Surf-Mat and Mastiles – no more fighting here, please.

mastiles – OK. Sounds like we'll just set about finding out some other way.

mrsflash – George has had just the same. Not even been weighed for ages, and couldn't have an appt this week because they'd run out of bookings *sigh* (no thought given to (likely) cancellations.

NCT sounds useful, though it's all bundled into a whole day, so will be shattering I think. Day before Hit the North, so I'll prob arrive for the race done in..!

Am getting a bit giddy with excitement, but that's because I'm a big kid.

I meant to explain the Number 3 before: not third child, just the third person in our current group of two. And three is a magic number….

MF

People want to be able to buy the best they can afford

Not in our case. I just don't feel able to justify spending money on something that carries a baby. IF there were clear safety reasons for one pushchair over another I'd buy a 10k one (for cash).

…there isn't though. Most of the travel systems are HEAVY and the USP's aren't what I'd consider to be justifying the extra costs.

Nothing wrong with buying the best. My point is that the expensive stuff is very often not the best and hence a waste of money.

Agreed, but of course it depends what criteria you set out for being the 'best' in the first place.

Does it fold easily the best?

Does it fit in my car the best?

Is the the lightest?

*Generally* the 'best' are more expensive but I totally agree that THE most expensive is not necessarily THE best. For example, we originally wanted a Mountain Buggy as we had heard they were the best, but the double we needed was massive and stood no chance of fitting in our car. So we got an ABC Designs 'Zoom' which was more expensive but overall inferior to the Mountain Buggy – but it was 'best' for our needs.

Now we have a second-hand Nipper 360 Twin because it is now the best for our needs.

we found that babies aren't quite as expensive as we had feared..

I persuaded the other half to give up drinking and smoking and that has pretty much covered the costs..

I think not being weighed is current guidelines, I haven’t been weighed since booking in – I have a feeling they only do it if they think it’s an issue.

Another reason to go with the sling, since you can put off shelling out on a pushchair til you know how things are going and you'll have better idea of what you want.

I gave up drinking and smoking and that has pretty much covered the costs.

Word!

The lack of going-out expenses will easily cover the cost of junior.

Baby Bjorn active sling is good for potentially sore backs – one of our most used baby purchases.

That's what I thought, and thats what we've got – and was the case for the first two.

I can only assume that carrying around near 10lb from day one is the cause rather than the carrier. Or maybe cumulative wear'n'tear! Or possibly you have an expanded idea of what is and isn't possible (or advisable) with the baby in the sling.. you're so worried about breaking the first you barely move, by no. 3 you're digging the garden, pulling out tree stumps, living normally really.

Uluru – I think you worry too much, ours have survived with no noticeable defects.

The lack of going-out expenses will easily cover the cost of junior.

You obviously had cheap nights out! 😆

People buy baby stuff that fits in the the rest of their possessions and their aspirations. Whether its VFM or not is hardly relevant. Does it matter? I would say not, so long as its fit for purpose.

You obviously had cheap nights out!

????

Do you mean expensive nights out?

See what a crying nipper does to your thinking/concentration Chakaping? 😐

Yes I suppose I did. But I now only go out once or twice a month, so even if I'd only previously spent £20 a night – and gone out twice a week – it'd still be a fair bit of wedge.

Ours have survived with no noticeable defects

Plural of anecdote is not data!

There are other carriers out there that don't have the same risks so why buy something that is not so good.

My daughter had hip dysplasia, so I admit I researched carriers more than I would have otherwise, but the crotch was never designed to be a weight bearing area.

Even if people are prepared to accept those risks that's fine, doesn't mean they shouldn't inform themselves

One average evening out easily covers the weekly cost of running a rugrat surely?!

If not then I imagine your nights out may be slightly different to mine..

Must admit- spent £20 on a night out? Were you a non-alcohol drinker? 😉

The lack of going-out expenses will easily cover the cost of junior.

Listen, it's been bad enough that, as the result of Mrs North being so ill at the start of her pregnancy, I haven't been to the theatre since December. I'm not sure I can give that up forever…!

(Not quite being a smartarse – our going out is food and entertainment; we barely drink and neither of us smokes.)

I must admit that the lack of going out does help somewhat, although I do enjoy a bottle or two of beer most nights now instead – so that comes to about £30 a month as opposed to the £100+ a week I was spending.

And HSBC have saved a fortune and saved millions of trees too – my bank statements are now about 4 lines long each month as opposed to four pages…

I haven't been to the theatre since December

Oh Mr Darcy enquires after your wife sir.

