Car seats
If you plan to drive your new baby home, you will need a suitable baby car seat.
It’s recommended to buy a baby car seat before your baby is born if possible. It’s important to buy a seat that fits your car and is suitable for a newborn.
Your car seat shouldn’t be second-hand, and where possible, you should have a trained retailer show you how to fit it into your car correctly and safely.
Full NHS advice on buying a car seat.
What do newborns need?
Clothes
Babies grow very quickly. All you need for the first few weeks are enough clothes to make sure your baby will be warm and clean. A small stock of nappies is also handy, but you can’t always be sure what size your baby will need before they arrive.
Bedding
For the first few months, you’ll need a crib, carrycot or Moses basket. Your baby needs to sleep somewhere that’s safe, warm and not too far from you.
Baby nests are not suitable for a baby to sleep in because of the danger of suffocation.
If you are borrowing a crib or cot, or using one that’s been used by another of your children, you should ideally buy a new mattress.
You should not use pillows or duvets. The Lullaby Trust shares full safe sleep information for new parents.
Transporting your baby
Pushchairs
Pushchairs are only suitable for young babies if they have fully reclining seats so your baby can lie flat. Wait until your baby can sit up by themselves before using another type of pushchair.
Prams
Prams give your baby a lot of space to sit and lie comfortably, but they take up a lot of space and are hard to use on public transport. If you have a car, look for a pram that can be dismantled easily.
Carrier and slings
Baby carriers are attached with straps and your baby is carried in front of you. Slings are made of soft fabrics that wrap around your chest. Most babies like being carried like this because they’re close to you and warm. Older babies, who can hold up their heads and whose backs are stronger – at about 6 months hold – can be carried in carriers that go on your back.
It’s not safe to feed your baby while they’re in a sling. When using a sling or carrier do not let the material cover your baby’s head.
Carrycot on wheels
A carrycot is a light, portable cot with handles, similar to but smaller than the body of a pram, and often attached to a wheeled frame.
Your baby can sleep in the carrycot for the first few months, and the cot can be attached to the frame to go out.
3-in-1 travel system
This is a carry cot and set of wheels that can be converted into a pushchair when your baby outgrows the carrycot.
