MSE Newborn to 1 year Baby Club 1

sexymouse

Gilly no it doesn't make them smell like vinegar - I found the cheapest place to get it is Asda unless you have a wholesaler or something similar near you that sells it in those huge bottles. I just add a capful to the fabric conditioner section when I put a load on - we use soapnuts too which naturally soften the clothes as well, although I find they aren't great at getting the poo stains out, so I use ecover stain remover on his clothes first to spot treat them and the sun to fade if that doesn't work.

martafdz

I live in a flat but have a washing-drier, so I either have the clothes ready within hours or next morning. My DH has also sensitive skin, so we've always washed everything with hypoallergenic and sensitive skin washing powder and nothing else. That means we do a wash together, baby clothes and our clothes, so we don't have to wait to have a few sleepsuits or muslins to do the washing, there's always something that can be washed, such as towels, bedding, etc. We had lots of clothes that we were given as presents or second hand, but we only used 5 sleepsuits and 5 vests. As mentioned before, babies hate being dressed and undressed, and there's no need unless they have had an "accident". They sleep most of the time and they are comfy in sleepsuits, plus (as mentioned) these usually have scratch mittens integrated and keep the feet warm. It's also easier to change the nappy, two pieces are a nightmare! My mw also said that we should avoid putting her on pyjamas trousers too soon because they have a big elastic that can be uncomfy on the tummy (but was told this because she seems very uncomfortable with what goes on in her stomach and bowels). I think the best thing would be to think about how often can you do a washing and how long it takes to dry. For me 5 sets were more than enough because I do a washing nearly every day and takes hours to dry if in the normal setting, but I can get them dry in 5h with one of the settings if I cannot wait. She uses one or two sets a day, we have not had to use a third so far (5 weeks). I wouldn't buy loads, 7 of each sounds good to start with, and take into account that people will buy you clothes. It's the favourite present, since they are cute and people prefer buying a set of clothing than bedding, lol. I was given two bags full of stuff, I probably had over 20 vests and 20 sleepsuits, plus cardigans. Most of them she never wore, thanks god it was mostly second hand, otherwise I would have felt awful at not having used it! She outgrew the newborn size in about 2 weeks, the 0-1+ month does not fit her either, we are now in 0-3 months and it's just right. I have a snowsuit she never wore (brand new), plus several other items between sleepsuits, cardigans, dresses and t-shirts, also new. I just never put her on "smart clothes" or "pretty for the street", it's cold for dresses and it's inconvenient to use trousers because of the nappy change. I hate t-shirts, her belly is not fully covered snuggly and I need trousers to put on top. Cardigans are not convenient at the moment because it's too cold, so I still need a snowsuit on top. At the end, the best are the sleepsuits. There are lovely designs out there too. My DH just bought a pack of three from Tesco for £7 that has little teddy bears or spots, neutral colours, and another one same price with stripes, hearts and pink prints. They look adorable and super cute! I'm glad I didn't spend much on clothes and let people buy them for me, because she has grown very quickly and at the end I am using the same items all the time because they are best for both baby and mummy!

Gillyx

I do at least one load of washing a day, more often than not 2, but when A was tiny I didn't know my !!!!! from my elbow and couldn't keep up with our washing or babies :eek: I don't know what I would have done with 2. Also if you're going onto maternity pay think about the cost of the drier being on a lot. You can pick up Clothes 2nd hand for pennies.

Some babies constantly leak out of nappies, mine didn't, but some do.

