The List

If you wanted to, you could quite easily spend all of your earnings on your baby. Between clothing, furniture, equipment, accessories, toys, parenting books, masses of nappies and the random 'that's cute' purchases, separating the needs from the wants can be a very difficult task for new Mums. There is a lot of money to be made in baby world if you have a good idea and someone to market it. If you haven't walked into a Baby Bunting lately or ventured online to shop, then hide your credit card and take a look around.

Shopping for a new baby can be pretty exciting. There are many parenting sites that now provide you with a list of must haves and nice to haves. When I was pregnant I was given one these lists and began chipping away at it over the weeks so that it wouldn't be one big financial shock. I was fortunate to get a lot of furniture second hand from family but still had to go out and get some big ticket items, such as a pram. The problem is that when you go to buy a pram, you can potentially walk out with a pram, compatible car capsule, pram liner, sun shade, rain cover, foot muff, transport bag, cup holder, stroller tidy, snack pod, double kit (for number two), cushy straps, piddlepad (yep), head support, a fan (!), pram wrap/blanket and some attachable toys. Its terrifying to think of what you could spend if all of the above is just one item off your 7 page list. I often wonder how I survived as a child without a stroller fan? There doesn't seem to be any long term damage from my mother using a standard blanket as opposed to a pram blanket, though some issues may surface later in life. Watch this space.

Sleep products are surely the biggest cash cows. Gone are the days of bunny rugs and blankets. Now its all about wraps, swaddles and sleeping bags. Each product claiming to keep your child at the optimum temperature or in the safest sleeping position or to closely resemble the womb. Anything that gives parents hope of more sleep is going to sell. These are the sort of products that you buy when you are sleep deprived without looking at the price tags. I have the Wrap Me Up swaddle bags where their arms are positioned up. My little guy won't settle if he can't suck his hands. I very sensibly bought two however the other day one was pooed one and one spewed on, so I tried putting my son down for a nap without it. It was a teary disaster. His little arms were frantically flapping in the air and he had no idea how to fall asleep with those things waving in front of his face.

You may have guessed that I didn't end up buying everything on the list. I probably only bought around half of the items. I was never going to buy a bath thermometer when I have a perfectly good, free elbow. That money went towards a cabbage, which was strangely never mentioned on any of the lists, yet was my number one must have. Oh the relief. I did however end up buying a play gym, which I first scoffed at and deemed unnecessary. My son loves it and I do wonder how I filled my days as a baby without one. The many attachable toys with all their unique sounds, the mirror that my son smiles at (he thinks he has a friend that Mummy keeps in the cupboard), the colourful play mat with different fabrics for him to feel and throw up on, the musical foot pad that I have never put batteries in but look forward to discovering one day. Yes, arm me with a cabbage and play gym and I'm sorted for child number two.

These days, every aspect of parenting is supported by a mass of 'things'. There are so many toys, activity tables, gyms, walkers, jumpers, swings and various sleep aids, that all you need is a wet nurse to take care of the feeding and someone to invent a nappy changer, and you can sit back with a good book and let the gadgets raise your children. Of course I'm a massive hypocrite. I'm sitting here looking at my sons rocker which has both vibrate and music options because heaven forbid I just buy the rocker that rocks.