Where to get some essentials?

Adeptus Titanicus

HI All,

As a Father to be, I've been charged with getting some of the essentials for Junior when he arrives in February. The thing is, with so many brochures and websites, I'm getting blinded by fancy travel systems and the sheer range of car seats, prams etc. We're getting pretty confused about what we really need. Would one of these travel systems do us for a couple of years, or do we need to get a pram, seperate car seat etc.

We've been into Mothercare (some nice stuff, smallish range, but fairly pricey) and Tony Kealy's (decent range, prices seem good), but being new to this I'm trying to find out where else might have a decent range of prams/travel systems, cots and other paraphinalia that won't break the bank.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

KdjaCL

Boots for food nappies and other medical things (will her to make a list for you lol start taking out loans )
penneys for clothes
Smyths for prams beds carseats etc
Umm but most prams and expensive stuff is either bought for you or hand me downs or buy 2nd hand.

Why pay 30 euros in mothercare for a babygro that will last all of 1 month ?

kdjac

is_that_so

No personal experience of this myself but guy I know bought some of his stuff online. His stroller cost 350 as against 700 here. Might be worth considering
as well. EU only otherwise you're into Excise duty .

KdjaCL

Graco travel system pram and car seat in one (car seat lasts 9 months) €189
Cot bed €200 (transforms into 3 size cot or when older into bed ) Last 5 years
Bouncer €50 Argos (important to get good one)
Moses basket is a no no , you dont need it
Cage /playpen is useful if you have room and other kids who will attack baby , otherwise blanket on floor is better for playing (after 3 months you see).
3 x 0 month babygros Penneys (they last about a week)
9 x 0-3 month babygros/vests Penneys
Blankets x 6 Penneys
6 8 ounce bottles Avent is best make Boots OR
Boots steriliser €20 with 6 bottles in it
Nappies x 10 packet Pampers newborn
Boobies stocked up or SMA Yellow (pick these things up slowly , they go from yellow to blue fairly quickly , mothers decide when)
Soothers if req
Suda cream
Cotton wool and sterile wipes for belly button
Nail scissors to stop them from scratching their eyes out
cute clothes mothercare etc: , you know you want them least you have essentials 1st.

The Definitive new baby list as told by Mrs Kdjac

Mrs Kdjac

/ as she stupid she edit throughoput day

//women go stupid after childbirth just go with it and say NOTHING

KdjaCL

is_that_so wrote:

No personal experience of this myself but guy I know bought some of his stuff online. His stroller cost 350 as against 700 here. Might be worth considering
as well. EU only otherwise you're into Excise duty .

Great savings there :eek:

kdjac

Adeptus Titanicus

KdjaC, yup, agree on the Mothercare tip. I don't see the point in spending a fortune on stuff that's gonna be crapped and puked on for a month and is then too small. We got a load of baby grows and basic clothing off her sister who has a little fella (we have jackets and stuff that'll do up to 2 years old already!), but we may need more. have to check that.

Went into Smyths and Roaches yesterday to look at prams and cots etc. The prices in Smyths look good allright. Bad time of year to be browsing though Will keep Pennys and Boots in mind! Thanks!

is that so, I've tried to find some EU sites that sell this kinda stuff, but most of them seem to be UK-based and don't ship to Ireland. If your mate has any links/tips that'd be great.

Thanks for the tips!

<edit>
Woah, tell Mrs KdjaC thanks. Great list
Have been favouring the Graco travel systems (Quattro Tour and Sterling). Will run this by the boss.

Oh, and she maintains that pregnant women lose 5% of their mental capacity. So that's her excuse..

KdjaCL

Adeptus Titanicus wrote:

Oh, and she maintains that pregnant women lose 5% of their mental capacity. So that's her excuse..

Which leaves them minus 4


kdjac

is_that_so

Adeptus Titanicus wrote:

is that so, I've tried to find some EU sites that sell this kinda stuff, but most of them seem to be UK-based and don't ship to Ireland. If your pate has any links/tips that'd be great.

I'll check with him and post any links he gives me. Although I am pretty sure he got it from Germany.

samo

Just wanted to add that both smyths and Roches do excellent deals on buggies/car seats etc in their sales in january so hang in until then if at all possible (tell Junior you said so too so he/she doesnt go early!!)

I saved approx 100 e on a bebe conformt chassis system from Roches by waiting a couple of weeks.

All the advice Kdjac gave you is spot on - couldnt agree more, the car seat that fits onto buggy chassis is a godsend - fantastic for when baby is asleep and for getting out of car with no hassle. Only thing is both of my kids grew out of it fairly rapidly and had to go to regular car seat within about 4 months (my kids were not small though having said that!!)

The travel system I used also had a carrycot which didnt cost that much more and was very handy for 1st few months rather than a moses basket. Having said that its good to get them used to a cot fairly quickly but if you can afford the carrycot option as well will be handy but really only for 1st few weeks.

The only other thing that I found invaulable but obviously not from newborn is a baby gym as its fantastic for keeping them occupied for a short while - apart from that without sending mean babies really dont give a blind bit of notice to most toys so dont go overboard there!

Hope it all goes well with the birth next year, you will be a pro after a few weeks. The best of luck!!

LadyPenelope

I only bought one of those car seats that sits on wheels, Maxi-Cosi make em. The baby can then be transported out of car when asleep and around shops etc. The "wheels" bit then turns into a stroller. Absolutely the best thing I ever bought.

