My Number One Baby Tip

It’s funny that, now I’m a bit older, I can see the whole baby experience through slightly wiser eyes.

OK, ok. So I might not be wiser. Will I ever be wiser? Probably not. But I do think that, over the last six and a half years of pregnancy and motherhood, I have learned one or two things about babies and children.

Some of it I’ve forgotten, cheers sleep deprivation. Some I’ve tucked away in the darker recesses of my brain, never to be visited again. Some, the most useful of the information, I’m happy to share with you, oh loyal and lovely readers of my blog.

The lovely people over at Online4Baby approached me recently and asked me to think of my best baby advice. They’re an online shop, so I thought I’d consider my most important and relevant purchases I made for my own babies, but then I became a bit stumped.

You see, when I was pregnant with Elfie, and even to some extent Hux, I bought ALL THE THINGS.

Even a new apartment: I became pregnant while my ex-husband and I were living in the most beautiful one bedroom flat in De Beauvoir town, London, and I made the poor guy pack up and move to Muswell Hill before baby came. I realise now how ridiculous this was; yes, babies need a lot of stuff and take up more space than you’d imagine, but a 1 bed flat is more than doable, especially with all the co-sleeping that went on in our house. On reflection, moving out at 14 weeks pregnant was a SLIGHT over-reaction ;)

So I guess my main bit of advice would be, CHILL OUT with all the things, man. Baby needs some clothes, somewhere to sleep, food and a method of transportation, but beyond that you can go easy. It’s really hard to predict what kind of mother you’ll be before the baby arrives (though I already knew I’d be a slightly neurotic one…) so don’t worry about buying everything under the sun before it’s totally necessary.

I think back now at all that time I spent in baby shops before Elfie came – I’d estimate two or three long visits each week – and I kick myself. I could have been pursuing much more interesting hobbies, like watching Grey’s Anatomy (it’s now all on NowTV!).

But for those bits you do need, take a look at the fab one-stop shop Online4Baby. Want prams? They literally have THEM ALL. Need a crib? Look no further than this Chicco Next2Me – PERFECT for that co-sleeping.  They’ve got all your bases covered!

This would have been a dream when I was pregnant – having once wept in the baby department of John Lewis because I felt so overwhelmed and intimidated, being presented with an easy and friendly place like this would have been perfect: Online4Baby have a brilliant non-overwhelming showroom near Manchester with friendly non-intimidating staff. Saved!

I’d love to have another baby one day. Not only can I never get enough of my own beautifully smooshy babies (can you just look at how beautiful little Elfie was?!) but I’d love to re-visit the journey of early motherhood with the advantage of experience. Ultimately, though shopping for baby is mega fun, it’s also one of the least important things when it comes to having a baby.

So make it as painless as possible, and just enjoy, mama.

Big thanks to Online4Baby for working with MTT