November 2012 - baby shopping time has really taken off

[StuntNun]

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1505839-November-2012-nearer-the-end-than-the-beginning

Stats list: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1485512-November-2012-Stats-List

Happy Sunday everyone,

We spent Friday and Saturday with the in-laws which was nice. We went round John Lewis and showed them the pram/travel system we wanted. When we got back to theirs they have us. Cheque for the full amount - incredibly generous of them. We are very lucky. MIL is a lady with opinions but she is so utterly over the moon with finally getting a grand baby that I think we could say we were calling it bealzebub and she would exclaim how lovely it was.

I would like some advice/opinions from you lovely ladies please.

1. how important is a drop-side on a cot?
   I am 5ft 2. We would like a cot bed ideally but none have drop sides. In fact that choice of drop-side is very limited. Cost is a factor.

2. is weeing literally every half an hour normal?
   On Friday night when I went to bed I was up every half hour for the first couple of hours the every hour. During the day I often go then need to go again within 10 minutes. All this talk of UTIs made me wonder (I am sorry to here about those BTW). I have no pain when I go.

I have found the reusable chat invaluable again - thank you! I think I might get me some LL's if they are on offer. DH is keen on doing a bit of both - reusable and disposable. Makes sense really.

Hope everyone gets to put their feet up at some point today - raise those ankles!

And incidentally, I am another cleavage catcher. I end up with crisps down there - I find it very embarrassing but DH thinks it is an awesome new skill.

pass I think as you are smaller in stature (no offence intended) then a drop side is pretty essential. I am 5'8 and would have struggled without one. At first they are on the highest mattress setting, then when they can sit and stand they go on the lowest. That is a long way down to lift them up and over. I have never looked at new cots as got mine second hand. I have no idea of costs and specs.

Thanks, Valium. It's so confusing. We are now looking at car seats and cannot work out the difference between maxi-cosi pebble and maxi-cosi cabriofix. I mean, we can see a couple of differences but the pebble is 30% more!

Re cots we could have a drop side from John Lewis for £100.
It doesn't become a cot bed though. We could have a cot bed from Ikea for £90 with no drop side. We can't, it seems, have both :(

Morning ladies,
I'm off to my parents for Sunday lunch, then off to work:(

As for what to get for beds, I've got a Moses basket, then my son will go into a cot, after the cot I will get a adult single bed.
The cot I would love is the one with drop sides, but I have to wait and see what's in the paper.
Evil

I think it is worth considering if you are going to have any more babies in the next few years, as it could be that you will need a cot and a bed. I personally do not see the fuss about cot beds. I bought a toddler bed from Ikea for DD1 when she was 18 months, and DD2 is now in it. A big part of me wishes I had got a regular single. Cot beds look teeny tiny so I wonder how long they would be in them anyway. You could get a lovely cot bed drop side second hand if you keep an eye out I am sure.

Can't help on car seats as need to look at them myself.

Cot bed and toddler bed size bedding is also very expensive. You can put the single bed mattress straight on the floor, or get a thingy to put on to stop them falling out. I would rather have spent my money on a really good mattress for the single bed. Not sure DS will appreciate a pink toddler bed either. I think I will have to paint it.

passme, I got a cot bed with drop side from Babies R Us, it's the Henley one, but was 2 yrs ago so don't know if they still do it. We were v pleased with the quality. But tbh I have rarely used the drop side. When the mattress is high up you don't need it, and I was always wary of waking a sleepy baby by bumping that up so never got into habit of using it. Now DS stands to be lifted out. But I am 5'8"!

DS has a cot bed with a drop side from mothercare. Plain white. DD2 now 5 would still be a cot bed now if I let her! She loved her cot. If I had only bought DS a cot I would be having to move him into bed now or buy a cot bed as well as he is quite tall, and I don't think he is ready for a bed, he would be a nightmare.

