@gaiealiyly We have a 2 week old so I was recently in your shoes! And we DEFINITELY did baby on a budget. First I’ll just mention that I’ve been loving the Evenflo brand - they seem to be like an Amazon básica kinda company for some baby gear.
Anyways, first I would suggest that you read and look at a lot of minimalist baby lists. I looked at tons on printrest a lot. I also asked every friend I had who had a baby within the last 5 years what they actually ended up using. Spoiler alert, you do NOT need that much. You do not need things like a snoo, or really much in the way of fancy items at all.
Also Facebook marketplace is amazing. Most people use baby things for like 2-3 months then never use it again. I wouldn’t recommend getting a car seat or crib (unless it’s from someone you know) used because those can be dangerous, but everything else go for it.
If you can, have a friend throw you a shower. Don’t tell people the gender ahead of time, if you want make it part of the shower. People have a hard time buying allllll the cute baby clothes and none of the important crap you need when they know the gender, and usually it’s all like 3 or 6 month clothes which they won’t be wearing very long.
Make a registry even if you don’t have a shower since almost all registries give you a discount after a certain amount of time. I personally think the Amazon registry is one of the better ones, but it doesn’t really matter.
Read books!! I think so much more than “stuff” that helps is knowledge! Take as many classes as you can at your hospital, and read as many books as you can. I definitely went overboard with reading 14 books, but I also felt extremely prepared and knowledgeable about what gear would most likely work for us. Id be more than happy to recommend my favorites.
Also think about your living situation. Like we live in a two story house so we have everything our newborn needs on a diaper caddy that I take around with us, it would be very inconvenient to always have to go upstairs to her nursery to change her, and there are a million little other decisions that we made based off things like that.
You really need very little in general for the first year of life. That 10k statistic you hear is mostly people buying way too much crap they don’t use. Here is a pretty condensed list that I used:
Somewhere for baby to sleep (crib, bassinet). A friend gave us a crib, but for right now we’re using a $70 Evenflow bassinet in our bedroom which honestly they can use for a while, so you can totally get something like that first then get a crib later. Don’t forget a crib mattress and sheets if you go the crib route.
Something to change baby on. Does NOT need to be a special changing table, we just use a portable changing pad and change her wherever we are. In her nursery we have a regular dresser with a changing pad. You don’t need changing pad covers and honestly I don’t get changing pad covers at all.
Car seat and/or stroller. Again I’d recommend Evenflow - we got the Pivot expand for $200 which included the stroller, toddler seat and carseat. It’s meant to convert to a 2 seater but Evenflow has a single seater as well. It’s super nice to have a stroller/car seat that’s compatible with each other.
Pump if you plan on breastfeeding. Check with your insurance to see if they cover one. If you plan on no formula, make sure it’s a double electric one - it will definitely be worth it and save you money in formula down the line.
Bottles. You do NOT need 10 bottles, or those bottle test kits or whatever. Get 2-4 bottles in one brand, and just make sure they get a bottle a day starting young. Even if you formula feed you really don’t need a ton, or even if you find out you do you can always get more. Personally I’ve been only using 2 bottles, Tommy tippee brand, mostly because that is what was recommended to me. Basically I just wouldn’t get too worked up about this and buy a ton of stuff until you know what works for you.
Burp cloths.
Diaper bag. There are tons on Amazon for cheap or Facebook marketplace. They’re all super similar, so just find what you like.
Diapers, wipes, butt cream, baby wash. Don’t stockpile too many of newborn size diapers because you may have a large baby that grows out of them quickly.
Baby clothes! Again Facebook marketplace, but heck, people will also come out of the woodwork and give you clothes. The only thing I can say I really like is the wrap onesies or kimono onesies since you don’t have to put them over baby’s head.
Swaddles and/or sleep sacks. Again you can find these in spades used. I prefer swaddles but that’s really a you thing and you’re not suppose to swaddle past 3 months.
Baby swing. I haven’t used ours yet (a hand me down), but literally everyone I talked to and every list mentioned a swing.
Thermometer.
Don’t worry about getting toys or books or anything like that. People have a tendency to want to give those things regardless, but if not that’s another good marketplace thing.
A baby bath (like the angle care ones) can be useful, but tbh one of the nurses just suggested that one of us get in the tub with her and support her that way.
I will suggest one thing, some kind of baby carrier. Personally I got an Ergo because I’ve used it a ton with friends kids, but it doesn’t really matter. Just whatever you get make sure you can use it for a while, many 2yos still like to be held in them.
Basically everything else can be bought along the way, that’s really all you’ll need for the first 6 months or so. But I’d definitely look at tons of minimalist lists and come to your own conclusions.