Due in June 10! Longer than the Lord of the Rings!

[katzguk]

new thread 604 posts is far too many for one little thread, time to start again!!

i'm in sheffield which is in south yorks!!

The mamas and papas car seat has had bad press is the carrycot style one. We've been quite happy with ours

I am having absolutely fabulous dreams atm, mostly involving sex A couple of nights ago it was some gorgeous older man (although he seemed to be Kenny Rogers in the dream, but not iykwim??!!) But last night!!! Oh my!!! I dreamt about Bruce Springsteen, and oh dear god, he was looking gorgeous We didn't actually have sex, but he was talking to me in a most gentle, loving way, it was brilliant!!! Can't wait for tonight

Car seat talk eh? Think I'll carry on dreaming of Bruce and I'm also pretty engrossed in what's going on on various other threads re the possiblity of live chatrooms on here. This place is better than all the soaps rolled into one

Travel systems ... names .... yes, I feel I should think about these things at some point. But not today Actually Amelia is my fave choice for a girl and has been for many years, I am quite annoyed it's now got so popular. If the bean is a girl I think I will go for it despite it being popular.

Anyway, afternoon ladies, just popping in briefly as have been on dh's PC all morning and weirdly cannot access MN from it. Not a plot by dh, as he is asleep all morning he is quite happy for me to be messing about online if I so choose.

MrsF, muchos sympathy for the puke experience, sounds horrific.

Charley - I ordered a no-puke baby as well, also specified that it should be quiet and "fragrance-free". I can't believe more people don't opt for these features

I had a M&P car seat first time round as well. I thought it was okay, but not great. I've just ordered a silver cross Ventura car seat (milan fabric)

AA car seat tests:

results:
Seats thought to be available on the UK market are labelled (UK).
Ages listed are approximate and should be checked.

Children Birth to One Year
Rearward facing seats

The following seat is rated Good:
Romer Baby Safe Plus

These seats are all rated Satisfactory:
Bébé Confort Elios Safe Side (UK)
Bobob Easybob Maxi
Brevi Smart Silverline (UK)
Britax Rock-a-Tot Deluxe (UK)
CAM Bye Bye
Carbébé Easybob Plus
Chicco Auto-Fix
Chicco Synthesis
Concord Baboo X-Line
Graco Autobaby with base (UK)
Jane Rebel
Mamas & Papas Primo Viaggio (UK)
Play Travel TMS
Storchenmule Space wb
No seats are rated as Bare minimum or Poor.

Children One to Four Years
Forward?facing seats

The following seats are rated as Good:
Mamas & Papas Pro-Tec (UK)
(tested as the HTS BeSafe iZi Comfort)
Romer Duo Plus
The following seats are rated Satisfactory:
Bébécar Urban
Britax Eclipse (UK)
Britax Renaissance (UK)
Maxi Cosi Priori SPS (UK)
Maxi Cosi Priori XP (UK)
Prenatal Tensoquick
Romer Lord Plus

The following seat is rated Poor:

Chicco Zenith (UK)
No seats rate as Bare minimum standard.

Children birth to 4 years
Two?way seats

The following seat is rated Satisfactory:

Bébé Confort Iseos Safe Side (UK)

The following seats are rated as Bare minimum standard:

Brevi Grand Prix Art 515
Chicco Baby Transit Jet Vector
Britax Eclipse Plus
The following seats are rated Poor:

Bimbo Fix
Boulgom MaxiConfort
CAM Clao Lusso
Paly Autoplay TMS
Safety Baby Basic
Graco Cosmic
Prenatal Autobaby Elite TMS
No seats rate as Good.

Children up to 12 years
Booster seats

The following seats are rated as Good:

Kiddy Life Plus
Britax Kid (UK)

Britax Kid
The following seats are rated as Satisfactory:
Bébé Confort Hipsos Safe Side (UK)
Maxi Cosi Rodi SPS
The following seats are rated as Bare minimum standard:

Britax Cruiser Plus (UK)
Britax Ranger (UK)
Britax Trio (UK)
Concord Trimax X-Line
Eurokids Star
IWH Vario Kid
Bobob Multibob
Mamas & Papas Passaggio (UK)
The following seats are rated Poor:

Boulgon KidConfort
Meggi Combi
Mothercare Runner (UK)
Mothercare Dimension (UK)

another car seat report, on page 6 is the which table

carseats

Had to laugh at the name "Bimbo fix" for a car seat. Sounds more like strapping in your drunk chic after a late night than it does all cute and cosey safe for a precious new baby. You know? Guy leaves bar and he's got to fix his bimbo into the seat belt so she doesn't fall out.

LOL Uwila

Thanks for that Katz, our 1st stage one isn't on there...not sure if I should be glad they didn't test it or dismayed it 'didn't' make the list!! For 2nd stage we got the Priori XP tho so glad that did well

both ours are on there but the worrying thing is none of the seats did very well really!! but then i think back to my parents putting me in a carrycot just thrown on the backseat and i'm fine!! plus the road safety data said 200 children/babies were injured and only 21 killed which is actually low if you ask me, so these carseats must be doing something!!

KVG, I'm in Leeds and I went to H&M a couple of weeks ago to look at their maternity stuff. They had some really nice stuff (and some rubbish!) but it was all designed for tall people. I've 5 foot 4, so not particularly tiny, and none of it fitted. So, hope you are taller than me!

Lippy, are there rows going on on threads? If so, point me in the direction of them, I've not got much work on this afternoon...

KVG, I'm in Leeds and I went to H&M a couple of weeks ago to look at their maternity stuff. They had some really nice stuff (and some rubbish!) but it was all designed for tall people. I've 5 foot 4, so not particularly tiny, and none of it fitted. So, hope you are taller than me!

Lippy, are there rows going on threads? If so, point me in the direction of them, I've not got much work on this afternoon...

KVG - I'm more of a cheese triangles girl myself, but I see where you're coming from.

Decided to try and have one day this pg without bar/egg of chocolate as accidentally catching sight of rear reflection and massive arse in mirror this morning was too scary, so just got a hot choc drink from starbucks, and walked away with a big slice of their new skinny carrot cake, only a slight improvement on the choc me thinks!! As they've said before 'I can resist anything but temptation' - must have been me they were referring to, ha ha ha!

Lippy - oohhh now your dreams sound great...now we just need to change that to Mr Depp, mmmmmmm!

Oh, sorry coop. Forgot to respond to your question about what I miss from the states. First and foremost, I long for Amercan medical care. The quality in my opinion is so far superior when it comes to preventative care. I think the NHS does a good job in a moment of crisis but it takes a real crisis to get them to move. Although, I will say,I quite enjoy leaving the hospital without a bill!!

Let's see what else:
I miss my neices/nephew terribly
I miss huge superstores that are always open.
I miss the cost of Petrol
I miss being "home" when my brother is away fighting a war (he's home safely now though [brin])
I miss being there when my Dad had a stroke last year.
I miss my family (even though they are lunatics)
I miss Chi Omega (True confessions: I am a sorority girl)
I miss people who like President Bush
I miss being in a land where "American" is a quality to be proud of
I miss the selection at the grocery store (primarily healthful food)
Petite clothes shopping (perhaps a good thing at the moment)

That being said, if I returned, I'm sore the list of things I miss about England would be just as long. I love London. It is the greatest place I have ever lived. But, America will always be "home".

Things I don't miss:
The truly horrible Chicago winters
The absense of pick-up trucks
People who fail to acknowledge the value of cultures different from their own
Southern accents
Texas cockroaches (They are about 2/3 the size of my thumb and they fly!)

I'm sure I'll think of more later...

The "absense of pick-up trucks"? Good grief, what a typo. I hate pick up trucks. Their absense is a wonderful thing.

Before I ring husband and demand he buys me new carseats today, where did you get the ratings from? he will want to know whose thoughts they are.

hi there

if you're after good maternity stuff try Top Shop. I know it's available at the Oxford Circus store (sorry all you out of towners) but should be on the website too. I got some good combat trousers, denim skirt and black dress (good for work) from there.

...the Top Shop in Milton Keynes does mat wear too, so I guess quite a few of the 'larger' shopping centre ones will do the same...

Uwila, great list, re your dad and brother...so how long have you been over here??

OMG KVG your roaches experience sounds awful!!! I'd have been terribly girlie about it and screamed I'm sure...I do when I see a spider unexpectedly so why change the habit of a lifetime

Right, I am going to have a look at the Top Shop site online and try and get myself some new trousers that fit me. The ones I've borrowed from friends just aren't right, so I'm sat at my desk at the moment wearing pre-pregnancy cords with the button undone. Not a pretty sight.

Hi Tea, I've been her for almost 4 years now. I'm contemplating applying for citizenship. But only if it wouldn't put my American citizenship at risk. Some day we will probably move to the states. But, probably not for at least a few years.