What worked for you - what didn't?

A kango pouch saved my sanity during the first few weeks as my son was niggly between 4 and 8, I want to try the Babysense Sling this time around.

Julz, thanks for the car seat cover tip, never thought of that.

Yip I just sold ours. We had the fisher price one and it bought be 15 minutes of freedom at at time.

I totally forgot my big sanity purchase.

My youngest daughter was such a niggly baby, I had to carry her all the time everywhere - she was just so niggly. If she was sleeping and I would put her down, she would wake up and scream blue murder. I was convinced at the time she had colic.

I was always carrying her, rocking her, patting her back.

Then I bought one of those second-hand automatic-swinging chairs and my life dhanged.

I could drop her in that and I could make dinner or I could put her in that and we could sit down and attempt a family dinner. It gave me these gaps of 15 - 60 minutes of sanity and peace where I had my hands free.

I think I might have fallen down in front of it and said a few hail-marys on quite a few occassions.

I bought it off gumtree, and it changed my life.

Marijke such great advice.

I actually bought very little so I didn't waste money at all. There are so many gadgets out there all nice to have but really a waste of money.

A bottle drying rack was a good buy. They are quite cheap.

Woolies really have the nicest socks for kiddies. I agree with rm the towelling ones are horrid. They don't stay on. The woolies ones are really stretchy.

Yip save money and buy second hand if you can. I buy little but am very sure of what I like so second hand isn't always possible but you can save loads.

I didn't really bother with vests too much.

mobiles are nice for over the change mat but please not near sleep area.

a music playing toy is nice to have for bath time. It settled Dylan so much.

Remember the shops are open all hours these days so buy as you find you need things and you will probably do without most of the goodies.

A cover for the car seat is nice as the buckles get hot in summer so even if you use a towel just remember to cover the seat in the sun.

Get a nice toy for the car seat. We were given one at 2 months and we could have saved loads of tears by getting one earlier.

A bumbo seat with tray is very nice to have for a BLW baby, buy second hand as well as a second hand feeding chair

NOTHING WRONG WITH SECOND HAND!!!

Don't waste money on light coloured bibs specially if you have a BLW baby.

Don't kill me for this one - we bought a cheap walking ring for R120 from a chinese shop when B was 5 months old, she was a difficult baby and this made her happy (couple of minutes a day) She was frustrated cause she couldn't move and stopped using it at 7 months when she started crawling so not bawling my eyes out for spending loads of money on anything she only used for a short amount of time.

If you are a first time mom buy rescue remedy and use it on yourself - you will have those kind of days!

And lastly - if you received loads of the same thing at your baby shower or have loads of things you don't use pass it on - give it as a present for someone elses babyshower and save on buying loads of presents for all your preggy friends

Okay what worked:

I had a winter baby and cloth diaper so I used cheap dark blue facecloths with warm water instead of wetwipes and I'm still on my 5th pack of wetwipes

Travel system that came with pram, carry cot, carseat and base. We still use the pram and the carseat and base are premanently in the car but when she was small it was nice to push her anywhere to sleep. The carry cot we also used, she slept in it in her wooden cot for a while.

Angelcare monitor, nuff said!

Bought a cheap baby bath at a plastic warehouse and hubby would hold her, when we moved to the bath we had the bath seat like Joli and now just use a non slip mat since she started sitting up on her own.

Bright colored toy to hang over pram. She loved it.

Bought a cheap baby pouch at pep and used it a few times with a niggly baby but it started hurting my back as she became heavier.

The big carry cot from treehouse. She slept in it till 8 months, again just put it inside her wooden cot.

Bottle warmer (second hand), for me was a lifesaver, no walking to the kitchen to heat a bottle in the middle of the cold night, but only used it for 2 or 3 months.

Baby powder, keeps the ants out of her room nicely.

A cheap comforter bought from pep to throw on the floor to play on.

Vests with poppers (can never have enough)

Avent bottles (2 small 4 big) and microwave sterilizer

Panado pead drops, for all those injections!

Ask your doctor for suppositories for fever just to have in your ever growing cabinet, even if you never use it babies tend to get sick in the middle of the night

A cheap babybag (bought mine for R40 from game) and a pink childrens backpack (R40 from a chinese store) when she was 8 months old

What didn't work:

Babysense swaddle blanket (luckily second hand) always had a huge piece of blanket that didn't go anywhere and she came loose easier than in a receiving blanket

Toys for babies under 3 months (so not worth it, they don't play with toys) buy toys for when they are older and they can look at it while they are still too young to play.

Friend who didn't have children buying clothes for you - please let them understand what the weather will be like when your baby is newborn 0 - 3 months, 3 - 6 months etc. It's a waste of money to buy short sleeved clothes for winter and vice versa.

Cute newborn clothes - a complete waste since they are either two pieces (rides up to under their chin) or too bulky to comfortably handle your baby.

Those plastic bath seats Joli was talking about, my sister had one with both her boys and it looks like a pedestal to display the family jewels!

A cot mobile - took it down the minute she started noticing it (at 4 weeks or something) and it kept her from sleeping!

Baby feeding spoons - got about 10 at my babyshower and B never wanted to eat from it, so we never fed her purees but did baby-led weaning.

A few things to keep in mind:

If it's your first baby and you are planning on having more and know the sex please don't go to crazy with buying blue/pink clothes. Ask people to give you neutral colors, will save you loads of money if you can use the same clothes for your next child too. This would be for newborn 0 - 6 months (after that they might mess too much to pass on to a sibling)

DON'T BUY white or light coloured clothes from 6 months up - no matter how clean your house is it doesn't wash out if your LO was crawling over the floor - unless you are prepared to go through something like 2 bottles (if not more) of vanish stain remover a month.

Don't waste money on special toys (when they are still under 1 year). Buy a couple of tolo toys (they are unbreakable) stacking cups, shape shorter, a few soft toys and those hard cardboard books. You'll see they prefer playing with anything else except their toys anyway. (my LG's favourite toy is a small plastic bin filled with different coloured bottle caps that I kept from coke etc bottles)

I just buy the regular ones and keedo have amazing grows if you can afford them.