Getting ready for baby, aka "get your wallet out"

Who knew such a small person needed so much paraphernalia?! And who knew HOW MUCH baby stuff is out there to buy? Luckily, both my sisters have had babies this year, so they have been very helpful in providing comprehensive lists of what's necessary and what's not. I can tell you I was shocked at their initial list of "must buy" items! My husband almost passed out.

That said, I do have slightly different needs to them, i.e. I don't have a car or a house. This will be an apartment baby in a big city where I'll be walking and catching cabs or trains a lot. Everything needs to be compact and light. And we don't have a great deal of room to store unnecessary items. I also had a strict budget. But I did want to buy quality products if they were worth it. Thankfully I have a saviour - Ikea!!! - so I plan to buy most of my nursery furniture from there -- cot, feeding chair, change table, etc. Best of all, I know the safety standards will be good for baby.

In many ways I'm lucky to be having my baby in Shanghai as there's not a great deal of choice. There are only a handful of baby shops and boutiques - many with severely inflated prices!! - and I have had to spend a fair amount of time researching if products are even available here in China at all.

I've taken a gradual approach and have been slowly buying stuff each month so we wouldn't have a massive blow-out in one paycheck. I did have a bit of a shopping spree when we were in Singapore a few months back. I took the opportunity to buy up a lot of stuff I knew I either couldn't find here, or that I knew was significantly cheaper. Glamorous stuff like a breast pump and bottles. But at prices 40% cheaper than Shanghai, it was worth it.

Here's some of the haul thus far...

Pram and Baby Capsule - Baby Jogger City Mini and Maxi Cosi CabrioFix car seat with car seat adaptors. Bought from Baby318. I was initially going to splash out and buy a Bugaboo Bee Plus, however I opted for the Baby Jogger for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's light. Secondly, it's a one-handed fold. Thirdly, it was half the price. I didn't mind spending the cash if it was worth it, but I found the Bugaboo to be too heavy, too hard to fold on my own and the baby was too low to the ground.

  

Cot - Gulliver crib from Ikea. Simple, budget-busting and safe.

Bouncer - Bloom Baby Rocker. Bought second-hand for less than half the retail price on the Shanghai Mamas classifieds. I'll probably end up with a Fisher-Price all-singing, all-dancing brightly coloured rocking chair/swing/bouncer, but I'll give this designer looking rocker a go first...

Nappy Bag - Skip Hop messenger bag "Dash" from Lollipop. Not too big as I want to keep as streamlined as possible. Yes, this may be a pipe dream, but I'm going to try.

White Noise Machine - Sleep Sheep from Lollipop (it attaches to the cot with some ties at the back, so it looks like a fluffy toy, not a white noise machine). Usually I hate fluffy toys, but this thing is cute.

Infant carrier - Ergo carrier with infant insert from First Few Years in Singapore (it was 20% off).  I was initially tempted by the Baby Bjorn, but after a fair bit of research, I decided on the Ergo as I can use it from newborn to toddler, it distributes weight more evenly across the hips and should prove to have more longevity when the baby becomes heavier.

Muslins and Blanket - Aden & Anais muslin swaddles and muslin dream blanket. On special from Mothercare in Singapore.

Swaddle Wrap - Kiddopotamus from Mothercare in Singapore (half price!). I bought this as I'd read great reviews. But mostly I just wanted to buy it because of the name. My husband had seen the name on my list and was like, "what the #*% is a Kiddopotamus?!!".

As for clothes, I've found it very difficult to find neutral, non-gender clothes. Absolutely every shop has defined girls and boys newborn, baby and toddler collections. Does no-one have a delivery surprise anymore? But I have persevered and have managed to amass a fairly decent collection of cute white, grey, red and navy onesies and more. My favourite places have been Gap, H&M and Marks & Spencer and I did stock up on Bonds pieces from Australia. But I've tried not to go too nuts as I'm very aware that babies grow. And quickly  So my rule has been to only buy on special. So far, so good....

I've also ditched a few things from my list as would-be-nice-but-I'll-see-if-we-can-do-without. Tell me if I'm wrong but I'm not buying a baby monitor, nappy bin or fancy bedding.