June 2016 #7 - We're still waiting for the second trimester "bloom" but healthy babies and stronger kicks all around!!

[nehagarg]

Here is the next one people.

Stats here!

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oTx71GeTR-ilVPTpIhNhutAwZPqNyYNEyIDwO80PmKQ/edit#gid=0

Also, glad everyone had a good time at the baby show today

Thanks biking ... I will take all the advice I can get.

Just bought our stroller online for £180 off! I was waiting for the baby show to see if they could give us a better deal but nothing better than £479 reduced to £299!

Wow, some great deals team Baby Show!!! I hope you all have your feet up now!

Re wipes, I massively recommend washable ones! If you are washing nappies anyway it's a no brainier, but even if not, they are great! Much better at wiping than disposables. They were a gateway drug to washable nappies for us.
Anyone fancying washable nappies, The Nappy Lady does great free tailored advice, and Fill Your Pants does a really cheap trial bundle of different brands- we tried a few before hitting perfect-for-us...

I know many of you have spoken about prams/strollers/travel systems before (so sorry to bring this up if you've already posted!) but would you mind sharing:

• what you have/will go for (if decided)?
• how much it is?
• what made you go for it?

biking that does sound like a mission if the washing machine isn't in your flat- I wouldn't fancy lugging loads of pooey nappies and wipes down!

We'll almost certainly be using disposables for the first few days/weeks till we've got into the swing of things a bit. This is potentially a very daft question but what are water wipes? Are they literally just a wipe but instead of whatever they put on normal baby wipes it's just the cloth part in water?

mrsmugoo would you say cheeky wipes are worth investing in?

mollie water wipes have water and a teeny bit of grapefruit seed extract- we used them as out and about wipes until DS potty trained.

Re cheeky wipes- we bought the full kit, and then topped it up with another 25 generic washable wipes from the nappy lady- some of the cheeky wipes have now got holes in, the generic ones are still going strong. We stopped using the "dirty" part of the kit once we started using washable nappies, but kept using the "clean" part. Also we used the out and about bags for a while, but soon stopped, so not worth getting the full kit, for us.

Jelly, we went for an Armadillo Flip XT. Its £479 without a carrycot on mamas & papas (own brand). Baby show were doing a deal for £550 including car seat and carry cot.

I got ours off www.discountbabyequip.co.uk. Down to £299 from £479.

The reason we went for it is because its suitable from newborn with a cocoon. Didnt want to buy a carrycot. Plus it folds up really tiny which helps with our little flat and flips to both parent and world facing. The all terrain tires also help since we have canals and fields nearby where we plan to go for walks.

grubby, did you have any problems with the water wipes going mouldy? Most people seem to rave about them from my brief research -Amazon reviews-- but a couple of people said they went mouldy, or even opened a pack and it was already mouldy.

PRAM

• what you have/will go for (if decided)? Uppababy Vista

• how much it is? £600 - can get price matched John Lewis to Winstanley's Pram Centre for £569

• what made you go for it? You can convert it to a 2 seater (we havent though!), big basket (never thought I'd need that but you'd be surprised), had a flat cot part 0-6 months and then a pushchair part (6 months onwards). Big enough to keep little one in even at 3 she has loads of room - quite a few people mentioned how they'd had to buy something different after 18mnths-2years. Built in sun shades were a godsend and negated the need for an umbrella. Very sturdy, comfy to push, looks comfy to sit in. Once you get the hang of how to put it up and down its really easy. Wheels pop off with one click for those "mud" or "dog poo" moments. I just love it. Also comes with Maxi Cosi adapters so maxi cosi car seat will fit - great when the sleeping baby is in the car and needs to go to the shops! :) Would buy another tomorrow but its lasted that well I wouldn't have to. I have never once had "pram envy" that I have heard people talk about because I can't recommend the Uppababy enough! Slight downside is it is quite a big pram though not that heavy so if you are on public transport it can be a pain (I never use public transport so no probs) also the back wheels are wider than the front so a small space you can get through with the front wheels, you sometimes "crash" the back wheels - just takes a while to get used to the size. It's an absolute minefield though pram shopping, glad I'm not doing it again :)

jelly we had the silver cross pioneer for DS (and it's still going strong). I would definitely recommend it if you walk a lot. If you want something you'll be getting in and out the car a lot, go for something smaller and lighter. We then had a cheap stroller for throwing in the back of the car.

biking no, never had a mouldy packet, or heard of one, interesting! They do have quite a short sell by date, and a relatively short once-open-use-by date, so I wouldn't by tons and tons in advance.

