Having a Baby.... What do we NEED?
Discussion
Dan_1981 said:
Well things are progressing!
30 weeks.
Nursery furniture arrived today.
How the heck do you choose a mattress?!
IKEA. 2nd most expensive. Excellent mattress. I spent the night mostly in the cot when ratbag decided to roll into bed and refused to move. (Have taken one side of her big cot and put it next to our bed)30 weeks.
Nursery furniture arrived today.
How the heck do you choose a mattress?!
Likelyhood is you won't even use the nursery for the first 6 months.
Oh and ratty slept in the washing basket during the day for quite a while. Much easier to carry as had a pretty nasty c-section and everything was an arse.
Babies do not have to be expensive or difficult.
When teething rocks up, buy a Sophie Le Giraffe.
Massively over priced but seems to be utter magic. Actually- it's worth every penny as just works to chomp on. Invest in a 'lead' for her from eBay for about a quid. Means you won't be washing it all the time as it won't end up on the floor too much.
Massively over priced but seems to be utter magic. Actually- it's worth every penny as just works to chomp on. Invest in a 'lead' for her from eBay for about a quid. Means you won't be washing it all the time as it won't end up on the floor too much.
littlegreenfairy said:
We have a 6 month old. Bought virtually nothing to start with.
Isofix maxi cosi seat (the family fix is better. Can take the next size seat up) and a push chair chassis that can take them so you're not waking them up when you nip to the shop
Endless wet wipes. Aldi were good until pampers went on offer and were cheaper and now have several crates full. Buy them in bulk.
Endless muslins- the large ones and the small ones
Basic baby grows and vests.
Next to bed crib, No getting out at night,
Changing mat (as cheap as poss. And plastic for wipeability)
Bouncy chair - life saver.
Sudocream and calpol.
Sleep bags- these are bloody amazing.
Didn't bother with sterilisers/monitors and the rest of it. She's survived.
I assume you breastfed then? (no sterilisers)Isofix maxi cosi seat (the family fix is better. Can take the next size seat up) and a push chair chassis that can take them so you're not waking them up when you nip to the shop
Endless wet wipes. Aldi were good until pampers went on offer and were cheaper and now have several crates full. Buy them in bulk.
Endless muslins- the large ones and the small ones
Basic baby grows and vests.
Next to bed crib, No getting out at night,
Changing mat (as cheap as poss. And plastic for wipeability)
Bouncy chair - life saver.
Sudocream and calpol.
Sleep bags- these are bloody amazing.
Didn't bother with sterilisers/monitors and the rest of it. She's survived.
Nope. Well initially yes but it went really badly after lots of morphine, codeine, terrible advice and endless infections (welcome to mumsnet!)
To start with I just chucked the whole lot in with a sterilising tablet but they smelled so chemically that I gave up and just used hot water and soap. Had no issues- you just need to put a sensible head on and reduced risks (hand washing etc)
Making formula up- it's find to make it up the night before. So long as the milk powder has hit water that is 70 degrees and is well dissolved it's fine. Cool quickly and shove in fridge. The whole hot water thing is for the powder NOT to make sure the water is safe. If that makes sense.
I'm off to my cot now... Again.
To start with I just chucked the whole lot in with a sterilising tablet but they smelled so chemically that I gave up and just used hot water and soap. Had no issues- you just need to put a sensible head on and reduced risks (hand washing etc)
Making formula up- it's find to make it up the night before. So long as the milk powder has hit water that is 70 degrees and is well dissolved it's fine. Cool quickly and shove in fridge. The whole hot water thing is for the powder NOT to make sure the water is safe. If that makes sense.
I'm off to my cot now... Again.
Fair enough. Ours is mainly bottle feeding (10 weeks) and I generally wonder how closely people follow the sterilising routine.
Our steriliser says if the bottle is left in there you have to use it within 3 hours. It sterilises 4 bottles. Surely that suggests they think you are going to use 4 bottles in 3 hours???
Anyway, like you said, we are just applying common sense and good hygiene.
