baby and perhaps the creation of a gift registry. At this moment in time the focus should be on basic, small essentials which are going to be easy to store. Recommended purchases include vests, sleepsuits, muslin cloths and cellular blankets.
This is also a perfect time to start planning and researching the furniture you will need for your baby, such as cots, moses baskets, bassinets (the cot that attaches to the side of the bed) and mattresses. All cots (full size and travel size), Moses baskets, bassinets and mattresses should carry a label that shows it adheres to EU Safety Standards .
Third trimester (28 weeks+): preparing for baby’s arrival
By the time you reach the third trimester your focus should start to shift to the final stages of preparation. It is important that both you and your home are ready in case your baby decides to make an appearance before its due date. I personally recommend having your hospital bag ready from 32-weeks onwards. Now is the time to start stocking up on nappies, wipes and travel equipment.
If you haven't done so already, it's the perfect time to allocate a space for where your baby’s cot, bassinet or moses basket is going to be. Larger pieces of furniture like cots are usually bought closer to the due date so they are readily available but not cluttering the home for months.
What baby items should you buy first?
Knowing the difference between what is truly essential, and what is optional, is the real key to smart shopping. When advising on baby essentials my aim always is to minimise overspending and unnecessary clutter.
Items the baby needs from day one
These include:
- A cot
- Bassinet or moses basket with a new mattress
- A brand new car seat which is essential for the first trip home
- A basic supply of vests and sleep suits (12 of each)
- A small starter supply of nappies
- Wipes or cotton wool
- Infant formula, bottles teats and a steriliser if you plan on bottle feeding
Items that can safely wait until later
These are specialised feeding equipment, such as breast pumps, which should wait until you have established your feeding routine.
Other non-urgent baby items include bathtubs or seats, most babies are only having a top and tail wash in the first weeks, which can be done on their baby changing mat.
Items many parents receive as gifts
Finally, some gifted items include clothing in the 0–3 month size (as friends and family absolutely love buying tiny clothes). My tip here would be to ask for clothing that is 3-6 months and upwards as they will grow out of the newborn stage faster than you think.
How to spread baby purchases without overspending
For budgeting strategies, split your purchases across several months to avoid a big spend in one go, and keep an eye out for seasonal sales. For sustainable shopping, consider buying second hand items or borrowing short use products, like next size up clothing or breast pumps.
Family and friends often have lots of baby clothes and items they are finished with, make sure to ask as it’s an excellent way to save money and reduce waste. Safety must always come first, always buy safety critical items new. This includes mattresses for safe sleep and car seats.
What you don’t need before baby arrives
What I've seen time and time again is expectant parents over-buying out of excitement or thinking that an item is essential. This guidance will help manage expectations and avoid over spending by focusing on things that can wait until after the baby arrives.
Avoid purchasing large wardrobes of newborn clothes. Babies grow a lot faster than you’d imagine, 12 sets of sleepsuits and vests in the newborn size is more than enough to see you through the first weeks and months.
The shops are awash with all sorts of baby gadgets, which can be lovely to have, but are definitely not essential. Try to hold off buying these until you know what is going to be useful or not. Lastly, hold off on specialised feeding items. Wait until your baby's feeding journey is established, as if you plan to breastfeed you might not need a full set of bottles or sterilising equipment.
Preparing for baby without feeling overwhelmed
My key takeaway for you today is emotional reassurance: start small, focus only on the essentials, and don't forget self-care. Take help when it is being offered and remember that babies need care, comfort, and feeding much more than they need gadgets or fancy strollers. By preparing for your baby’s arrival in a practical and systematic way you can look forward to your due date feeling organised and confident.
FAQs around buying baby essentials
This is a completely personal decision. There is no right or wrong. If you feel emotionally ready to start buying baby items, it's perfectly okay to do so. While research and planning often starts in the first trimester, some expectant parents will wait until they reach 12-weeks and others wait until after the 20-week anomaly scan, when the pregnancy is more established.
The concept that buying baby things early is bad luck is nothing more than a common superstition, there is no factual basis for this.
When you are considering what to buy before your baby’s birth, prioritise items that are essential from day one. These include a safe place for your baby to sleep (cot or moses basket, a car seat for the trip home, basic feeding equipment (if bottle feeding) and changing supplies (nappies, vests, and sleepsuits).
You only need a small number of newborn clothes (around 12 sleepsuits and vests). Remember babies grow very quickly at this stage and also you will very likely get lots of newborn clothes as gifts. If you are asked what you would like as a gift for your baby, it's always a good idea to ask for baby clothes in bigger sizes.
It is recommended to have your baby’s sleeping space ready by 32–36 weeks, just in case the baby arrives early. While a baby nursery is a nice thing to have, your baby does not need one, it only needs a safe sleeping space.