So, think we have decided that we use the Moses basket and then in the Jan sales get DS a single normal bed and if the baby gets too big for the Moses basket they can go in the travel cot in the intervening time, would only be for a few weeks.

Like everything else different things suit different people.

The rins are coming down. YES!!

Afternoon all, sat on the sofa enjoying some Olympics, probably where I'll stay all afternoon.

Went to a 30th birthday party last night and we were outside for a while, got a bite right on my bump which is so itchy. It must have bitten through my top the little bugger. I've been using moisturiser on it to try to ease the itching but it's quite a large bite.

After some opinions from those of you who already have children regarding nursery flooring. This baby will have the largest bedroom in the house, and its big enough for us to kind of split it into two parts, so there'll be a bedroom area and a play area. I initially wanted carpet in the whole room but DP suggested carpet for the bedroom part and then laminate for the playroom part. Can anyone highlight any advantages or disadvantages to this. Would the laminate plus toys be quite noisy? Or might it be easier to keep clean?

Thanks for all the chat about nappies, too. A lot of food for thought!

I'm only 160cm tall so for me a drop-side was essential. I literally couldn't reach her on the lowest mattress level without dropping the side. We got our cot bed from a friend of a friend for £40, although hadn't intended to get a cot bed. Have found Asda do cheap bedding for it & the Mothercare mattress wasn't that much more than for a cot size.

We were tempted to get a single for DD but are not going to bother. She barely takes up any space in the cot bed, she'll be swamped by a single, & think it might be one change too far iyswim. We'll just get a cheap drop side cot for this LO then get DD a single bed later, & put the baby in the toddler bed as and when. Although, frustratingly, that will mean buying a whole new set of bedding (& mattress) for a cot. We can just sell it on later.

No idea about the car seats - we just bought the infant carrier that went with our travel system!! We'll use the same one this time, as its been stored well etc.

I had a drop side cot for DD, but in the end the side came off and the cot was right up against the bed, so we were co-sleeping but had our own space. Think i'll do the same again this time, but have a feeling i'm going to have to get a new cot to do it with. The one I have at the moment was a freebie and doesn't have a drop side.
Either that or baby will be in bed with me, as I know have a double bed all to myself!

Valium Financially I think we'll be ok, he is still going to support me on that front.
DD keeps looking at the door and saying daddy :( It is heartbreaking. We've arranged for him to see her on Tuesdays and Sundays when he works late, so at least that's something.

Surprisingly, I don't feel too bad today. It's raining here and I feel as though I can cope better in the cooler weather. I know it sounds silly but I get so so wound up in the heat, flustered and tired/emotional, so it's a welcome change.

The Britax First Class Plus looks good as does from birth to 4years. Not isofix though.

I am annoyed with my dad. He wanted a car seat for DD2 that could be left in mums car all the time. I spent ages researching and checked that weight was not an issue. I bought an isofix version of the one we have and I have just found out that is in his garage. He does not trust isofix (wtf) and it was too heavy to move from car to car. They got ripped off at Halfords buying one the same as we have. I know he is nearly 80, but that really annoyed me.

Halfords have offers online that you can reserve and pick up in store. Mum and dad just went to the shop so were charged about £40 more. I think that is so unfair.

The Britax First Class Plus looks good as does from birth to 4years. Not isofix though.

I am annoyed with my dad. He wanted a car seat for DD2 that could be left in mums car all the time. I spent ages researching and checked that weight was not an issue. I bought an isofix version of the one we have and I have just found out that is in his garage. He does not trust isofix (wtf) and it was too heavy to move from car to car. They got ripped off at Halfords buying one the same as we have. I know he is nearly 80, but that really annoyed me.

Halfords have offers online that you can reserve and pick up in store. Mum and dad just went to the shop so were charged about £40 more. I think that is so unfair.

So unfair posted twice! Oops!

