Newborn Essentials: What You Actually Need in Month One

Sleep: one safe surface, repeated

A firm, flat sleep surface in your room for the first six months — a bedside bassinet makes night feeds far less brutal than walking to another room.

Add a sleep sack in the right tog for your room temperature, a couple of fitted sheets, and a white noise machine. Skip the pillows, bumpers and loose blankets entirely.

Feeding: buy small, then buy more

Whether you plan to breastfeed, pump or use formula, start with a small set of bottles rather than a big kit. Babies have strong opinions about teats and you will not know theirs for a fortnight.

If you are pumping, a wearable pump buys back your hands. If you are formula feeding, a dispenser earns its keep somewhere around the fifth night feed.

A haakaa-style silicone pump costs very little and catches milk you would otherwise lose — one of the highest-value things on this list.

Nappies and the changing station

Two sizes of nappies (newborn and size 1 — many babies skip newborn), fragrance-free wipes, a barrier cream and a changing mat you can wipe down.

Set up a second, smaller changing basket wherever you sit in the evening. You will not want to climb stairs at 2am.

Going out: the car seat comes first

An infant car seat is the one item you cannot leave hospital without. Choose one that fits your car and, ideally, clicks onto your pushchair frame.

Install it before the birth, and check it — belt path, recline angle, harness at or below the shoulders, chest clip at armpit height.

A stretchy wrap or a structured newborn carrier covers most short trips and settles a fussy baby better than any device.

What can wait

Shoes, a cot mobile, a nappy bin, a bottle steriliser with a dryer, a full wardrobe in newborn size, and almost every toy.

Buy these after week four, when you know what your days actually look like.