Re pram- we just used a sling for first 9-12 months, then borrowed various to try. Bought a MacLaren quest which wore out quickly, then a micralite super light which I love love love. You can get a carry cot for it, and maxi cosy adaptors, but obvs we didn't need those by then. It is tiny, light, big strong wheels which make for easy pushing on all terrains, comfy (I am told by DS), about 200 quid. The fold is second to none- you can leave your crap in the basket! And the big back wheels pop off to make it even more compact- we can get it into the overhead luggage compartments on virgin trains, which are notoriously too small to be much use. It is not your traditional travel system, but we didn't want that, and it is heaven for a small upstairs flat, and a lifestyle involving loads of walking and public transport.

Another big fan of waterwipes here too! And I've never seen mouldy ones!
Buggy-wise we have a Bugaboo Cameleon and think it's great. It's difficult to pick one over another though-they all look good!

I love my uppababy cruz but I think I should have bought the vista, with hindsight. The bigger wheels would have been better and the ability for 2nd seat.

We loved the idea of reusable napies with DS (18mnths now) but i am really rubbish at organising the washing i lasted 6 months then had to admit defeat ( after spending a fortune on birth to potty set).

We bought a quinny buzz (circa £600) for DS and its still perfect so as long as he will use a buggy board no new pushchair system for us there are some lovely new systems out there though.

DH was in love with the stokke xplory until i pointed out it was around £1000, cheaper now though!

We're going to start with disposable nappies but might move on to reusables in time, we'll see how it goes.

Thinking of getting the bugaboo cameleon, but still torn between that and the uppababy vista. Going to go into John Lewis when it's quiet and give them both a final test before we take the plunge.

Glad everyone got lots of things at the baby show, sounds like it was successful all round! We had another weekend of painting - getting pretty fed up with it now!

What. A. Day. Firstly, can I just mention the hilariousness which was the comic con also taking place at the Excel so it was an odd mix of pregnant women and batwomen! Made for excellent people watching at lunchtime!!

I now have stupidly sore feet but has a good time! I very nearly bought Ewan the sheep as well but I signed up for prima baby magazine and got the GroHush for free (very similar). Loved the sungglebundle thing too so will definitely buy one of those before due date! Our major purchases were the Bugaboo Cameleon Classic in Navy for £750 and the Kiddy car seat with isofix Base for £270. Really happy with those deals!! Definitely look into the Kiddy car seat as it has the lie down function which I thought was brilliant. Also got a load of Mam bottles, dummies and the breastfeeding kit. Super fun day!!

Oooh Ocado has water wipes half price at 9.99 for 9 packs! Had to share...

We've got a bugaboo cameleon which we bought with DS and it's still going strong. It's well built, you can flip the handlebars over and it goes brilliantly on cobbles or muddy woodland walks. The handlebar 'flip' means that it can be moved out of the way so it takes up a surprisingly small space on London busses and tubes. The drawstring shopping basket means you can store quite a lot in it without it being visible or spilling out. It's also not too wide or heavy.

Downside is the fold which isn't a one-piece fold. Also, the price is steep but we bought ours 2nd hand for £300 with footmuff.

Aahhh grubby I wish I'd seen that before carrying them home from the show today! :)

We went for the Armadillo Flip XT with a carry cot. We bought it last month when Mamas and Papas were doing a deal. I don't drive so will be walking or busing it when DH is working and it seemed a good fit for us. I also like that it can be front or rear facing. I found picking a pram really daunting as this is DC1 and there is just so much choice out there.

I've got the uppababy vista and still love it, although pushing it up steep hills in the heat with a 13kg child in it whilst pregnant is getting difficult. Bought 2 years ago for around £650 including the maxi cosi cabriofix car seat, so not at the cheap end but I've used it soooooo much and haven't wanted to buy an alternative. I really recommend anyone struggling to go to a big store like kiddicare and just push a few around. Go armed with your must-have criteria, I found the staff pretty helpful.

I had to have a buggy with big wheels for the huge curbs and dodgy terrain here. It does mean it's a bit bigger than some but it manoeuvres so easily that it doesn't feel heavy. I also probably wouldn't have chosen it if I needed to use public transport a lot. I love that you can clip the car seat on, the built in sunshades were a must for me too, and the huge basket is great for picking up shopping and storing the changing bag. Oh and it's fab if you're tall! It's much higher than the average buggy and it doesn't have that annoying bar to kick with your feet as you walk along.

Hahahaha. Yep Emma, I had to drag DH away from the comic con. He really wanted to go in and have a poke around.

Ugggh so I was leading a meeting today with about 50 people. About half way through I got really hot and the room was spinning. I knew if I stood up again to announce the next section I would collapse. I gave my notes to someone and had to leave the meeting to lie down for half an hour. I feel fine now, but such a tit!

Oh no biking poor you!!!! I'm sure nobody through the worse of you, but what a pain! I hope you feel better already!

Something similar happened to me a few weeks ago, and a wise soul on here suggested extra protein for breakfast, which seems to help (thank you to whoever it was!)

Protein it is then! Do you eat yoghurt, or more eggs/meat type things?