to ask how much you spent on nirsery furnature?

[ditsydoll]

Just had a look on mothercare for a nice furniture set (not due till may but can't sleep and fancied a look) some of the furniture sets are over £1000! Am I BU to think that's an awful lot for furniture that will probably last baby a few years at best?

Nothing, used what we already have at home

I'm spending £500 at mammals and papas. I'm hoping this will last a good five years or so.

Whatever a cot cost. Once.

I've never actually done up a nursery because ds1 arrived in a one bed house and spent a year in with us, ds2 arrived in a 2 bed house and the other room is already Ben 10 themed! He's still in with us.

Just over 500 for a M and P cot, wardrobe and dresser without a chair. Outlet bargain!

Try Argos, Mothercare can always be beaten on price ime.

About £1000

What do they need anyway? A bed and somewhere to keep clothes? What else do they sell? I've never even looked!!

£200 for cot plus sprung mattress. £100 Ikea wardrobe and drawers. Done.

I have better things to spend my money on than 'nursery furniture sets' they are a con IMO. I spend the money on the best mattresses and car seat I can - comfort and safety. But a wardrobe is a wardrobe.

About 50, on a white Chest of drawers so we had somewhere to put clothes. Cot was a hand me down, but you can get them quite cheaply from eg ikea. Wardrobes not necessary for babies, but again if you want one as they get older ikea are cheap and brilliant.

Coordinating sets that cost £££££ are not necessary

I spent 1.5k in the white company on daughter one- ridiculous, and £75 in ikea on daughter two!

I bought a cot......

Just used a normal chest of drawers for clothes and as they have got older swapped cot for bed and a wardrobe has been added when needed for hanging space. Don't waste money on odd furniture that own't have the right space for their clothes as they grow.

About £40 on a new mattress, about £30 on a second hand cot. We wouldn't have been able to afford all new and tbh I think it's a waste of money. The only person that will appreciate it will be you.

Nothing on a 'nursery' (God, I find that word maddening, I think because in the sense in which it's being used here it's a consumer invention to make new parents think they have to fit out a room with expensive matching furniture). A couple of hundred pounds on a bedside cot which is in our room - our baby's clothes live in a chest of drawers in my tiny study.

Honestly, babies need virtually nothing! I agree with whoever said up the thread to spend what money you have on a good, new mattress and carseat.

I never heard of a "nursery" until I moved to England. To me a nursery is a childcare establishment. In Ireland we just have bedrooms, and if a baby sleeps in it then it needs a cot. We bought a cot second hand for £25 on ebay, a billy bookcase for £35 and a changing mat for about a fiver. The billy bookcase is great actually, much better than a chest of drawers because you can see exactly what your clothes supplies are like and things don't get lost or jammed together so easily.

Baby-specific furniture, besides a cot, is a total waste of money. They're tiny for about 5 minutes (though it doesn't feel that way at the time!).

Forgot to factor in the new mattress for the cot, which was about £60. Agree that it's worth spending money on that.

I don't think you need to spend a huge amount- babies don't notice! And I agree that the matching sets often seem to be a bit of a con.

We already had a chest of drawers and a tall boy with drawers.

A friend gave us a changing table, which we've used loads and it has brilliant storage.

We borrowed a Moses basket then bought a cot bed from Kiddicare. It's white, the other furniture is cherry wood, but it all seems to work together. We bought a cot bed as it'll last DD until she's 5/6 so works out good value for money.

We wanted a sleigh bed as they just look so gorgeous but all the other ones we saw were v pricey. It cost £270 for the bed and mattress but is massively reduced now. Link here: www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_343_10751_-1_14552_100247_10001_

Next to nothing on baby stuff - My mum was horrified!
People gave me loads of stuff and I passed it back when I was finished with it.

My biggest expense was with DS2. I got him a 3 wheeled pushchair before they became fashionable here and you could get them anywhere. I had to have it shipped over from America. I loved that pushchair.!

Got the cot from my sister,bought a new mattress.Bought a big chest of drawers & wardrobe from ikea (not baby stuff,the Hemnes range). With all the extra bits,maybe £750.

£11 on a second hand chest of drawers from a charity shop and paint to paint them. For keeping clothes, blankets and nappies in. Oh and a changing mat from Mothercare.

Other than that, nothing

DS and DD1 used the same set... we gave it away then fancied a DC3

This time we got a cotbed and changing unit and single wardrobe from mothercare sanctuary range (about £300 ish last year). We would rather spend more money in a few years for furniture that will last her a lot longer.

It is super sturdy, white (so ideal if the room is small) and they delivered for free - would definately reccomend.

£30 on a second hand cot, £60 on a mattress and about £70 on a chest of drawers/changing table from Ikea which is going strong 6 years later.

I think spending upwards of £1000 for bedroom furniture for a baby is complete and utter madness. If you're desperate for a matching set, FGS, look in eBay/Gumtree/local papers. Unless you're minted - then you can waste your money how you see fit!

I was given a cot, high chair, pram and baby changing unit so all I had to buy were the mattresses.

About £80 on eBay for a massive lot if baby stuff including cot, moses basket, bouncer, bath, top and tail bowl, curtains, nappy stacker, changing table, toy shelf thing, full set of cot bedding (sheets duvet 4 blankets bumper etc) and a few other bits I can't remember. They were all matching in cream and probably cost a fortune when new.

Paid about £60 for a new mattress for the cot.

Bought another basket and a couple of Moses basket stands second hand so we could have one upstairs and one downstairs for DS2 (when DS1 was a baby we were in a tiny flat with no stairs so just carried him / basket around). That was probably another £20 plus a couple of new mattresses for them, £10 each from amazon.

I went on the basis that they will only need those things for a very short time and they (or anyone else) would have no idea it wasn't all brand new!

From the bundle of stuff we bought I discarded lots of it pretty early on anyway so that would have been a bit galling if I'd bought it new.

I am sure there will be other times in their life when the £1000 or whatever will be needed more. Or spent on something they would enjoy more. That could buy them their first car. Or pay for a really brilliant family holiday!

I bought a cot and used the chest of drawers and bookcase that were already in the room. I wouldn't spend huge money until baby arrives and you have more idea how the room will "work". Know lots of people that have bought expensive changing tables to find that baby wriggles so much they have to change them on the floor.

We bought a mattress for about £100. I just made space in the wardrobes and cupboards we already had. Hand me down cot.

We spent over 1000 on a mamas and papas set and now 4 years later we're trying to flog it cause it doesn't fit our needs. I suppose we've had a good amount of use but we won't get all that much for it and so it feels a bit wasteful. For my second baby we spent far less and i wont feel so bad when she outgrows her furniture.

We're selling it on one of the second hand websites and there's loads of mamas and papas on there. You should have a look as babies and toddlers are not hard on their furniture. Wish I had.