Having a baby Old Style???

pickle

£5 for a change mat is expensive - I also thought about using a hand towel instead - even cheaper!. Didn't see any baby on board signs (will keep looking). Saw one at ASDA for about £2.50 in the motoring section but seeing if I can get one even cheaper, I guess I could make my own! Oh yeah, they also had baby bottle warmer/cooler for £1 at Ethel Austin.

Got the Altan pushchair from mothercare (£70). Very easy to put up and down and not too heavy and comes with the weathershield. I'm quite impressed with the quality for the price. Others I saw were way too complicated or I couldn't lift them, they're more gimmicky and very expensive. I tried the NCT sale but unfortunately there were very few push chairs and the ones that were there were very old, so I decided to buy new. The Altan pushchair doesn't come with a car seat but I prefer the Chicco Shuttle car seat anyway as it is the only one on the car survey (which someone here recommended) which passed the European Safety Tests for side impacts. Someone in the mothercare store told me that the British car seats will be changed in March re. side impact safety (but I'd check on this independently).

full-time-mum

> are you saying you can't exclusively bottlefeed for 6 months?
I always understood that you need to take more care when formula feeding, take advice from the professionals.

I have definitely read that one of the problems with formula is that it always tastes the same, Breast milk changes depending on the mother's diet.

I will see if I can get hold of the local NCT Breastfeeding Councillor and see what she says.

starlite_2

pickle wrote:

£5 for a change mat is expensive - I also thought about using a hand towel instead - even cheaper!. QUOTE]

if you join boots parenting club you get the huggies changing bag and changing mat free..we got a bag as a xmas present but have been using the free change mat and it's great.

joannasmum

full-time-mum wrote:

> are you saying you can't exclusively bottlefeed for 6 months?
I always understood that you need to take more care when formula feeding, take advice from the professionals.

I have definitely read that one of the problems with formula is that it always tastes the same, Breast milk changes depending on the mother's diet.

I will see if I can get hold of the local NCT Breastfeeding Councillor and see what she says.

I exclusively bottlefed my dd who is now 14 months until she was nearly 7 months. I then followed baby led weaning exactly the same as if she was breastfed. My health visitor said that this was fine and WHO dont recommend any babies whether breast or bottle fed are weaned before 6 months.

pickle

starlite wrote:

pickle wrote:

£5 for a change mat is expensive - I also thought about using a hand towel instead - even cheaper!. QUOTE]

if you join boots parenting club you get the huggies changing bag and changing mat free..we got a bag as a xmas present but have been using the free change mat and it's great.

Thanks for the tip!!!

starlite_2

One thing though..especially with boys..
be careful where you change them as we have had random weeing during chnges which isn't good all over your bed/carpet/ friends sofa..lol

you can buy cheap muslin in fabric shops which we cut up and edged to use as a liner on the mat..they are great, especially as they absorb any accidents, and much easier to wash than bed sheets/ baby's hair/ sofa cushions/ whatever else they choose to wee all over.

jellyhead

maybe the reason you need to take care when weaning bottlefed babies is that after 6 months their own iron stores run out, and maybe breastmilk contains enough but formula doesn't, in any case the iron in breastmilk is easy for them to digest so they absorb more. so when weaning a bottlefed baby you'd need to ensure they had some iron in their diet or got enough through their milk (so some people use follow on milks).

despite being advised not to feed before 6 months i don't know anyone who waited that long, some of the babies we know were on 3 meals a day by 3 months old, including pasta meals. the jars of baby food still say suitable from 4 months (or 4-6) even if they contain gluten. sorry that's off topic, but on the subject of current health advice there are large orange notices up in my doctors surgery for mums of babies aged under 6 months (presumably their bounty packs didn't contain the updated advice) saying don't use bubble bath at all on young babies as it is thought to cause eczema. just use plain water. so that's some moneysaving for those who plan to buy baby bath.


about changing mats - for some reason whenever they wee on the mat it all ends up underneath the mat, it's a nightmare to clean up lol! i've got a terry nappy underneath my change mat and it absorbs it so i only need change the terry rather than clean the whole mat, underside, floor surface etc. and i also use a terry nappy on the top of the change mat so it's not as cold on the baby's skin. again, that mops up wees on the mat. mothercare sell changing mats with a velcro attached cover, essentially the same thing but non-slip.

full-time-mum

jellyhead wrote:

.....mothercare sell changing mats with a velcro attached cover, essentially the same thing but non-slip.

And no doubt more expensive!!

I bet its cheaper to buy a value mat and a buddle of terry nappies. Much more practical too - some in the wash, one on the mat and some in the cupboard!

Terrys are more versatile too, they can be used as towels, mats, bibs, over your shoulder and even as nappies!

greentomato

Definitely a good idea, I bought a cheapo changing mat from Kiddicare and use a terry on top to soak up any accidents, otherwise it all runs EVERYWHERE, with a terry you quickly catch as much of it as possible before it goes onto clothes etc. Then you can just bung the terry in the wash instead of having to wash the whole mat (this is especially good for accidents involving poos which could otherwise ruin a nice expensive changing mat!) :eek:

jellyhead

yes, the mothercare ones are around £10, and they only have one cover. it's only on the top i think, so you'd still need one underneath.