What, if anything, did you buy, borrow or find useful please?

Wildrose - the pool is an 8 metre by 5 metre pool, a bit bigger than a paddling pool, ideal for the odd G&T or a glass of wine while floating on a lilo!!!

Also a car seat is a must but I am having some input from my lovely SiL about that next week :-)

Hi ninathenana and kittylester, I think I do need to give some thought to choosing a decent lightweight buggy and, later on, a sturdy high chair of some sort. I will ask my daughter to be part of the buggy choosing so that she will feel confident leaving their "travel system" as it's called, at home. Thanks for posting.

Thank you Nelliemoser, yes I think you are right regarding the steriliser! A bottle of Milton and a bowl would be fine I'm sure. I love the Ikea chairs too so will keep those in mind when the time comes.
JennyB thank you too. Lovely to find that you made some great choices with your purchases Those sales must be helpful to so many young families!
Indinana thank you. Yes we are beyond excited especially now that the weeks are flying by! I love the idea of your DC's cot bring restored - what a lovely thing to do. And the portable high chair sounds great. I didn't know such things existed. Oooh I need to make notes now....

My advice would be to think long term. We didn't spend much on our highchair as we were so excited to be having a grandchild. It really wasn't good enough for all 6 of them as it has so many nooks and crannies and it is decidedly the worse for wear. We bought a very cheap pushchair too - should have spent more as it is really heavy and cumbersome. We have our own travel cot which was secondhand. We have bibs, bowls, cutlery cups, sterilising stuff, muslins, baby wipes (I think I'll buy those for ever!) a night light, baby bedding etc and a car seat (or 3!)

We had ..
A light weight buggy
High chair
Baby grows and vests
We used a large saucepan and tablets for sterilising bottle brush and a couple of spare teats.
Bedding
Nappies and wipes and changing mat
Toiletries
Toys and play mat
Stair gates
Car seat
Later....
a bed guard
Suitable cutlery and bowls
Sippy cup
They are 4 and 7 now and I still have a toy box in my lounge and a drawer full of craft stuff.
Congratulations, enjoy your first grandchild

First of all, congratulations! A first grandchild - you must be so excited!
My DH restored and renovated the old cot my DC used and that is up in the spare bedroom, complete with a new mattress and bedding. We also bought a used moses basket for when she was tiny (I bought a new mattress). We had a bouncy cradle - so very useful, we couldn't have done without that. I bought it secondhand and washed the covers. When she grew out of it I sold it for the same price I'd paid for it!
We also bought a lightweight buggy so that if DD and DGD are coming out with us in the car (she doesn't drive), then we can more easily stow it in the car than her big pram. And rather than buying a highchair - even a fold-up one - we bought a little seat complete with tray and harness that straps onto one of our dining chairs. It folds away when not in use and is so handy to take with us if visiting people.
And then the bits and pieces: bottle, bibs, coveralls, bowls, spoons, nappies, muslin squares, wet wipes, nappy bags. Yes, DD usually brings everything she needs when she visits, but it's worth having them as a backup.
You will have so much fun shopping for the little one - I know we do

Congrats wildrose, I was introduced to mum2mum sales by a fellow granny and they are great. I have bought, clothes toys scooters. Anything very good gets taken home by grandson and dil, I have the not bad stuff for clothes changes etc. I usually know when stuff I thought was just good enough for granny doesn't come back, that it must have been better than I thought, which is great. I can go and spend £20, get a bag of clothes and some great duplo and jigsaws. Last year I bought a down coat and gilet, some relatives had bought them over from Scandinavia for a seller's son but they were only worn for a couple of weeks as her son was a bigger size. It's great as the mum's get some cash to spend on new stuff, probably at the same sale!

Look on freecycle or Ebay for many of these things. Not baby mattresses. Do you really need a bottle sterilizer you could probably do fine for the odd day with some steriling tablets and deep enough plastic food container.

Ikea high chairs come in at about £13 new they are very sturdy and very easy indeed to clean. You can buy them for about £5 on Ebay. My DD bought one from a seller who lived near to me and I collected it. If one is silly enough you could pay well over £100.

Baby gyms and other such things are worth looking out for but it depends on how often they visit. I have a travel cot which cost £12 in a charity shop. For "Grannies house" it's not worth spending a fortune on this stuff. When DGS2 grows out of it it will go back to the charity shop.

Pippa000, I remember Tommy Tippee from all those years ago! I wish you a lovely Summer with your grandchildren and their slide and paddling pool. And Wendysue, yes I understood your diaper/nappy reference. Thank you both for taking time to make suggestions

Thank you Pippa000 and Wendysue :-) Yes this will be our first grandchild. A few things there I hadn't thought of - play mat especially. My daughter is hoping to breastfeed so bottles will only be needed for water in time or if a supplement of formula is given at some point but I will ask her about the type they plan to use. I think I will read up about sterilisers and such. I realise we will be doing the visiting for the first weeks or months but it will be good to have our little "baby cupboard" stocked. Thank you for your good wishes Wendysue, a very exciting part of our lives ahead! And I agree that we will have a better idea of what's useful after the first few visits - so easy to pop out and buy things as needed these days!

Oh, you may eventually want some sort of playpen/play yard/pack & play and/or gates for child safety. But you have time for that!

And sorry, I forgot that I'm on a British site and the word is "nappies," not "diapers." But I trust you understood me about that, LOL!

Congratulations to you and yours on the coming baby, wildrose! You say this is DD's (dear daughter's) first child. Your first GC (grandchild) too?

Anyhow, I'd suggest diapers - disposable or cloth, depending on the parents' preference. And, of course, the brand they plan to use - but not too many, at first, as they may change their minds or not come as often in the beginning as you think.

A steilising unit? For bottles and such you mean? So I take it DD plans to bottle-feed? Sounds like a good idea then. Well... unless she plans to bring ready-made bottles of formula with her... you might want to ask about that, but they may not know yet...

"Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it," as the saying goes... as long as you're prepared for the fact that the parents may simply not use what you have.

You'll probably have a better idea of what you need/want to have after they've visited once or twice. Enjoy!

When DS & DiL had their first child, they visited us in Cyprus, and obviously could not bring a lot of things with them. DGD was 6 months old on that first visit. Although as your family will be driving they will bring many of the items with them.
Things we found we needed were
Cot (we did have our children's old one so she slept in her daddies cot )
Cot bedding
Sterilising equipment, although DiL was breast feeding we also bought a couple of bottles for water. We found a sterlising set that fitted our microwave.
Small bowls and feeding spoons
Disposable nappies and bin with inserts ( Tommie Tippy I think)
Baby bath and necessary sponges etc
Separate towels from the rest of the family and a towelled robe
Car seat
Play mat
Baby toys
Large overland all terrain buggy ( it is very hilly where we live)
It was great fun getting everything together and having a room as a nursery again.
Now both GC are 5 & 6 we have eventually given everything to the local CofE church to go to a home for abused women, so everything ( except for the cot) is having a second life. And of course as the family are here this summer I am on another spending spree, including a slide for the swimming pool.