TTC 6 mths+ GRADS THREAD

[Biscuitsandtea]

Afternoon.

I thought I'd start a Grads thread for those of us previously on the TTC 6 mths+ thread. I've been lurking on the ttc thread recently to see how everyone is getting on (having only very recently qualified to move off it!) and a few people were saying what a nice idea it would be if there was a grads thread so we don't lose each other.

Anyway, would be lovely to hear from other lovely ladies that were on that thread - or even if you were never on the ttc thread but had a sticky time of it getting your bfp then come and settle down with a decaf cuppa for a chat.

princess thanks I quite like the manduca sling but shall try and get to the sling library, I looked at the bugaloo, there are cheaper ones on ebay, but in two minds about it, my ex had a bugaloo and I remember the brake nearly took my thumb off hopefully in the next few weeks we shall go and have a look at some, I have pretty much got everything else on my list now, although I am sure something else will crop up

ele thanks for your imput too

waves to everyone else :)

Interesting chat about the prams and slings, thanks so much ladies for this - I have to start thinking about all this stuff more.

buzzy a lovely and generous friend has given me her Ergo, along with a ton of other baby stuff - it looks a bit ratty having been through at least two kids (possibly more, not sure if it was new when she got it) but am hoping to get it cleaned up and as it was free, I'm really grateful for it. I also have a very simple carrier thing that my parents used with me and my sister and have kept, which is '70s-tastic. And some kind of odd sling, not sure the make, which also came from aforesaid friend.

Friend has also give me a pram/buggy thing... I think it's either a bugaboo or a mcclaren, so a good make. Has been through 5 kids (it was her sister in law's originally, I found the warranty which is from 2005!) and needs a good clean, but the main problem is that it's also incredibly heavy. As I live in an upstairs flat (which also has stone steps down from the front door to the street) I'm worried about how the hell I'm going to manage with a baby in there as I can barely carry it up and down the stairs now, folded and empty. Does anyone know of a really light one? I've had a look but a lot of the travel ones seem to be only suitable from six months up. I suppose I could just use a combo of carseat (also inherited) and ergo until then.

Also - great tips from both eleth and princess on the breastfeeding tops. I hadn't even thought about that yet - was just figuring naively that I'd do the old pashmina thing over the boob trick but I suppose that won't work if the baby is wriggling and I'm trying to get him/her to latch on at the beginning.

Teething sounds rough princess, poor little mite.

doll I love your plan-centa. Everyone should have one!

Hi Critter, sound like you've got loads of stuff free which will help take the sting out of all those new baby costs :-)

Re: prams, maclaren do a few buggies that go from birth and are light - only thing is they are forward facing (not sure if that bothers you?)

We got a maclaren quest sport last time round (still going strong) which at the time was from 3 months, but is now from birth - I used mine for travelling into town as I don't drive and we don't have guaranteed low level buses. So, often I would need to take baby out, and fold up buggy and carry on so I wanted something I could do this with and the maclaren was great. Think it was 5kg in total weight (the new ones are about 6.2kg so a bit heavier) and was easy to lift - I loved it, gave me a new lease of life as I coudl be confident of getting on a bus, rather than going to the bus stop and having to return home when they put on a double decker!

And to be honest I would say that whatever big buggy/pram you get, you'll probably end up buying a lightweight stroller later on anyway.

My friend bought the Maclaren XT stroller which is also from birth but weighs a bit more at 6.8kg however it has a one-handed fold which is invaluable (I think the closer you can get to 5kg the better in terms of carrying downstairs whilst holding a baby - or even bumping it down the stairs - esp early doors with weak stomach muscles).

By the way, I don't actually work for maclaren, and I'm sure there are loads more different makes out there that are the same, but just speaking from my limited experience :-)

Hello all.

Any news doll?! You must be getting sick of being asked that!

critter we too have lots of hand me downs, including 2 buggies! One I can't lift, so will go to the grandparents, and the other is a Maclaren Quest for use 4+ months ( pleased to see ele recommending it!). What will be our main one, is a 2nd hand bugaboo bee, which I'm buying off a colleague. Looks perfect for my 'urbane lifestyle' ie lugging it on and off buses. Am horrified at how heavy car seats are! I need to find a light one that is compatible with the bee.

