Hi all,

I am a fellow graduate of the YAYW website (only realised this existed a few days ago!!) and hope to 'meet' new peeps and get some valuable advice from all you lovely ladies!!!

Just a bit of background from me...I am 19+4 with my first baby. after suffering with severe endo for 6 years and about to go in for an operation for it last year, the nurse says we can't do your op because your pregnant!! after being told I would never fall preganat naturally (and having no symptoms at all) this was a huge but welcome shock...but I know nothing about babies and would welcome some pointers, particulary what to buy in preperation and what needs to be done at what time!!

thanks for reading!!

Cheryl x

hullo!

Right I would say some nappies, and a moses basket or crib are essentials. and some nappy wipes - cotton wool and water, which is what i was told to use, is very time consuming and i really prefer the wipes.
You need to decide if you'll be using disposable nappies or reusable, and you will probably need a changing station, either a baby bath or a seat for in your bath some towels, and a chest of drawers.

some baby grows and vests are essential, but you probably wont need much else for the first couple of months....


will you be breast or formula feeding? Its prob best regardless to buy a steriliser and some bottles just in case, and some nipple cream...... oh and feeding bras and breast pads... erm.....

Ollie is my first, and he's 7 months now. I was told I'd proably never concieve naturally and here he is

I never read a book or a site for information, and have literally just been going along learning what to do.

If you want anymore help just oller (that is of course if i have been any help! :lol: )

xxxx

thanks both, its always good to hear from other people, and Steph, thats the best list I've seen so definitely printing it out at work tomorrow!!

C xx

oh good list Stephe.

Hi there sca438 - just a couple of things to add to the list. For you - MATERNITY PADS - not glamorous but essential I used Boots ones 99p a pack.

For baby - a car seat!!!!, possibly a pram depending how much you want to be out and about, BIBS feeding is a messy thing.

I would also say get a load of Muslin squares - they are so useful for everything just wiping up anything and everything!

Hope that helps, like stephe said you will learn as you go - my little one Max is now 4 and a bit weeks (he was 6 weeks early so still shouldn't really be here) and we weren't ready for him but we have picked things up as we have gone along!

thanks CC. i completely forgot those essentials.
Maternity pads are absolutley vital. Normal pads just dont cut it.... and buy more than you think just in case..... i bled for 6 weeks solid, had 3 days off then a seriously heavy first period where i still used my mat pads! :lol: sorry tmi

A car seat is a must, if you can get a surestart grant, or money from other people as baby presents maybe put them all together and get a travel system, you can get some good ones at reasonable prices

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.202-8298.aspx
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.202-1088.aspx
just two from tescos

I'd gree with the bibs, but i never really got on well with muslins. I just tend to use kitchen roll (saves on washing, you'll ave enough of that anyway! :lol: ) Maybe buy a couple and see how you go with them.

another thing i thought of last night - wether you shop there or not why not join the tesco and morrisons and asda baby clubs - you get great deals with the tesco one and i assume with the others too - and if you join huggies, pampers, cow and gate, hipp, boots and bounty, and others you get money off vouchers and other freebies (esp from hipp and boots!) which all help a little.

dont feel pressured into buying a cot or a bed or wardrobe too early, you dont really need them until 6 months giving you a vital 6 months to save up!
We got ours all together and found we struggled for room for a month or so until we got organised! he he he
We also didnt go for the big brand names so we managed to save hundreds there. We got a fab chest of drawers from ikea, and they will last for many many years as they're solid wood, large and deep (will see if i can post a pic)




but we got ours in rustic brown.....

another thing - unless you really want dont buy childrens furniture (exceptof course the cot) - its not made to last and they will grow out of it so quickly - whereas if you get basic adult furniture you can (when theyve grown up) sand it paint it any colour - and have fun together while doing it - or even buy them something they really want and have it yourself! (sorry!)


CC - we thought we were ready for ollie, he was a week late an the day they let me out of hospital i changed my mind about everything (nappies towels etc) and we had to go shopping! :lol: :lol:

xxxxxx

[Modified by: Stephe Yeadon on January 05, 2008 11:23 AM]

oh also (can you tell I keep thinking about this! :lol: might be obvious but sheets and blankets for your crib/basket etc - get lots of spares - we had a night of it last night with lo being sick between every feed so we had to change the bed about 5 times, it was lucky that we had had blankets as pressies from people or we would have struggled!!!!

Hi
Thanks for all the info, I don't think I have enough sheets, will get hubby to take me out tomorrow quickly,got loads of blankets all different shapes and sizes. I agree with Stephe about furniture thankfully we have built in wardrobe in lo room, so just bought a cot/bed and a large chest of drawers which is wide enough for changing mat. Also something that my husband said because I've had summer babies before, do we need to have the heating on 24/7 as its cold? x

Traci - we don't have the heating on 24/7 - basically if you feel warm enough then it should be warm enough for the baby with vest and gro on. Just feel baby on chest or back of neck to check they are warm (ignore their hands and feet as they are often cold!)

But no you shouldn't need the heating on constantly!

Hiya Stephe

Love the chest of drawers been looking for something similar Was it expensive and does it come in different colours thank you x x x

hiya again -
we do have the heating on constantly at the moment but thats only coz heres it reaches -4 every night at the mo and we have a cold house (it takes 3 days with the heating on constantly to get it to increase from 14C to 18C....)
normally(when its not this bloody cold), esp in summer we dont have the heating on much if at all (summer the house gets far too hot! Just cant win :lol: )
if you use those gro bags (but no need to buy the name, any brand will do ) they usully have a tog rating on them, and were finding that a 1tog is more than enough - sometimes too much - in summer, and a 3.5 tog is ok in winter (if we dont have the heating on and the temp in bubs room reaches below 16 i put a blanket over him too)


Thats another good thing CC. God i never actually realiised how much stuff a baby needs.
they can throw up so many times during the day and sometimes weve gone through at least 6 baby gros, I must admit, I used to have two sheet i put over the cot heet so that i lo was sick i could take that top sheet off, ~(and if the bottom one was dry) i dint need to change the other.
Sometimes tho, a baby will just be sick. Everywhere. And 20 changes of clothes later they will still be sick....
The joys of motherhood

xxxx


Woodsarah - when we got it we managed to get it in the sale (the jan sales! but they have run out of brown i thnk) and it cost us ??120 for it. It is comepletely solid wood, no fibreboard, or plywood anywhere in it and it is a brill size.

I think they only do it in white or almost black now.

Thanks for the reply what a bargin gutted they dont have my colour I really like it x x

Thanks for your replies, very helpful, I will get a few gro bags as our house is often cold in the night. Thanks again xx