Having a Baby.... What do we NEED?
Discussion
Adam B said:
Only piece of advice I can add is buy all the baby advice books you can and 3 Gina Fords....
And stick them in a pile and burn them - load of b
ks
Have a routine, one you want, stick to it, make baby fit in with it not the other war round, apply commons sense
The first 3 months are st, then it gets bearable, after 9-12 months it's bloody brilliant
This man knows! Ignore every bit of well meant advice, suggestions from the in laws, baby whisperers, things you read on Mumsnet .. every baby is different and the best thing is for mum and dad to be a united front deciding what's best and sticking to it. And stick them in a pile and burn them - load of b
ksHave a routine, one you want, stick to it, make baby fit in with it not the other war round, apply commons sense
The first 3 months are s
t, then it gets bearable, after 9-12 months it's bloody brilliantEdited by Adam B on Thursday 25th August 11:40
essayer said:
Adam B said:
Only piece of advice I can add is buy all the baby advice books you can and 3 Gina Fords....
And stick them in a pile and burn them - load of bks
Have a routine, one you want, stick to it, make baby fit in with it not the other war round, apply commons sense
The first 3 months are st, then it gets bearable, after 9-12 months it's bloody brilliant
This man knows! Ignore every bit of well meant advice, suggestions from the in laws, baby whisperers, things you read on Mumsnet .. every baby is different and the best thing is for mum and dad to be a united front deciding what's best and sticking to it. And stick them in a pile and burn them - load of b
ksHave a routine, one you want, stick to it, make baby fit in with it not the other war round, apply commons sense
The first 3 months are s
t, then it gets bearable, after 9-12 months it's bloody brilliantEdited by Adam B on Thursday 25th August 11:40
Everyone and I mean everyone will know better. Ignore them.
Pick a routine, and stick to it. Baby will be fine.
Adam B said:
Only piece of advice I can add is buy all the baby advice books you can and 3 Gina Fords....
And stick them in a pile and burn them - load of bks
Have a routine, one you want, stick to it, make baby fit in with it not the other war round, apply commons sense
The first 3 months are st, then it gets bearable, after 9-12 months it's bloody brilliant
Agree on the books.And stick them in a pile and burn them - load of b
ksHave a routine, one you want, stick to it, make baby fit in with it not the other war round, apply commons sense
The first 3 months are s
t, then it gets bearable, after 9-12 months it's bloody brilliantAside from the sleep, I have loved every minute. Each phase has it's delights for me.
The joys just changed. Walking, talking, etc are all great, but so is the knowledge that they don't move much at 3 months.
We got tomee tipee bottles as you go up sizes in the teets from 1 to 3 and you just buy new teets rather than full new bottles. The TT steriliser that can handle 6 bottles worked well for us too.
Not sure if it's an approved method but I used to sterilise the bottles and say for example you were up to 6fl oz per feed, pre pour 5fl Oz of boiling water then store them with the lids on in a cupboard. when you need a bottle just pop a fresh fl Oz of boiling water in along with the powder and it was at perfect temp rather than waiting for it to cool down.
Not read all 9 pages but muslins! Buy an absolute crap load of them and then when you think you will have enough double it for good measure. I counted ours one day we had 52!
You dont need to buy the fancy pampers, Aldi nappies are just as good at a fraction of the cost, and if your paying more than £1 per pack for wipes you are paying too much, bulk buy these!
Get your relatives to only buy outfits in the 6-9 month sizes, you will not want to faff around when they are a couple of months old putting them in dresses or nice clothing only for them to chunder down the front of them 30 seconds later. Grows all the way in first few months.
Not sure if it's an approved method but I used to sterilise the bottles and say for example you were up to 6fl oz per feed, pre pour 5fl Oz of boiling water then store them with the lids on in a cupboard. when you need a bottle just pop a fresh fl Oz of boiling water in along with the powder and it was at perfect temp rather than waiting for it to cool down.
Not read all 9 pages but muslins! Buy an absolute crap load of them and then when you think you will have enough double it for good measure. I counted ours one day we had 52!
