MSE Pregnancy Club 25

Rups32

hi babymonster, thanks for that. i havent seen an independent pram shop around, but am sure there must be one in croydon. my mum keeps saying to check out mothercare as can get my cousins discount so we may do that but yeah still overwhelmed about it. need that a car seat asap then the rest of the stuff.

god i so cant be bothered to work today..sigh

martafdz

Hi babymonster, thanks for the suggestion, but both eBay and Paypal say in their T&C that I have to send back the parcel with a tracking number. The seller has not come back to me yet, I think she is thinking it over. She will have to refund both P&P and item, but as I said this will be about £3.60, because she is not obliged to refund also my postage costs for returning the item. Nice sellers do to ensure they get positive feedback, I can see this seller is not one of them! I have two options: a) send back the item for a full refund, I will end up losing postage costs, which is about £6+ for a tracked postage; if this is the case, I will be leaving negative feedback, since it is not my fault the seller has not described the item accurately and also forced me to send the item to get the refund; b) forget about it, leave negative feedback and throw the item to the bin, total loss of £3.60. In a very similar previous situation, the seller just refunded the whole thing, which was also under £4 and asked for positive feedback in return. I would expect a seller to do this when the item is of low value and they are at fault for not saying it was stained. Why would I want a stained item? Why would they want it back? If anything, I would expect at least that they give a partial refund, but she has not said anything about that either. She wants me to send the item "to check the stains"... there are three different kinds, I cannot believe for a second she did not notice. One is on the front, coffee colour, small but noticeable at short distance. Right in the middle of some frills at chest level. Other one is at the bottom, black colour, like a cigarette burn but very very light. Still, she should have mentioned it. The other ones are little brown specks at the back, like damp or splashed mud. Whatever they are, I do not believe she did not notice at first glance. The thing is that the pic she uploaded was of the whole tunic top and you cannot see those marks in there. Only at short distance, but if I wear it, everybody will see them as soon as they approach me, I am not being funny, but this is a white/cream top, so any stain will be clearly spotted at short distance! /rant over

got-it-spend-it

Could you list your pram requirements here Rups and we could make some suggestions? Does it need to fit in a certain size boot, be parent facing, foldable for the bus etc.....

Congrats on all the births, I know of two real life births in the last week too, it must be something in the water.

I had to go to out of hours last night for painkillers for my back and the MW who checked me out confirmed baby is still breech so my VBAC is looking less likely. I am fine with that though, as long as baby is okay that is the main thing. Anyone know at what point they book a c-section for breech? Very much doubt I would be offered an ECV.

Rups32

thanks got it spend it.. hmm i need to start thinking what we want.. we have a small car (Hyundai) and obv it needs to fit in there.. we are still discussing if we want the full travel system works. i thought we could get a seat and some adapters.. dh seems to think we are better off getting a car seat, plus the buggy with a carry cot and one which folds up easily. i am not sure what to get, ie one where baby faces me (that gets cancelled if we get a travel system right as we have the carry cot then?). aghh not sure yet... i think if we stick with travel system then we might be starting.

got-it-spend-it

Rups32 wrote: »

thanks got it spend it.. hmm i need to start thinking what we want.. we have a small car (Hyundai) and obv it needs to fit in there.. we are still discussing if we want the full travel system works. i thought we could get a seat and some adapters.. dh seems to think we are better off getting a car seat, plus the buggy with a carry cot and one which folds up easily. i am not sure what to get, ie one where baby faces me (that gets cancelled if we get a travel system right as we have the carry cot then?). aghh not sure yet... i think if we stick with travel system then we might be starting.

I really like the Mamas and Papas Sola http://www.mamasandpapas.com/range/sola/4928/ which my friend has for her little girl. We have the My 3 from Mothercare which we like but doesn't fold down very small http://www.mothercare.com/Mothercare-MyChoice-Pram-and-Pushchair-Chassis---3-Wheeler/993832,default,pd.html. Both can be used with a Maxi Cosi car seat. I'm sure other people will be along soon with their suggestions too!

