Newborn essentials checklist: what you actually need
Most newborn checklists run to sixty items and carry no prices. They are almost always written by somebody who sells the things on the list, which is why nothing is ever described as optional.
This one is the other way round: what you genuinely need before the birth, what it costs, and what you can leave until you know whether your baby wants it. About eight things have to be in the house before you go to hospital. The rest can wait.
What you need before the birth
These are the ones that are genuinely hard to manage without on day one, with typical mid-range UK prices:
| What | Typical cost | Why it can't wait |
|---|---|---|
| Car seat | £200 | Most UK hospitals will not let you leave by car without one |
| Somewhere to sleep | £200 | Moses basket or cot, from the first night |
| New mattress | £118 | Must be new and must fit the frame — see below |
| Pushchair or pram | £325 | Needed the first time you leave the house on foot |
| Nappies & wipes | ~£50/mo | Newborns use around eight a day |
| Sleepsuits & a going-home outfit | part of £300 | Six to eight sleepsuits; they get changed constantly |
| Changing mat & nappy bin | part of £290 | Ten-plus nappy changes a day in the early weeks |
| Thermometer & first-aid basics | £105 | The one you want at 3am, not the one you order at 3am |
Feeding equipment is the ninth, and what you need depends entirely on how you plan to feed. If you are formula or combination feeding you need bottles and a steriliser before the birth. If you are planning to breastfeed, a couple of bottles as backup is enough to start with, and a pump can wait until you know whether you want one.
The safety exceptions
Almost everything on the list is fine secondhand, and buying used takes roughly £600 off a first year. Two things are not.
Buy the cot mattress new. A used mattress carries a documented SIDS risk, and it is the one saving on this page that is not worth making. It also has to fit the frame with no gap wider than about two fingers.
Car seats are the second. A seat that has been in a collision can be damaged in ways you cannot see from the outside, and a secondhand seat comes with no way of knowing. If you do accept one, take it only from somebody you trust completely who can tell you its full history. Check it has not passed its expiry date, and that it is i-Size or ECE R129.
Whatever you buy, new or used, check it against the government’s product recall list. We do not test or endorse any product — always check current standards and recall notices yourself before buying.
What you can genuinely skip
Not “skip forever” — skip for now. Every one of these is easy to buy in two days if it turns out you want it, and a good proportion of families never do.
Wait until the baby arrives
- Baby monitor. Guidance is for the baby to sleep in your room for the first six months, and a monitor is not much use across three feet of carpet.
- Bottle warmer. A jug of hot water does the same job. Buy one later if the faff genuinely bothers you.
- Nappy bin. A carrier bag and an outside bin works. Plenty of people love theirs; nobody needs one on day one.
- Breast pump. Wait until feeding is established and you know whether you need one, which pump, and how often.
- Baby bath. The kitchen sink is the right size and the right height for the first few weeks.
Buy small, then buy more
- Newborn-size clothes. Babies grow through this size in weeks, and some skip it. Six to eight sleepsuits, then see.
- One brand of nappies. Buy a single pack, not a bulk order, until you know they suit your baby.
- Bottles. Two or three of one type. Babies are fussy about teats and you may end up switching.
The ones people regret most
Top-and-tail bowls, wipe warmers, baby shoes before walking, cot bumpers (which are a suffocation risk and no longer recommended), and full sets of newborn outfits with fiddly buttons that get worn once.
Where to save, and where not to
| Item | Buy used? |
|---|---|
| Cot mattress | Never — new only |
| Car seat | Only from someone you trust completely |
| Pushchair | Yes — a big saving, check the brakes and straps |
| Cot or Moses basket | Yes |
| Clothes | Yes — outgrown before they wear out |
| Highchair, bouncer, play mat | Yes |
| Bottles & teats | New teats; bottles fine if sterilised |
| Toys | Yes |
Facebook Marketplace, NCT nearly-new sales and local baby banks are where most of this changes hands. A pushchair bought used is often the single biggest saving available to a first-time parent.
Before you buy any of it
Two things worth doing first, because both change what you actually need to buy.
Ask what you are being given. Families are typically given around £450 of clothes, toys and equipment, and it clusters heavily around exactly the things on this list. Finding out what is coming before you buy avoids the two-prams problem.
Work out what it comes to for you. The prices here are mid-range for one baby bought new; a lean approach comes to well under half. The planner prices the whole list against how you actually shop, and lets you tick off what you already own so the total drops to what is genuinely left.
Want your own number rather than the average?
Put in your due date and how you plan to shop, and the whole year is priced for you — free, no account needed.
Work out my costsRead next
- How much does a baby cost in the UK?
The real range, line by line, and why every article quotes a different number.
- When to buy everything for a baby
A month-by-month timeline, so the bill arrives in pieces rather than all at once.