The Creme Egg Appreciation Society...memberships expire June 08

[debinaustria]

Good morning all you creme egg lovers ( and those weird ones amongst us who don't appreciate them)

Good luck for all the scans coming up this week, and next.

re slings - aparently width is 70 cm.

does anyone know, can a wrap like didymos not be used as a ring sling too (if you get a pair of rings of course? They are listed as 2 sep types, but am I missing something?

China thanks, I will probably CAT you nearer the time (if I manage to work out how to do that). I just want to have a nice life and work/life balance and not be too far from the see!

I was really looking forward to using a sling but that went out the window when it was twins. It just looked so easy to have the baby strapped to you all the time on that How To Bring Up Baby programme on Channel 4. I am hoping my two get comfort out of being close to each other then they don't have to be attached to me all the time.

As for VD I always get a nice card from DH with a nice message about how special I am (I trained him well). It took a few years for him to work out what I meant when I said "a nice message" but eventually he got there! We always used to go out for a meal the day before Valentine's cos the restaurant would always be empty and so felt so much more special, but this year we are not bothering. I told him I'll make pancakes instead cos we really enjoyed them last week. Oh the romance!!

I am starting to feel really big now. It is getting hard to bend down to pick stuff up off the floor (eg the clothes I throw there before I go to bed) and to get up off the sofa. Getting big so quick was cute at first but I dread to think what I am going to be like in two months. And then I'll still have more than a month to go. I keep getting pains at the top of my bump too, MW says it is the ligaments stretching. Had 24-week appt yesterday - she found both babies and both heartbeats but she thought twin 2 was still head up. Theo is still head down though so that's something at least.

ernest - glad I am not the only one who keeps looking at them and wondering how on earth they are charging so much for what is usually just a piece of fabric with perhaps at most a pocket or some rings sewn on! Just been looking at this site which has loads of patterns and this one which are both pretty interesting. Tempted to go to a fabric shop this weekend and see if I can find anything that looks suitable and price up how much it would be to make one.

you will not believe this but just got back from zoo with ds and they're still going downstairs!! obviously this is a huge party for some reason but i swear this time if it doesn't stop by ds' bed time i'm just going to call the police. not that i think they'll do anything - our neighbours on the other side above the pub had a party once and the whole street was shaking from the bass, apparently they had about 30 complaints but no one every turned up to stop it. grrrr so frustrating!

i'm really unsure about the sling thing now. at the zoo i saw a woman with the wrap kind and she looked so uncomfortable and like the baby was slipping... ds never had any complaints in his tomy he loved it so i think i'm going to stick with a structured carrier. anyone ever tried this

those links are great. any idea where'd you'd get rings from? I've only seen them on US site? Let me know how you get on in fabric shop.

am wondering about starting a baby names thread.
do I dare, or should i stick to asking you wise lot? Got a few guidelines but no ideas.

Deb, I'm now considering not finding out flavour, but dunno if I'll be able to control myself- you still desperate to find out?

DH and I just can't agree. There are a few names that I love which DH doesn't like - fair enough. And last year when I was pregnant (had an early m/c) he said he had a great girl's name that he was keeping secret in case the pregnancy went wrong and it "spoiled" the name. But now he can't remember it. I suspect he's built it up in his mind as being great but if he remembers it we'll both be underwhelmed.

So we're telling people that the baby will be called Jethro or Jethrine (Beverly Hillbillies). We haven't told friends in RL that it's a girl.

ernest - there is a seller on ebay who sells rings for slings and they look to me at first glance like they are the ones from the US, think they were about a fiver for 2 including postage.
Better get off DH is just putting tea out!

Ernest, start a baby names thread at your peril .

I think I've got grade A pregnancy brain girls. I really want to buy a matching cotbed and set of drawers(with changing unit thingy on top on account of slightly dodgy lower back). Have looked at squillions of combos, would have preferred something in white but found it impossible to find a nice combination of products (usually nice cotbed, but changing unit more the cupboard style). However, I clicked on a link on another MN thread today which took me to a gorgeous set of products. The cotbed is the right price range BUT the set of drawers is around £150 over budget. Have persuaded DH that we can afford it, but am I completely mad to be spending that much money? I'm in a 'if you cant be a bit frivolous with your first' kind of mood then when can you. If we do go on to have no.2 then we'll no doubt have to be very careful with the budget and will re-use lots of stuff.

