pregnant, need advice please :)

louloulouisa

Hi Everyone

I am 18 weeks pregnant after a long battle to get pregnant. After 6 mc I found out my immune system was to blame (I never got colds)

Anyway because of this, my only option was to have private medical treatment:eek:, so now we need to tighten our belts

I have always been a money-saver and follow all the money saving tips on here. But was wondering if anyone can help, by recommending websites/ideas on the following: I need

• A winter waterproof maternity coat (been to a NCT Nearly New Sale today, no joy, plus been on ebay and still too expensive)

• A travel system that the pram will fit in a tiny boot (I have a citroen C1) I think the boot is about 100cm x 25 cm!

Also need a Highchair and cot mattress (got a cot)

Any advice on what's easiest - Steam steriliser or chemical steriliser?
and what's best disposable nappies or reusable? (have to return to work when baby is 8/9 months old)

many many thanks :T

Lou xxx

jackomdj

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

You could put a want on freecycle for the coat.
Travel system - I would go to a few shops, tell them the car & try before you buy. Once you know what will fit, trawl the net & find the best value online.
Highchair - you won't need it for a while, so best place for your pennies is in your pocket for now. We got one of the cubes from mothercare & this in turn changed into a table & chair which DD used to eat & do crafts at when older.
Mattress - again wait until needed, but you usually find a local
retailer may be a bit cheaper then a national chain. Or search on the net. If you have a cot rather than a cotbed you will find that you do not need a sprung one as they are not heavy enough to need it (& will be out of the cot before they do need a better one)

HTH
Nicky

McKneff

Congratulations on your pregnancy.
Sorry but what is mc
Is your immune system not working,
Usually if an immune system is not working it means you get every infection flying around. Not having a go, just purely interested because my immune system is shot to peices as i have multi joint arthritis and i have never missed a day off work for over 20 years through anything other than the odd flare up.

JMW77

mc misscarriages i assume (McKneff)

milliebear00001

Travel systems aren't used that long - do you really need one? Why not buy a car seat (making sure it's a good fit is a priority - don't skimp on this or buy it just cos it comes with the travel system that fits in your boot!) and then buy a good pushchair that will last you right through until your child is 3-4. MacLaren are the best (despite the news). Last forever, suitable from birth, lightweight and fold up small. You could also consider slinging the baby while it's titchy.

Coat - I was MASSIVE in winter with my first. Buy a larger size coat and make do - you'll only need a really large size right at the end anyway and it just isn't worth spending huge amounts on when it'll get worn for maybe 6 weeks.

Cot mattress - we had a small cot and bought a foam mattress which was fine til daughter moved into a bed at two. Cheapest place I've seen for both cots and mattresses (and the mattress should really be new) is Ikea. Ditto highchairs - very good quality and DIRT cheap, like much of their baby stuff - well worth a look.

Steriliser - steam/microwave easier, but wait til the baby's born if you're planning to breatfeed - you may not need one at all.

Nappies - reusable cheaper (even with the costs of washing them) but disposables FAR easier (and I don't care what anyone else says!!) I would suggest disposables while you're doing 12 a day, then maybe moving over to reusables when changes are far less frequent when weaning kicks in at about 6 months.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

esio_trot

McKneff wrote: »

Congratulations on your pregnancy.
Sorry but what is mc
Is your immune system not working,
Usually if an immune system is not working it means you get every infection flying around. Not having a go, just purely interested because my immune system is shot to peices as i have multi joint arthritis and i have never missed a day off work for over 20 years through anything other than the odd flare up.

in pregnancy, your immune system needs to lower in order for your body not to reject the baby (it is a foreign object after all). If the OP never gets ill with colds etc, it sounds like her immune system was continuing to attack the pregnancy, ending in a miscarriage (MC). Just a guess of course.

OP, try freecycle/freegle for items, either that or New Look seem to have a reasonably priced maternity range.

As for a travel system, no idea! Might be best to go have a play in mothercare or similar to see what suits, take a tape measure too!

I agree with other posters to buy locally and only when you need it as far as the mattress/highchair goes.

Ruby_Moon

Congratulations on your long awaited pregnancy

As for saving money, well babies aren't as expensive as people would have you believe as the majority of things are not needed.
If you know about Immune systems then you will know that the best start for baby is not to sterilise so you wouldn't need a steriliser and a high chair is not really needed either but if you really wanted one you could ask for one on freecycle or get one from a car boot sale. There are 100's of baby things at car boot sales and my daughter spent less than £100 on everything she needed including a travel system.
We got a cot for £5 and a travel cot for £1!!! Amazing value.
Prams are two a penny on ad boards in supermarkets or in the paper.
I think it has to do with how new everything needs to be for you or whether or not you are happy with 2nd hand. I prefer 2nd hand because I like to think I am saving landfill, using my money for more important things later in babys life and using something that have already been well loved.
Hope it all goes well for you.