The BF clothes talk has been interesting - thanks for the tips ladies! I've had a sudden realisation that v few of my clothes allow easy access, so will have to stock up on a few things. princess good to hear the mama scarf is as good as the hype - I think I'll get one.

sar I'm a bit scared of the placenta and couldn't imagine scoffing it in any format! I don't know why, but they make me feel a bit funny. A home birth would be lovely. Are you going to hire a pool? I can't believe we're both so close now!

Teething already princess? Wow time really does fly! Hope it's all going ok.

buzz fuck me, £3k for a pram?! Pleased to hear you are feeling a tad better.

ele hope you are getting some sleep, despite Hamish's new found shouting skills.

Waves and luffs to everyone else. Hope all the 10+er babies are doing well!

Hooray for sleep :) only up feeding 4 times in the night but with sleep rather than "mummy I'm in agony" screaming, like Saturday night. Total sleep of 2 hours on sat night

Just a note on the bugaboo, the chameleon 3 is one of the lightest travel systems. It may not be so great for critter as it needs to be taken apart in 2 pieces with the carrycot (although I think you'd need to do this with all of them) and it would be tricky to carry baby in the cot upstairs. As for the break buzzy they market the latest bugaboo as being 90% different to the original. Two of my friends have second hand older style ones and their still great prams but they have both commented (without any provoking!) about the improvements. If you are going down the second hand route maybe try for a Chameleon 3 and if it's less than 2 years old, the original paperwork as it will still be in warrantee and bugaboo have a really good policy of sending new parts for broken bits rather than fixing returned broken bits.

I also know many who have quickly moved on to light mcclarens with toddlers. I'm not keen on mini princess forward facing until she's a bit older but that's totally a very personal thing and I've been told on mn that forward facing is a god send when you get to the very chatty "but why, mummy" phase.

As you can tell (I'm sure the others can vouch) you become a bit of a pram expert!!!!

critter a lot of my friends just use their sling, this always looks very convenient to me, but my back wouldn't take it, well not baby and changing bag. What I've seen lots of people do is baby in sling and pram when out, so you could put baby in sling and then carry the pram to your flat? I love the Sophie bra, the pink one is on my Xmas list :)

gin I'm sorry about the recent scare and glad they were nice to you. Hope you're feeling ok now. I don't know why but I had a dream that you had arranged to take photos if Mr P for one of your books last night and I had to help with lighting and Mr Ps diva demands (he's not at all diva-ish!). Random!

doll you've disproved my theory damn! I must admit you were only the 4th person, so it was a small test batch . I love the happy birthday cake. Do you think you can also request a sad birthday cake? Hope all is well and that you are getting some rest. How is the totally awesome mini d? Still rocking the mitten and hair clip?

sar several friends have had wonderful home births and I'd love to do it next time (if there's a next time). Placenta encapsulation is v popular in Brighton. I think it's a marmite thing (not actually tasting of marmite though ). It wasn't for me for lots of reasons but the couple from my Hypnobirthing group who did it only had good things to say about it. I am broody but not about to try just yet! I want to enjoy mini princess to the max whilst she's little and not have to worry about TTC lark. As for walking, we were doing short strolls after 5 days and big walks from 6 weeks. It makes a big difference to get some fresh air and exercise. I now have a Barbour waxed jacket for big walks in bad weather, which is warm and dry and amazing! My yoga teacher was impressing on us that gentle exercise is the way forward post pregnancy as you can cause damage by doing strenuous exercise (think planks, crunches etc) if your tummy muscles and core are not ready. This was reinforced by my osteopath, who has checked my tummy muscles (nearly ready) and pelvic floor (you can do this by finding your sitting bones and squeezing, fingers get moved on squeezing. I too was alarmed when she said "can I check your pelvic floor!) My pelvic floor is in excellent condition #notenaladyneededhere! I was concerned as by dolls stage I was doing small wee's in my pants several times a day. It was just the pressure of the head in my pelvis, I've since learned.