Our steriliser says if the bottle is left in there you have to use it within 3 hours. It sterilises 4 bottles. Surely that suggests they think you are going to use 4 bottles in 3 hours???
Anyway, like you said, we are just applying common sense and good hygiene.
Turns out I had been sterilising wrongly from the start and at that point thought 'bugger it, as if I haven't got enough to do' Why would I sterilise a bottle to within an inch of its life when she sucks our pet rabbit's ear? (He's put a stop to that. Disgusting humans)
Common sense gets you an awful long way with babies. You don't get a medal for being perfect but utterly exhausted and worried.
Just remember that the information you're given is aimed at the lowest denominator. Those who need spoon feeding the basics. They assume poor hygiene and pretty much the absolute lowest IQ and ability to comprehend. The hospital near us has its patient leaflets aimed at a reading age of 7..... Washing hands after the loo and not letting dogs lick the bottles are is a good start
I could go on for hours with what I saw in children's wards over the years but I am needing sleep after 1000 games of peek a boo.
You're doing fine.
Common sense gets you an awful long way with babies. You don't get a medal for being perfect but utterly exhausted and worried.
Just remember that the information you're given is aimed at the lowest denominator. Those who need spoon feeding the basics. They assume poor hygiene and pretty much the absolute lowest IQ and ability to comprehend. The hospital near us has its patient leaflets aimed at a reading age of 7..... Washing hands after the loo and not letting dogs lick the bottles are is a good start
I could go on for hours with what I saw in children's wards over the years but I am needing sleep after 1000 games of peek a boo.
You're doing fine.
Edited by littlegreenfairy on Thursday 15th September 23:16
littlegreenfairy said:
When teething rocks up, buy a Sophie Le Giraffe.
Massively over priced but seems to be utter magic. Actually- it's worth every penny as just works to chomp on.
Or, alternatively, don't. We did, based on the fact everyone said we should, and it wasn't touched once. Actually, my daughter sailed through teething (even broke a couple of back teeth during tonsilitis with little fuss) and the only thing we used were those teething granules a couple of times (much better than the gels)Massively over priced but seems to be utter magic. Actually- it's worth every penny as just works to chomp on.
wiggy001 said:
littlegreenfairy said:
When teething rocks up, buy a Sophie Le Giraffe.
Massively over priced but seems to be utter magic. Actually- it's worth every penny as just works to chomp on.
Or, alternatively, don't. We did, based on the fact everyone said we should, and it wasn't touched once. Actually, my daughter sailed through teething (even broke a couple of back teeth during tonsilitis with little fuss) and the only thing we used were those teething granules a couple of times (much better than the gels)Massively over priced but seems to be utter magic. Actually- it's worth every penny as just works to chomp on.
OP asked for what he NEEDS and 11 pages later we are still going.
To the OP:- you have an abundance of advise here of stuff you don't need. Just relax and let your instincts tell you what to do.
eltax91 said:
wiggy001 said:
littlegreenfairy said:
When teething rocks up, buy a Sophie Le Giraffe.
Massively over priced but seems to be utter magic. Actually- it's worth every penny as just works to chomp on.
Or, alternatively, don't. We did, based on the fact everyone said we should, and it wasn't touched once. Actually, my daughter sailed through teething (even broke a couple of back teeth during tonsilitis with little fuss) and the only thing we used were those teething granules a couple of times (much better than the gels)Massively over priced but seems to be utter magic. Actually- it's worth every penny as just works to chomp on.
OP asked for what he NEEDS and 11 pages later we are still going.
To the OP:- you have an abundance of advise here of stuff you don't need. Just relax and let your instincts tell you what to do.
I also said we found the granules better than the gels without making any suggestion to buy.
I agree with your last point though, and mentioned this in an earlier post about going with your instincts. But it's easy for your instinct to be swayed into making you buy a 15 quid plastic giraffe...
We're on day 3 with our newborn. Most of the stuff we'd planned and bought we havent needed yet. Maybe we will in future,I dont know. Right now it's pretty much baby grows,vests and blankets.
