March 2016 #6, we're just breeding here!

[MyNameIsSuz]

New thread, whoop whoop. Come on over!

I've bought the changing bag (using eBay 20% off code a couple of weeks ago) and some clothes in the Tu 25% off sale but that's it so far. Hoping to get furniture, pram and car seat in Christmas/January sales. Trying to resist buying any more stuff as SiL has said we can borrow all of now-three-year-old-nephew's clothes/equipment - I know she has at least two rockers, Jumperoo etc. She lives 5 hours away though so won't see what she's got til we stay there at Christmas.

Will be looking out for deals on baby monitors on Amazon Black Friday and have my eye on slings on Ebay too.

Need to try and convince DH to go and just look at some prams though so when a good deal comes up we know what we want. We went to Mothercare last weekend, was a small branch so not very successful and came home to a £100 speeding ticket on the way back

ginger If I remember from what I read when we started ttc, trying to plan a budget. You should replace a mosses basket/cot mattress for each new baby unless it's one with a plastic covering. Something about mould spores as you can't see inside the matress, even if it looks clean from the outside. I made the desision to replace the moses basket matress (from about £5 on amazon) and cot bed matress (argos basic I think) from dd's stuff despite knowinf exactally how and when they were used and where they were stored. £35 for both is worth it for my peace of mind to be honest. Will probably replace the carry cot matress too, as it was a charity shop buy, hoping a moses basket matress will fit it.

maybe although they don't cause hip problems, baby bjion style carriers can exsabiate any exsisting problems. Dd had a clicky hip so learnt quite a bit about things to avoid. There's trick you can go with a hair tie or scalf to avoid this and make the carier really comfoy for you that pulls in the base so you can get optimum 'M' positioning for baby's legs. Sticks in my mind as I had dd in our caboo when we first saw her consultant who demanded we get her out of that thing, until I'd unwrapped her blanket cover. I can find a link for the trick if it intrests you. I've never got on with buckle carriers myself, but did have to use them a few times at work. Loads of people find them really good, popular in my area anyway. My friends borrowed my caboo and couldn't get on with it, but loved their baby bjion once they came across the sincing in trick, apprently it suddenly became wearable for more than half an hour. They wore it almost constantly as their dd had reflux. (Really hope that doesn't come across as critical!)

I must make a list of things we actually need. Christmas is nearly here, then it will be march before we know it.

dobby the baby bjorn is for DP rather than me - he uses one quite a lot with his niece so we know that it works for him :) I'll probably get myself a kari-me or I may not bother with a sling at all as I am a small person (height-wise, anyway) and not very strong - would rather use buggy!

Am so impressed with how prepared you all are!

Can someone talk me through prams/buggies? I know you need a flat one for a newborn, are there ones that then sit upright for as they develop or do you have to get two? I'd ideally like one that is parent-facing to begin with (but then turn round-able? Is that even possible?!) and one that is good for more than about town...

flen most buggies if suitable from birth will start out flat and then you can sit them upright.

I can strongly reccommend my babyzen yoyo 0+ if you're in the market for something very lightweight - I have tried it out with my 6 month old niece in it and can steer and push it with one hand! You can have it either rear or parent-facing and it converts into a sit-up one from about 6 months I think. It cost us £445 which I don't think is too hideous when you look at the price of a bugaboo or an icandy...

I think most decent from-birth buggies now have the option of being either parent facing or rear facing, but others more knowledgeable than me will comment I'm sure :)

maybe how lovely he wants to wear and knows what works for him. Dh is very relctant to try out any type of sling, although did try a few at my insistance with dd, but despite being comfortable still decided he'd rather carry in arms. He'd carry her rather than push the buggy too. But he does currently like to look of the ugandan carrier my dad brought back for me.

Just had a reminder pop up on my phone for second 20 week scan. I've been counting down to it for the last 4 weeks but seem to have managed to completely forget about it. Will have to rearange lunch plan with my friend and her dd now as scan, consultant's appointment and vbac clinc appointment all in the time we'd arranged to meet.