Ele you have my sympathies with the cold. We've had 2 since birth and it's not easy. I can only imagine how tricky with another dc too. Is Hamish in his cot? I was planning to clear the cot ( large clean washing basket) and get her back in her cot as we've got the bed time more organised but with teething, I'm not sure I can be arsed. And anyway , she's been asleep for an hour and a half last night and I moved to go to the loo, she flipped on her front, open her eyes and look at me as if to say, "you ain't going no-where, punk". Mr p then had to soothe her until I'd come back from the bathroom

Well, she's asleep on me now but we've had 2 sicks, some feeding and the pained crying plus sucking of fingers and grabbing of ear whilst I've been typing. It's not going to be a fun day

Waves and loves. Good luck doll, in case of any news xx

Please ignore the atrocious spelling, grammer etc I'm shattered and really need to pee but don't want to wake my benign dictator who is now snoring whilst sleeping on me!!!

*grammar. Tsk.

princess the fat foot is back, perhaps there is hope after all? No signs of progress here according to the check up yesterday and Dr seems to have lost all hope of delivering this baby by the end of this week, when she leaves town. The little bugger has moved to the right side now which I didn't need telling as he is booting me in the left so much I feel completely beaten up and fed up. Made myself sleep on my left side all night last night, surprise surprise he did not shift over. I spend alot of my appointment revisiting some insurance/money issues which I'm really cross about. To my mind this really shouldn't be mixed in to a consultation, anyway it's not an issue relevant to most here (sorry critter ) just makes me mad.

princess sweet of you to ask about Little Doll, I'm afraid the hair clip days are long gone. He was robbed of that by middle eastern childcare. Of course the "that's for girls" is not avoidable anywhere but I had to talk to his 'teachers' once or twice as they were trying to take them away from him on the grounds they were for girls Unfortunately he is loving all the Asian robots and aliens stuff now too. He does still take random stuff to school with him (I believe it's a security thing for some young kids). He has a Sponge Bob bag that he got on the plane when we moved, he has no idea what Sponge Bob is and calls it his 'cheese bag'; into this he pops a couple of teaspoons from the kitchen, a sample bottle of shampoo or whatever takes his fancy

critter with regard to the buggie, when you say you have steps, is it just outside or are you in a walk-up too? If this buggie you got has big wheels bumping would likely work for the outside steps at least. Leaving it downstairs, is it possible? I also had/have a secondhand Bugaboo (I read a MN thread that said this is the pram equal to an Audi ) but mine is a dinosaur, a Gecko which was made before the Frog (which itself isn't made anymore), I love it but heavy yes, I found I just divided stuff up - long walks around town, bumping a few steps when I needed to = buggie, running on and off trains or buses = Ergo.

Thanks eleth and princess for thoughts on nursing wear. I honestly didn't know much in the way of 'breastfeeding tops' existed. I certainly haven't seen any, I have not even seen much in the way of nursing bras here. I'm attempting to employ something of a tropical version of what you mention princess the no bra double vest approach. Underneath vest is a cami, thin strap type to pull down with built in bra bit, then a looser vest top over to pull up. All us winter-free girls are doing it And no that note it's on with the mall rat hat and off vest shopping..

akuabadoll love little doll's expedition bag he takes with him - they are so serious about these things aren't they? Me older boy (just turned 4) has always loved making 'nests' of things since he was a young toddler (gathering all lots of stuff together with cushions and stuff) and yesterday in his room he used blankets and cushions to make a 'truck' filled it with his teddies, a toy cutlass, binoculars, lamp, and told me he was a bird watcher and he was in a truck with all his experts (the teddies were experts - although clarification on what kind of experts was not forthcoming...)

I also did the 2 vests thing in hot weather when bfeeding (unless I was hanging round the house/garden in which case hiding my saggy, stretchmarked stomach wasn't an issue :-D

Sar very brave on the old placental encapsulation - slightly more palatable than just frying it up with some onions :-D

princess very impressed that you managed to use the mamascarf - I bought one with my older boy when he got to the stage Hamish is at now (very nosey, comes off the boob when somewhere new to look around, doesn't like me speaking while feeding him, comes off and stares at me (as if to say 'I was eating - will you be quiet please').