You dont need to buy the fancy pampers, Aldi nappies are just as good at a fraction of the cost, and if your paying more than £1 per pack for wipes you are paying too much, bulk buy these!
Get your relatives to only buy outfits in the 6-9 month sizes, you will not want to faff around when they are a couple of months old putting them in dresses or nice clothing only for them to chunder down the front of them 30 seconds later. Grows all the way in first few months.
Haha, yep, they love to do the Andrew puppy advert and pull the toilet roll all over the house.
You'll buy all the toys under the sun, then find you never actually use them bar a few. Same with clothes, my missus pretty bought out Next in 3mnth baby clothes then all ours did was live in grow bags, as it was such a pain to put her in clothes.
We've got a video monitor, I think it's great! But our little un has silent reflux, FPIES (think allergies) and major Gastro issues linked to an IBD so for those times it good to keep a close eye.
We've so far gone through 9 prams (stokkes and bugaboos), only have 2 now, a stokke xplory and a mamas and papas XT flip. The Flip XT is great! Also been through 3car seats, a cybex Aton Q but we got a Cybex Sirona in both cars. Had 3 cots etc.
Probably best advice I can add is buy a SleepHead! Greatest thing we've ever bought ever!!! Sleeps great now at 19months old.
You'll buy all the toys under the sun, then find you never actually use them bar a few. Same with clothes, my missus pretty bought out Next in 3mnth baby clothes then all ours did was live in grow bags, as it was such a pain to put her in clothes.
We've got a video monitor, I think it's great! But our little un has silent reflux, FPIES (think allergies) and major Gastro issues linked to an IBD so for those times it good to keep a close eye.
We've so far gone through 9 prams (stokkes and bugaboos), only have 2 now, a stokke xplory and a mamas and papas XT flip. The Flip XT is great! Also been through 3car seats, a cybex Aton Q but we got a Cybex Sirona in both cars. Had 3 cots etc.
Probably best advice I can add is buy a SleepHead! Greatest thing we've ever bought ever!!! Sleeps great now at 19months old.
Dr Murdoch said:
Rear facing at 3/4?
Where do their legs go?
I think the seats mostly are not flush against the vehicle seat they're placed on, therefore allowing some fairly 'conventional' legroom - few pics here: http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/gallery.php#pics the first few are 1 year olds and then there are some older/bigger children. Where do their legs go?
The tallest kid I know was estimated from some sort of growth scan at 4 to be projected to be 6'5" as an adult, he was about 7 year old height at that age, cannot imagine he'd have been anywhere NEAR fitting in such a seat past about 2 and a half, obviously not possible for every constellation of child/family/vehicle, but the evidence safety wise seems quite firm. You does your best with what you can get…
One other thing you need: contraception. Otherwise, you'll be having another one about 9.5 months after the first one arrives. That's not good from a maternity pay perspective.
Oh, and prams / pushchairs: The larger MacLarens are suitable from about 9 months up to the point where they don't need one anymore. This saves you buying progressively larger pushchairs. If you want something more sporty so mum can jog with baby, try the Jane Slalom Pro - very easy to run with
Oh, and prams / pushchairs: The larger MacLarens are suitable from about 9 months up to the point where they don't need one anymore. This saves you buying progressively larger pushchairs. If you want something more sporty so mum can jog with baby, try the Jane Slalom Pro - very easy to run with
DavidJG said:
One other thing you need: contraception. Otherwise, you'll be having another one about 9.5 months after the first one arrives. That's not good from a maternity pay perspective.
Oh, and prams / pushchairs: The larger MacLarens are suitable from about 9 months up to the point where they don't need one anymore. This saves you buying progressively larger pushchairs. If you want something more sporty so mum can jog with baby, try the Jane Slalom Pro - very easy to run with
Oh, and prams / pushchairs: The larger MacLarens are suitable from about 9 months up to the point where they don't need one anymore. This saves you buying progressively larger pushchairs. If you want something more sporty so mum can jog with baby, try the Jane Slalom Pro - very easy to run with
There's a damn good reason the midwife will try to have that conversation with you before you leave the hospital with a new baby! Not everyone will be up for it and not every newborn's sleep 'schedule' (ahaha) will accommodate it, but those who can… yeah, have arrangements in hand!
dazwalsh said:
We got tomee tipee bottles as you go up sizes in the teets from 1 to 3 and you just buy new teets rather than full new bottles. The TT steriliser that can handle 6 bottles worked well for us too.
