MSE Pregnancy Club 27

becsxxx

Kynthia wrote: »

No I have an antenatal appointment tomorrow so i'll mention it there. It was funny looking at pictures of other people's 'show' on the internet, nearly put me off my dinner! :rotfl:

the things we do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

con1888

Thanks for the bottle advice again. I've not had much info in the way of feeding at all, my MW knows I want to try bf, she isn't pushy either way, at every visit she says, ' I'll tick the bf reminder box as I know you're willing to give it a go' and that's it. Which I am happy with as I feel if they were pushy it would put me off ( not that I wouldn't try it but I would feel forced which would annoy me).

I guess i'll see how I get on and take it from there. If we do bottle feed I would rather make a few up at a time for easiness as that's what everyone else seems to do but would check the current guidelines to make sure I am doing it correctly.

con1888

Also meant to mention I got my emmas diary packs, had all 3 to get, so lots of nice freebies. Our boots didn't have any in stock but argos did.

I also got a gym ball, am I too early to be using it ? I'm 32 weeks atm and picked it up as was out and about. If I am not too early to use it - what am I supposed to do on it lol ?? Clueless!!!!

lushlifesaver

squ1rrel5 wrote: »

Is child benefit the one that's a measly £20 a week?

Yeah £20.33 for your first child and less than that for each subsequent child - not much really but enough to cover some basic needs/supplies!


With regards to Child Tax Credits I think we'd get the £2300 (and something) band if bf wasn't disabled ... guess we will just have to wait and see what the calculation comes back as once she arrives! With her due 28th March its near enough the end of the tax year anyway so not sure what they would do about that little overlap - whether we'd get the last weeks worth for the 13/14 tax year or not...won't hold my breath though!

becsxxx

this is quite helpful:
http://www.mumsnet.com/jobs/child-benefit-changes

it appears child benefit relates to "adjusted net income" not gross income - ie: can take off pension contributions and childcare vouchers, so when I'm back at work this will be really helpful

polka_dots_3

Mysecretalias - Its good to know I'm not alone although obvs not good that you're suffering too. I've been seing a physio since Oct and it has helped a lot, it was definately worth the extra pain initially. Hope it works for you and I'd second the recommendation for physio for Robotsindisguse

Con1888 - I want a babycarrier for dogwalks too. Hubby thinks I'll change my mind as soon as I actually have to carry the baby lol.

Becsxxx - Good to know about the boots event, I'm still waiting on my voucher so fingers crossed it comes in time to get the deal.

squ1rrel5

Just done a quick tax credits calculation. Unfortunately we're not entitled to anything!!
Out of all my friends, hubby and I probably earn the least so thought we might get something (I even did a second calculation based on me going back to work part time and paying childcare costs and STILL not entitled!!) so looks like it's just the normal child benefit plus rubbish mat pay!! Good job I'm a good bargain hunter... This year the scrimping and saving will really start!!

LannieDuck

becs: Wrt child benefit, don't they give you full child benefit when you're between £50-60k and then you have to give back a proportion at the end of the year? That's why so many people had to do self assessment forms for the first time this year. So at the end of the year they can see that your earnings weren't above £60k this year, and you should be able to keep some of it.

Wrt childcare vouchers - definitely worth doing if you can. They get deducted from your salary as a 'benefit in kind' before tax comes off, so you don't pay tax on that segment. Saves me about £1000/year (although higher-rate tax payers can only do it for a slightly smaller amount each month, so your savings may be a little less).

Bonus advantages are that it reduces your nominal salary for child benefit purposes, and you continue to get vouchers throughout subsequent maternity leaves (even when you're on the months of 0 pay, because it's a 'non-pay benefit'!)... but it also reduces your nominal salary for pension purposes. So you have to weigh up the pros and cons.

becsxxx

LannieDuck - thanks for that. I definitely think i'll claim then for tax year 2014-2015 at the very least then. With bonus and potentially a payrise, when I'm back at work it may not be worth it, but will need to assess when i can see what my net salary is at that time.

Definitely keen to get childcare vouchers and DH can get these through his work too

LannieDuck

There must be guidance on child benefit for people on maternity leave, if only in an FAQ or similar... I'm just not sure where to find it!