So, I figured a scarf over his head might help cut out distractions and a) help him feed better when out and about and b) stop him flashing my nipples to the world when he suddenly comes off. However, it was a bit like pashminas and chiffon scarfs for me - they look so effortlessly stylish on so many women who just chuck them on, tie a fancy note and look great, but when I try to wear them, I look like I'm lagging a pipe. So, I had the mamascarf, followed the instructions, watched youtube videos practiced in the house, then realised I simply could not do it, so it's now used as a temporary sunshield on the buggy hood (lost my koo-di shade after a week and refuse to buy a replacement going into the winter). Hats off to you for mastering it (bet you look great in a chiffon scarf too :-D

We moved Hamish into his cot when he was about 5 weeks old as he thrashed around in his moses basket all night and made way too much noise (he was a noisy baby generally, lots of grunts and moans and stuff, but the thrashing was something we could mitigate for). He's comme in with us into bed on the odd bad night or when he would wake for a feed about 5am and you think, you can't be bothered lifting him back into cot as he'll probably wake and you don't want to miss the next 2 hours of sleep. During the day he generally naps on our bed, but he sometimes goes in the cot, esp if I've had to wind him and he's fallen asleep.

Sadly, Hamish's super napping days seem to be long behind him, lucky to squeeze out 2 x 40 minute naps these days during the day, unlike his previous 2 x 2.5 hour naps (ah, those were the days...) Still, he's not really in a routine yet and is going to sleep far too late, so we're going to start getting him down early again (and waking him earlier too) and I'm hoping the clocks changing this weekend will help with that (cos I'm lazy and just want it to happen without us having to do much :-D

His horrible cough/cold seems to have disrupted his previous good sleeping routine and it doesn't seem to be coming back now the cold is gone - ah well, was nice when it lasted. No sign of teeth yet though (although his brother was almost a year old before he cut his first tooth so I'm not expecting any, although I know that has no relevance to when he will cut teeth).

Gin we never bothered with a travel system as such so just had a pram and a car seat that didn't click onto it and we'd transfer him from car seat to pram when taking him out of the car (they're either awake and don't mind the transfer, or they're asleep and while they might open their eyes while being put in the pram, once you start pushing they fall asleep). Just saying this in case you find a car seat that is nice and light but doesn't fit onto your bee chassis.

And yes, happy to recommend the old maclaren quest, I used to be able to get that folded down and up with one hand (and using feet) whilst holding my baby in the other arm. It did mean I broke the clip that holds it together after a while, but easily got a replacement (free as I believe as it was just under a year old). I also bought a nice buggysnuggle with it to keep him cosy (love buggysnuggles but they're much pricier these days!)

Our main buggy is a loola-up - nice adjustable handles, lie-flat, rear or forward facing, adjustable suspension (sounds like a car, I know!) and you can change the wheels from swivel to straightlin at the top of teh chassis without going near the muddy wheels. It was the pram I always wanted initially, but we got persuaded into buying a slivercross 3D as it was on sale in mothercare and we like the nest for the baby bit. However, like princess's little girl (and most babies that are above the 50th centile for lenght) both my boys were too big for it by 10 weeks and the only option then was to go forward facing and I wasnt' ready for that. So, ended up buying the loola-up, 3 months after my first was born (fortunately my mum had given us 200 quid then towards stuff for the baby - so we used that). Of the 4 buggies I bought, the silvercross 3d was the only mistake - quite happy to defend the other 3 as essential :-D

Waves to Art (how are you getting on?), Teuchter, Buzzy and everyone else whose names are now slipping my memory!

And apologies for rambling on so much!

Loving the cute todler/ little boy stories.

Eleth - I wish I could see the teddy expert den. Sounds adorable. Thanks for all the pram and bf top tips. Hope the baby's sleep routine gets sorted soon.

doll- sorry you are still hanging on. Such a shame that reflexology is a no go. Probably shouldn't say this but have you considered looking at you tube for a diy version. Love the cheese bag story. To be fair sponge bob does look like a slice of edam. Wishing you a smooth and soonish birth. Xxxx

princess - sorry for the teething hell, I know a friends child suffered horribly with this and they were both frazzled. Its odd how babies cause so much disruption, then settle then before you know it disrupt again. Love the "you're going nowhere punk" look from mini p.

art - hope you and little art are well. I do hope we get to meet up again soon.