I did tend to change his clothes every day too, and then at about 6 weeks when we done bed and bath, I'd do day clothes and bedtime even though it was just a change of sleepsuit. So up in the morning, curtains open, into diff clothes, bedtime, curtains drawn, change into bedtime clothes. Helps them figure out day and night

I'd say 7 is a good amount but I wouldn't personally go under that just I case of an mishaps, you don't wanna be stressing about washing x

fluffnutter

Just realised you're having twins, PrincessLou. You're going to be washing a lot.

martafdz

Could you recommend a baby thermometer? I have a normal digital one that says different temperatures within seconds, so I need a new one anyway. I'm wondering if it would be best the dummy thermometer, the ear thermometer or any other. I realized yesterday that if she were ill I have no way of telling if she's got fever and crying itself might not be the best indicator for us, we might think it's her tummy again!

fluffnutter

martafdz wrote: »

Could you recommend a baby thermometer? I have a normal digital one that says different temperatures within seconds, so I need a new one anyway. I'm wondering if it would be best the dummy thermometer, the ear thermometer or any other. I realized yesterday that if she were ill I have no way of telling if she's got fever and crying itself might not be the best indicator for us, we might think it's her tummy again!

I asked this same question and have done a bit of research. AFAIK, the Braun ThermoScans are well thought of. There are different models - not sure which is best, TBH.

katiechoc_2

Congratulations PrincessLou! Think the others have covered it really, the sleep suits with integrated scratch mitts are worth their weight in gold - my boy was constantly scratching his face but he'd bite the little mitts off in minutes of us putting them on. I know sainsburys sleep suits have them, and I think Next too. Also be aware that the sizes vary massively between shops - George grew out of sainsburys 0-3 weeks before he was out of tesco 0-3. He's a supermarket baby through and through

We've had an eventful morning - George was demonstrating his new turbo crawl when his legs got carried away and managed to kneel on his hands and sending him face first into the floor. Would have been fine if it hadn't been the exact bit of floor where one of his toys was - split lip, screaming baby and blood everywhere. Had cuddles and a quick nap on my knee and he seems fine now, although the fat lip makes him look like a bit of a bruiser. Hasn't stopped him gobbling his dinner though, had to go and get extra out of the freezer!

martafdz

Oh, poor G katiechoc!!

I'll have a look at those fluff, I was eyeing the avent dummy thermometer + digital flexible tip thermometer + normal dummy, were £35+ and now £20. However, there are basic "brand whatever" dummy thermometers for £5, so I might check the Braun that you mention and buy a basic dummy one, just in case. Thanks!!

dizziblonde

I think I planned around having about 6 sleepsuits (mainly because they came in packs of 3 and 6 was a multiple of 3) however in reality I bought more that I found that were cute as time went on. I did, however, change clothes for day and night from when we got home from the hospital as part of trying to sort out day and night confusion - so had a lot of things like those sleepsuity-style dungarees and the like for daytime "outfits" as such... plus to start with she was so flipping small you took what you could get in terms of what fitted! I have more vests though - figuring vests tend to be in the firing line of nappy explosions and the like much more directly than babygros. Vests I either buy when Tesco do completely random reductions on them (if I get the timing right I can get a pack of 5 for £3), or from Primark - if they're not getting seen by anyone, and they're likely to get covered in chicken korma - stuff paying over the odds for 'em.

In terms of size - if you're looking at smaller than the norm babies because of the twin thing - Mothercare probably have the widest range of clothes for real littlies - they have Early Baby which goes up to 5lb, then Tiny Baby which goes to 8lb I think - but I found that the Tiny size stuff overspilt quite nicely into Newborn land anyway.

I washed every other day - but never had the exploding nappies or mega-vom to deal with in the newborn days (we had the nappy leaks around the 3-6 month age range for some reason) - these days I'm past the point of being economical and the drier just goes on - but I did used to try to dry as much as possible on the line outside, a plan sadly scuppered by the eejit neighbours who seem to have eternal building work going on with the most pyromaniac bonfire-obsessed builders known to man making our back garden unusable for most of the last two summers.

As for thermometers - my offering of expertise is that the tommy tippee one is crud - takes FOREVER to get a reading and with a wriggly baby - that soooo isn't happening.

fluffnutter

dizzi's right - get some early or tiny baby stuff. With twins, realistically, you're going to have tiddlers.