where to go for baby equipment in london??

christophe17

Hi,

We are expecting a baby in april and we don`t know what to buy and where to buy it, useless to say that we are looking for a good quality at interesting price. Another question : What do you think about purchasing baby equipment, like pushchairs, car seats, cots, from the internet.

Thks a lot for your help

lily_the_pink

Where in London? (East, west, North or south?)

I did most of my shopping on the internet - you can source stuff a lot cheaper. Plus people give you loads of bits and pieces - so just buy the minimum at first - you can always get more after.

Ebay and NCT sales for second hand stuff if you are not precious about this. There is a second hand agency in Teddington that although a bit pricey has some good quality stuff for about 1/2 normal price. Everything is clean and in good condition.

Larger sized boots are good - otherwise on-line but try to maximise advantage card points whenever possible. Personally I dont like either Mothercare or Mama & Papas but they do stock everything.

Car seats are a must - we were given the first one and bought the second from John Lewis. Make sure you get one with a good rating - this is one of the few items I bought pretty much the best of. When we actually got round to getting a cot (when our baby was about 7 months old) we got it from Ebay for £25 second hand. I would probably buy a cotbed if I were going to start from scratch again. We did buy a new matress though to go in the cot.

Lemoncurd

We got most of our baby stuff through the internet. We tended to have a look in places like John Lewis first and once we found what we were looking for searched for the best price online, invariably https://www.kiddicare.com or boots.com (using discount codes from here) were the best. Kiddicare will now also pricematch if you find something cheaper elsewhere.

I was also going to to mention that if you don't mind secondhand Mum and Me in Teddington is great and there is a similar but smaller shop not far away in St Margarets (Yummy Tots I think it is called).

purplepurple

Just to echo what Lemoncurd has said, Kiddicare.com is fantastic... great prices, very fast delivery, superb quality stuff and you can track your order at every stage...

Also... car boot sales are wonderful to get baby stuff from... the majority of it is hardly used and you can get some real bargains. I was always a bit dubious about second hand stuff, but it can save you hundreds of pounds!

randy_4

We are also expecting in April.

Although I have done alot of research online, I really would love to be able to go to a huge warehouse and compare all of the stuff 'in real life, in one place!

Anywhere we can try in SW London?

Viz_2

We found that somethings are better to go instore eg, Car Seats, there should be prof sales people whom can test seats in your model car etc, although you can always find out the model then do a price search on the net.

Again with Buggies, Cots etc it is always nice to go and see what your getting before buying.

We purchased a wonderful (the most expensive) cot/bed from Mammas & Pappa's, it turned up broke, sent it back, another one sent out, broke again, and guess what same thing again, in the end we got a refund and went to Baby's R us (part of toys r us) they were really good, with some quality stuff which was not broken at a much better price.

Good luck with it all, but again like someone said earlier, don't go mad as so much gets bought and people run out of ideas for gifts.

HappySad

Don't get a second hand car seat!!! Car seats have a life of 5years and after that you must get rid of it (read this in my car seat manual). Also you don't know if the car seat has been in an accident.

AS already said NCT sales & Ebay are great. Also don't buy too much as you will find out at the time exactly what you really need. Just get the essential.

The Which guide to baby products will give you a good idea of what to get and not to get and also what the essencials are.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0852029896/qid=1133726241/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/202-0712184-1172635

Don't buy the book just order it from your library.

also get a new cot matress and not a second one.

Also mention to all your friends, family & colleges that you are open to getting their baby stuff and you will be supprised how much fee things you will end up with.

The usual Mothercare, Boots, Early Learning Centre are great places to visit while you are pregnant to teach yourself about all the products that are available. But remember not to buy the stuff.. just go there to learn what products are available then in the future if you need something you will know what to get and where to get it from.

Karnam

mothercare world... or the mothercare on oxford street is brill cause its the best one ive been too and ive been to a lot! john lewis on oxford street have a whole floor dedicated to babies and young children.

Addicted2Chocolate

https://www.glasgowpramcentre.co.uk best prices for prams they guarantee price match..... choose in a shop then buy from there. Buy a buggy/pram as late as possible as gurantee runs from date of purchase!!

christophe17

thanks for all your advices, i like the idea of buying by internet but as someone said previously, we can`t see what you buy... well we`ll wait for january sales

Karnam

i used the glasgow pram centre after going to mothercare to see the quinny and then having a demostration of the car seat in halfords.