Gin - it is dawning on me how close we are getting. Its nearly November!! Yes planning to hire a pool although home birth might not be on the cards just yet....more of that in a minute. I know the placenta munching sounds rank, I can barely believe that I am doing it myself. But because I have always had a fascination with it and heard only good things I figured that it was a now or never opportunity and therefore decided to go for it. Have you had any more cramps? Hope things settled down for you.

critter - thanks so much for that blog link. Also found some really goid recipes to try too. I would grab anything second hand that is half decent. The stairs do sound tricky. Could the pram live down under the stairwell on the ground floor. Or would it be at too much risk of being pinched?

Buzz - how is the back and leg pain and migraines? I am getting an oyster pram but really I dont know loads about prams. I liked the drivability and transformer like options it has. But all this stuff is so expensive. The only thing I have been given is a stair gate so am on the look out other second hand items. I would really like to use a sling too.

Unfortunately the midwife appointment didnt go too smoothly today. My bump, which was already measuring small, has not grown at all in 3 weeks. Heartbeat and movement are both ok. So I am having an urgent growth scan thursday. I am mildly worried and a bit disappointed but not getting too ahead of myself. I know these things are usually ok in the end and human bodies fo not come as standard. My gut feeling is baby has dropped lower. But as I also have an arcuate shaped womb, there is a possibility of growth restriction. At least I don't have a long wait.

Waves to all, x

sar sorry the appointment didn't go well and you're doing well to be balanced about it, there are lots of blips during pregnancy and hopefully this is just another one that will get sorted out on Thursday.

If its any consolation (probably won't be) during my pregnancy at a routine appt when my midwife was measuring my bump, she commented that there's not much point doing bump measurements really as it doesn't really mean much and there is an accuracy gap of 2cm each way so it's a bit pointless.

Hopefully your scan will show your baby has just changed position and so your measurements are a bit off - as you say there is no real 'average' in human bodies, we're all unique - keeping fingers crossed for you!

Thanks eleth, really appreciate your wise words. I am 5 cm behind, but trying to remember its probably due to
body shape, baby position etc. X

sar my bump measurement is as far out as yours (first measurement ever done was at 37 weeks) it got a shrug from my doctor. My growth scan - which was done as standard (and even these, as we know, don't seem that accurate) showed the average measurement you could hope to see apart from a big head

That should read - 'most average measurements you could hope to see' sorry middle of the night. Hope your scan goes well.

sar I agree with everyone on here about the bump measurements being massively inaccurate. At 26 weeks I was measuring 24cm, but a growth scan 2 weeks later showed the baby to be pretty much in the middle of the size scale (btw the scan wasn't cos of the measurement! They weren't worried about bump size). As you say, it really does depend on how the baby is lying and also who is measuring you. I'll be thinking of you on Thurs, so do let us know how you get on.

I can't believe we both now have less than 8 weeks! D day is getting ever nearer. I think we're fairly well sorted for baby stuff now, just a few bits to get. Am surprised you haven't been offered more second hand stuff - we have loads! Think it's cos we're so much later having kids than most of our friends and they want to get rid of stuff. Are you still feeling well?

ele I now feel comforted re the 3 2nd hand buggies we've ended up with! Handy tip re the travel system too. I can imagine it'll just be easier to leave the seat in the car and remove the baby as required! How's Hamish? Hope his cold has cleared up.

doll am loving mini doll 's cheese bag I want one! Maybe not as stylish as the Michael J look but handy in case one needs to wash one's hair! I hope swollen feets aren't a sign of imminent labour, as I keep getting them if I spend any time on my feet or get hot. I don't know how those of you in hot climes or with summer babies managed being heavily preggers. Am surprised there's a lack of nursing bras in your part of the world, as I'm pretty sure the one I bought was made out there! The double vest combo sounds comfy though.

Ha ha princess at your book shoot dream! Hope mini P is ok and those troublesome teeth don't give her too much pain. Would love to see a recent pic of her. Bet she's as cute as a button.

Was it about a year ago that we all met up at London Bridge? Gosh how things have changed (for some v lucky 10+ers ). It's a shame we're all so geographically dispersed, as would love to see you all again and meet the babies.

