So Many Decisions...

[Romily]

Hello

I am delighted to be pregnant and really looking forward to meeting my new DD or DS in 6months time. However at the moment my head is spinning at all the decisions I am going to have to make.

Currently saving every spare penny to hopefully extend my maternity leave past the 3 months full pay and it is adding up slowly but surely. It does however mean that every penny I spend on baby items will mean less actual time at home with my baby so I want to make sure each purchase is well thought out and good value for money. However I can't seem to decide on what to buy.

We are quite sensible and only need to buy the main things like a cot, buggy, car seat etc but trying to decide which ones are making my head spin. I have read reviews, looked on Which? and spoken to friends and I am no closer to making a decision on any item.

How did you all tackle the decisions?

Lists. Lots of lists.

Start with what you know you will definitely need. And just look at one thing at a time.

Decide what you would be happy to use second hand, and what you really feel is important to spend more money on for you.

Check out your local baby clinic centres, our one has things like a bumbo seat which you can hire for 50p a week.

Don't buy too many newborn clothes and outfits as you will probably get given quite a few.

As an example, I have 2 dogs which get walked 3 times a day so I needed to have a really good buggy and we happily spent £600 which for some is a lot but for us it is brilliant. And it can become a double buggy easily which we wanted as we are now expecting our second baby.

Things like isofix for the baby carseat we decided it was a waste of money (around £100) as it could only be used for the time the baby is in that carseat so about 9 months. We both have new cars so felt safe just using the seatbelt and once we knew how to put the seat in it was just as quick as clicking into an isofix this time round we're going to borrow one off a friend as it wont be as easy with a toddler in tow

Lastly ask on here for any advice on saving money. I found that pillow cases fitted a moses basket mattress perfectly so was able to save a few pounds than buying the expensive little sheets.

hi, you can get most of the baby stuff second-hand and very good quality (since most of it is only used for a few months anyway!). We bought lots on ebay, second hand sales in local schools, charity shops etc.

I've found it overwhelming too. Most stuff I've just bought online, going by which? and other reviews (kiddicare, mumsnet etc). I did one trip to the shops and found it really stressful so am sticking to websites. Thankfully I don't think we've made any wrong decisions and we could always send stuff back anyway... I guess I would say:

• Focus on just the essentials, maybe buy something every month so it doesn't feel like you're spending £££ in one go.
• Break it down and tackle one thing at a time.
• Always check for the cheapest price using google shopping, which? or similar.
• We had a couple of spreadsheets and made our own comparisons (so for e.g., with prams, we made up a shortlist and included key features that were important to us to score them, weight and ease of folding for e.g.).
• Look on ebay, gumtree etc for nearly new stuff. Think about things like sling libraries, cloth nappy schemes.
• Agree - do not buy too many clothes! I have far too many now and wish I'd saved the money.

Look for good second hand things and anything offered through freecycle.org
And make lists of essentials vs luxury, and prioritise.
Put baby things on an amazon wish list and circulate it before Christmas to your friends and family, a bit cheeky, but it's best to get things you need!

Lists, sales and bargains! We have bought what I have classed as essentials and will buy anything else if I find I need it when the baby arrives.

We bought bedroom furniture from mamas and papas and they were trying to sell us a mattress for £100 I said I'll have a shop around and got an offer for a similar one through Bounty's weekly emails (they are annoying but have some good deals) for £29.95. Also got our nursery curtains in the Next sale reduced from £50 to £25.

Second hand pram
Ikea cot (they are so reasonable)
New car seat
Minimal amount of baby gros, no crazy outfits

This is what we've focused on, haven't spent that much at all.

The clothes mercifully are not an issue as we are going to be given a wee heap of them from a friend and we don't need many anyway.

The cot is awkward as I would like a co-sleeper but to save expense I think we will go for the Ikea Gulliver cot and set it up as a co-sleeper for the first few months.

Nappies and wipes I really want reusable ones, just need to decide on a brand.

When it comes to the pram and the car seat my head is really swimming!