The Baby List - Medical - the First Three Months

There is a bunch of random stuff that you need or may need that you never think of (at least I never did).
I thought I would split it up, if you stock up on this stuff little by little, you won't notice the money seeping away.

The infa red thermometer ***Spend Money Here*** These are worth their weight in gold, all the Mommas in the neighbourhood borrow mine.  This allows you to take temperatures instantly without having to struggle or wake the sleeping cherub.  Get it!!

Why? Babies get fevers all the time for no apparent reason, they're just out of sorts, and you have to keep a close eye on it because fevers can be very serious in a small infant.  I never knew how many viruses were floating around until I had children.

The Braun seems to be the most popular model, and can be purchased from your local chemist for around $100.  Mine was about $60 and the brand is Microlife, it is Swiss design and was also from my local chemist.  I love it, and wish I had bought this straight away instead of the dodgy little digital thing I had.

Panadol for infants.  You don't know when you'll need it, just keep it in the cupboard, as you would rather have it than not.

Finger Nail Scissors or clippers for infants.  Pack this one in your hospital bag.  Both my girls were born with extra long fingernail and you know how babies love to scratch themselves.

Humidifier - this one is purely incase of illness.  If bubba gets a cold, you MUST have a humidifier.  When you can't give them medication, this is a life saver and helps clear their nose and their chest.  You can even ad a few drops of oil (Eucalyptus/thyme) to a small reserve which warms the oil.

I purchased mine from my chemist and still use it today.  A REALLY good buy!!  My brand is 'Hippo', but I've seen smaller cuter ones around.

Fess Little Noses - this is another one for the chemist.  There are a couple of brands on the market, but they are disgusting and fantastic little contraptions/extractors that allows you to suck the snot out of your little cherubs nose... (Hey its preferential to the formerly used sucking it into your mouth technique - not joking).  Get it from your chemist and add it to your medicine cabinet.  About $12 I think.

A word on monitors.
Breathing Monitors and baby monitors may be great, I've never used them, thank god, I think it would've just made me even MORE obsessive about whether the baby was still breathing.  Very good idea if you have an upstairs downstairs.  And they cost lots of money...I'd rather eat pizza.

The Baby List - Clothing - the First Three Months

You asked me how much of everything you need (clothing) so here's the list.  For lookers on, keep in mind this is a Spring Baby.

• 6 x Short Sleeve all-in-one singlets Cotton Bonds (these are the ones that do up under the crotch, these are better on babies as they don't ride up.
• 3 x Cotton Vest Singlets (depending on how hot it is, you may not need these at all)
• 3 x Cotton Pyjamas (jumpsuits are best, bonds have cute ones, or cotton on)
• 3 x Warmer Jumpsuits like the bonds wondersuit (ugly but awesome)
• Other stuff for the day, dresses on baby girls are totally impractical, photo ops only
• 1 or 2 light cardigans, think layers according to weather.
• 2 x tiny baby bibs - David Jones usually stock them, they're specially for newborns
• 1 x hat - Pumpkin Patch and David Jones are the only places I've found that actually stock hats small enough for an absolute newborn.  Newbies need a hat whenever they're outside as they loose alot of heat through their head and their body temperature is not yet regulated.  Take off the hat as soon as you get inside though.
• 3 pairs of socks - I recommend the new bonds stay put socks, at least they stay put.

This is really all you need, but keep in mind, before the baby comes get all that stuff in size 000 and size 00.  The 000 will swim on the baby at first, but trust me, that will only last a week tops.

For the first couple of months all a baby does is sleep and eat, so clothing is not dirtied much unless you have a gastric baby who throws up all the time, in which case you'll just get used to getting puked on....good luck with that.

The Body Pillow. It's Better than a Man (for some things)

The Body Pillow, it doesn't grope complain or snore!

See here the body pillow, the maternity pillow, the long pillow, the tube pillow.... whatever you like to call it, you MUST have one for the mid to later era of pregnancy.

When sleep becomes difficult and for some impossible, this lovely long lady, is better than anything you've slammed between your legs lately.  "Hug it tight and sleep all night - the body pillow"... (wry smile)

The body pillow retails for around $89.95 (ouch) on classy sites like Urban Baby with the pillowcase setting you back another $39.95.  I found a cheaper version at Holy Sheet, I'm not sure what it is retailing for at present, but check it out first.

JEALOUSY ALERT: WARNING PARTNERS WILL ENVY THE WAY YOU SNUGGLE, CUDDLE, CARESS AND DROOL INTO THE PILLOW, HISSY FITS AND TANTRUMS AND LOSS OF SELF ESTEEM MAY FOLLOW.  SOLUTION...BUY HIM/HER ONE TWO, AND HAVE YOUR FACE LASER PRINTED ONTO THE PILLOW CASE.

Note to J:  I have a body pillow and two cases, if you would like to borrow it speak up, its been well loved by me and others, but it still does a stirling job and doesn't cost a cent.

Where to spend the most money....

There is always a mountain of products out there for children and babies, all of them claiming to be VERY important, trust me, on the whole they're not.

The most important things for you to invest in are:

• The pram 
• The Nappy Bag
• The Cot
• Your Underwear

And that's about it.  I'll expand on what you should spend said money on later.