Why You Need a Getting Ready for Baby Checklist
Somewhere around the middle of pregnancy, the to-do list starts to swell. Paint the nursery. Wash the babygrows. Work out what a muslin actually is. It’s a lovely kind of busy, but it can tip into overwhelm quickly — which is exactly why a simple checklist helps. You don’t need everything before the birth. You need the right things, ready at the right time.
Below is the checklist we’d hand to a friend: the essentials worth sorting early, the jobs that can wait, and the one category most lists forget entirely.
The Essentials to Sort Before Your Due Date
Start with the everyday kit your baby will use from the very first day:
- Sleeping — a safe sleep space, fitted sheets, and a couple of swaddles or blankets.
- Feeding — bibs, burp cloths and a feeding set, whichever way you plan to feed.
- Changing — nappies, wipes and a wipeable mat you can move around the house.
- Clothing — a modest stash of 0–3 month sleepsuits and vests. Babies grow fast, so resist buying a full wardrobe.
- Comfort — soft muslin cloths, a hooded towel for bath time, and a comforter or teddy. Muslins in particular earn their keep a hundred times over.
If you want the honest version of what’s worth buying and what gathers dust, our newborn essentials checklist for the UK goes through it item by item.
Pack the Hospital Bag Early
Aim to have your bag by the door a few weeks before your due date rather than the night things kick off. Snacks, chargers, going-home outfits for both of you — it’s easier to tick off in one calm sitting, so we’ve put together a full hospital bag checklist for mum and baby to work through.
Getting the Nursery Ready, Without the Pressure
Here’s a secret: the nursery doesn’t need to be finished. For the first while your baby will mostly be wherever you are, so focus on the practical bits — a safe place to sleep, somewhere comfortable for night feeds, storage you can reach one-handed. The shelves, the prints, the perfect rug? They can all happen later, once you know how you actually use the room.
Keepsakes: The Part Most Checklists Miss
Practical kit keeps a newborn fed, warm and dry. Keepsakes are what you’ll still be holding in twenty years. A wooden wind-up music box played at every bedtime, a toy engraved with a name and date, the comforter that goes absolutely everywhere — these small things quietly become the story of the first year.
This is where a gift box deserves a line on your checklist, whether you’re treating yourselves or dropping heavy hints to grandparents. At Ohhh Baby you can build your own baby gift box in a crib-shaped keepsake box (pink, blue or neutral) and fill it from four categories: Tiny Tot Essentials such as dummy clips, feeding sets and hooded towels; Snuggle Squad teddies and muslin comforters; Keep Me Busy wooden toys like Pick A Stick; and Memory & Melody wooden wind-up music boxes. Wooden pieces can be engraved, and you choose the colour of each item, so the box matches the baby it’s made for.
There are three sizes — Small at £32, Medium at £57 and Large at £80.50, contents included — and UK delivery is free on orders over £80. Otherwise it’s £4.95 standard (3–4 days) or £9.99 next-day, for when the baby shower has crept up on you.
Ready Is a Feeling, Not a Finished List
You will forget something. Every parent does, and it never matters as much as it feels like it will at 2am — shops sell nappies, and friends love being given a job. What actually makes those first weeks calmer is simpler: the basics in the drawer, the bag by the door, and one or two things chosen with enough care that you’ll keep them long after the sleepsuits are outgrown. Tick those off and you’re more ready than you think.