This being the year of the Dragon, I’ve got plenty of friends who are either expecting or have just given birth. Everywhere I go, baby bumps greet me and I think the gahmen (that’s the government, for those of you who aren’t familiar with Singlish) must be very pleased with the spike in the number of births this year. I remember being quite lost in terms of what I needed to buy and prepare before Noah’s arrival, but with plenty of help and advice from other mummies, all was good, and today, I decided to ‘pass it on’.
The first tip I got was to pick up Robinsons’ very useful brochure from the nursery department which has a comprehensive list of things you will need to buy. I really should have taken a photo of it but things always look clearer on hindsight, don’t they? No worries though, because my techie and highly organised husband got me to use Workflowy, an online list maker, which both of us could view and update as we went along. This ensured that we didn’t miss anything out, or in my case, buy too many things.
C also made me think about the quantity of each item that I would need for say, three days or a week, depending on how often I plan to do the laundry, and that really helped to keep my inner shopaholic in check. Honestly, there were so many adorable rompers out there that I would have overstocked on them if I didn’t put a number down! What I didn’t factor in was the hand-me-downs that generous friends (Motherkao again) would pass to us, so do take that into consideration when you’re making your own list. I’m sharing our list here as a guide for those who are as clueless as I was, although I have to do this in parts because fulfilling my cow duties to my little boy takes up quite a bit of time each day.
Here’s the first of seven categories, together with some tips of my own, compiled from the Robinsons brochure:
Sleeping Needs – Cot and mattress We liked the white Bonbebe Vermont 4-in-1 baby crib which we found at the Takashimaya Baby Fair. It comes with a very firm mattress made of coconut husks which apparently doesn’t absorb water.
– Bedding set x 2 We haven’t used these yet since he’s still too young, so this isn’t really considered an essential item for newborns. One set came free with our cot, so do bear in mind that most companies give a host of freebies, especially if you buy the cot at a fair. Also, you should buy your cot before buying any bedding supplies, just in case the size of your cot’s mattress is a little odd.
– Fitted bedsheet x 2 We got ours from Aussino during their sale.
– Cotton blanket x 2 We found really soft ones at one of the Expo fairs. We don’t use a blanket very often as Noah usually wears a sleepsuit or a long-sleeved romper with long pants. This Carters Keep Me Close Blanket
looks like it’s good value for money.
– Beansprout pillow x 2 We got two different-sized ones: a small one from Spring Maternity to put on his belly and a longer one from Pupsik Studio angled slightly behind his back on hot days to keep him cool.
– Dimpled pillow Not an essential item for newborns. We currently use a folded up diaper cloth as his pillow. I did however, buy a dimpled pillow from Pupsik Studio for future use, because it was too pretty to resist. Yes, I’m a shopaholic.
– Cot mobile We got the Tiny Love Sweet Island Dreams Mobile
because we liked that it had four tunes to choose from and the animal characters tied in with the whole ‘animal theme’ that we wanted for Noah.
– Swaddle cloth x 3 packs I was extremely tempted to get a couple of pretty swaddle cloths but for once, I resisted the urge to be frivolous and went with the cheaper and more practical option: Pigeon and Pureen diaper cloths. They can be used as burp cloths too! To be honest, I think two packs will be more than enough but we got three, because I’m a true-blue kiasu Singaporean. If you want to splurge, these Aden By aden + anais Muslin Swaddle Blanket 4 Pack, Safari Friends
are absolutely gorgeous.
– Swaddle x 2 I bought the Summer Infant SwaddleMe 2-Pack, Woodland Friends
from Kiddy Palace (cheaper than Mothercare) but Noah didn’t seem to like being in them.
– Waterproof mattress protector x 2 I’ve only bought one so far, from Fuusha and I think it’s of pretty good quality. I also bought a rubber mat from Kiddy Palace, which works in pretty much the same way.
– Bumper book Babies can apparently only see black, white and red objects when they are very young, so it’s good to get a bumper book in those colours to stimulate them. I bought the Tiny Love Double-Sided First Book
from Isetan and Noah did stare at it quite a bit. I flipped it over the the colourful side when he was older, and he had a lot of fun playing with the tags and ribbons on it.
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PS: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you buy the item after clicking on the links, a few cents from the sale goes to Noah’s book fund, at absolutely no cost to you.
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