MSE Pregnancy Club 17

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Ooooo i have a Video monitor - quite expensive though. It was one of my pleasure or treat buys if you like as i wanted it but knew i didn't need it. I got a Lindam Clarity on ebay new for £50 - but i must say after playing around with it, i love it and it's worth every penny (though i wouldn't have paid boots.com price for it). It's so fun, lol we have used it to spy on DD when she is playing in her room and chatting to her dolls. I did also pay £50 for my Mamatens MyTime (brand new) lol but i fell for the extra high boost levels - plus they can both be resold on Ebay for the prices i paid or i have seen them go for more so it's more like a loan, lol!

CAFC - I'm glad to hear you went to m&s in the end, as soon as i started reading you had probs with the M/care assistant i wanted to suggest M&S. I used to work in M/care and to be honset the training for bra fitting (in our store, i'm not sure about others though) we were just given a card and told to read it - only a few of the staff even got that and litterally only one or two members of staff could properly measure so we'd all find them to do it as the rest of us hadn't had decent training. M&S ladies were lovely to me too though - much nicer bras too! The best thing is to find a good website that has a guide and calculator and measure yourself. And ALWAYS measure above the boobs too for a completely accurate sizing - without that third measurement apparently i'm a 32a - i'm not, i'm a 30DD (which is true when using 3 calculations) and it's laughable to look at me and say i'm an A cup anyway.

barksavingmad

Evening ladies

1more – I’m in the same position, we have had to build a new room and at 32 weeks it’s still not completed and I know the baby won’t need the room yet, but I just want it down, calm and then I can nest. All baby bits I’ve got so far are in the loft so can’t get on with the nesting I’m desperate to do!!! Hope you get planning ok and what a great sis you have!

Kitkat – don’t forget to try freecycle too I’ve got loads of bits in great condition from the lovely freecyclers.

Gillby – strange leaving work isn’t it – I’ve left one and have another week at another although i’m only have one term of this one. Very odd switching off, which I don’t do easily, hope you do better!

MLSL – They are amazing car boot bargains! Fantastic!

Have a lovely weekend folks!

bexta

1more, that's awesome being able to borrow everything of your sister.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions re my list. You're bombarded with 'essentials for baby', and it kind of feels like you need to be kitting out an entire army, rather than a tiny baby. I have been offered some of one of my little cousins stuff, but am hesitant to take it, mainly because they have shall we say, hygiene issues. They're also incredibly disorganised hoarders so bubs will probably be 10 by the time they manage to dig any of it out.

1more?

bsm we applied for planning a while back but got declined but was told to make extention 1/2 metre smaller and we would be ok, fingers crossed
i just dont want all the mess with a newborn so best get a shift on i looked on local authority web and planning permission is taking 6-8 w giving us 10 more weeks to complete the work:eek:

cafc i would get bra size remesured somewhere else, my bra is starting to dig into bump now i must buy non wired

redmel1621

bexta wrote: »

Right, after last nights minor tizz, I've had a think about what we actually need to get for bubs. Anything with a (?) next to it means I'm not sure if it's needed or not. Here goes:
*Cot
*Mattress
*Bedding
*Baby swing
*Furniture (wardrobe, drawers, chair maybe)
*Sleeping bags My LO wouldn't entertain until I moved him out of the carrycot into the cot at 2mths old, he preferred being swaddled at first anyway (as do a lot of newborns)
*Pram
*Car seat
*Nappies (disposable & reusable [hoping to go on to reusables])
*Wipes
*Bath (probably get a new washing up bowl or something for this) Not sure how long a washing bowl would last?
*Fire guard Not needed till baby is mobile around poss 6 mths
*Door gate Again, not needed till baby is mobile around poss 6 mths
*Crib or moses basket (?) Is baby going straight in cot and in pram downstairs?
*Breast pump & bottles (?)
*Steriliser (?)
*Monitor (?) I would definitely recommend this as yo have cats, I do too and therefore shut baby door...although my cat is never allowed upstairs anyway

Wow, sorry for the length, but what do other people think? Any must-haves I've forgotten?

Quite a lot of this can easily be bought 2nd hand (car boots start at Easter). I'm not sure about a monitor, but we have 2 moggies, who I don't want to be sleeping with bubs, but if I shut the door we might not hear bubs.

Don't know about needing a wardrobe or chair, I always just use drawers for my kids and found chairs uncomfortable so just put a spare duvet on the floor to sit on:)

I take it you are planning on bf which is why steriliser, bottles are only maybes.

I used a quilt on the floor for tummy time,with a nice bright colourful cover on and just placed rattles and teddies nearby for baby to look at/reach for. It is surprising how little specialist equipment babies actually 'need'.

Mel x

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

I agree with redmel - we never used a wardrobe for DD, just a chest of drawers untill she moved into her own room at 15mths or so. Anything pretty or going out like used to just be hung up in hubbies (would never of fit in mine as mines always ready to burst ). As for a chair, i didn't bother either - i just used to sit on my bed or the sofa and breastfeed with the aid of a cushion or pillow if i wanted it.