No more hideous tummy pains, thanks to the hideous fybergel. Still getting braxton hicks, but they aren't painful, so trying to ignore. I'm not sleeping at all well though . Am soooo ready to finish work now, although have a scary amount to do first. Just over 3 weeks to go...

gin sorry about the swollen feet and the bad sleep - I think I'm about a month behind you and sar and have that to look forward to! I have been getting blood in my poos occasionally (nice) and think it's probably from piles although thankfully nothing hurts and I can't feel anything there - thank God. Maybe I should find some fibogel, there must be an equally hideous US equivalent! I bet you can't wait to finish. I am thinking of working from home for the last couple of weeks before I go on mat leave if I get too uncomfortable, and seeing Christmas as the date by which I want to have everything finished up at work just in case (am due Jan 22). Is ginster wriggling about still? Loved her Beastie Boys moment a couple of months ago! I'm hoping to come back to the UK some time in the spring with the baby so would love to see you and ginster then. We can make a date!

sar really good luck tomorrow at your scan. I know it must be hard not to worry but the other ladies have wise words. I haven't been told what my measurements mean but surely there must be variation in the size and positioning. I've also heard that with an anterior placenta your bump might not stick out as much? Thinking of you lovely, and mini-sar. Sorry your work has also been stressful and so busy, I can definitely relate to that although don't have managerial woes to contend with.

I think I will be taking your (and the other ladies') advice and leaving the buggy in the stairwell. We have seven stone steps leading to the front door outside, then about 15 or so wooden ones leading inside up to our apartment - it's a converted house. It's a small space and right outside our very grumpy downstairs neighbour's apartment, but she is trying to find a renter at the moment (she announced this shortly after we told her I was pregnant - I don't think I'd want to live under a couple with a newborn either so don't blame her) and hopefully the new renter won't mind having to squeeze past it!

eleth how is Hamish's cold? Poor little mite. Thanks so much for the tips on the buggies, you are a goldmine of info and it's mega useful. I will be doing some feverish research! It sounds like the holy grail is light, one-handed fold, and facing towards you.

doll I think Bravissimo deliver internationally - I bought three soft nursing bras when I was over there as I wanted to get measured, but I loooove them and am wearing them already (had been squeezing into old sports bras but they were no longer cutting it). Sorry to hear about the insurance woes - I completely agree that that should not be mixed into a consultation. That's something the office staff should deal with, not medical professionals! It's a total nightmare and I'd be pissed off too. Really hoping you're not feeling too rotten this close to mini-doll's arrival. Sending you and him encouraging curry and pineapple laden thoughts!

princess thanks also for the sling and pram tip. I had thought that a pram would at least be useful for carrying shopping! I seem to constantly carry loads of crap around with me anyway and am a little scared as to how I will manage to downsize my natural clutter bug instincts with a small person. I hear babies naturally attract loads of stuff anyway! Sorry you're not getting sleep, that sounds like torture, even if the mini dictator is incredibly cute. I have the pink Sophie (thanks to your recommendation) and love it. Interesting advice on the exercise front, I had heard that if you exercise stomach muscles too early postpartum you can cause damage.

buzzy how are you feeling my love? So sorry this pregnancy has been so rough. I bet you're looking forward to reaching the finish line - you're two thirds of the way there!

Interesting thoughts about breastfeeding tops. I would really like to get some nice (but not too expensive) stuff, as I reckon I'll be feeling generally icky after giving birth anyway and it'd be nice to have the confidence boost of a nice top. I also need to get my hair done before the creature arrives as I'm sure hairdressers appointments are few and far between once there's a newborn on the scene!

Quickie one for critter just to say the one-hand fold was great for me as I needed to be able to fold up buggy and get on the bus etc (would also be handy if you were carrying your buggy and baby up and down stairs) however, depending on your lifestyle (e.g. if you can drive and use a car, or if all local transport is low level and buggy friendly) and if you're able to leave your pram at the bottom of the stairwell, then it probably won't be a necessity for you.