Main things still on my list are Moses basket, chair for the nursery (think we're just going to get a basic one rather than a fancy nursing chair), bedding for basket and cot, bathing stuff (not sure yet whether to get a baby bath or an insert for the main bath), sling (but going to wait for that until my nct classes as apparently one of the sessions they bring along loads to try out) and more clothing and then stock up on nappies and things.

Having had a huge list a while ago, we've decided to wait on buying things like breast pumps, baby monitors etc until we actually need them. DH can go out or we have Amazon prime for next day delivery if we need anything urgently!

me that's my plan, anything I've forgotten can always be bought online or locally if required.
I was going to get an ikea chair until I saw someone selling the nursing set we got - it's the tutti bambini from mothercare and there's not a mark on it so for £70 instead of £189 I'm very happy

flen we have a local family ran store which has been trading for over 50 years in prams etc so popped in there, had a play about, folding and opening prams and stuff and decdied on the Venicci in black and silver, full travel system with car seat comes in at £579, but hoping to get something off in the Jan sales - or negotiate a free isofix base. With it being a small store they're good at bartering and negotiations

Definitely a good idea to wait and see Me, and if you need a breast pump in the early days you can usually borrow one from the midwife or hospital.

Word of caution on stocking up on nappies: don't buy too many newborn size as there are 3 different newborn sizes and some babies grow out of them very quickly, and some are never in the first size. Just buy a small pack of size 1s for now. Big packs of those are always for sale on our local Facebook selling site! Once the baby is bigger they'll be in the same size for longer and you can get great deals on big boxes on Amazon, I used to get ours delivered for about £20 a month for pampers. So if you have space, those are the ones to stock up on!

Oh God Suz don't say that... I've bought 3 packs of 70 size 1 nappies! Hoping they'll get used though as I'll put a pack in the living room, my bedroom and the girls' bedroom and I do tend to have small babies...

Good tip on the nappies Suz , thanks! I'm diabetic so will be induced at 38 weeks; not sure if baby will be big anyway because of diabetes (one of the reasons they get them out sooner, but not primary) or small because he'll be "early". Will need to have a good browse in Sainsburys and probably plump for a few different ones!

Q there's an independent baby shop near me that sounds like what you described; hoping I can haggle a deal with them for pram + extras + carseat & base.

This is my list (on a spreadsheet where I intend on keeping track of how much we spend, but there's already things I haven't added!)

Pram
Car seat
Baby Monitor
Cot
Moses basket/crib
Changing Unit
Bouncer/seat/playmat
Sling
Clothes
Nappies
Wipes
Muslins & bibs
Bedding & blankets
Changing bag
Breast pump
Bath support

SIL had gestational diabetes and gave birth at 34 weeks in March - baby was 6lb 6oz!!

Evening all! How are all the mums and bumps? (dads too...)

We're decorating the baby's room in a couple of weeks - I am so excited I can't wait, we had some money left over from our wedding budget so their little room is getting the full works. Lucky little spud!

Some of our friends have given us their nursery furniture so that's saved us a fair few quid. They have been absolutely amazing and so generous - it's really touching (I may cry - got my sobbing head on today - no idea why!)

Oh that's so sweet of them Paper I weirdly haven't had any emotional moments yet but fully expect them to kick in at some point!

That's interesting Beautiful I haven't bought any newborn outfits as they all seem to say 'up to 7lbs and I just can't imagine baby being less than that!

That's really sweet Paper!

Pug I've never had a baby bigger than 6lb. They were in newborn for a while. 0-3 is pretty big for a new baby!

I've got some 'up to 1 month' stuff which is a lot smaller than 0-3. SiL is also going to give us lots of nephew's old clothes and as he was born at 32 weeks they have plenty of small things!