I'd advise on a sterliser for sure, and a bottle or two just in case but these can be basic and cheap if your planning on breastfeeding.

And tummytime, i did the same too - just a folded blanket on the floor. We used a portable dvd player too (naughty i know) for DD to watch some baby einstein dvd's on her tum - she used to be mesmerised by all the colours and shapes and even at just 8-12wks if you put her facing the other way she'd shuffle herself around just to see it.

TBH, the moses basket was barely used too as she'd either sleep in bed with me, bed guard on my side coz i didn't trust dad not to roll over :eek:, that way i knew she was safe on my side and i breastfed her much easier. This time cot is tucked right up to my bed with no side but mattress level with mine so there is no gap - that way for night feeds i don't have to get in and out of bed all night!;)

And as DD used to be a light sleeper i couldn't put her to sleep in the living room and have the tv on - so used to put her to sleep on my bed during the day too, spesh as the bedroom was right next to my living room then.

There are loads of things you realise you don't need after you have bubs, even a highchair wasn't needed for ages as the bumbo was good enough until she was about 8mths and figured how to get out of it.

bexta

Thanks MGEB, I'm just thinking furniture because we really don't have much, and we'd rather get it now when both of us have wages coming in. When we moved in, we literally had a bed and a bookshelf - that was our furniture. We've got more than that now obviously, but we've only got one chest of drawers and the tiniest built in wardrobe in our room. The spare (bubs eventual) room has my bookshelf in, so we are starting from scratch in a lot of ways. I doubt I'll bother with a chair tbh, like you say, bubs will be in with us for quite some time and just get fed in bed or on sofa downstairs.

rach

Hi all

I've had a busy week so haven't really been around.

kitkat5566 wrote: »

Collected my free Boots changing bag last night; it isn't too bad. It seems HUGE though but I have no idea how big a changing bag is tho

Do you get a voucher through the post for this or is being in the parenting club enough? I joined about 3 weeks ago but haven't had anything through the post! I am keen to pick up stuff like that sooner rather than later so I can tick it off my list!!)

MYLITTLESISTERLOLA wrote: »

I am a regular bootsaler, being going weekly for the last 8 or so years ( some would say I'm addicted ) I even sell occasionally.

It is truely astonishing what you can pick up and for how little
sleeping bags seem to be one of the best bargains ( if your happy buying 2nd hand which I am ) usually £1 or £2 each instead of £20 in m/c

Sterlisiers are a dime a dozen usually at £1 or £2 for either electric or microwave

Moses basket / crib or cot / cot bed sheets can be pick up for less than £1 each

Cozy toes can be another bargain I've picked up 4 ( for family members )costing £1 each

Maclaren strollers would get my vote usually cost £100 new but £15ish at bootsale, very practical and sturdy

I picked up a tummy tub for £3 last week ( not sure about this but I'll give it a go )

Inflatable boosters normally retail at £16 can be picked up for £1 ( cost £10 + on ebay )

I've picked up two bouncer chairs ( M&P + Chicco ) for £3 each

Monitors are also quite common depending on what type you like ( never seen any video monitors )

Bumbo seat normally £4ish

Sorry for the epic post thought it might help some bootsale virgins

Also sorry for any spelling grammer errors, I've been up most of the night !

This looks great, so far I have got a freecycle sterilizer, cot promised from friend and a chicco chair (pic below) for £5! I also have a close friend who told me to send my spreadsheet over and said she'd let me know what I can cast my eye over of theirs as their youngest is 14 months now and they're not having any more. Am also going to look at a mountainbuggy for £100 on netmums, not sure if it's too big for us so need to see, but we do a lot of walking and very little getting in and out of the car so it may be ideal.

rach

In case anyone is interested, here's my list! I am sure it's not all relevant and some of it is tiny stuff but I have a system whereby as well as the list I have a source column, a budget column and actual column and when I've got the thing it gets turned green!

ITEM

Pram/Pushchair
Carseat
Moses basket/Carrycot
Cot
Cot Mattress
Monitor
Sling/carrier
Change Bag
Changing Mat
Cot sheets
Blankets
baby bath/bath seat
Nappies - reusable
Nappies - disposeable
Nappy bucket with lid
top & tail bowl
Towels (4)
Muslins
sleeping bag
Bouncy/elec chair
reusable wipes

Clothes
Sleepsuits
mittens
hat
socks
vests

Feeding
breast pump
bottles
steriliser
dummy
nipple cream
nipple shields
bibs

Small stuff
wipes
cotton wool
baby bath
nappy cream
baby lotion
maternity pads

fernliebee

Bexta- re a feeding chair, I was going to get one when we had DD but when I thought about it I thought it wasn't worth the expense as 1) like you say bub's will be in with you at first so will be fed in bed/ on the sofa. 2) I didn't want to be confined upstairs while 'life' went on downstairs iyswim. I preferred to just feed her in whatever room we were in and for longer feeds would sit at the laptop in the living room. Only thing is now DD is nearly 2 I would like to get a comfy chair for story times as atm we do stories downstairs then up to bed, but she is going into her big bed soon so would like to start doing stories upstairs and with my big bump don't think a quilt on the floor would be very comfy for me!