Not sure if it's an approved method but I used to sterilise the bottles and say for example you were up to 6fl oz per feed, pre pour 5fl Oz of boiling water then store them with the lids on in a cupboard. when you need a bottle just pop a fresh fl Oz of boiling water in along with the powder and it was at perfect temp rather than waiting for it to cool down.
Not read all 9 pages but muslins! Buy an absolute crap load of them and then when you think you will have enough double it for good measure. I counted ours one day we had 52!
You dont need to buy the fancy pampers, Aldi nappies are just as good at a fraction of the cost, and if your paying more than £1 per pack for wipes you are paying too much, bulk buy these!
Get your relatives to only buy outfits in the 6-9 month sizes, you will not want to faff around when they are a couple of months old putting them in dresses or nice clothing only for them to chunder down the front of them 30 seconds later. Grows all the way in first few months.
Quoting this as it is good advice, but just to add on the bottle front that we found after a few weeks that our daughter actually preferred the bottle at room temperature so we just put the right amount of boiled water in the bottle, let it cool, then added the milk when we needed it. Saved a lot of hassle getting the bottle to the "right" temperature when she is screaming for food.Not sure if it's an approved method but I used to sterilise the bottles and say for example you were up to 6fl oz per feed, pre pour 5fl Oz of boiling water then store them with the lids on in a cupboard. when you need a bottle just pop a fresh fl Oz of boiling water in along with the powder and it was at perfect temp rather than waiting for it to cool down.
Not read all 9 pages but muslins! Buy an absolute crap load of them and then when you think you will have enough double it for good measure. I counted ours one day we had 52!
You dont need to buy the fancy pampers, Aldi nappies are just as good at a fraction of the cost, and if your paying more than £1 per pack for wipes you are paying too much, bulk buy these!
Get your relatives to only buy outfits in the 6-9 month sizes, you will not want to faff around when they are a couple of months old putting them in dresses or nice clothing only for them to chunder down the front of them 30 seconds later. Grows all the way in first few months.
Asda nappies from day one for us, tesco more recently. We tried others including Pampers but they were nowhere near as good and much more expensive.
Supermarkets are also excellent for clothes - they look decent enough and are very cheap. You won't then resent a few outfits from Mothercare/Next/Ted Baker when visiting family etc.
Some people say a changing unit is a waste of money. We got a wooden one where the "frame" that holds the mat in place is removeable so now we have a nice enough wooden cupboard/drawers in our daughters room. If you have any sort of back issues then changing them on a unit is so much easier.
Also, not sure if it's been mentioned, but don't tiptoe around the baby when they are asleep - I know parents who literally whisper when the baby is asleep and a pin dropping will wake them... our daughter sleeps through thunderstorms as we've never make the house completely silent when she sleeps.
For the hospital bag, make sure you have baby grows in various sizes for when the baby is born. The vary alot in size and "newborn" isn't big enough for a 10lb 11oz baby! Also, take every opportunity to sleep that you can. Our daughter was born by c-section at 2am so when my wifes family came to the hospital the following night, I nipped home for 3 hours sleep. It felt selfish at the time but meant I was able to take over throughout the night and let my wife sleep.
Microwave sterlisers are not only quick and easy, but you can store it in the microwave which will save space for all the bottles, formula, jars and other stuff you'll be filling your kitchen up with.
Lastly, during those first 2 weeks, whenever you pop to the shop to pick something up (because you will run out of nappies/wipes/milk/bread...) buy double! I think I "popped to the shop" about a dozen times in the first fortnight. Don't underestimate the amount of tea you'll get through as the visitors heard through your house! Although, on that note, we insisted on no visitors for the first day we were home.