Haven't read all of this thread but it reminds me of when Mrs T was expecting our first. I couldn't believe the cost of prams and pushchairs that she was quoting to me. I only registered a flicker of interest when she said that you could get some made by McLaren (I had visions of some titanium and carbon fibre loveliness designed by an F1 team). Then one afternoon, I happened to be looking through an Argos catalogue and chanced upon a selection of pushchairs that were literally 20% of the cost of ones that my wife had quoted. I excitedly wrote down the product number of the flashest looking one and suggested that we go to Argos to get it asap. Wiping tears of restrained laughter from her eyes, she then pointed out that they were children's dolls prams…….
The shame. I've never lived it down since.
Best thing we bought though was a Jack Wolfskin rucksack style baby carrier. Had loads of use out of that. Four kids later, it still looks like new.
Whenever I've mentioned the cost of babies to older parents, the usual reply is "Wait until they get older…."

at £4K for a DH bike that gets ridden for about 20min a month at a min cost of £100 each time if I'm lucky. babies cost very little in comparison

I hope you have both prepared for this….

FOLLOW THESE 14 SIMPLE TESTS BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO HAVE CHILDREN.

Test 1 – Preparation

Women: To prepare for pregnancy:-

1. Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2. Leave it there.

3. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.

Men: To prepare for children:-

1. Go to a local chemist, tip the contents of your wallet onto the
counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself
2. Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to
their head office.
3. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.

Test 2 – Knowledge

Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their
methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance
levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild. Suggest
ways in which
they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table
manners and overall behavior.
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all
the answers.

Test 3 – Nights

To discover how the nights will feel:

1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag
weighing approximately 4 – 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some
other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to
sleep.
3. Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast.

Keep this up for 5 years. LOOK CHEERFUL.

Test 4 – Dressing Small Children

1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hang
out.
Time Allowed: 5 minutes.

Test 5 – Cars

1. Forget the BMW. Buy a practical 5-door wagon.
2. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
Test 6 – Going For a Walk

Wait
Go out the front door
Come back in again
Go out
Come back in again
Go out again
Walk down the front path
Walk back up it
Walk down it again
Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of
used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
Retrace your steps
Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours
come out and stare at you.
Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Test 7
Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.

Test 8 – Grocery Shopping

1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can
find to a pre-school child – a fully grown goat is excellent. If you
intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your
sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.

Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having
children.

Test 9 – Feeding a 1 year-old

1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to sthingy them into the
swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the
floor.
Test 10 – TV

1. Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney,
Teletubbies and Disney.
2. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.

Test 11 – Mess

Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds and then rub them on clean
walls. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?
4. Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house onto the floor
& leave it there.

Test 12 – Long Trips with Toddlers

1. Make a recording of someone shouting 'Mummy' repeatedly. Important
Notes: No more than a 4 second delay between each Mummy. Include
occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet.
2. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Test 13 – Conversations
1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve
while playing the Mummy tape listed above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a
child in the room.

Test 14 – Getting ready for work

1. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2. Put on your finest work attire.
3. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
4. Stir
5. Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt
6. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
7. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
8. Do not change (you have no time).
9. Go directly to work

You are now ready to have children.
good luck and enjoy.

1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.

😆

OMITN – Aye, it was me you sent to Stu. Wheels are still going strong.

No probs about the clothes, in 6 weeks we may well have a few other bits and pieces too (he's a bit big for his moses basket already).

We actually went to NCT classes in Didsbury. Look out for an ever so slightly scary woman called Marion who ran ours and may run your class too. Don't take everything she says as gospel though. She (and possibly the NCT in general) seem to be very anti-NHS. She promoted home births very strongly and criticsed many, many of the NHS practices and policies. In fact, the midwives at Wythenshawe were great.

We actually did both the NHS and NCT antenatal classes.
The differences between the two are quite stark. The NHS is very much "here it is, this is what will happen, here's what to do" whereas the NCT was a bit more "this is what/how you'll be feeling, remember that how you give birth is your choice…" and so on.

Mrs Pie has made some really good friends through the NCT classes though, so I'd definitely recommend exchanging email addresses (at least) and not being shy during the classes.

Iain

She (and possibly the NCT in general) seem to be very anti-NHS. She promoted home births very strongly and criticsed many, many of the NHS practices and policies.

this is where the difference in teachers comes, our classes weren't like that at all.

lol@ muke 😀

We did NHS and NCT and IMO NCT was a waste of money really other than nice to meet some similar middle class people ;). Midwives in hospital were brilliant so just do the NHS ones and read a good book I reckon.

Our baby is 12 days old now. Been given loads of clothes and got most of the other things we need cheaply 2nd hand. Biggest extravagance is that the wife insisted I buy DPA free bottles, breast pump and sterilizer new which came to £80 from John Lewis – not used them yet so probably bought a bit prematurely.

Yeah, best advice is get the absolutel minimum beforehand (this probably does not include breast pumps) and get stuff when you need it.

We tried the expressing thing but in the end it just wasn't worth the bother. Mrs Grips just fed lots in the evening, once at 10pm then up again at four or so briefly then 7 or whatever.

Loving that, Muke! 😆

NCT classes are fab and the friends you make will be friends for years!