What is it with parents & car seats? Mine insist on using one with DD that isn't really appropriate (she's still dinky & should be in a group 1 I think? The one that goes up to 36kg/4yo) when they could easily buy a dirt cheap one for her that would do on the odd occassion they use it. I think I will have to buy one for them and just tell them to use it, & keep it #2 too.

We have Britax buggy, infant carrier & car seat so know they are good, but anyone know anything about the more basic ones that you might get in Asda/Argos for example? I mean, they've all got to pass the same standard haven't they, so it shouldn't be that big a deal right??!

What do your parents put her in chunky I saw a car seat in mothercare for £29 I think it was. There are some very cheap brands, but these tend to be lacking in comfort. I once bought a Nania car seat and I did not trust the strap mechanisms.

chunky I got one of those cheap car seats from asda for my mum's car. We bought it from gumtree and it had never been used, we soon found out why, it was really flimsy and light, it was made of polystyrene and I could not for the life of me get it to sit safely in my mum's car even though when we bought it, it was still in it's packaging with full intructions. It was basically useless, so I bought a second hand maxi cosy from gumtree and to be honest I was happier with a second hand one than the new useless one!

Valium its basically a slightly built-up booster seat, rather than a proper car seat!! Always offer my car seat instead, but my mum complains her hands hurt to do the straps up (arthritis). I'll have to go & try them out & figure out the, easiest ones to clip/unclip I think (although this will mean DD will also be able to do it...)

Ooooh. Lightening!! Lovely July weather... Hope its better tomorrow, we're at Stratford for the hockey :)

Oh dear chicken she needs to be in a 5point harness at that age. Get your mum to watch some of the crash test movies. It is likely to really upset you though. My DD is the same age, but is a tall sturdy thing, but I would not let her go in a seat like that. Not until she is 4 at least. In the safety clips the toddler basically slips out of the seat and gets splatted and broken. How about going shopping with your mum so she can try the clips. If she cannot put your precious child safely in a car seat, then she cannot take her in the car IMO. You would never forgive yourself if something happened, and neither would she.

mrsW yeah, I had forgotten the one I got was polystyrene. I have no problems with second hand so long as you feel you can trust who had it previously, and remember they have a 'use by date' of around 6 years, which is why I am not reusing mine, although Silver Cross have told me that does not apply to their seats.

Thanks for all the thoughts on cotbeds.

We took a look at the Henley on Babies R Us and really like it. dixie what is it made of? It does really well on Which and just misses the Best Buy - suits DH.

We are off out to order the travel system then buy paint. DH has decided that he wants to paint the whole house before LO arrives in November. Having been in shock for months I think he is now getting sorted.

I bought 10 reusables from LL for £35. Great buy and good for us as we will be doing a bit of both. I bought 4 coloured wrappers and the pack of 7 white wrappers. I thought the comparison to Russian roulette was very funny and made me inclined to buy them.

swiss enjoy the rain (I like a wee change as well) and get your feet up. Enjoy snuggles with DD - sounds like you both need some pampering.

Re car seats, we are getting one from a pal which we will keep as a spare for grandparents.

We will be going for the maxicosi cabriofix with the family fix isofix base. Both cars have isofix and the cabriofix fits on pram. Amazon seems to be the place to buy new. Quite a lot cheaper than elsewhere.

Can I just check? Is our Facebook group called November 2012 babies? Think I might join. My nose is getting the better of me - I want to check out these bumps!

passme I liked the Russian Roulette comment too I think the maxi cosi family fix thing is a good buy. Amazon is not always cheapest though, sometimes Halfords and other stores sell off certain colours cheaper.

I think I will put the Isofix in my car for DD2. I thought it would not fit as we have under floor storage, but apparently VW sell inserts to make them safe to use. If mum and dad had said before buying, I could have saved them £150.

Hope everyone is enjoying there weekends! Not keen on the rain though

I've had such a lazy day today, mcdonalds, chocolate, DVD now I have to get up and do some housework and dinner boo. The dog has loved it though, he's such a lazy boy