(just wanted to say this in case you ignore other buggy's that might do everything you want apart from the one hand fold :-)

Hamish is over his cold just now (thanks everyone for asking) he still has the odd wee coughing fit, but nothing major. He had a bad nights sleep last night though, after having a great night the night before - just when you start thinking - oooh, mabye this is the start of him settling into a nice routine, he doesn't go to sleep until 2am... It's just as well babies are so cute :-D

and sar good luck for the scan today!

Thanks eleth, that's really helpful. I do like the idea of being able to fold it one-handed though - not least because of the amount of stuff I carry around. Also, even if I store it in the stairwell, there are still 7 outside steps to get up to our front door. Anything that'll make it easier to manage sounds helpful! Massively appreciate the advice.

Next question for the mums - cloth nappies! Are they worth it? eleth? princess? doll? teu? They look really cute and I love the idea of them... although I've heard they can cause rashes and am likely to have a rashy baby as I am a rashy adult! If you do use them, are there any brands you like and what sizes/how many do you get?

sar thinking of you today, really hope the scan went well.

We used cloth nappies with DS1 and are re-using the same nappies with Hamish (so definitely getting our money's worth!). I was horrified when DS1 was just born, just how many nappies babies generate and how much landfill I was responsible for, so that was the main reason for the switch (before I discovered how cute they were!). In addition, DS1 seemed to have explosive poohs that soaked through every disposable we tried (supermarket own brands, pampers, huggies) whereas the real nappies really contained his squirty pooh.

In my view I think they're definitely worth it, but there are millions of different types out there and you really need to find the ones that suit you. A lot of local councils in the UK have a real nappy promotion scheme and ours did, which gave us 6 different types of cloth nappies along with a wet bag for 35 quid - we tried them all, only liked about 2 of the 6 we tried, had a friend talk about bumgenius v3 so got one to try and really liked it, so we went for mainly bumgenious v3 with some itti bittie dlish just because they were so fluffy and cute :-D

At the moment (with Hamish at 21 weeks tomorrow) we use about 4-5 real nappies during the day and we put him in a disposable overnight. We bought bamboo boosters etc for overnight stuff with DS1, but he was such a heavy wetter nothign really held and we went for the one disposable and so this time, we figured we wouldn't even try nighttime real nappies - although there are loads of brands out there for nighttimme, I'd spent enough on real nappies first time round I didn't want to spend more.

I feel a wee bit guilty, but any real nappy is saving one disposable going to landfill, so I assuage my guilt that way. DS1 suffered from baby excema and sometimes that interfered with his real nappies and we'd need to use disposables (can't use creams with real nappies) but it wasnt' caused by the nappies and he certainly didn't get any nappy rash with them (neither does Hamish).

The bumgenius v3 nappies are birth to potty (we got about 13 of them) and we have 3 itti bitti dlish which are a sized nappy (we got medium size which is from 16lbs up.

There are some great websites out there, the nappy lady is pretty good for getting information on the types of nappy out there -oops need to go!

ele thanks for the nappy chat, I will use disposables to start with but do have some called 'little blooms' which scored well on Amazon, I have seen the ones you have, they have had good reviews too, they are expensive but I got mine off Ebay, supposedly there are nappy libraries like the sling places you can try first. Glad Hamish is feeling better

critter they roughly work out at about £6-7 per nappy but you can get packs for cheaper, on another thread the women reckon they spend about £20 per week on disposables, so I suppose its about how much you pay for your water and electricity
I got mine second hand off Ebay for £11.50 +postage for 3,

sar sorry you have had a scare, hope the scan has put your mind at rest, I don't feel I have got any bigger over the last few weeks, we shall see in a couple of weeks

gin I don't sleep much at night, right now I feel wide awake even though I have had my milk, minibee is a night owl too

Thanks for those that have asked, I had a couple of good days now I am back to square one I felt quite low and fed up earlier in the week, it really is getting me down, the breathlessness is better but still so fatigued, simple jobs just knacker me out

waves to everyone else

A quick one for critter on nappies. I had not heard of them causing rashes, and no experience of that happening. We used cloth with Little Doll and loved them, although I must say I also know a lot of people who wasted money on them because they didn't use them so go carefully. Secondhand, Craigs List perhaps, solves the initial problem that some people fall foul of - cloth soaks up wee better once the nappies have been washed about a dozon times. You might want, considering your location to look into gdiapers with flushable liner. Have you seen them? We lived in 2 rooms in the states with no washing machine, no diaper service with these. Unless things have changed this is the brand that is most widely used where you are, in Wholefoods and such. If you would like more info on this brand just shout. By the way I used diaper.com for all new baby stuff and got it delivered.

buzzy I used disposables for the first 2 months - newborns go through about 10 nappies a day and there was no way I could imagine doing all that washing while coping with a baby (I'm a wimp!)

