Anyone due October???

What about the expensive stuff…for nursery? What are the basics...e.g. cot, drawers???

car seat you HAVE to buy new, so I've heard

I bought a new carseat but only coz Mum and Dad were paying Otherwise we would have had a Plunket rental. As long as you check the expiry date on the Safety seal and all the straps/harnesses etc. are intact and it hasn't been in an accident it should be fine. Although I don't know if I would buy a second hand carseat from someone I didn't know coz you never know the history.

One thing I just remembered, There is a car seat that has like a big plastic "T" thingy that goes in between the babys legs. I cant remember where I read it but these are bad for boys as it put undue pressure on his private parts.

We are getting our carseat from baby factory - ex-rental - they have to test them and all that before they can seel them.. so it's probably a heap safer than buying off the net, or out of the paper etc.. can never guarantee with that sorta thing that they haven't been in an accident.

For our cot, we used a portacot with Paris - with the basinette part.. it was all we could afford at the time, and never ended up getting a proper one. it was $179. was good cos we could pack it up and go anywhere and never had to worry that paris wasn't used to the bed she was sleeping in - cos it was her usual one!

we got a scotch chest of drawers for paris, and it fitted all of her stuff in it. we have just replaced it, and got the new baby a set the same.. mike had paris's "old" ones.

that's about it, cot, drawers, carseat, buggy. people give you heaps of rattles and clothes. a bouncer is good so you can stick bubba in it when you are cooking, also when you have to grab a shower and baby is awake (despite best intentions and planning, it WILL happen) it fits in the bathroom so you can keep an eye on bub the whole time. and we got given a soft playgym with the circle mat attached to it. from really early on we put paris under that and she loved it, it was a godsend.

you really can get away without spending a complete fortune.. unless you WANT to, that is.. there's nothing wrong with shopping.. lol.

most hospitals give you nighties and cloth naps to dress baby in... so you don't actually need stuff for the hospital - its easier to use theirs.. that way ou have no washing to do when baby gets home.. plus, sometimes if you change baby, and something gets mixed up accidently with the hospital washing, it can be a nightmare to get back.. use their stuff!!

we put our cot and buggy down on layby at 8 wks with Paris. go for it.. it may seem so far away.. but boy does it go fast!!!!

Thanks Janine, you just made me feel better! I thought I was the only nutter that laybyed things almost as soon as I found out I was pregnant!

The first thing I laybyed was some blankets and clothes at K-Mart when I was about 8-9 weeks, then I laybyed the pram just after 3 mths, then the cot etc. later on.

Maya's godmother bought her a flash baby gym from farmers, it's a mat with a tunnel and it cost her $90, but Maya loved it soooo much. I got it out again a few weeks ago when a friends baby came over, and Maya and her little friends were more into it than the baby

Here in West Auckland our liquor sales are administrated by a trust which means they have to put a % of money back into the community, so they run a scheme where you can get a brand new carseat for $25 when you have a baby. You just have to take baby's birth cert and proof of address within the first 3 mths of birth. I didn't live here when Maya was born, but it is something for us to think about next time round.

Oh, and I never thought about taking the bouncer into the bathroom with me, what a great idea! I just used to leave Maya in the cot with the mobile going so I knew she was safe. The mobile was another great purchase, cost about $35 but Maya would lay and watch it for ages.

Use the Fly Buys points. Then you can tell family and friends what you already have so they can get you things that you don't have already.

I got the playgym for Jayde from Flybuys. They have different stuff on special every month on their website. So you have a bit of time if you want to wait until the things that you want require less points.

That car-seat scheme sounds really good.. i spose, it is a way to ensure that all babies travel in one - even those from families that could not afford one. if only they did that everywhere.

I did not know that about the flybuys having different specials and stuff.. i have never really looked - mike says we are saving ours for a new cordless phone, our old one stopped working and i have been tied to the wall with our other crappy phone ever since. the cordless was so great when paris came along.. meant i could feed her and still talk.. have it beside me just in case etc.

oh yeah, YAYAYAY, mike talked his mum into the buggy, we get it next weekend.