beckseven

Congratulations! I would go to Asda to get a bigger sized coat. Specialist maternity coats are expensive and like someone says above you won't wear it for long. I got a black coat a couple of sizes bigger in Asda for £14 and it did me proud. I would also recommend a mcclaren that you can recline until completely flat. For DS I bought the Quinny buzz and then bought a mcclaren when he was about a year but for DD I used the quinny for a short while and then soon swapped to my Mcclaren-folds flat, and easy to get round the shops without taking everyone out! With highchairs look on ebay and even baby sales but just remember that the baby won't need it until they are 5/6 mths-it will just take up space before then! I've found the steam microwave sterilisers very good and when I recently when to my local SureStart centre I noticed they had a couple in reception (avent) that were free to a good home-worth checking out your local surestart centre as I have found ours absolutely excellent and all the baby groups etc are free. They also run courses for mums to be. With the mattress it's worth getting a good quality one as you want baby to be as comfy as poss so they sleep well for you! HTH and enjoy your pregnancy-it's a lovely exciting time.

Lemoncurd

Congratulations!!

Agree with the others about not getting a maternity coat.
Keep trying the NCT sales for things - if you help out you can also get in early and get 1st pick, I always find better bargains when I help. I went to one today as well.

If moneysaving is a priority then a lie flat pushchair its perfectly sufficient. We 1st bought a travel system but only ever clipped the carseat onto the chassis a couple of times for baby no 1, don't think we ever did for babies 2 or 3. Babies 2 and 3 used a Maclaren lie flat buggy rather than the pram if we went out in the car.

Leave the highchair until you need it at 6m+

We found boots.com using cashback (I think pigsback.com currently does it) and points codes found on here good value for a cot mattress. kiddicare.com used to have some bargains.

Steriliser - how are you planning on feeding? if breastfeeding you may not need one. I had a steam one 1st time and used it for all the weaning bowls and spoons etc as I was paranoid. Hated it so sold it. Picked up an Avent microwave one from ebay for 99p 2nd time, this was much easier but we only used it about twice so again sold it. 3rd time around we haven't even needed to use a steriliser (in an emergency you can always boil things in a pan of water).

Nappies - very personal decision. We use cloth but I know I've spent quite a lot (as in hundreds) over the years on building a collection of nappies and there is that initial spend needed, but they can also be used for future babies. I'm sure we have saved a significant amount, especially as we don't buy wipes either but use cheap flannels. Our babies started nursery at 10 months and we then had to supply disposables, however we still used cloth at home and eventually persuaded nursery to put cloth nappies on at the end of each day. Some childcare providers are however happy to use cloth.

MrsTinks

Travel system... try them out... And I can categorically tell you to forget about the iCandy - it needs LOTS of space :rotfl: There is nothing wrong with a travel system - as an example the iCandy will do me till my daughter is at least 3 (unless she's freakishly long!) but they are not always the best for everyone.
Sterilisers - I prefer the microwave steam steriliser - I BF to start but had to express a lot and bottle feed her due to problems - now bottle feeding formula - it's easy peasy - stick all the washed stuff in, add the water and whack in the microwave for 6 mins - job done.
We got a cotbed instead of a cot - when she outgrew the moses basket she went straight in there (at 3 months... she was waking herself up by bashing the sides of the basket). It cost a bit more (hubby can be stubborn... he was ademant she wasn't having second hand beds or basket. As it was important to him I curbed my MSE habits and stuck to just finding a good bargain in the shops ) but a cotbed will last her many years.
I personally use disposable nappies - I looked into reusable and wanted to go that way really badly but no-where here seems to do demo's of them and I am NOT paying £200+ for a starterpack for something I might not get on with... add to that a tiny house where there isn't room for loads of washing piles of nappies etc and disposable was more sensible...

Highchair... as said - wait... it'll only get in the way between now and when your child is big enough to actually use it More importantly I'd say is a bouncy chair/swing... bulky yes, best £30 I spent on Ebay for a second hand one!

wifeforlife

Hi Louloulouisa

Sincerest congratulations on your pregnancy, relax and enjoy!! I'm currently 32 weeks into my second and I'm trying to savour it as it was a bit of a blur the first time round! lol

I have also found coats to be a problem, I ended up buying a normal rainmac in a larger size in a local department store a bit like Asda, as I couldnt get a cheap maternity one even on ebay.

For a travel system, I'm lucky that I can use the one from my first child (6yrs ago), but I want to mention it to you as you mention a small car boot which I also have. I got a Jane Carrera C, I think there is new models of it now but I got it because it umbrella folds like a wee pushchair and was great to throw in and out of the boot. I've saw loads of good cheap ones on ebay this past while, and I can highly recommend it.

Highchairs & cots I havent thought about yet, I'll probably get from Ikea or somewhere cheap as I know we arent having any more children.

Sterilisers, I got a closer to nature electric one, I waited and waited on a good offer. Ended up missing it in Asda baby event but luckily got one 1/2 price in boots about 2 weeks later hehe

And finally nappies - I tried reusable ones with DD but I personally didnt get on too well with them. I fully admire anyone who uses them and wish I had the extra oomph to try them again, but unfortunately I freely admit to being lazy and choosing disposables of which I've started stockpiling already. I usually go with the best offer of the week or month and I'm not fussy on the make.

Enjoy the planning and don't sweat the small stuff!!

Cate