I also have stuff in very very good condition, door gates, baby gym, baby bouncer that baby jump around in which hooks on the top of the door jam, found this great, used to hang it on kitchen door. Have one of those play pen portable bed things. PM me if you think any of this might be useful, am am not messing when i say in good condition, am a bit mad and even have all instruction booklets with everything i buy!!

Lady P

samo

oh, your right - its a bit of a way off but stair gates are a must if you have stairs when they start crawling - anything from 6 months on!!

Those baby bouncers and the jump thing are handy, except my little fella though it was a bungee jump and managed to break it - but then he's a nutcase of a child!

KdjaCL

Cant have baby jumps anymore , other kids used to launch their sister in it at anything , would call you and when you got close they let fly with 2 stone baby rocket. Argos sell the cot bed handy thing starts as high cot then medium cot then low cot then whip off the sides and its a bed.


kdjac

Adeptus Titanicus

Yeah, we've been looking at one of those bedside cots, where one whole side can come down and basically be an extension off the side of the bed. Handy for night-time feeds apparently (especially as I don't have the necessary equipment if she can breastfeed). Dunno if you can take the other side off to make it into a bed, but I like the idea of the cot bed.

I love the idea of the bouncers. Used to get great laugh out of my nieces in these things. The stairs guard is something i hadn;t thought of as where we live at the moment is all on one floor, but we intend moving soon (before baby arrives) so will think about that too a little later.

Keep the tips coming!

Thanks

LadyPenelope, thanks for the offer, will certainly consider it once we get our act together.

Occidental

A pack of Muslin clothes (M&S sell them). Handy for the first few months, to save you layers of dribble and puke on your shoulder everytime you wind them.

Get some of the relations to club together and get you a travel cot. Brilliant for when you're staying over in someone elses house and doubles as a playpen when they're a little older.

Other good one we had was a Grobag, which is like a sleeping bag with arm holes. This is great when they're about six months and won't keep covers on, or are determined to suffocate themselves with blankets (and also means your child looks like Maggie form the Simpsons).

Kernel32

Lots of great advice. The Grobag we found good, though its call a blanket sleeper in the states. Our son from 6months until 18 months or so would not keep a blanket on him ,so we got him blanket sleepers and they worked great. Something I found very useful was a baby bjorn baby carrier. Heres a pic..
[IMG]http://www.babybjorn.com//filecache/150x0_$archive$images$products$känslobilder$023050mf1_besk.jpg[/IMG]

I have no idea in Ireland where you would get one though, somewhere online at least should have it. You can use it from very young. The baby can face inwards and the top flips up to support the head. As he/she gets bigger they can face outwards and see the world at an adult height. I used it all the time up until around 12 months old. My wife used a baby sling thing she got but he prefered the baby carrier so we would swap him over in that.

Adeptus Titanicus

These Grobags look fun allright. I think the g/f's sister had some of these.

I saw the Baby Bjorn carrier in Tony Kealy's here (here's where I root through the brochures we got). As I recall it was about 80 euro. Might go and see what it'd go for in January if there's a sale.

We've been looking at the travel cot idea too. Have seen a couple of Graco ones that look neat enough when folded up, although one had a vibrating mattress! Think me and the missus might end up on it!

Oh, the the muslin cloths are a good tip.

Thanks folks

KdjaCL

Trun the play pen upside down and it can "house" 4 kids easily with some weight on top.

kdjac

Adeptus Titanicus

KdjaC wrote:

Trun the play pen upside down and it can "house" 4 kids easily with some weight on top.

I like your style

What's the concensus on baby monitors? Essential or nice to have? Is it worth spending 70 euro on one?

samo

A childs scream has its own unique piercingness (!), in 5 years of raising my kids to be honest I've never once missed or not heard a cry!! personally, although i'm sure they can be very beneficial I dont think its great to be out of earshot from a child and wouldnt want to be anyway.

You'd be surprised how receptive the mother (and the dad depending how hands on he is!!) is to her childs cry, you can pick out which child is which crying in a second most of the time! I would nt go spending 70euro on one unless you have the money for it, the buggy and the bed has got be the most important thing,

Another thing to bear in mind is I decided on my 1st I would breastfeed and it didnt work out at all as much as I tried so husband was faced with dilemma of going and buying steriliser 3 hrs before i was due home from hospital. Its just something to think about as you dont know wahat way that will work out until you have the baby and it is possibly THE thing that overides all for a young baby. You will spend the 1st few weeks feeding the baby in whatever means and burping them and that is the biggest activity that the baby will really do!

Also, last thing I would highly reccommend is a changing table, its really really handy if you can pick up a cheap one.

My best advice could be worry about the basics the most, get those right such as feeding equipment, cot/bedding/buggy/Babygro's etc etc Babies dont really need or want to much apart from the main basics.

Dummy

If you can, hold off buying the pram until the January sales. We bought ours in the Roches sale after a good look around and found a good pram at a good price.

Again if you have the opportunity look to Newry for buying SMA and nappies etc. We make a trip to the North once a month to stock up. We reckon there is a saving to be made and it is also a day out for Mammy and I (baby stays with Granny).

KdjaCL

Defintley get the monitors its not just the crying your listening out for.

kdjac