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Five Babies Later: The Baby Kit I'd Buy Again
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items After five babies I've bought the gadgets that end up in the loft and the pieces that get passed down. This is the shortlist I'd buy again: the car seat, pushchairs, cot, high chair, sleep kit, feeding and floor-time pieces that make the first years ...
Sections
4
Out and about
Sleep and the nursery
Feeding and mealtimes
Floor time
Out and about
The car seat, pushchairs and carrier that make leaving the house with a baby feel doable.
With five children I've done the car seat wrestle in every car park going. A seat that swivels round to face you changes everything, and this slim one grows with them, so you buy it once.
Evenflo Gold Revolve 360 Slim 2-in-1 Rotating Convertible Car Seat - Travertine
The pushchair for trains, taxis and flights. It folds small enough to go in the overhead locker, and you can steer it one-handed with a toddler holding the other.
Stokke YOYO³ Stroller Lightweight & Compact Carry-On Compatible - Black Taupe - 6m+: Stainless Steel Frame, Infant Car Seat Adaptable
If you're buying one big pram, I'd buy this one. It's smooth on any pavement, you can push it with one hand, and the misty white is soft without showing every mark.
Bugaboo Fox 5 Renew Complete Full Size Stroller - Misty White
Soft mesh that stays cool, real lumbar support, and you can wear it facing in or out. It's how I got anything done with a newborn and a toddler at once.
BabyBjörn Harmony Baby Carrier
Sleep and the nursery
Where they sleep, how you keep an eye on them, and the nursery pieces that work hard every night.
A simple mid-century cot in a light washed pine that turns into a toddler bed and then a daybed. That means one less piece of furniture to buy when they climb out.
Babyletto Hudson Washed Natural Wood 3-in-1 Convertible Crib
If I could only splurge on one nursery piece, it would be a good chair for the 3am feeds. This one swivels, glides, reclines at the touch of a button, and has a USB port for your phone.
Sloane Cream Swivel Glider Power Recliner Nursery Chair
Steel, so the smell stays inside, and it takes normal bin bags instead of expensive refills. The oat colour means it doesn't look like a nappy bin.
Ubbi Stainless Steel Diaper Pail - Matte Oat
White noise that clips onto the pram or the travel cot. Same sounds wherever you are, which is half the battle with naps away from home.
Hatch Go Portable USB Sound Machine for Babies and Kids' - Putty
It's the splurge I get asked about most. It responds to fussing with gentle rocking and white noise before you're even out of bed. It's worth renting or buying second-hand if the price makes you wince.
SNOO Smart Sleeper Baby Cot
Feeding and mealtimes
Pumping, feeding and the chair that brings them to the family table.
Hands-free pumping that fits inside your bra, so you can pump while you do the school run admin. It isn't glamorous, but it gave me back hours.
Momcozy M5 Hands-Free Wearable Electric Breast Pump Set
The bit that makes a Tripp Trapp work from about six months. It clips on so they're safely at the table with you, and comes off when they're ready.
Stokke Tripp Trapp® Chair Baby Set²
We've had ours for years and it's still at the table. It goes from baby to big kid, and even adults can sit on it. Natural beech goes with every kitchen.
Stokke Tripp Trapp® Chair
Floor time
Safe, calm places to put them down so you can have your hands back for five minutes.
The one baby seat I'd keep from every round. No batteries and no music; it bounces with their own kicks, it folds flat, and the sand quilt is soft enough for the sitting room.
BabyBjorn Bouncer Bliss Woven Classic Quilt - Sand Gray
A birch-wood frame and an organic cotton mat in calm colours, with a panel for when they start sitting up. It folds flat when the grandparents come round.
Lalo The Play Gym II