expectant parents of thumped (2 Viewers)

[minka]

the teenyminka is due in january, any other parents-to-be amongst the thumpeteers? or tips from veteran parents of what to do/get for the early months (other than HAHAHAHAHAHAYOU'RENOTGOINGTOSLEEPFORAYEAR)?

i have as yet purchased approximately no baby things, the poor child is going to end up sleeping in a drawer...

 

[mark]

our first due in december.

babys like drawers i hear. and curtain chords. and uncovered electrical sockets. and unsecured elevated heavy things. basically, our kid is in for a treat.

 

[snakybus]

get a few baby sleeping bags like they have in France, they're dead handy

 

[dudley]

tony kealys in walkinstown do a brilliant safety workshop a couple of times a month, great advise on car seats/cots etc, well worth a visit.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

Show them this thread.

 

[mark]

tony kealys in walkinstown do a brilliant safety workshop a couple of times a month, great advise on car seats/cots etc, well worth a visit.

its also worth pointing out that this is completly free. it's really very informative.

 

[snakybus]

get one of those wooden high chairs in tony kealy's, they're dead handy too. Plasticy/metal ones - not as good.

 

[old]

our first due in december.

You should call it The Baby Mark if it's a boy. Or TBM for short.
To differentiate.

 

[snakybus]

Tripp Trapp, that's what they're called. The baby can sit up at the table with you, which they think is great.

 

[egg_]

HAHAHAHAHAHAYOU'RENOTGOINGTOSLEEPFORAYEAR

A year plus
<yawn>

Congratulations, btw And to you Mark, I don't think I knew, or maybe I did and the sleep deprivation made me forget

What month is it? October? No hurry on you Minka, I wouldn't say. ebay is a good bet for buggies, we got a new quinny 3-wheeler thing on there for something like €180 I seem to remember

Also a bedside cot is good - one side slides right underneath so you don't have to get out of bed to lift the little one to feed. Esp good if you're breastfeeding, and even after the kid is in her/his own room the slideaway side makes it MUCH easier to sneak a baby who's sleeping in your arms back into the cot without her noticing

 

[MDR]

Congrats to Mark and Minka (and your respective partners).

Things we bought:

Book - what to learn when you're expecting

loads of vests and baby grows
terry cloth/towel nappies (for drying the kids bum once clean)
pampers x gazillion
baby wipes x gazillion
nappy bags
De-makeup pads (good for drying delicate baby bums in the early days)

a few hats
blankets (research that as you need the ones that are more breathable)
couple of very warm snowsuit-type things
car seat (and learn how to fit it - mothercare will show you)

Fess noses saline solution/bulb- for clearing the snot out of little baby's nose

Moses basket (you can get a cot later)
Sleeping bag (website called wowee does personlaised ones - it was the best present we got)

Divorce lawyer, as you will eat the head off each other

 

[ann post]

Moses basket

from the makers of jesus sandals.

 

[dudley]

Book - what to learn when you're expecting

aye, we've that, great book (our wee one is due in november!)

car seat (and learn how to fit it - mothercare will show you)

for the car seat, i'd also recommend going to tony kealys. they'll actually come out to your car and check it's suitability for different types of seats, and then fit whichever you've chosen. worth doing, especially as kealys reckon that over 80% of irish car seats are fitted incorrectly. find out if your car has isofix too

moses basket we didn't bother with. we went for the quinny travel system, and the carry cot in it is equally as good as a moses basket.
one good tip we got, when the child is asleep in the basket/carry cot, don't bother disturbing it to transfer to the proper cot. leave it sleep where it is, but if possible transfer the carrycot/basket into the proper cot, so you're not disturbing the sleep, but you're allowing the kid to get used to the environment of the proper cot.

also, definitely do as much of your shopping up the north as possible, the price differences are utterly shocking. we got an activity gym in mamas and papas in belfast, for £51, so about 56 euro or so. the dublin branch was charging 88 euro. that ain't right. overall we save a *fortune*.
threadless.com has some nice babygro's

one thing that was cheaper down south, thingy called the angel care monitor system. as well as being the usual intercom thingy, it also has a pressure sensitive mat to go in the cot. if it detects any unusual disturbance in breathing or movement, alarms go off. got it in smyths
http://www.angelcare-monitor.com/?country=ALL&language=en

 

[lemonbravo]

Mrs bravo bought about 6 different baby books. I got this one and i thought it gave the best advice-
http://www.thenewbasics.com/
it markets itself as being a bit 'hip', but it's definitly the best thing I bought for bambino no.1.
See you at the playground!

