First Baby on way, what to do ...........?

[ffacoffipawb]

This is all new to us. First baby and all that.

What months do we do what, eg apply to get child benefit / tax credits / anything else from birth in 6 months time?

Thanks

Excited Brian

[tru]

My kids are teens now, but when no.1 was born, we registered him first, then applied for everything straight away. Can't comment on tax credits, they weren't around at the time. I'll see if I can find anything for you.

[tru]

Go to the main site, then type "tax credits" in the search. It's the second article. I tried to copy the address, but for some reason it wouldn't work ::)

[babymassage]

You should receive a 'Bounty Bag' when you are in hospital having had you baby. This should include (amongst lots of freebies and vouchers!) a form for your child benefit. I had my last baby 18 months ago, just before tax credits so can't be sure about that. You can't apply for anything until your baby has arrived as you will need his/her date of birth!
Good luck with your baby.

[babymassage]

Couple of other things I just thought of (!). Remind your good lady that she is still entitled to free dental treatment for a year after the baby is born (I didn't know that until I went for my checkup when my baby was 13 months old - doh!). If you are lucky enough to be goin gon a foreign holiday this summer you will need to get a passport for your baby - have fun getting the photo.

[Yoga Girl]

I applied for tax credits as soon as I could after baby was born, I think you have to wait until after the birth to apply.

[Yoga Girl]

Forgot to add - there is a good website which has a lot of info on benefits, maternity rights etc

www.maternityalliance.org.uk/

[mini]

Congratulations excited Brian !;D

May be worth looking at Sure start, there are maternity grants in some circumstances of !£500 if I remember correctly, worth investigating, also worth checking out what Surestart offer locally, I know in some areas they will make your house safe with child safety gates and cupboard locks without any charge, you wont need those just yet though!

http://www.surestart.gov.uk/communications/surestartfaq/

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/sure_start_maternity_grant.asp

[mistral]

Remember to register at Pampers online and get everyone you know to do the same .

You will get £4 of vouchers .

That is unless you want to try the eco friendly route

[jo_b]

Make sure you sign up to the BabiesRUs club (part of ToysRUs.) !They send you loads of magazines and vouchers throughout your pregnancy and afterwards. !They are one of the cheapest places for cots, car seats etc, etc, especially with the money off vouchers.

You can usually get a catalogue free with the many baby/pregnancy mags around and sign up using the form at the back. You can also sign up online.

http://www.toysrus.co.uk/framestatic.aspx/Controls/Global/MotherAndBabyClub.ascx?zone=Bru

Also join Sainsbury's Little Ones Club, Tesco Baby Club etc.

[Sarahsaver]

They give you the form for child benefit when you go and register the birth, and it does come through fairly quickly, unlike most other state benefits in my experience!
Is the mum to be getting free folic acid supplements?
If you are on a low income you can get vitamins and milk vouchers too, until your child is 5.
Several local authorities provide free or heavily discounted washable nappies.
You can have a family railcard even though the littlun is under 5 you can still get rail fares cheaper.
If you go abroad go to Spain where they LOVE children, took my daughter there aged 10 months.
Good luck, ask if you need any more hints, I know what im doing now Ive had 3 kids, i wish id have had this site to help when i had the first ;)

[jo_b]

If you're entitled to a Sure Start Maternity Grant you cna claim at any time from the 29th week of pregnancy until your child is three months old.

The grant is a one-off payment from the Social Fund to help low income families. £500 is payable for each child due, born or adopted.

You can get the grant if you or your partner are getting
-Income Support
-Income-based JSA
-Working Families Tax Credit
-Disabled Person's Tax Credit.

[jo_b]

Thought I'd move this thread up, as it might come in usual for Gadget Freak and for all the expectant mums that seem to be on here.

Is it something in the water? ::)

[Trix]

About the tax credits thing - remember you may already be entitled to the working tax credit now, then when your baby is born you can claim for the child tax credit as well. Your details will already be in the system so it might speed things up a bit.

