June 2019 babies - part 5!!!!

[socktastic]

2nd trimester for all the lovely June mummies out there! Yippee!!!

We got a second hand bugaboo bee cheap from a friend of dm it is hardly used just the buggy but is suitable from birth (not completely convinced on its own) so think we will just buy a cocoon to use with it as you can get these a reasonable price.

@Spargle my friend only used slings from birth, then got a buggy a bit later (one that wouldn’t have suited a newborn) and it worked really well for them. With the car seat though I’d say it’s valuable having one you can take out of the car for when they fall asleep in it. In the first few months they sleep so much and taking a sleeping baby out of a car seat is not super fun. I rarely attached the car seat to the pram frame but I still used it to transport the baby from the car to wherever a lot.

@LauralovesLuke It’s all an illusion! My mom is visiting and trying to get us completely organized before she goes because she knows we are useless about it and have no clue what to get.

This weekend my dad has helped us paint the nursery and dining room! Feels so good to have made some progress in the house!

We haven’t looked at any prams yet! I’m just going to go for a which Best Buy but not sure whether to buy brand new or second hand. As this is our first and we will hopefully have at least one other baby I thought it might be worth getting brand new to try to use for both? Has anyone tried the doona car seat? Looks really handy for short trips!

We have a silver cross wayfarer that we will reuse. However, I wouldn't recommend it. I always found it heavy for steering and it didn't bump up and down kerbs easily. One advantage of it is the large basket underneath. It was very valuable when shopping - although when the carry cot pram was on it accessing the basket wasn't quite so easy.

Reastie sorry you've been struggling so much
I'm in the same dilemma about the pram and car seat we have in the loft. Certainly can't afford to replace them but don't know what's best to do about cleaning them. Worried about damp but also don't want to use too many chemicals!

We have Flip XT from Ds so the first version. I loved that you can fold down all in one piece even with the seat parent facing. I didn’t get the carrycot last time but will try and get a second hand one this time. I loved the XT BUT it did have to be sent back for repair 3 times in 2 years 🙈 one was an urgent recall due to a safety fault. M&P CS were fab and I totalled £100 in gift vouchers and a free stroller for a £300 pram (bought from the factory outlet). On the plus size nearly everything has been replaced now, there is barely anything original left 😂
We are having another boy so don’t need much. I’ve bought some newborn cloth nappies and I want a sleepyhead (Ds did not sleep) and the carry cot. Our baby gym broke and we got refunded so we could do with one of those at some point.

Koalas....I’ve seen ads on FB for pushchair valet services and the pics are outstanding. I think they use a courier but you might find a local one.
Car seats.....we used SIL maxi cosi infant seat and bought a second hand isofix which was invaluable. For people who don’t want a removable seat I’d highly recommend the joie spin 360. Goes from birth to 4 years and rear facing to 18kg I think. DS is 3y4m and a fairly sturdy 14kg so should easily last him.
The plan is to use the infant seat for the first few months then put the baby in the spin and move DS into the Joie Stages we had in our second car which we no longer have. That goes to age 12 I think.

I've got a bugaboo in the garage that we used for DD. After my 20 week scan I'm going to get I. There are see what state it's in. I know it's pretty much all washable so hope to reuse, loved it last time.

Need a new car seat though as ours has now gone. Probably need to but three entirely new car seats for the three of them as well as new car to fit them in meaning we have to say goodbye to our qashqai which we love. Arghhhhh!

Oh indigestion. New thing for week 18 ☹️

Have you had a look at a Multimac @madeincornwallx3 ?

We are debating getting one for our Honda Accord Estate; it would devastate me to get rid of that car.

I’m considering a Multimac too now (was meant to be getting a new car but you know.. if he leaves I can’t afford it). It’s pricey but cheaper than a new car

Good idea @napssavelives

They come and fit it too as it has to attach to the actual chassis of the car as opposed to being isofix (or something). We need to get it sorted before we move to the other end of the country.

Yeah I like the idea that they just come and do it for you as I can’t do it. In theory I could have one kid in the front with me but it would cause so much drama between the older two boys that I’d rather have them all in the back and leave me up front in peace!

Morning! I've got my GTT this morning. Fingers crossed for a negative result. Last time I was only diagnosed at 35 weeks so didn't have to deal with it for long. Dreading having to deal with it for 6 months!

