Due August 2007 - Part 3

[loler]

Here's to a succuessful new thread!

Link to the old thread just incase!

I'll be heading to John Lewis to look at prams next then! The ones we saw were so bloody heavy, don't fancy dragging them up two flights of stairs with a baby in the other arm.

We both love the Fable nursery but it's far too expensive. It's the first grandchild on both sides though so I'm hoping the grandparents might want to contribute. God, I sound so mercenary!

Katybird, we were impressed by the sales assistant advising for example that the Micralite they had in store had a tendency to tip and that the company had now corrected the design and we should wait for the next one to come out. They don't have the range of mothercare but the help is five hundred per cent on what we had at mothercare! Especially when we admitted to being first timers and over-keen.

We've been up to John Lewis quite a few times in the last few weeks looking at washing machines. I've dragged DP up to the 4th floor everytime and decided that we'll be buying our pram and car seat from them.

And the cotbed.

we are pretty keen on the silver cross 3d pram/buggy. its seems smaller and neater than some - some seem so huge to me for a little baby.

want to be able to fold it (without taking the seat off) and go on the bus sometimes, and also to be easy to put in the boot of the car myself - so far this seems to me to be the one that covers those things.

will probably also get a running buggy for when they are about 6 months old as we hope to be training for a marathon at that stage, and it will have three wheels so can use it along the canal etc if its works better.

Happy Monday ladies,

Lovely day here on oxford street as I gaze out of my office window wishing I wasn't here. Feeling pretty crappy the last couple of days - just exhausted and have had a thumping headache which paracetamol hasn't cured.

I've been looking at prams too and have rushed out of mothercare twice now feeling overwhelmed. have therefore been doing research online for now (before I attempt to venture into a shop again - although i may pop to the mamas and papas shop on regent street this week). I quite like the look of the pilko pramette (my sil has one and says it's great) but am slightly put off by the fact that once baby can sit up, they have to go into the forward facing pushchair - it doesn't also reverse to a rear facing one. Is this something that is very important or have other people found that their children want to see where they are going anyway?

Conkertree - the silver cross are lovely to look at, but are as heavy as plikos if that is a concern for you. Make sure you lift it up and try to do the fold thing without help. I can't manage the bugaboo we bought (second hand) either but as I won't be driving with it I am not that fussed. Good for you planning to run a marathon. I am just looking forward to being able to do a full day hike without a problem.

hersetta I was put off by the fact that they only face forward as well, but it is one of those things you can't plan for as apparently it is apparently pretty much up to the baby whether they like to face out or in!! Any advice from others here?

The most important thing for me is being able to get it on the bus, some of the bigger prams are ridiculously huge. Thought we might manage with just a baby sling/carrier for the first six months, but is that crazy? My mum seems to think so!

Katybird I thought that too, but was laughed out of the room.

yup we hoped to be able to do that but have been told by everyone that it wont work and we will sometimes need a pram.

i know what you mean kiteflying about the weight cause i did pick it up when it was folded and it was fairly heavy.

purplerabbit has a buggy a bit like it for using most of the time and a maclaren for shorter trips out, or times she knows she might have to lug it about. the maclaren is far lighter, but not suitable from birth, and the heavier one is not so heavy that you cant lift it on and off a bus yourself. i thought the silver cross one was a similar weight to that one, but will definately try it again folded first before making a definite decision. dh doesnt like it anyway as its not gadgety enough. but think i may win him over in the end as he hasnt come up with anything better yet.

I was torn between the Silver cross 3D system and the Pilko pramette, but neither have a rear facing pushchair facility, but I like the fact that you don't have to take off the sea to fold them flat.

When I was in mothercare last week, I saw a lady pushing around a silver cross 3d system with her 4 week old son fast asleep inside and so i asked her what she though of it. She said she like it very much but was impossible to fold away when used in pram mode, so most of the time, she said they left it open, so if anyone is short on space then this might be a problem.

Good luck with your scans tomorrow beakysmum and Mrsshuvel.

Welcome bananabump, we've been struggling with names as well - especially boys names.

Can totally relate to monday morning blues - did not want to get out of bed this morning. Have been looking at holidays for May to cheer myself up as that is the latest we'll be able to fly.

We went to Mamas and Papas factory outlet last weekend and they had the same stock as they have in the stores, but with huge discounts. Ended up buying loads of things that we were planning on getting anyway, but alot cheaper.