Any thoughts?

dq, only thoughts are, I'd just get a normal chest of drawers rather than a special baby changing one. You can just as easily put a changing mat on top of a normal chest of drawers and they're usually better designed. looked at the special 'nursary' ones with sil last yeat,and not one was a sensible design for long term use. And a normal one is usually a much better buy - prices seem to be bumped up obscenely for 'nursery' furniture

Think carefully if the one you want will really be so great when the baby is actually a 4 year old.

If you think it's ok, then, well, sod it, I'd go for it. In a year will you really miss or think about that £150?

but for me, nursery furniture, other than a cot/bed of course is a no no.

Thanks Ernest. I appreciate the advice. I might sleep on it. I've just found it quite hard to find something that ticks all the right boxes. We had actually agreed on some furniture but it was a compromise.

Drama - have been reading a zillion baby books (okay, 4) and they all say changing tables are quite a luxury as within a few months LO will be too wriggly for it to be safe to change them at height.
Sorry to hear you have a bad back, but I fear this won't be a solution for very long (not trying to be negative - just realistic).
If you really want a changing unit you could buy a separate cot top changer and get a normal chest of drawers which should have far more room than any changing unit I've seen.
I also like white - have you seen this set?
It's in my Tesco Direct catalogue and not too pricey. And although it's not shown here, it does have a cot top changer for about £30.

But hey, it's your money and I agree those changing tables are v cute .

Ernest - yes I'm still desperate to find out but I'm trying to convince myself that we won't get to know to save me from the disappointment.

And slings - I just don't understand them all - it all seems so complicated now. Last time I had a Wilkinet on great recommendations and it was OK ish but I didn't use it for long. I quite like the idea of a sling that you can use to bfeed in, but are they hot to wear in summer? And do babies get so used to being near Mummy and the proximity of the milk supply that they never want to go down? Sometimes I feel like a 1st time Mum.

Re baby furniture, with ds1 we had a normal chest of drawers and when he was tiny and no chance of rolling I sometimes changed him on there but found it so much easier to mop up the wee fountains (if you don't get that willy covered quickly enough )when I changed him on the floor.
ds2 had a new wardrobe for his room,
baby3 will have a cot and that's it so far as baby doesn't have a room

DQ i have to disagree with other mums, i have a somewhat dodgy lower back as well and ds' changing table was one of the best baby purchases i made. the waste was that it was a bath too which was totally useless but the top has curved foam sides so they can't really roll (obviously you never leave them unattended) and it has storage underneath for all your nappies, creams, towels, bedding, and wipes (which i order by the case of 24 because you can't buy them in store). if i went to a mate's or was staying at my mil's it was a nightmare to not have a table of some sort and my back would be killing me after a weekend. not to mention if you try to change ds on the floor it's like a wrestling match to keep him still. on his table he lays there happily as i have animal stickers around it to amuse him.

i've been using it on a daily basis for almost 2 years and it cost £85. definitely my best buy!!!

You can get wall mounted ones that obv can place at good height. A new born is far less wriggly than a karate kicking 2 year old, believe me. I've always had a changing mat at waist height, on various surfaces depending on which house we've been in, so def. recommend up high, but really advise against changing tables.

you say it's not been easy finding one that ticks the boxes, but if you've only been looking at nursery firnituer there's 100's you've never looked at.