LittleMoog

Rups, I'd second the recommendation to try an independent pram shop as well as mothercare/babiesRUs. Just googled for pram shops in Croydon and came up with this place. http://www.baby-nest.co.uk/brands.irc?cName=brands&pg=1

We ordered our pram at the Baby Show, but it was from a local independent shop, and the service was excellent. It's good to be able to compare lots of brands in the same place. You can always shop around for.bargains once you've narrowed it down to a few choices.

martafdz

I think you should think about these, Rups:

* Are you going to take the baby in the car often? If so, is it big enough for a belt styled car seat, or should you buy an isofix base? If you buy a travel system, you will be given an infant car seat, which is usually a belted one and which you will have to change before or around a year, depending of the size of the baby. If you use the car seat a lot, maybe it is worth buying an isofix base one, so when the baby needs a new one, you just buy one that can be fixed again to the base. Also, you need to consider how much room you have in the boot for the pram itself, and the carricot if you are thinking of one.

* Will you be using it on your own, or will you have your husband with you? If you will be using it on your own, and you plan to use the car, you will need to take the baby out easily, preferable with one hand. The convenience of the infant car seat of the travel system is that many of them allow you to take the car seat out with a single click, without having to move the baby, which is handy if s/he is sleeping. Also, if you are going to use it mainly on your own, you might want a light one that you can fold easily and put directly into the boot on your own. If your husband is going to be with you, this might not be important at all.

* Is your husband going to use it too? If he is going to use it often, you might want one that has extendible handles, if he is much taller than you.

* Are you going to use it when going shopping? If you are very likely to do that (I don't), then think about the size of the basket underneath.

* Are you going to use it for long walks? If so, then a carricot is best, but if you are only going to do short trips, maybe you are just fine with the infant car seat instead. They do not recommend that you use the infant car seat for long, but if your walks are likely to be like an hour or two at the most, maybe you can just go for the infant car seat (which will face you anyway). Specially if you have a moses at home. If you don't, maybe you could use the carricot for quick naps. If you are not going to use it for long walks, how important it is to have it front or rear facing?

* In what kind of surface will you use it the most? Some of them are more suitable for urban environments, others are made for uneven surfaces such as gravel paths, etc.

* For how long do you plan to use it? Check the weight requirements and minimums/maximums, if you plan to use it for a long time, then get one that allows for a higher weight. However, if you plan to have another baby within the next couple of years maybe this is not important because you might want to buy a double pram later on anyway.

* How much room have you got to store it? Can you store it open whilst at home? do you need to fold it every time? Do you need to get the car seat out every time? If so, can you leave the base on (otherwise you might have to go for a belted one)? How small do you need it to be when folded?


I cannot think of anything else, I am sure there is more stuff to consider, we just knew we were not going to use the pram that much, and we did not really look too much into it, I was more into the baby carrier.

ems2

Rups32 wrote: »

hi babymonster, thanks for that. i havent seen an independent pram shop around, but am sure there must be one in croydon. my mum keeps saying to check out mothercare as can get my cousins discount so we may do that but yeah still overwhelmed about it. need that a car seat asap then the rest of the stuff.

god i so cant be bothered to work today..sigh

I am in Croydon and newly pregnant with my 2nd. I am sure there is a baby/pram shop on the roundabout near Matalan/Homebase etc. There is a car lot on the actual roundabout Skoda maybe??
I haven't been in but remember passing it recently.

HTH

babymonster2

I'd agree with everything marta said

We used the carrycot on ours as a Moses basket for the first four months for daytime and nighttime sleeps so definitely worth it for us.

I never got the hang of baby carrier the first time but with two really ought to as can then restrain the elder one in the buggy if needed!

Ours has carrycot that converts to buggy attachment and can still face you when it's a buggy. We didn't bother with isofix but can definitely see the use, especially if you have a three door car as climbing across to fit the car seat in my sister's mini was a challenge to say the least! :rotfl:

Also added to what Marta said, do you plan on taking it on public transport?

That's rubbish about he top marta, she should just refund you :mad:

Rups32

wow thanks guys!! that is very helpful! thank you,:) i will have the car but i am sure i will also walk around, and go shopping. we have a moses basker so need to think about having to unclick the car seat etc easily.. will have a think about it now as am so knackered with work thinking. am cursing the girl who has given me her stupid work as she is away. grr