Hersetta we bought the pliko pramette from there, it's good to hear your SIL says its great - it didn't seem as heavy and bulky as some of the other travel systems we were looking at.

Thanks for all the welcomes, it's nice to finally meet some folk at the same stage as me, everyone else has these huge perfect swallowed-a-watermelon bumps and I can't help but feel a bit of a fraud with my mini-bump hiding behind too much squidge...

katybird and kiteflying, I'm gonna give a sling a go and damn the stares! ;) They say you can use them until your back starts to protest, some people are still using them with toddlers. The huggababy pouch ones on ebay look nice and simple but deciding on a colour to match all my clothes? Tricky.

I do have a nearly new graco travel system I got for £25 off ebay (We're doing this on a budget...he wasn't exactly planned!) I don't hear rave reviews about travel systems, but it should do us through winter, then next year I'll get one of those cheapy little strollers for under £30 that are basically just canvas and a frame on wheels, but light, easy to fold and great for whizzing about in during summer months! (That's the theory anyway)

Anna Banana x

Good Morning everybody and welcome to the newbies!

Cant belive that we are nearly half way there and the pram talk has strated already!!

I Love the Silvercross ones but have come to the conclusion that as its my second i should remember my mistake from the first time round, i had a travel system and it was great for the first 6 montrhs but then ds got bigger and i got a cheapey stroller (broke 4 months later) and then got a maclearn that i did and still do LOVE!!!!! best strollers ever so am going to use my old pram for the first 6 months then go and get a lovley new maclaren!!

Good Luck to all those with scans, i have still 3 more weeks!!!!!

yup that sounds like a good idea pinkranger - i think that if we get one bigger system, it will hopefully do more than one baby, especially as we will hopefully be using a sling (i like the didymos) as much as possible, and will no doubt get a maclaren after about 6 months.

am soooo tired today - was out leafleting for the scottish elections last night - was really good to get out and not sit on the sofa, but am unbelievably tired today.

DP collecting me for scan in about half an hour. I'm sooo nervous. I constantly feel like i need a wee!

ooh good luck - sure it will be great. look forward to hearing how you get on later.

Good luck Mrs s - hope everything goes well.

Good luck mrs s - sure it'll be fine!

I've been away for 2 weeks and no way I can catch up!

Bit scared by all the pushchair chat - me and DH trying to ignore having to buy anything or looking into it - I've bought a couple of labour and new baby manuals off amazon but that's as far as we've got.

We're going to be stuck in my 1-bed flat for a while and there's no room here for anything extra... But it does look like we might be moving before the birth - thank god...

My scan is at 23 weeks - ages away!

ANd bumps - mine suddenly popped up about 2 weeks ago. One minute I'd eaten all the pies and the next was definitely pregnant.

So sorry Kitefying and someone else still with MS - mine disappeared like magic at 16 weeks - and you know how much I was moaning. It will go sometime soon I'm sure. It's been fantastic eating again - and cooking - sure it's only round the corner for you..

I was so enjoying eating and was in Montenegro stuffing my face twice a day with lovely unpasteurised feta and local mountain smoked ham...what an arse! Got home and had a huge panic about it but DH pointed out that Montenegin women don't ahve a higher still-birth rate than anyone else. PLus there's nothing else to eat there.

Off to see the midwife today - hoping the sex ban we were put on at 11 weeks is over now...

Morning all,

MrsShuvel - am thinking of you. Hope we hear from you this afternoon with good news.

Peanuthead - good to see you back. Sounds like a lovely holiday. Don't forget the warnings on those foods are borne out of a fear of listeria and we probably have more to fear from supermarkets in the UK on that score than in countries where everything is fresh. Are you really going to move before the birth? We are thinking of doing the same but I dread the actual work involved.

Saturn - v jealous of your trip to M&P factory outlet. Where is it? Is it reachable from London?

Bananabump - you got yourself a bargain didn't you - £25 is amazing. We are also on a budget (I am the main income in the family and its about to disappear). I update it weekly and it seems to grow (eek) as my idea of what will actually be involved in the first six months becomes clearer. Thank God for the threads on mumsnet that advise what you DON'T need.

Conkertree - my BF likes the gadgety prams too. It's hopeless isn't it. Stick to your guns, you will be using it the most.