Have you got a link to a picture? Could give a practicality critique of you want....

dlm, I'm not saying change baby on floor, that would be a nightmare more than 1 in a while. But a specific changing table is a big piece of furnuture and usually ugly, and defunct at end of nappies. A 'nursery chest of drawers with incorporated changing bit', which I think is what dq was asking about, is different, but it's also from every one I've ever seen, usually at an inflated price and not very practical or well designed once past baby/ nappy stage. There are loads of alternatives, such as changing mat on a normal chest of drawers/any other waist high surface, then you're not left with even more superfluous crap once baby not baby. and beleieve me, there's plenty of crap left over.

deb. I know what you mean, lol. I remember with ds2 or 3, when asking mw for help in hospital when he was a couple of days old and screaming, I just didn't know what to do and she looked at me like a mad woman and asked 'he's not your 1st is he..?' like all babies are the same, or you can remember everything. sil phones me sometimes for advice and I'm scratching me head. I admire posters who say 'my dc got 1st tooth at xx, or started to walk/talk at xxx'. Haven't a clue in general, I just know at some point they did it (they can all def walk & talk & all got teeth, so that's all I can say on the matter)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone

Happy Valentine's Day!

I actually side with dylansluckymum here about changing tables. We started off just using a regular table but it was too big for the room so we bought a cheapo one from mothercare (like this. After two years it's still really handy to store all the changing stuff on (nappies, swim nappies, creams, wipes, cotton wool etc. They all take up a lot of space!) and my DH still uses it to change our DS. We have it right next to the bed so I change DS on the bed now but I'd still need something at the right height to store everything. We'll definitely get our money out of it! (And will probably just use it as shelves once our kids are out of nappies - which feels like eons from now!).

I know they all say not to use past 12 months but my DS still weighs less than the average 12 month old (10 kilos) so we're still using it... as for the wriggles, DH is stronger at holding him down while changing him. Sometimes it can be a battle. Two days ago he ran away mid-change with his trousers down at his ankles (he was clean by then at least) and kept trying to get on his tricycle. I was killing myself laughing, as he couldn't lift his leg over the seat...

happy valentine's day!! we usually just do cards (although dh tells me he's cooking for me tonight) but i woke up to a lovely bouquet dh had hidden in the cupboard under the stairs all night! awww. i might do some baking today to surprise him.

ernest i know what you're saying about the table. ds' works really well in his room (it's wood and canvas and matches his drawers) but i can see them not being for everyone. out of curiousity though, when you use chest of drawers what do you do with all your nappies, wipes, etc.? i suppose if you have enough closet space it's not an issue, or if you don't buy the in bulk!

Happy Valentine's Day. Sitting in bed with my DH (watching the news!) who is dog sitting so I can spend all day at Bluewater wih old friends. What a great gift!!That and a very smart jewellry box. How lucky I am!

lol aberdeen hiker they're so funny running around starkers. makes me think of the other day i was showing ds the potty, sat him on it for a few mins (just trying to get him used to the idea). he wanted off so i took him off and left him naked while i grabbed a clean nappy, came back and he was standing on his step in front of the sink and had peed all over the cupboard and floor. i just had to laugh, he was like, wet! wet! definitely not ready!!

Thanks everyone! I am feeling slightly more frugal this morning but still undecided. Unfortunately I dont have space for both a chest of drawers plus changing table or I'd happily do that which would work out lots cheaper.

I hadn't thought about just putting a changing mat on a regular set of drawers - guess I was worried they might fall off? I'd also looked into cot top changers but all the ones I've seen seemed quite bulky and heavy when I saw them. Also I'd seen some chat that you have to be careful of stray wee ending up in the cot and then having to change the bed .

Right, at the risk of you all telling me I'm bonkers to consider this much money for a chest of drawers here's the link pretty drawers.

CS thanks for the link too. Nice cotbed - if only the changing unit was drawers instead of cupboard!

dylansluckymum when I first read your post I read it as i woke up to a lovely bouquet and dh had hidden in the cupboard under the stairs all night! which really made me laugh!
We just do cards and make a bit of an effort to have something a bit more special for tea and take our time and be a bit more romantic over it!
I'm not thinking about changing tables etc yet as there is still a chance we will move before the baby is born so will wait until then to sort baby furniture out and if we don't move we wouldn't have anywhere to store it. We do have a great cot that a friend gave us but that is in bits at the moment in the spare room.

holy !*@# !!! if you're spending that much on a cot in the first place i can't see why the changing unit would be a problem.

MIL is buying the cot .