Koala it’s tricky isnt it. I don’t really want to waste money to pay someone to clean it when I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself. I’ve found online people said they used Dettol or Milton and steam cleaners. I don’t have a steam cleaner so maybe I will end out taking it to someone to clean properly, or else look at hiring a steam cleaner to do it. FWIW I also read a car safety officer said not to reuse car seats stored in the loft as the change in tempterature between summer and winter can make the plastic less strong r something, might be worth a research.

Coaster good luck for gtt.

Good luck @coastergirl keeping everything crossed for you.

Koala I’ve found a local company to me that clean carrycots for £12 with baby safe products, that’s a lot cheaper than I thought so I’ll probably do that.

Both my buggies are filthy and I need to get the carrycot in from the garage at some point. My main buggy (Britax B Smart) has been brilliant, I've used it walking into town every day for the past 3 years and the only thing I've had to replace is the basket. The buggy seat has a lie flat option, it's nice and high so less bending down and a huge hood which has been invaluable for my light sensitive DS. It's looking pretty tired now though so I'm thinking a refurb may be the way forward. My car buggy (Zeta Vooom - smaller, light, good for travel/flights and good for if we go out anywhere long distance starting with the car mostly seems to get used for muddy walks these days and is filthy. I think it probably needs a thorough hosing! I might just keep the Britax going until the baby is a year then treat myself to a Baby Jogger City Mini or an Uppababy Vista both of which I love.

@PaulHollywoodsSexGut What does a multi Mac do? Will it take a baby and two children safely? Very very interesting. Any idea what the price range is?

@madeincornwallx3

It’s this:

multimac.co.uk/home

Budget really should be £2k.

Cheaper than a car but still hella dear. We are so spellbound by our lovely Britax Romers I’m not sure what to do really but our car won’t fit a third one, for sure.

Interesting to read all the pram reviews, I've not even really thought about them yet but I know we need something pretty compact.

20 week scan this morning, feeling a bit nervous but hopefully everything will be okay. Was up from about 5am thinking about it.

Re travel systems, I’d recommmend testing them for push comfort. The ones that fold the smallest (at least in my limited experience) can be a lot more annoying to actually push and use. I’d also recommend when trying them out to put something inside the buggy when pushing it (eg if you have a heavy handbag like me) as it’s alit different pushing an empty buggy than one with a 1 yo and shopping in the basket. Try out manoeuvres and corners to see how easily they can move around. Also if you are very short, or have a v tall dh you might think about getting one with an adjustable height handle. We had two main buggies with dd, one was a giant off road cumbersome thing but was so lovely to push around and we had one that folded tiny but was horrible to push and gave me backache.

Fee hope it all goes well. I bet it will but I know the nerves, I have them already and I have 2.5 weeks to go!

Thanks Reastie and pigriver. Think I'll just get everything down from the loft after about 25 weeks and see what state its in. We carefully wrapped it all and moved house the other year and all looked fine then so am hoping its just a case of a wash rather than a big job. The cleaning price seems pretty reasonable, less than I thought if its only £12!, but will see how it all looks first. I have that dettol spray stuff thats a bit like febreeze but antibacterial so might try that and air everything outside once the weather is warmer.
That was my concern about car seats tbh. Wonder if there's a way of testing the plastic? Only been a couple of years and can't see that our loft is really any more extreme temp wise than a car etc but safety is important. Just not sure where we'll find the money to replace them if needed!

I went to the attic to see what we had.... nothing. I gave everything away apart from a small box of tiny baby items. Oops! Have scored a few plain babygrows in newborn and 0-3 from a friend who is moving house.

Pushchair-wise, I wasn't going to get one, but this may change as we go along, as I realise I want DH to be happy taking him out, which probably wont include a sling. Car-seat we are going to use the one DD currently has, it goes newborn upwards, because she has almost outgrown it anyway. Its a Joie Steadi - it was cheaper than the stages, and we don't have ISOFix so its just seatbelt strapped in and easyyyyy.

I am planning on going to car-boot sales when the weather is better to pick up a small rocking cot for our room and a moses basket too, though have a friend who is offering one, and possibly a swing or something? No idea. Things like that tend to be cheaper at a car-boot - moses baskets are like £5-10 :)

Good luck to those with scans today and this week!