Gosh looking at all your lists I'd forgotten how much stuff you have to get first time round! Since we are having another girl that means no new clothes (or hardly any as DP is stingy haha so depends what I can sneak in). I have just bought a batman baby gro with tutu attached from eBay though - couldn't resist! I also want to get an IKEA nursing chair (I don't think it's marketed as a nursing chair, but whatever their chair that rocks a bit is) but we don't have an IKEA near us so have to wait till I'm next visiting my family in Bristol. Other than that we have everything from last time! I think we got our car seat etc a couple of months before DD was born.

Good luck with your scan dobby!

Re slings, I had the caboo with DD and didn't get on with it at all as the material slipped through the slings all the time. I've got the manduca carrier this time which is structured but doesn't have the issues with hip placement that the baby Bjorn has...

So my SIL is a manager for a branch of Mamas and Papas which is closing down. She's surprised me with a huge haul of baby clothes bibs socks vests and onesies AND. A brand new in the box never been opened snuzpod! I had never heard of it but Google tells me good things. Apparently it was sent to the shop for the window display but the branch is closing before the displays change, so she's nabbed it for free! I already have a swinging crib and a moses basket so not sure where I'm gonna use it, but an awesome freebie nonetheless!

Spent today washing the carry seat and moses basket from ds1 and they're all ready for ds2 now. Itching to do more to get ready but having kept a lot of things there's not much to sort. I bought new mattresses already so waiting for them to arrive. Also ordered an amawrap today. Very exciting stuff!

Oh also I bought a gym ball as I'm starting to get hip and back pain. Other than bouncing, rocking and swaying on it does anyone have any ideas what to do with it to ease pain?

hayley that is so lucky and jammy ! Which branch is it in case anyone else is nearby and can grab a bargain if they do a closing down sale?

I've started doing yoga in the evenings on Youtube which is really helped - this is the one I've done so far

dobby What's the issue with the caboo carrier and hips? Are baby's legs too spread out? This is the one I was planning on getting so grateful for any advice.

Pug it's in the Stratford branch in the huge shopping centre there - Westfield. It's closing down imminently if not already so if anyone is close run there asap! They had a mega mega sale going. It's nowhere near me so I never thought of it, sorry if anyone misses out because I didn't mention it!

I've done maybe two yoga poses haha the cat and the cow I think? I'll watch that video now and see if it's something I can do. I'm open to anything that'll ease the muscles. I can't believe we're over halfway already!

pug the caboo close is a fantastic sling, loved mine, but do be warned slings can be very addictive. It's baby bjion style carriers that can cause issues with hips (but only if there is a problem there already) as they are narrow base and not supportive enough. The caboo will let you spread the fabric from knee to knee which helps support baby's legs in a 'M' frog leged position. Dd's consultant throught I had her in a bjion when we first met, a pet hate of his when parents already know there's a problem, as a list of things get sent out to avoid when you get refured. The caboo is egronomic, so puts bottom hips and legs in the right position.

I never had any problems with the rings slipping. There's a few diffrent ways you can tie when they get heavier to make it more supportive. Washing can help with rings slipping if you fine it a problem as can rethreading the rings and working the material around cot bars or banisters to soften it. Second hand ones are often much nicer to use than brand new as they feel more broken in. Mine had a couple of previous owners and has been passed around my friends, one had brought a new one that she found slippy but found mine was fine, still is fantastic condition.

Although I've not bought that much yet I am a bit unsure what size to buy at this stage, just buying 0-3 because at least the baby will get a chance to wear them. It would be easier as well if we knew what we are having (still convinced we're having a boy )

I guess I'll have more of a clue after the growth scans, although having said that they said my DNiece was going to be a whopper and around 9lb...she was a little dot at just over 6lb!

I'm watching Nigella on BBC 2. Usually I love her but wtf is going on with her eyelashes? They are about a foot long!

Hayley that's my local shopping centre! Had no idea the mamas and papas was closing, thanks for the tip!

Paper if it helps - my ds was 8lb 10oz and the 0-3 month stuff we had swamped him. His legs kept wetting caught up in his babygro! He wore newborn stuff for the first few weeks, then up to 1 month/10lb stuff, then the 0-3 month stuff later on. You could always just buy a few and get more when the baby is born if you need them?