Having a baby Old Style???

bluep

mitziwaltz wrote:

Oh, one thing about 2nd hand stuff--with cribs, make sure the slats are close together, meeting current safety regs. Some older ones are lovely but babies can squeeze their heads between the slats and choke. Same with car seats--some older models are not very good. But anything from the past 2 or 3 years is probably fine.
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Great post, but can I just add that 2ND BABY CAR SEATS ARE NEVER FINE. DO NOT BUY!!!! It is SO DANGEROUS that it should be illegal to sell them. Another baby death reported recently from a mum who bought a 2nd hand car seat with no instructions. Car seats should always be bought new and checked by specialists that they fit correctly for your car. It just isn't worth putting your baby's life at risk for saving a few extra pounds. Please don't even consider it - even accepting a car seat from relatives. Damage to them is nearly always very hard or impossible to see - and they might not count them as having been in an accident. Even dropping a car seat by mistake could have fractured it or the buckles might be damaged etc... so the person thinks in all good faith that it is in good condition, but it is your baby that is at risk!

The only thing I would consider is if you have an older baby and know that your car seat is ok, then using that. However to be honest, safety car seat technology moves on so much that unless they are close together in age, you might as well buy a new one and take advantage of making sure your baby is EXTRA safe in a new design.

Ok rant over Just I can't stand seeing them on ebay for pennies and people buying them. Manufacturers and shops ought to give part-exchange vouchers for taking in 2nd hand ones for destruction when you buy the next size up.

larmy16

Spendless wrote:

Press on the quote button at the bottom of persons post and then type reply.

Thanks very much for that!:)

ancasta_2

bluep wrote:

Ok rant over Just I can't stand seeing them on ebay for pennies and people buying them. Manufacturers and shops ought to give part-exchange vouchers for taking in 2nd hand ones for destruction when you buy the next size up.

Bloody good idea!

Pooky

mitziwaltz wrote:

About daycare -- co-op with other mums if you can when you are ready to go back to work, or when you simply need to.For instance, if you have a day-shift job, you can swop care with someone on the night-shift. If a few mums work together they can have home-style care at no cost in terms of cash--just time. Some of the SureStart schemes are good quality too.!

I really would urge against this, apart from being against the current laws you soon find that it puts a huge strain on friendships.

Currently if you leave you child with another person for a reward, be that money, a gift, care in return then you are breaking the law.

I'm an ofsted registered childminder and get calls all the time from people that are looking for childcare - most have been let down by friends who start with good intentions.

Sure start can point you in the right direction on childcare issues as can the C.I.S (Childrens Information Service) who can provide you with details of registered childminders in your area with availability.

I'm not just spouting on because I'm a childminder...but I do feel strongly that the person you leave your child with is qualified and insured and going to be providing the best for you and your child.

clazz

Hi all,
great thread this - wish that I had read all these tips before I had my 5 month old!
My top tips are for all the cute little baby outfits you will be bought before/just after the baby is born.

* If possible, assign 'age ranges' to different sides of the family eg new born to maternal and 0-3 months to paternal, 3-6 months to friends. A word in the ear of the grandmothers should help reduce the 12 cute outtfits that the baby wears once before growing out of them. This will help when the gift-buying frenzy is over, and you have to buy everything yourselves.
* Do not remove any labels until you are almost about to dress your baby in them. It is so tempting to spend your last couple of weeks before birth washing all the cute little things, but you will end up not using loads in the end (too small, too fussy etc). To be honest - for the 'newborn' size, you really will just dress them in vests and sleepsuits, with maybe 1 'good' outfit.
* If someone buys you something that really is not to your taste, then take it back to the store and swap for something that is. You can always tell the relative/friend that it is in the wash or that they have grown out of it when they visit.
*Almost all stores will swap baby clothes for different sizes/styles without receipts.

And, yes, break through the initial painful bit at first and breastfeed, breastfeed, breastfeed. Formula costs my friend £12 a week, mine is free!

Goodluck to all the other mums and dads to be reading this. Don't be too strung up on the money side, they are worth the sacrifices. And you can get your revenge in the end, by insisting on the most expensive nursing home!

bluep

This won't necessarily save money in the short term...but I used Lansinoh Lanolin nipples cream (boots or mothercare £9-£10 for a tube) from BEFORE the birth. I never had any pain from breast feeding at all (all through pregnancy I was sore though hence being really worried about it). This stuff is the only medical grade lanolin cream that is completely non-toxic to babies so you dont need to wash it off before you breast feed either. I only needed to buy one tube of it and I've heard midwifes say that if you ask your doctor or health visitor they can prescribe it so you get it free anyway. It made breastfeeding a dream I have to say. Not saying everyone will have the same experience but I gave the rest of my tube to my cousin after she was having real problems and it helped no end.

The other thing not to economise on if possible is breast pads - the boots and mothercare home brand and tommee tippee I found to be useless, Johnson weren't much better - only lot that really worked for me were the re-washable ones and the Lansinoh disposable ones.

Not much of a money-SAVING post this LOL.

callansdad

[Quote: 2ND BABY CAR SEATS ARE NEVER FINE Quote]

Totally agree with this. I always insisted that my car seats were brand new, even though my mother was very eager to give me my old little brothers ones. I refused them point blank, i know she hasn't been in any accidents with them but you can never know of the slight knocks it's had. A good quality up-to-date car seat is worth the money.

I breastfed my babies, and it saves a fortune. For weaning i heavily relied on packets and jars for my son but now for my daughter i make my own babyfood. I bought a book from Asda for about £5, it told you how to make the food and what you could and couldn't freeze. It was great value for money and saves an absolute fortune. I freeze mine in icecubes and then when they are frozen i transfer them into a freezer bag and write on the bag what puree it is and when the batch was made up. For 2 hours work you can make enough food to last a few weeks. The plus side is you know exactly what your baby is eating.

I always use Sudocrem for nappy rash (also great for my spots!) but my mum always insists that Vaseline does the same job, at a far cheaper price.

Use olive oil or baby oil to treat cradle cap, far cheaper than over the counter remedies.

Second hand baby clothes for the first couple of months is the best way. You can pick up brilliant 2nd hand clothes for babies from Chartiy Shops, Ebay etc. I went to Barnardos a few weeks ago where they had been doing an offer on baby clothes to get rid of some. You had to fill a carrier bag for £1. Super baqrgain!

If you are looking for discounted baby equipment look at kiddicare.com. They have some fantastic deals and its always the first place that i look for baby goods. Their delivery is also very fast and usually free and if you see the same product somewhere else for cheaper then they will reduce their online price to the same minus an extra 10%.

Also if you are looking for toys etc, try nurseryandtoys.com. Some of their stock can be slightly old fashioned but still top quality. I picked up a cheap baby rocker on here to keep at my mums for £5. Delivery from here is usually £4.95 but it is still a bargain if you are buying a few things.

Try argos website just now. They have a sale and you can pick up a Winnie the Pooh Cot Quilt and Bumper for £19.99 along with some other fantastic bargains.

Buy nappies in bulk, this saves a lot. I use pampers most of the time and have signed up to their website, i quite often get sent coupons for money off their products. The same goes for wipes. Asda recently had 6 pk of pampers wipes for £5.48, bargain, i now have 12 boxes of them in my caravan, you will go through these, they are never wasted money.

Instead of buying calpol sachets (i find these so annoying) buy a big bottle of your chemists own brand of paracetamol suspension for half the price.

I know this has been quite long but i hope it has been of some help.

Katinkka

I always use Sudocrem for nappy rash (also great for my spots!) but my mum always insists that Vaseline does the same job, at a far cheaper price.

Dont BUY sudocrem when you can get it on prescription. Childrens prescriptions are free!

Spendless

Katinkka wrote:

Dont BUY sudocrem when you can get it on prescription. Childrens prescriptions are free!

I've also had the childs paracetamol liquid on perscription.

With regards to childcare costs. If for whatever reason you need childcare, you may be able to get help via the tax credit system. You need to be working at least 16 hours if single parent. both of you need to be working at least 16 hours if a couple. The amount of help you will get will depend on your income and childcare costs.

If you aren't eligible for help via tax credits, see if your employer offers childcare vouchers. You can salary sacrifice upto £50 a week in return for equivalent amount of childcare vouchers. The money you have sacrficed is exempt from tax and NI. If you both work somewhere where they offer chilldcare vouchers you can both salary sacrifice to pay for costs for same child.

Jumping some years forward you can also get upto 12.5 hours of funding for pre-school/nursery the term after the childs 3rd birthday. Again this is not means tested.

Pooky

Spendless wrote:

Jumping some years forward you can also get upto 12.5 hours of funding for pre-school/nursery the term after the childs 3rd birthday. Again this is not means tested.

Registered Accredited Childminders can also provide funded sessions under this scheme. All registed childminders will be given the oppertunity to train for this.