Rats Successfully Smacked, the 'No Brookers' uneventful pregnancy and pain free birth thread :)

[MeconiumHappens]

Hello :)

I wasn't keen on travel systems as I didn't like the idea of dd spending so time in the car seat either which seems to be what most people do with them. I also thought they looked enormous!

I wish I'd gone with an Oyster for the single pushchair. A friend had it and it seemed to work well at each stage (pram, rear facing now forward facing).

I had a mamas and papas pram then when I realised dd needed a pushchair had a meltdown that it was forward facing only and ended up getting a Bugaboo Bee which I totally heart.

I think the bugaboo bee is a great pushchair, my step sister had it from birth with her son and loves it. We went for the BJ city mini because it's cheaper, but side by side they do very similar. I heart mine too, luckily but I did have bugaboo bee envy of my stepsister until I got it. The sunhood on the city mini is better than the Bee, but that's my opinion, and very useful for making a dark, cosy nest for sleeping- even my stepsister was jealous of that!!! I didn't get a pushchait til DD was 9 months- well, we'd borrowed a bebeconfort Loola, which I hated and used about 10 times in total, but she used to sleep in the pram top in the day, which was the best bit of it.

biscuits, I could put it on the babyjogger though, and like you sure it would be useful for brief journeys, but don't think I'd use it enough to justify the adaptor kit I'd need to buy for it!! You see so many people wheeling their babies round town for HOURS in the car seats on the pushchairs, I feel so sorry for the babies... So bad for their spines and they'll get flat heads to boot!!

We had / have a bugaboo cameleon which I heart a lot.

We went for that because it has a height adjustable handle (DH is v tall) and the pram looked big on it - on the basis DH was tall we were anticipating that we wouldn't have a small baby! So we wanted a nice carry cot bit to the pram. Ours had a proper mattress in it so we used it for daytime naps instead of having a Moses basket. Then at night we had a crib rather than a mb (again, this was us erring on the side of having a long baby, and I'd heard lots of horror stories of babies growing out of a Moses basket in 6 weeks!)

And then at 6 months or so we got a McLaren stroller thing to use alongside the Bugaboo. Now we just have a Quinny Zapp in case we need a pushchair.

I agree though - I see people pushing round kids in car seats for hours, and I always notice it ! We were super conscious with the long car journey thing about taking proper breaks etc.

Also, the other thing I never get is when you see people pushing prams round in a shopping centre (indoors) with the raincover on? Am I missing something?

Biscuits, is it because the baby is napping so it reduces the light to them?

For DS, we got the Maxi-Cosi but our old car didn't have Isofix so we just had it with the seat belt. I wanted to keep him rear-facing so we've upgraded the car to the same model but a newer one, so DS and DC2 will both have Isofix seats. (We've gone for the Be-Safe Combi x3 isofix, so he can be rear-facing in our car, but it can be front-facing with a seat belt in someone else's car, like when I am giving birth to DC2.)

Well I wondered about the light but since it is see through it can't make that much difference?

I just never liked the idea of them not getting any fresh air.

But I'm sure there's a good reason for it

I had an anterior placenta with DS so I didn't feel any movement until about 20 weeks, but then it was great. I am hoping for a posterior placenta next time though - just want to feel this baby better.

Don't do it myself and DS only gets the rain covers in proper rain, so I don't know either.

bartlet, we've got the BeSafe iZi combi x3 too to keep DD rear facing (also a Which? best buy ). I have a Britax Two Way Elite now for my parents' cars though so she has never gone forward facing. I don't want her to think it's really good and get into it!!!! Interestingly many of DH's medical friends have also kept their children rear facing- quite a few of us sport the BeSafe!

biscuits, you are very generous to people, I would probably be thinking Idiots! take that cover off and give them some air!!! same as I do about all those with the babies in the car seats attached wandering round hour after hour

I'm sure I'm feeling one baby move today- maybe the one with the posterior placenta. However, I've had some cramping and a little bit of spotting... Don't think I'm still bleeding, but I'm a bit worried. DH, as usual, isn't and says 'It'll be fine!' I really, really hope he's right. Both were fine last monday... 4 1/2 weeks til next scan though. Not sure whether to do anything or wait and see. After all, it wasn't much, and what will they do bar tell me to rest??

DD in bed, without a fuss so I'm just trying to rest on the sofa while DH makes burgers for tea. I think he's putting a fried egg on top judging by the smell...

Ah interesting about your anterior placenta too Bartlet.

I was worried that it would mean I wouldn't feel much all the way through but it seems to just mean you feel them later (if that's indeed what I've got).

To be honest I think I'll get to the scan and they'll say 'yes, the reason you can't see anything is this layer of Cadburys Caramels around everything....'

oh, and we went for a walk with my friend who's a paediatrician and she says she really thinks DD had Roseola Infantum. Really matches her symptoms, all of them, including the rash so I think she's right. Now just her cold and cough to get rid of...

biscuits £10 says anterior placenta

I could feel loads, it just took longer to get to that stage, so I'm betting on a biscuity anterior placenta too.

DS LOVES his new carseat. It is nice and high up so he can see loads out of the window and there is loads of space for his legs.