The biggest thing I've found that I as a bloke need to do is basically everything else. My wife's knackered, her tits hurt, she has pressure and pain up her back, her bum,her front, her shoulders, her arms. So she cant really do much. We had a quick birth, 2 hour labour, home the same day
Cot - ours is still sat there in the nursery. Moses basket - sat in the corner of the front room at the moment. The baby's lying on me while I type this, and I've packed Mum off for a few hours kip. She's been awake since around 6am Monday
Breastfeeding for us has been a massive pain in the arse for everyone. We've gone onto a bottle and formula today to give everyone a bit of an easier day, we'll work out tomorrow if expressing is going to be the way to go.
I remember reading on here somewhere once from a guy who said he didnt really have much to do on paternity leave. I'll be honest,I'm f
ked. I've done pretty much everything from ringing the parents at 3am to let them know they have a granddaughter, to cleaning the house, sorting the cats out, making food for me and my wife, changing the baby (that first poo is Guinness and treacle) doing the shopping, the ringing around saying thanks, the photos, the 'can you just pass me this' from my wife, the thank you cards, handling all the comments and replies on Facebook, and spending some skin to skin time with my daughter. I think I've probably had about 5 hours sleep this week so far.
The thing I've found is that my wife cant really move all that well, and I can tell it's frustrating her to not be able to do what she wants to do, and I can move a lot quicker so it's easier for both of us if I just do it.
So back to the OP - what I think you need is a lot of patience, some strong coffee, a want to work with your partner and the rest will kind of fall into place. For us right now it's just a case of getting through the first fortnight and seeing where we are
The biggest thing I've found that I as a bloke need to do is basically everything else. My wife's knackered, her tits hurt, she has pressure and pain up her back, her bum,her front, her shoulders, her arms. So she cant really do much. We had a quick birth, 2 hour labour, home the same day
Cot - ours is still sat there in the nursery. Moses basket - sat in the corner of the front room at the moment. The baby's lying on me while I type this, and I've packed Mum off for a few hours kip. She's been awake since around 6am Monday
Breastfeeding for us has been a massive pain in the arse for everyone. We've gone onto a bottle and formula today to give everyone a bit of an easier day, we'll work out tomorrow if expressing is going to be the way to go.
I remember reading on here somewhere once from a guy who said he didnt really have much to do on paternity leave. I'll be honest,I'm f
ked. I've done pretty much everything from ringing the parents at 3am to let them know they have a granddaughter, to cleaning the house, sorting the cats out, making food for me and my wife, changing the baby (that first poo is Guinness and treacle) doing the shopping, the ringing around saying thanks, the photos, the 'can you just pass me this' from my wife, the thank you cards, handling all the comments and replies on Facebook, and spending some skin to skin time with my daughter. I think I've probably had about 5 hours sleep this week so far. The thing I've found is that my wife cant really move all that well, and I can tell it's frustrating her to not be able to do what she wants to do, and I can move a lot quicker so it's easier for both of us if I just do it.
So back to the OP - what I think you need is a lot of patience, some strong coffee, a want to work with your partner and the rest will kind of fall into place. For us right now it's just a case of getting through the first fortnight and seeing where we are
Good on you for getting stuck in!
I did the same, my wife rested and I got stuff done.
Bottle feeding was the best decision we made.
I have a friend with a 5 week old now and they've decided they're not going to use a dummy, baby is up every hour or so and is very hard to settle, I'd suggest a funny would help!
I did the same, my wife rested and I got stuff done.
Bottle feeding was the best decision we made.
I have a friend with a 5 week old now and they've decided they're not going to use a dummy, baby is up every hour or so and is very hard to settle, I'd suggest a funny would help!
You might be misunderstanding me actually, I'm doing it because I want to, for me, our daughter and my wife.
I could pass it on to other women in the family but I didn't sign up for that
We'd probably bank those times for when we want to go put and need a babysitter or general help
I've got 2 weeks off so basically going to do as much as I can to help wife and daughter and spend some time with them
I could pass it on to other women in the family but I didn't sign up for that
We'd probably bank those times for when we want to go put and need a babysitter or general help
I've got 2 weeks off so basically going to do as much as I can to help wife and daughter and spend some time with them
Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff