Having a baby Old Style???

tigsowner

Baby no 4 took her time to arrive then when I'd given up, decided to arrive last year. Despite now having a larger income then with baby 1, we still go the money-saving route.
I bought a new travel system with car seat, buggy and carrycot from an ebay shop as it was old stock. The bigger carseat was also brand new from ebay. I've also got a "big" pram from ebay as I do a lot of walking and can have baby facing me. I'd have got it earlier but with a narrow front door and health worries wasn't up to manoevering through the garden gates before. I heartily recommend the one-piece fabric sling which has been a godsend and will be handy for at least another year. (Baby is 14 months now.)
Clothes were bought on ebay, in charity shops and in sales. I wish Tesco sold stuff when baby 1 was on her way as I'd have saved a fortune! Also, catalogues often have new customer offers or specials to tempt you for buying a special occasion outfit. My maternity clothes came this way. But I just couldn't economise on bras!Toys come this way, too. Just be very careful that everything is safe and wash well. (Both the dishwasher and washing machine can be handy here!) But her favourite toy at the moment is the vegetable rack and potatoes!
Make full use of your local library and toy library. To work out if a toy is good value, try estimating how much time it will be in use - a swing can be cheap as used for years, as can bricks but that doll may be lying in the bottom of the toybox!
Use rectangular laundry baskets as first toyboxes and to store bedding. You and baby can easily see what's inside and they slide under the cot.
The pram top can fit inside a cotbed, which will last baby much longer than a cot, so putting off the purchase of more beds/ bedding.
Use the carseat as a rocker and first feeding chair, then either buy a booster seat or a cheap highchair with an extra cushioned liner. Ours will also pull up to the table later.
Breastfeeding is definitely cheaper. I bought a pump on ebay as I knew I'd probably need it and plan to resell it. Most of my weaning equipment came from magazine freebies. Freezing in small amounts lets you combine different foods to vary the menu and you can always pop into plastic bags once frozen to free up the tubs.
Plastic backed bibs are essential, both for weaning and dribbling babies. I get mine from Woolworths when half- price (usually marked as such, so £2.50 for 5). Just don't tumble dry them. You can even tuck one between baby's vest and top if you're at a special do and don't want it to show and it'll still keep baby dry.
If you're in a Surestart area, then there is a lot of support available so use it. I'm extremely grateful to have activities for us, people to advise when I need help and freebies too. When babies 1 and 2 were tiny, I often couldn't afford 50p to attend a toddler group but there's often no charge now. Libraries have free events too. And read your local paper - at the library if need be!
And of course, make sure you claim any benefits you are entitled to - can't believe how much tax credits we get! (Even if they do keep changing the amount.....)
Re-usable nappies are great (another ebay buy as I'd sold evertything!) and if you have a sicky baby, you need to boil muslins anyway. But Tesco disposables are just as good, too, as the expensive makes. I use flannels at mealtimes and cotton wool and water ( take a flask of warm water for night changes!) but buy wipes on 2 for 1 offers when I see them for when we're out.
Tesco and Boots will send you vouchers, offers, etc if you sign up. Use the Boots extra points system to your adavantage, too.
Gee, didn't mean this to be as long. Hope it helps.

starlite_2

Hi everyone..great news for me ..had my anomaly scan..all is fine and we are expecting a boy!hoorah..can't stop smiling..
one question..if you use washable nappies and liners what do you do with the dirty ones when out? we are thinking of using disposables when away from home, just to save the hassle, but surely theres a way?

wheeze

Hi ancasta

great thread! Just wanted to say as a newish Mother (my LO is 10 months) - having him is the best thing I have ever done!

You might have worries about costs etc, but you will manage, trust me. Just try to hold off buying lots of things once you're pregnant and wait and see if you need them (eg we bought a baby bath but at nearly nine pounds he soon outgrew it!)

I use washable nappies and I'm an agent for an nappy company (babykind.co.uk), I don't know if you've looked into this area in detail but just to say as well as traditional terry squares there are lots of funky colours/patterns out there and nappies fasten with velcro or poppers to make life easier. Someone asked what happens when you are out? We have a waterproof bag to bring them home in, you can use flushable liners to chuck away the poo or a fleece liner and give it a quick rinse. It's really not a problem. Plus you could save loads using washable wipes as other posters have mentioned.

As a fellow tall bird (5 ft 10) I find the M and P freestyler pram pretty good as the handle adjusts - best to check them out in person though. There's a M and P shop at Team Valley

Hope this helps, and good luck

Louise

ancasta_2

Can i just ask...if your using terry nappies, and say baby had a erm.. runny one... how do you deal with it? probably sound like an airhead but no question is a silly question.

Do you sling em straight into the washer? rinse it out? store them for a full load or what?

im confuddled

ancasta_2

wheeze wrote:

Hi ancasta

As a fellow tall bird (5 ft 10) I find the M and P freestyler pram pretty good as the handle adjusts - best to check them out in person though. There's a M and P shop at Team Valley

Hope this helps, and good luck

Louise

Thanks. Your bit about the liners answered the post i must have beent typing when you posted. ooops

Had a look in the M & P shop at the Valley but we got made to look like vagabonds as we were trying all the heights out on the handles and because me and oh were there in out "skater clothes" as people call them we werent given the slightest ounce of help and made to feel like we shouldnt be there. Went next door to mothercare and got the best service ever once we explained why we wantde to test all the prams heights out. Even offered to bring some from out the back to show us. :T

jellyhead

schoolfundraiser your post made me laugh, i bumped into somebody yesterday who remembered my little boy being a screaming violent nightmare as a 2 year od - she was amazed when i said he's an angel now and very easy to look after, he was 9 last week and i'm 'risking' another :eek: i like your comment about standing up for yourself and having more confidence, this was a problem for me last time, it's worse when you're tired or if your child is a horror. i joined the bounty website and have been looking at the forums, there are pregnant women on there stressed and worn down already because of criticism, interfering mother-in-laws, midwives or doctors not listening to their concerns, etc. etc. - luckily i don't have a problem mother-in-law but i was never brave enough to trust my own instinct, i let the health visitor tell me i was imagining problems that really did exist and i didn't stick up for myself when my parenting skills were criticised by other mums (it was suggested that my child was late to start talking because i let him sleep in my bed, sounds ridiculous now but the things some mums will whinge about at toddler groups ...)

many women don't realise before getting pregnant that it's not always a bowl of cherries with a happy child prancing around a field of flowers in clean clothes - i think the work/don't work debate although off topic is a good preparation for all the criticism and unasked-for opinions that start as soon as you get pregnant. being prepared financially is a good idea but you should also be prepared to have people belittle you and try to force their own views upon you, and have a chance to start thinking that actually you do know best and there's nothing wrong with what you're planning or which feeding method, whatever you choose. preparing yourself mentally for how to deal with negative people and trust your own insticts will help guard against postnatal depression. sorry, just thought i'd get that off my chest lol!

anyway, baby slings, can someone recommend a good one? i can't believe i forgot, i haven't got one!

jellyhead

i'm going to take disposables on holiday and to the in-laws for weekends, but when out in town etc. i'll just put dirty nappies into a bag and bring them home to wash i think. flush the liner away.

wheeze

Not a silly Q at all.

There are two ways of dealing with it - wet and dry pailing. I started with the wet pailing - soaking the nappies in a bucket, but tbh it was a lots of hassle, you needed to remember to change the water if not washing that day and the nappies weighed a ton when trying to transfer them to the machine.

So I dry pail as I think most real nappy users do. They go in a bucket, just as they are and I wash every other day. If you chose to use flushable liners at the start (for the runnier poos) there might not be too much on the nappy anyway. But they wash up well and sunshine will get rid of any lingering stains.
I prefer his terries in their lidded bucket to a whellie bin full of smelly disposbales!

Forgot to mention, to look into the possibility of a sling. Not those stocked in Mothercare necessarlily - there are many different types out there and it really settles down baby when he's fed up. Check out babywearer.com for loads of info!

wheeze

ancasta wrote:

Thanks. Your bit about the liners answered the post i must have beent typing when you posted. ooops

Had a look in the M & P shop at the Valley but we got made to look like vagabonds as we were trying all the heights out on the handles and because me and oh were there in out "skater clothes" as people call them we werent given the slightest ounce of help and made to feel like we shouldnt be there. Went next door to mothercare and got the best service ever once we explained why we wantde to test all the prams heights out. Even offered to bring some from out the back to show us. :T

Ha, ha that made me laugh - they were a bit like that with us! So we checked them out in the shop and then bought the freestyler at Toys r Us at Teeside Park - loads cheaper!!

Aril

Apologies if any of this has been previously posted but haven't had time to read it all through. The N.C.T sales are great for very cheap second hand clothes. Don't bother buying vests- the all in one suits with the poppers stay in place and don't bother buying anything except dresses without poppers because it takes a lot longer to undress a baby and change a nappy when you're out and about. I borrowed a moses basket and then we bought a cot bed- I made all the bedding for it by cutting up old sheets and hemming them and buying one of those blankets with holes in , cutting it up and edging with ribbon. Finally when I made the nursery curtains I chose a decent quality plain dark blue fabric which I made with tab tops and on each tab I stitched plain fabric covered buttons in primary colours. I didn't buy any special wallpaper. I simply painted the room yellow and then stencilled primary coloured clowns round as a border so the whole room was unisex. I've now redecorated the room but the curtains are fine and if when a teenager it causes any problem I shall simply remove the buttons
Regards
Aril :T