Dream so glad your dd has gone off to bed without a fuss - you deserve a bit of a rest tonight for sure!

Hope the cramping is nothing. How many weeks are you now? At what week-age is your next scan? If you're worried call your mw. Hopefully it is just all the stretching etc?

My rib cage feels like it is either being crushed or exploded tonight - can't work out which! I've changed bra and am now in pjs, which has helped a bit, but sadly I think the problem seems to arise if I relax on the sofa - I think it is the leaning back position . Can't see that spending the evening on a dining chair is going to be quite the same!

Dream I think you should work for Which - you surely know more than they do about all this stuff?

Dream what's roseola Infantum? Is it serious? Hope not xx

Oooooo pushchair and car seat chat! May I ask a few questions of you experienced ladies? Firstly, any iCandy Peach experiences? Either first or secondhand? Also, on the car seat front, I'm completely unsure! The maxi cosi is the only one that fits on the iCandy, but even without the 2hr limit I just can't see when I would ever need to put the car seat on the pushchair?! I didn't go to all this trouble to find a great pram with fully breathable mattress to use the car seat instead?! So with that in mind DH and I really don't feel restricted to the maxi cosi at all, we're open to any suggestions. The BeSafe is one I keep hearing mentioned, and I guess from comments below you ladies would recommend it over the maxi cosi? Can I ask why it's so good?

Oops! Missed a whole bunch of posts!

Dream I'm glad your DD is sleeping better. I second Biscuits' question, what is that condition?

Biscuits sorry to hear your rib cage is hurting, I hope that's a v temporary symptom which calms down asap!

Bartlet your BeSafe comments are helpful! Thanks!

Scream, DC2 will be going into the Maxi-Cosi to start with, but then we'll get a Be-Safe for him/her (DH thinks it is a 'her'). I like it because it is rear-facing and it was very important for us to keep him rear-facing (much safer), it feels so secure, and it came out very well in both Which and Mumsnet reviews. It weighs a ton though so we won't be moving it around much!

Thanks Bartlet, so you think the maxi cosi is safer from birth, and the BeSafe is more important for the next stage car seat?

BeSafe doesn't go from birth

Dream is that true?!?! Is that because the BeSafe failed safety standards or something like that?! The spokesman I was talking with yday, and the brochure I'm looking at now, say the BeSafe izi sleep is from birth to 1 yr (or 0kg - 13kg). If that's not true then that's outrageous mis-selling!

Scream I have no iCandy experience because I never knew it existed when we got our bugaboo. But I wish I had known about them so I could have at least compared them! They're similar price and functionality I think. I have read on here that the iCandy is a bit heavier than the bugaboo, but don't know what bit is heavier? Also I don't really know my peaches from my pears from my apples when it comes to the iCandy range!

Using the car seat on the wheels is sometimes really useful if for example your littlie is fast asleep in the car seat and you just need to nip in somewhere really quickly and don't want to disturb them. By 8 or 9 months I found it really heavy to carry ds in the car seat so could pop him on the wheels for ease. Didn't do it all that often, but every now and again.

Like you we'd gone for a pram with the good mattress etc so we primarily used that. Also (and I say this looking at Dream for confirmation) I think the guidance about the time limit in the car seat relaxes a little as they get closer to a year? On the basis that it is around the spine forming and that is 'done' by then? Or certainly it is more important the younger the baby is?

I found by the latter months of the first year, when they're past those 'automatically fall asleep just because they're in the car' months, if they are asleep at the time you want them to be, you might not want to disturb them while you nip in somewhere. And as I say I really found ds + car seat quite heavy towards the end of his time in it. Although I must say I still tried to stick to the whole 1hr thing!

Sorry, had to hand computer over.

Dd loves her BeSafe too for same reasons as bartlet ds. It can be used from 6 months, but dd was 10- its not as reclined as a baby seat so when she falls asleep her head lolls fwd sometimes which I hate. However, for the safety it offers and the view she gets I'd buy it again. Probably will in fact! It's enormous though. My 6'4" Dh literally can't get into the passenger seat of our focus with it in, and I'm slightly squashed at 5'4" but we chose her safety over that. Doesn't matter now we're getting a people carrier. The maxi-cosi is great for safety too, comes out really all in crash tests and I will be replacing.g our old silvercross Ventura with that, plus one hand me down britax.

I was advised against the iCandy as apparently its quite small for a toddler. Not really looked at one but got a friend who got an apple to convert to a pear (is that the right one?) And they ended up replacing ad toddler too squashed. Not sure about peach though.

Roseola infantum is typically 3 days of very high fever, 39-40, no other cause for fever (like dd- so can be meningitis worry and hence my paediatrician friend says they're often admitted and given a lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis- what Dh thought would happen when we went to out of hours gp). Then the fever breaks and the rash appears, back first, then neck, legs etc, exactly what dd had. Glad we didn't force antibiotics down her for mild throat redness! Wish I'd rung her now, but think you shouldn't ring friends for professional advice really.

Sorry, beSafe iZi combi not from birth, the Sleep also gets a Which? Best buy. They're a very safe, well tested brand. Look at all my Which? Top tips, I paid just to look st car seat safety :-)