I was always the one who was piling my supermarket trolley with nappies or wipes or whatever the latest baby related offer was. Firstly as it was the easiest way to purchase everything with the weekly shop and secondly because you can always find such amazing offers.
At the time of having the girls I worked near a mammoth Tesco and would regularly take a lunchtime trip when they had their Baby and Toddler event. There were so many bargains to be had, especially on the nappy front, and we all know how many nappies you get through.
Before they were born I had a whole cupboard that was well stocked with all manner of goodies from nappies to bubble bath and everything in between. It just made sense and I was forever grateful for those supplies once the maternity leave kicked in. I’d never fully appreciated the cost of nappies before then.
Buying nappies on offer was probably one of the best savings I made in the months following the girls. If you read our nappy review you will know I favoured Pampers for my girls and so would always make sure I looked out for a bargain when I could.
Despite the girls now being out of nappies I still have to keep a massive stock of baby wipes. You know, for sticky fingers and the inevitable fall over in the mud. They are also amazing for wiping up all manner of spillages from the carpet. I love them. I have always bought the sensitive wipes as Alice has such delicate skin.
When it comes to bathtime the girls still love endless bubbles. A whole bath frothing over with them in fact. In those early days I was desperate to try anything to get them to sleep and the Johnson & Johnson bedtime bath claims wondrous things about helping calm and soothe baby. I’m not sure anything would get Alice to sleep in those early months but I fell in love with the beautiful, calming lavender scent and still use it to this day. I got used to buying it on offer so grab it for half price when you can.
Charlotte
I always pop a few extra toiletries in our online shopping order as it saves me getting distracted by makeup when I hit the shops. I ONLY use Aveeno cream on my face – also on Mabel’s, it really clears up the eczema patches behind her ears she sometimes gets too.
Lorna
As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Elliott I began adding baby essentials to my weekly Tesco shop. Stock piling various sized Pampers newborn nappies & sensitive wipes when they were on offer so when he arrived we were fully prepared.
I also added vests, sleep suits, bibs, cottonwool balls and all the Johnson & Johnson bath time essentials. My favourite item was the lavender body wash, it smelt divine and I’m not ashamed to say was a firm favourite during my own nightly bath. I also bought several baby shampoo’s but as Elliott had no hair for quite some time I remember the first bottle lasting until he was nearly two!
Fern
I only use Pampers for Elle, their baby dry nappies work the best for us – no leaks at all ever and they fit her comfortably. I definitely still look out for offers as we get in to these last few months of nappy wearing.
When it comes to toiletries I really rate Aveeno, especially for myself. I love Oat based products as I think they are really lovely for your skin.
Lolly
I always planned to breastfeed Hector but undiagnosed tongue tie had me (read Ste) dashing out to the shops for extra bottles. It’s definitely worth getting a few when they are on offer, just in case, as you never know when you might need them.
What are your favourite baby buys to stock up on when doing the weekly shop? Did you go a bit mad stockpiling items like Lorna and I?
{TESCO BEST BUYS}
{SHOP THE POST}
The Tesco Baby and Toddler Event starts on the 16th January 2017.
This is a sponsored post.
I stockpiled Pampers up until size 3, Little Monster is 6 months old tomorrow and we’re only just starting to buy them again now. Also brought tons of Water Wipes while on offer too as we find them the best wipes. Wish I had stocked up on hand gel though, the best one I can find to have in the house is the Carex Aloe Vera one. It’s the only biggish bottle I can find that is soft on hands. Can only find it in boots though 🙁
As for clothes… I work in Solihull so I pretty much stocked the wardrobe with H&M, BabyGap and M&S, my coworkers thought I’d gone insane lol
I also used to work in Solihull so hit all the same shops!! Dangerous for the bank balance! x
Gracie I really rate thecwater wipes too! They’re obviously more pricey than some others you can get but I think definitely worth it especially for those babies prone to sensitive skin. I love that you e only just started to have to buy nappies again! Excellent forward planning!x
They are more pricey, but it’s just a case of shopping around a bit more, occasionally you can get a massive box off Amazon really cheap. As for nappies, if we hadn’t even staying in 3s longer than expected, or a week of a bug we’d totally be on track. I’ve got a stash of size 4s waiting lol
Hi lovelies, I wondered why you weren’t extolling the virtues of the Waitrose nappies and the bottom butter in this post… then I scrolled to the end… Sponsored by Tesco. ? I get it. We all have to earn from our businesses. I just… Hmmm.
Please can we have some more trying to conceive/early pregnancy related posts instead of ALL the shopping? I love RMF, especially the more personal posts from all you lovely ladies, but lately I feel the mojo has gone a bit, and I for one just really miss Charlotte’s writing. Lolly’s posts lately have brought some shine back, but maybe opening the floor to some diary style posts (like RMW with the brides to be) for those either trying or in early pregnancy might cover the personal element mote holistically and bring some more balance to the shopping! (I do love the shopping, just in moderation). Perhaps you could open it up the your readers (also like RMW) to say why they should be chosen to write a column?
Really REALLY miss Charlotte’s writing though.
Hope you don’t feel disheartened to get some feedback that isn’t all positive, my comments are borne out of loving this site and feeling a bit sad by some of the changes. Still love RMF. Xxx
Morning.
All feedback is welcome. We can definitely have a look at some more of the conceiving posts for you. We do have a wide range of guests posts which have covered all stages of pregnancy and birth. It’s worth having a check in our pregnancy archives for some of those. Also, Charlotte is back writing weekly so keep your eyes peeled for those. One is coming up tomorrow. In terms of the shopping posts these have always been generally only one a week so hopefully this gives it a nice mix of real life and just a little bit of ways to spend your money!
Have a lovely Monday.
xx
Not to detract from Sarah’s message, but OMG Waitrose baby bottom butter…this stuff is magic in a tub! Deserves its own post for all the things that can be done with it (gets rid of cradle cap, eczema, makes a nice preventative stretch mark cream and obv as a bottom cream). And it smells divine….x
It is blimmin good Cat! I love it for my face at nighttime x
Sorry to disagree with Sarah but I actually really enjoy the shopping posts, I like the mix, if you look back at that last two weeks posts, there aren’t actually that many shopping ones. I understand that people don’t want the shopping ones every day but you lovely ladies have given me so many good shopping ideas since reading your posts I would be disappointed if they stop 🙂 For those of us with a baby already the ‘early pregnancy’ article wouldn’t be relevant to me but I would still read the article and appreciate it was relevant to somebody else. We are all at different stages and I think RMF is trying to cover that x
Glad to be of shopping service! x
Hi, I completely agree and also read RMF for the variety. My son is 3 so I’m past the pregnancy and baby stage and love Lottie’s posts as her daughter’s are a bit ahead so I can see what’s to come. But I still love that many different topics covering a span of ages are represented. I think the posts have been great recently and I’ve recommended the site to my best friend who’s soon to be a new mum and I know will appreciate the shopping guides, you forget what a minefield it is choosing nappies and wipes for the first time!
Well I’m obsessed with tesco particularly as ours has scan and shop which is so much easier when shopping with the 2 year old as there is no waiting at the end and he like to have his free banana or Apple.
I’ve started using pampers now because we use the pants and they are the only ones we’ve tried that fit well, don’t leak and don’t leave seam marks and therefore irritate his skin. I get out water wipes on subscription from Amazon as it makes a big pack of 12 much cheaper than buying individual packs, which only used to be available in boots, but tesco has coincidently started stocking them too. We are also big fans of weleda calendula baby products. They are pricey but are great on eczema/dry skin and the nappy cream works miracles! We have also used the johnsons baby bedtime bath since birth and it’s always on offer in tesco so that’s another winner with us.
And one last thing is clothes, love supermarket kids clothes for nursery, they get mucked up a lot so I buy cheap clothing from supermarkets for nursery wear. It’s not always stuff I would actually pick for him but who cares when it’s getting covered in shaving foam or glitter paint or whatever craft is going on that day. Plus they wash really well. And occasionally you get something really cute or funky that I keep for non nursery too. So yes. I love tesco and I’m not ashamed to say it!!
Claire, I’m pregnant with my first so thank you for some fantastic tips – seems to be a lot online about what you need for a nursery /hospital bag but not so much about the nitty gritty like wet wipes and creams etc so thank you!
Glad to be of help! There have been a couple of posts here with lots of reader recommendation in the comments for products they use – maybe one of the team can direct you to the right place.
Aldi nappies are just the best quality, and such good value. A pack of 22 size 1 are only £1.15!! Such a bargain, and the quality is amazing. We got given some pampers samples in hospital and I have to say, you can’t tell the difference quality wise. Aldi wipes are also amazing, my 2 year old has the most sensitive skin, and their sensitive wipes are great! Such an Aldo fan girl!! ?
Yes I agree, We did use Aldi nappies right up to moving into pull up pants and they were the best quality id tried. They don’t do pants in a small enough size for my boy though! He is eating for England at the moment though so maybe a little growth spurt is on the cards and we can try the next size up. Pampers are expensive! But again we stock up during the special offers
I really like aldi baby events, they do a few small ones and maybe 1or 2 big ones a year. You can get some fantastic stuff at aldi prices.
There’s one starting this Thursday…
I wondered why you kept mentioning tesco ha
I figured this was a sponsored post once I saw the only brands named were Pampers, Aveeno and J&J – a bit disappointing as there are sooooo many to choose from! This felt like a bit of a “nothing” post to me as there aren’t really many recommendations within…
For anyone stock-piling for a new baby, my advice would be to mix it up as much as poss as you just don’t know what is going to suit your baby in terms of nappy fit, skin type, etc. On our toddler we use all manner of “own brands” and they are just as good as the leading brands. Superdrug baby bath is something crazy like two bottles for £1.50 and cleans skin just as well as J&J.
For nappies we’ve used Pampers, Aldi, Asda and Boots own. They are all much of a muchness so go with the cheapest I would say! Over the course of 2 or so years you are going to spend an utter fortune on these damn things, especially in the early days when you literally go through about 10 per day sometimes!
It’s not all about saving cost though – we use Water Wipes which are probably the most expensive ones because of the sometimes false economy of supermarket wipes – you end up using half a pack on a poop explosion! We find Water Wipes the best on our toddlers skin and a pack of 60 last a while.
I went a bit mad stockpiling maternity pads, and I still didn’t have enough! I liked boots but Sainsbury’s were ok.
Oh the fun things we have to stockpile! x
I use Tesco own brand nappies which are pretty good- used to use Aldi as marginally better value but it’s simpler to do everything in one fell swoop. Aldi do do fantastic toys from time to time though. I also got a Lidl dress that people always think is Boden!
I’ve noticed J and J are having a big advertising push which is really interesting to me. The bloggers who are pushing their products are a fascinating selection but all clearly designed to try and retrieve a target market of women who mix and match and have either gone high end (Weleda, Neals Yard, Burts Bees etc) or bargain (Aldi own brand, Tesco own brand). It doesn’t help I imagine that lots of midwives (at least the ones I have met) really advise against J and J for newborn skin and once you’re on a particular product you tend to stick to it. Not sure their market share will recover though tbh- said market share are savvy enough to take sponsored posts with a pinch of salt.
Yes my Instagram is full of j&j ads at the moment! I don’t imagine any of them actually use it. I thought this was sponsored by j&j until I saw it was tesco.
I personally don’t understand the j&j love, it must be a sentimental thing. There are so many other beautiful products on the market that are not full of chemicals.
J & J are hitting the advertising hard indeed but you’ve hit the nail on the head – not very sure they’ll be able to pull that many customers back. I’ve only had a couple of bottles given to me as presents but never actually bought any. We’ve used Kiddicare nappies after some trials and they’ve been very good. Quick free delivery too which helps. Thumbs up for Aldi toys – I’ve got a lovely dolls house for A before Christmas and it’s been a huge hit. Also around £100 cheaper than the John Lewis one I was eyeing up. Can’t fault the quality either…maybe a little heavier on the pink but you know….she likes pink. I’ve seen Lidl have done some nice breton tops before – might need to watch more closely.
I’ve seen this too Lucy. They seem to be everywhere on Instagram at the moment. I’ll be honest and say I bought it lots when they were little as I didn’t really know any different. I wouldn’t now though I don’t think although i do still love the lavender bath mainly as I love lavender. x
A friend and I are using a mix of disposable and reusable nappies. We use reusable wipes too. Worth a post in itself I feel!
But yes stock up whenever there’s an event!
It is definitely something we have been thinking about. A mix sounds like an excellent idea x
Would love to see a post on reusable nappies and wipes: so many benefits to the environment and to the bank balance and they are way easier and less gross than the old days of terries. I’ve been using them for 2.5 years with my daughter and second baby on the way, about to embark on round two with the same set of nappies so imagine never having to buy nappies for you baby!
We used pampers when our son was newborn along with water wipes and then switched to Aldi nappies and wipes when we found pampers started smelling of chemicals. Aldi nappies are by far the best for us.
We also stopped used J+J and now use the Childs Farm range which smells amazing and is great for sensitive skin.
I’m yet to try the Childs Farm range but I’ve heard brilliant things about it. Must add it to be trolley next time x
I use Pampers at night as they last longer than other brands – their baby dry ones and then Tesco in the day. For newborn i used Pampers only but this time around I’m going to try Aldi as everyone raves about them for small sizes (not for above a size 2 or 3 though)
I don’t like J&J at all, and they’re supposedly full of chemicals. Not that I’m an eco warrior by any stretch I’d just rather use Neals Yard or Child’s Farm. Though the hospital uses Cussons Mum & Me babywash so I use that too.
I always rated Pampers at nighttime too. Especially as they got older as I found there were less leaks x
We’ve just made our first nappy purchase for the hospital bag, coincidentally from Tesco as it seemed to be a good deal – I feel like all of this is going to hit quite suddenly, and we should really be keeping a closer eye on bargains at 34 weeks!
I agree that J&J are in serious danger of completely overexposing themselves with the many, many Instagram ads! Starting to get a little irritating… x
Eeek Rebecca, not long to go. Definitely get your hospital bag ready. Good luck x
Might it be possible to get a post on reusable wipes and nappies. Not as convenient as disposables and not for everyone I know but worth a post if only to inform. . . And maybe save abit of landfill
Definitely Louise. We will get it on the list x
I second that this would be an amazing article if it can be done – am ttc for first time and reusable nappies are something I’d ideally love to be able to choose. It’s a big world out there to decide what brand and why people have chosen disposable vs reusable would be amazing to know! 😀
Definitely a stock up on nappies – we didn’t get on with pampers at all (constant leaks) so I was really glad we got a few packs of different brands. We mainly use Lidl now as that’s our closest supermarket and they’re fab! Also, maternity pads en masse, breast pads, cotton wool and wipes.
Personally, not a big fan of Tescos but I don’t really mind the sponsored posts. We got given a few J&J baby bath boys and again, I wouldn’t have bought them but they were quite nice-we don’t use powder, baby lotion or th strong smelling ones though.
Bits not boys ??
I think baby bath boys sound excellent 🙂 xx
Totally unrelated to buying baby stuff there, but someone already mentioned the Tesco free fruit for kids while you’re shopping … my little girl is a big fan, she complains if I say we have to go to the shops … but when we arrive at Tesco she perks up … “oh, me eat something shop”!!!!
I need to find a Tesco near me as the girls would love this idea. I normally end up buying a load of grapes for them to eat as they go round! x
I wonder if you could start the post rather than end it with something about being sponsored? I came to the site to read this after seeing a post on insta. I’m 5 months pregnant with my first and trying to get my head around what I need to buy and when (quite superstitious, don’t want to buy too early, but I know I need to be prepared). But really this didn’t get me anywhere. What size nappies do I need? How many of each? etc etc. I’ve found shopping posts before quite useful (maternity clothes, nurseries etc) but they do need to be more useful than this!
I also agree that more diary posts would be good. I’ve looked back at a lot, but particularly when I first found out I was pregnant and couldn’t tell anyone, more posts about pregnancy journeys and things would have been really nice.
I like RMF and there aren’t many sites like this, but I was disappointed with this one!
There have been previous posts about what to pack in your hospital bag, what products can you recommend etc, perhaps posts at weekend could link back to these more practical posts?
Supermarkets are a great place to buy baby stuff? Seriously RMF did we need a post to tell us this? Hopefully your usually great normal service will resume tomorrow.
I bought the j&j extra sensitive baby wipes in the Tesco event today as I thought they were a bargain at half price and sounded similar to waterwipes. I can report that they are a total dissapointment because the wipes themselves are half the size compared to other brands and so you would need a good few to clean up any explosions. Total false economy. I have been using Aldi sensitive newborn wipes and they are fab! They are only 56p too which is a total bonus so I think I will stick with these.
I don’t mind a sponsored post at all. However I have to admit, I would prefer to have the information at the top of the post. I didn’t see it after I read the first comments. I really love RMF and am looking forward to the posts every day!
This is a bit off topic, but possible idea for a future post?
I am a new mum-to-be and cannot BEAR the idea of chucking out all of these disposable nappies into landfill! Have any of the RMF team got any experience with Modern Cloth Nappies? I have heard great things and a friend has passed down her stockpile for me to try when baby arrives. Even if I can’t get along with them full time, I am hoping to use them in conjunction with disposable nappies to massively reduce my landfill footprint. Plus, they save a HUGE amount of money!
I’m using them for my 3 month old and I have to say that I love them, most of the time! There’s a lot to get your head around but here are a few things I have picked up along the way;
-Birth to potty won’t fit a newborn, they’re just too big but they do fit eventually
-You will need to find your groove. I started using a mix during the day to get used to them and to work out what works. I still use a disposable most nights as I haven’t found a night nappy I get on with yet but I’m using a mix of different cloth nappies all day everyday.
-Not every nappy will work for your baby but they can be revisited later on so if you don’t get on with a certain type at 2 months, it may work at 4/5m.
-Definitely use the reusable wipes, the cheeky ones are brilliant and super easy to use.
Love all the posts at RMF but any practical posts for how to cope the first few days with a newborn or like a few others have said how many nappies will I need, what sizes etc!! #firsttimemumconfusion