Kiteflying- we are making it through using a mix of sales, Asda, ebay, and freecycle. People have been wonderful locally, I have a beautiful antique pine cot I got from a lady who was more than happy to help us out, and loads of other stuff.

Everything else we've had off freecycle can be scrubbed, and it mostly really good quality stuff that is just too heavy to post, therefore it doesn't get put on ebay.

In fact all I need now is bits and pieces such as a breast pump, cot mattress and steriliser, we've been really lucky. My temp job finishes on friday, and I can't see me being able to get another one at 5 1/2 months pregnant so I'm glad we have most of the big stuff ready as money is going to have to get very elastic over the next four months!

If anybody has any good tips on how they have saved money preparing for baby, please let me know! I've found MoneySavingExpert to be a wonderful site packed full of tips on what you need for baby, what you don't, and how to save money on what you do!

Hello everyone, hope you're all well today.

Thanks for the link bananabump, really useful! I'm trying to stick to a budget but it's so easy to get carried away by all the cute things in the shops - may have to avoid Mamas and Papas from now on...

Peanuthead - very jealous of your holiday, it sounds lovely! I'm exhausted today and would love to be sitting in the sun instead of in front of the computer. Good luck with the midwife.

Thanks bananabump! I have mainly depended on ebay for the big purchases, which I have tried to get in early to save on "Help, I have no job in a week" panic attacks - but my boyfriend doesn't really like us having second hand things for our precious long-awaited so it has been a battle of stealth and I try to buy "next to new" standard. Our cot was the "emergency" cot at grandma's in its former life and is perfect (M&P to boot)- we won't even have to change the mattress for new. My next door neighbour has two little boys and is happily donating her steriliser and some bits and bobs (and is hoping we will have a little boy to take lots of her baby clothes!) but I am also enjoying some purchases too much to skimp on them (celebratory baby clothes shopping after happy scans comes to mind!)
Maternity clothes are becoming a little bit of a weakness.

Hi All

Only less than 10 hours to my sacn can you tell I'm anxious?
Sometimes I think i read too much mn, as i am aware of more things than ever now IYKWIM.

It's nice to read about you all buying and comtemplating baby stuff, makes it all feel so real and soon.

I remember the whole pram/sling/stroller debate too well. I now have two prams and a stroller and ended up with two baby carriers and a sling .

I think my point is don't buy them too soon, you may just get them all given, hence i ended up with so many.

MY Tips for StuffI thought the baby bjorn was quite good, but my back wasn't up to carrying ds for longer than 15 minutes in it. The combination of breast feeding and relaxin made my back really bad, and I normally have a good back so i didn't use this more than a couple of times.

Prams- If you have stairs or car, buy the lightest thing you can, I really don't get why they have to be so bulky and heavy.

Steralizers and pumps- I just did the old fashioned boil method and didn't find that too hard, as I didn't want to use the chemical steralizers, and it meant I didn't have to buy a thing.
Pump- I had a hand me down, hand job, that i didn't use more than a dozen times. Hand pumps are slow so if you think you will really need a pump, I'd go an electric.

Cots-my ds only slept in his till 14 months, he is very squirmy and just kept banging his head and arms and then decided to sleep in a double bed, so I'm glad I didn't spend alot of money on it. He wouldn't of worked in a conversion cot, but some people swear by them.

I think I see why there are now so many products, some babes love em some not, there's definately stuff for all

Good luck with your scans. Are you planning to find out the sex? I can't wait to find out but I've still got 2 weeks to go. I'll be 21 + 2 then.

As for prams/buggies - if you drive a lot I would definitely recommend a travel system. They're quite bulky and difficult to fit in the boot of a small car (although I managed to get one in the boot of a Clio) but in the beginning, when the baby sleeps so much, it so easy just to transfer the car seat on to the buggy rather than have to transfer the baby to the buggy or pram. Once they're old enough though it's good to get a stroller as they're much more portable. You can't get so much shopping in the bottom though.

I would appreciate any advice regarding buggies for 2. I had been looking at double buggies but they all look so big and getting a small buggy round shops (even Mothercare!) can be tricky sometimes. I had thought of getting a buggy board for my 2 year old dd but if she got really tired then I could use a sling for the baby and put dd in the buggy. I worry about getting a bad back though. Any suggestions?