However, as already mentioned, all you NEED is to enjoy the time with your baby. It's a cliche but the time really does disappear quickly (especially for the parent going back to work).
wiggy001 said:
Quoting this as it is good advice, but just to add on the bottle front that we found after a few weeks that our daughter actually preferred the bottle at room temperature so we just put the right amount of boiled water in the bottle, let it cool, then added the milk when we needed it. Saved a lot of hassle getting the bottle to the "right" temperature when she is screaming for food.
This is the best advice. Both of ours, we pre-boiled the water and just added powder when needed, served at room temperature. If they like it warm you have the issue of how to make it warm when out and about instead of just stuff a bottle in their mouths. As they got older we pre-made the formula as well and left it on a window sill. You will ask yourself why you are still sterilising after you have picked up a bottle/toy/mobile phone from the floor and given it to them and it goes straight into their mouth (again).
Oh and get the Ikea High chair.
essayer said:
the best thing is for mum and dad to be a united front deciding what's best and sticking to it.
This is good.The thing we realised after a while is that your baby hasn't read any of the books...
Is Mrs Dan1981 can manage booby feeding its the best.
Of all the stuff we bought, the one thing that has been the best is the Ikea Hensvik Changing unit.
Mam bottles... no need for a separate steriliser, they sterilise in the microwave.
Muslins.
More muslins.
Bigger muslins.
We've used our travel system loads, but know others that haven't.
Ewan the dream sheep.
And we love this thing, http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3... The music is actually nice, which is great when they're in your room and does some soft lighting to distract the littluns.
Muslins.
More muslins.
Bigger muslins.
We've used our travel system loads, but know others that haven't.
Ewan the dream sheep.
And we love this thing, http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3... The music is actually nice, which is great when they're in your room and does some soft lighting to distract the littluns.
Just to add...
Tell your wife/gf on a regular basis how amazing she is/looks during pregnancy.
Don't EVER complain about being woken up in the middle of the night by a barking dog or anything! Also, just in case, go to Sainsbury's and buy a few packets of the fruit flavoured antacids for heartburn.
When she gives birth to your child, look on in amazement and wonder if any achievement you ever manage in life would ever come close. (I think if I sprouted wings and done a couple of laps of the moon it wouldn't come close)
Thank her (preferably not with snotters and tears running down your face, but hey, whatever works for you right..)
Some have already said ignore everyone else and find your own routine... I'll go a step further than that and say let your wife find the routine and then YOU stick to it too. Makes everything so much easier for Mum, Dad & Baby (IMO)
Eta - picking up on the last two posts - yes, get Ewan the Dream Sheep! and we were the same up until 6 weeks re muslins, we just used bibs for any sick....now at 8 months we have dozens of muslin cloths!!
Tell your wife/gf on a regular basis how amazing she is/looks during pregnancy.
Don't EVER complain about being woken up in the middle of the night by a barking dog or anything! Also, just in case, go to Sainsbury's and buy a few packets of the fruit flavoured antacids for heartburn.
When she gives birth to your child, look on in amazement and wonder if any achievement you ever manage in life would ever come close. (I think if I sprouted wings and done a couple of laps of the moon it wouldn't come close)
Thank her (preferably not with snotters and tears running down your face, but hey, whatever works for you right..)
Some have already said ignore everyone else and find your own routine... I'll go a step further than that and say let your wife find the routine and then YOU stick to it too. Makes everything so much easier for Mum, Dad & Baby (IMO)
Eta - picking up on the last two posts - yes, get Ewan the Dream Sheep! and we were the same up until 6 weeks re muslins, we just used bibs for any sick....now at 8 months we have dozens of muslin cloths!!
Edited by ikarl on Friday 26th August 14:36
eybic said:
It's claimed that the women folk are at their most fertile just after having a baby 
It's a formal warning given before you leave the hospital in our case. Didn't matter to me, I had just watched three staff hold my wife by the shoulders whilst a doctor pulled a 3 ft long, 3" diameter blue squid from my wife with a pair of forceps around her head in an operating theatre.'Stick a few extra stitches in there, whilst you're at it' did not go down very well....
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