 

[lemonbravo]

+1 on the sleeping bags, great things. I think some places call them grow bags. We got ours on the internets.

 

[nooleen]

thingy called the angel care monitor system. as well as being the usual intercom thingy, it also has a pressure sensitive mat to go in the cot. if it detects any unusual disturbance in breathing or movement, alarms go off.

imagine one of those for an adult, it would never stop going off....night terrors, night sweats, nightmares, DTs, snoring, insomnia, minor heart attacks...

 

[egg_]

FWIW I think a moses basket is a waste of money. We borrowed one for each kid and used it for maybe a week before putting her into the cot

 

[mark]

2 things i've noticed since jill's been pregnant:

- people are incredibly generous with advice and baby stuff. we've been given loads of bits and bobs and it'll save us a packet.

- people have very different ideas about what to do and what not to do when it comes to raising babies.

 

[hugh]

imagine one of those for an adult, it would never stop going off....night terrors, night sweats, nightmares, DTs, snoring, insomnia, minor heart attacks...

... masturbation ...

I would echo what Mark says .... everyone has different ideas about this stuff and you just have to figure it out as you go along. There is no right way. Whatever works for you. I would suggest trying to avoid spending vast amounts of money on stuff that you end up not really needing ....

We have one of those wooden chair things though and they are pretty cool. Our one still uses it and she's four .. through we only got it for her when she was about 2. I sit on it sometimes myself. Had one of the plastic horrors before that ...

 

[coraline]

Congratulations Minka, and Mark and Dudley .|..|.|..|

Lots of Thumped babies on the way

One piece of advice is try not to leave it too late to buy stuff, by the end I was so huge and tired and sore and awkward that the last thing I would have wanted was to be going around shops....

Mothercare do an info evening which is very good, and you get a 10% off card at the end.

Here's more or less what I bought for Jamie :

Pram and carseat, we bought from this shop in Tyrone and
saved hundreds : http://www.tytots.com/

We have the Moses basket from all my siblings, dont know if I would have bought one. I think these nest things look lovely
but they are v expensive :
http://www.hipbaby.ie/amby-natures-nest-baby-cradle-p-376.html

Lots of sheets for Moses/crib/cot, they will need changing very often.
3 or 4 cellular blankets.

Baby bath, top and tail bowl for nappy changes or days you don't do full bath, and hooded towels.

Lots of muslin cloths for mopping up spitups.

Grobag Egg to monitor room temp, it's bad for babies to be too warm:
http://www.mothercare.ie/ContentBui...12&Searchvalue=grobag egg&FromDataId=DA000018

Lots of vests and babygros for the first few weeks.
Try to get babygros that fasten all the way down the front, I got 2 in Next that go over the baby's head and they are rubbish, impossible to put on.

Changing mat, and changing bag for going out.

Bouncer chair, we got this one :
http://www.bellababy.ie/product_info.php?cPath=117&products_id=1380

Carrier/sling : We got one called the Ergobaby which is meant to be the best for the baby's posture...

Highchair, we didnt get it yet but will be getting the Tripp Trapp that others mentioned.

There is some very convincing research about the link between cot death and the fire retardant chemicals that are used in most baby mattresses.

http://www.healthychild.com/toxic-sleep/has-the-cause-of-crib-death-sids-been-found/

The only mattresses I found that dont have the toxic chemicals are the Sleepsafe range from Mamas and Papas. I dont know if the research is 100% but these mattresses are the same price as the regular kind and easy enough to order in so I'd rather not take the chance with the regular ones...

Thats pretty much it I think

I also have lists typed out of what to bring into hospital that I can copy and paste if you like ?