[maz]

I heard you can get discount for childcare after the baby is born if you put the child in a private nursery and are intending to go back to work, is this true? anyone know more about this?

[maz]

I heard you get something from the inland revenue which cover about 75% of your childcare costs, is this correct?

[jellyhead]

that would be the childcare bit of tax credits, it all depends on your income. my sister gets it, i don't.

[maz]

do u no what the earnings threshold is for this?

[jo_b]

I heard you get something from the inland revenue which cover about 75% of your childcare costs, is this correct?

There are lots of links on This Thread (http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Benefits;action=display;num=1089936 108) which may give you some more information about the tax credit system. Hope that helps. :)

[Caterina]

Many congratulations on expecting your first baby!

Start investigating now about facilities for parents and babies, creches, groups etc, as it is very difficult to motivate yourself when you have just given birth and are looking after a new baby 24/7!

Stock up the freezer, start a bulk buy and bulk cooking, you will be soooo pleased later!

If you want to breastfeed, ask the midwives if the hospital where you are planning to give birth has a breastfeeding specialist, as you will need all the help you can get.

Go to antenatal classes. NHS ones are free and mostly quite informative but they do not always give you the full whack of your birth rights etc. if you are quite radical in your choices.

NCT classes are costly (but some NCT teachers offer concessionary rates) and are usually more informative, but can lean heavily on the 'natural birth' options and some mums report that they felt a bit inadequate if they were planning to go for a medicalised birth or a caesarean. Hope you can find one that suits you!

Start thinking about options around birth and write a well informed and realistic birth plan.

Think about who you want with you during the birth of your baby and make sure you are assertive enough to choose who you REALLY want, don't agree to have someone just out of politeness (mother in law, mother, irritating sister etc). There is no space for politeness in the birth room, you need to feel totally comfortable with the birth partner of your choice.

Above all, stay positive, rest a lot, eat well and do now all the things you have ever wanted to do (within measure!) because soon your life will be changed beyond recognition and you will have no time to do anything else! But it gives so much joy that it is well worth it!

Hope this helps.

Best wishes

Caterina

Edited: OOOOPPPPSS just realised that it was the dad posting this! Congratulations, Brian! Please pass any of these ideas to the mum if you think she might find them helpful.

[Sarahsaver]

Dont be sucked in by the parent and baby magazines which tell you you 'need' this that and the other. Second hand whatever you have will do. Baby wont notice if you have decorated its room or not, or really care if the clothes he/she is in have been on other babies. People will bombard you with gifts to start with and it will tail off. Keep tags on clothes and take them back to exchange for stuff you do need.
Get your baby a savings/building society account. Just a tenner a month soon adds up.
Prams are a rip off and are probably too big to get in your car if you have one. 'Travel systems' are the same. A separate car seat and a buggy suitable from birth will be fine.
Bottles can be sterilised in a dishwasher.
Use washable nappies please for your wallet, babys bum and the environment.
You will need a tumble drier.
Avoid white clothes.
Go with your instincts.
Take plenty of photos.
Enjoy this time because you will never be the same again! ;D
Get an answer phone if you dont have one. My mother in law phoned me at 7AM to find out how baby and i were doing - this after just getting home at 3.30am!!! (i had planned a home birth but it didnt work out, but the midwife let me 'in and out' of hospital so to speak)
All the best, and by the way i have had 3 children, your first child will teach you how to be a parent, and will be the one you panic about the minutest things for, in preparation if you ever have any more.

[Murphy_The_Cat]

Top advice Ssaver

Judging by the date of the first posting and todays date have events taken us over ?

Hopefully you will be innundated with offers of help, these will mostly be genuine and don't be backwards at saying yes please. !Someone helping with the ironing, washing, shopping or even helping to tidy up with you will be a god send - just don't let them take over !