Not sure if you've thought about re-usable wipes or not, but if you're doing cloth nappies you're as well doing cloth wipes too (saves you a bundle as you go through so many wipes and reusable wipes have way more traction than disposable wipes and they make it so much easier to clean up pooey bottoms (you only use 1-2 cloth wipes rather than 6-7 reusable wipes).

I got cheeky wipes which are quite expensive, but for me they were totally worth it. However, you could do your own cheapo kit by either buying reusable wipes themselves and setting up your own tupperware tubs for clean and mucky ones, and a wet bag for taking them out and about. Or you could make your own wipes by cutting up sheets of fine terry cloth?

When I got my nappy tester kit from the real nappy network, I'd visited a lady there and she showed us lots of different nappies and how they all worked and also showed us how to fold up terry squares (the original and cheapest cloth nappies :-) for a boy or girl baby. Definitely worth seeing what resources are available locally.

As well as ebay and gumtree you can also use the used nappy company website to buy and sell preloved cloth nappies: www.usednappies.co.uk/

Sorry, I'm getting a bit evangelical - better stop.... (and nursery pick up soon too)

sar hope you got good news yesterday.

waves to everyone else!

Isn't it lovely to be chatting about all these things! I just popped on whilst we travel back to our village from Brighton. It's rush hour so I have a bit of time.

We use Naty disposables; I considered reusable a but, well, I like the convenience of disposables. The Naty ones are partially biodegradable and there is a fully biodegradable brand, which I've just discovered but haven't tried as I bulk buy from the big green smile website. I also get 10% cash back from quidco, so a box of 4 x 36 nappies costs £22 and lasts us 3 - 4 weeks. Mini princess only poos once or twice a week (since about 8 weeks old, common in breastfed babies) so it's just 5 or 6 wet nappies a day. I am feeling at all those using reusables though I'm just too lazy and didn't like the idea of the dirty nappy bin spoiling the look of my lovely new bathroom

Turns out it may not have been teething and perhaps a reaction to the jabs as we haven't had as much trouble since. She does have another snivel and mr p has been off work with a cold. We've been shopping today and picked up an ergo carrier. One word: amazing. All members of the princess family loved it, most importantly the mini benign dictator, who sleep through town, coffee and cake and only got grumpy when she needed a feed and princess pit stop (nappy change)

So our new floor is picked and hopefully going in before Xmas. The last big job and then decorating commences. We're on the home straight. It's so satisfying especially after all the cock ups and delays. This means moving out for a week, thankfully to my parents new pad, as I've said I can't take the stress that goes with a big upheaval with baby. I'm not calm and stoic like our dear doll! Talking of doll, any sign of teeny tiny doll? This is probably way over your international glove trotting head (and I can't imagine you resorting to cbeebies like I do) but I now imagine family doll like the pontypines from in the night garden!

So, I'd love to share with you a photo of mini princess. I'm not comfortable posting loads of facebook, I'm having issues with some of their policies and we decided that we didn't want to post lots of pics on facebook as we personally feel it infringes on mini princesses privacy and it's up to her to choose when she's older. Plus how the hell do we tell her not to post stuff about herself / teach her how to use social media responsibly if we've posted 100s of photos of her as a small child. I've probably over thought this but I hate pics of me from 9 - 17 and would have been mortified if mum had posted loads of them at the time! . However, if you pm me your email , I'll set up a group and get one or a couple over to you :)

Right, virtually home. Making lamb stew and drinking Sancerre rouge when we get in. Lovely Friday night with my little family in my little home :)

Have a great weekend xx

Just a quick post. All was fine at the scan but hot to dash. Thanks for all the positive vibes. Will update properly later.