Also if you think you may be needing a Nursery place see them NOW, as they are about as rare as hens teeth in our neck of the woods.

and start saving up now !
MTC

[jellyhead]

sorry to hijack this thread but can you really wash bottles in a dishwasher? does this mean i don't have to buy a steriliser?

[Caterina]

In the USA and Australia apparently it is common practice.

I once asked a local midwife about this and she said that she would not recommend it.

I shall ask my mentor at the ABM and get back to you with the current recommendation.

Sterilising can also be done by boiling the equipment in a clean pan for at least 5 minutes, making sure that the equipment is fully covered by the boiling water, then remove from hot water with clean tongs - as long as your fingers do not touch the teats or the inside of the bottle, it is ok.

A lot of people sterilise with Milton fluid but I always wondered whether it is ok to use chlorine - based stuff for babies' feed so I never used it (this is just my personal preference, not professional advice!).

Caterina

[KK]

Supersaver has given you some great advice. I wish I'd done washable nappies as my daughter wasn't potty trained until she was 3 (little madam). A cordless phone is a great investment (and a phone deal where you get all your calls for a fixed price - I spent hours on the phone while I was feeding!) My main advice is to save up now as much as you can afford, while you (presumably) have 2 salaries, to get used to living on one salary. My child benefit and child tax credit add up about £100 per month and I believe you have to have a combined income of over £58K to NOT get this benefit. I save my daughter's child allowance every month for her future, as I don't actually need it as such. Second hand clothes and equipment are a brilliant idea, most people are more than happy to pass clothes onto someone they know rather than take them to a charity shop. Your local NCT nearly new sale is a gold mine for equipment, toys and clothes (contact the NCT for details). Look in local papers for items for sale. Lots of people buy lots of unecessary equipment when they are expecting a baby that hardly gets used as they read the magazines which say you must have this and that. Ebay is also a gold mine for baby stuff. I have a friend whose daughter is exactly a year older than mine and my daughter was dressed in her clothes (not exclusively as our tastes weren't exactly the same!) until she was at least 2 and formed her own opinions. You can also hire baby equipment - I hired a swing for the first 3 months. I did lots of research in my pregnancy and wasted very little money on things I didn't need. I don't know if Babyworld.co.uk is still in existence but similar websites for parents to be are brilliant for the discussion boards. There was lots of discussion about equipment and where to buy thigns for the best prices. Have fun and good luck! Oh - and get a Boots advantage card and use the points to buy boring things. If you can get a digital camera and camcorder and take loads of pictures.

[HB]

bargainbunny - I had the same question too when we were expecting our first.

My suggestion - get a steriliser. Washing 4 bottles a day in a dishwasher can be expensive, especially if you have nothing much else to wash in the dishwasher.

We use a steriliser that you stick in a microwave for 5 minutes. Job done.

Also we use Milton fluid for the teats 'cos you can't sterilise them in a micro or dishwasher. Best teats ever (in my very humble opinion) are from NUK. They don't have the hole at the tip of the teat, its at the top. So when baby is sucking on the teat, the milk doesn't shoot down the throat, it squirts to the roof of the mouth so that baby can swallow.

In answer to the original posted question - make sure you sign up for free prescriptions (NHS) card, which mother and baby are entitled to.

[Caterina]

Hi

Here is the reply from my mentor about the question whether you can sterilise bottles in the dishwasher - it looks like if the baby is fed formula milk there is a need for full sterilising - anyway here it goes:

Washing in a dishwasher doesn't in effect 'sterilise' stuff, however any bottles/teats/pumps etc soley used for breastmilk (by the same woman!) only requires occasional 'sterilisation' by Milton/Steam/Microwave etc. approx once or twice a week, at all other times being washed in a dishwasher or by hand in hot soapy water is perfectly adequate and safe. This is referenced from a Trial in April 1997 at Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral and published in MIDIRS Midwifery Digest (September 2001).

Hope this helps.

Caterina