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Hello To All,
I am just in my 2nd trimester and was wondering if anyone has started purchasing items for baby yet? Cot, change table,pram etc.
Also does anyone have an opinion on baby prams? My husband and I have been looking around and I can't believe how many there are to choose from! I was preiously interested in the Beema Q, however, recently came across the P&T and nowhave my heart set on one of those, does anyone have an opinion?
Thanks in advance
Childondaway
Hi, congrats on hitting second semester! I am 18 weeks and am just starting to look at all this stuff now. I'm completely bewildered and confused! Many of my friends bought items even before they had conceived so I guess we all approach this differently!
I've had a few donations, but need to look for a pram now. There are so many styles and I'm unsure which are appropraite for new borns, how long it will be appropriate for etc etc. I live in the sticks so its really hard to get to a shop to ask. I'll check out the Beema Q though and see what it looks like.
Hope you get some good advice here :)
Somewhere on this forum was a list of suggested items for a new baby/nursery and I'm trying to find it. It would really help me out! Maybe its in the Belly Belly article section? I'll keep looking.
I have a Beema Q, but have had to change over to a different type as I need one with a toddler seat as DD will still need the pram when we are out for longer outings.
That was the only downside, you can't fit a toddler seat only a generic skate board and DD is too small for that. It fits through all the shopping aisles and is lightweight.
So if you are planning on having another child close together it is something to consider.
Hi childondaway, congrats on your pregnancy :) With both my pregnancys i started buying things from about 12 weeks. I found it better to buy things gradually so that i didn't get to my third trimester and have to buy everything in one go. I'm a huge advocate for vinnies/ebay shopping when it comes to bubs, i have bought all DS1's clothing from birth till now (2 1/2 years) from vinnies (except for some essentials, singlets, shoes etc) and i'm now using the same clothes for DS2. They're all still in good condition and you wouldn't know they're second hand, alot of them are name brands like pumpkin patch, papoose etc and i only spent a few bucks on each item! Seriously i reckon its the best (and most cost effective) way of buying bubs stuff. I've even bought toys and bedding second hand and saved heaps.
If you don't feel comfy with going into opp shops ebay has tons of bub stuff, you can pick up second hand bulk bub clothing so cheaply. Saves a lot of $ and time walking around the shops.
HTH
I agree with lestyrox, Ebay is a great way to source great baby things in exellent condition. Babys dont stay little for too long so you can end up spending a fortune on baby clothes and baby never gets to wear them.My girls always look great but I havent spent a fortune on them, and nobody would know that the clothes are second hand.
Another good idea is to take someone who has kids shopping with you so you dont end up buying things you wont need/use.
I started buying things about 15 weeks. And the last month or so I've gone nuts..I've bought a cot, pram, baby rocker and baby playmat. Getting all the heavy things out of the way before you are HUGE is a good idea. And buy some clothes/toiletries every pay day or so, that way you don't have to spend a whole lot at once. If you can get stuff given to you, that's great too...clothes are very handy, and baby baths, toys that can be washed etc..
Congrats!
I think it is personally up to you when you want to start buying things. Whenever you are comfortable to do so!
This is my first pregnancy so I didnt buy anything up until I was 18 weeks - when we hit the boxing day sales with all our gift cards to get a cot & car seat.
Since then we have bought a few other bits and pieces that I see on sale. I have also been researching prams and now looking at setting up the nursery.
Sometimes I have to tell myself to slow down, because you do get given a few things! But there are some things we want to buy ourselves and im trying to spend it now whilst I have the $ to do so! :)
i have gone a bit crazy and have pretty much everything ready. the cot is up and the room is decorated. but i think it has helped my other kids to by helping chose everything and put things together.
hi childonway
I am close to 18 weeks and I've only really just started to look around at what it out there, just in places like target and babyshops online really. And asking friends / family what they suggest to buy. Plus asking all these knowledgable people here on BB what is a waste and what is absolutely essential!
I actually think I'm going to layby some of the big stuff in the next week or so, i was a bit flabergasted at how expensive some of this stuff is. No way I can buy it all in one hit. We have some people giving us second hand gear as well which will be great. The op shop idea is a good one - lots of stuff for real newborns cos they grow out of it so quick.
lolly
Hey there,
Regarding the P&Ts, that's the one I bought, for the exact reason someone else mentioned earlier - we're planning on having #2 not long after #1 and the P&Ts is the best for this purpose. It has a proper toddler seat you can attach, without needing a second pram or a side by side variety.
Something to think about!
As to when I bought my stuff, I went for a big shop when I was about 20 weeks I think, put it all on layby and just picked it up last week. That was all the big thing - pram, cot, car seat, etc. The little things I've been buying whenever I see a good deal (eg romper suits in Target for $2 each, bargain!) but trying to hold off as I'm having a baby shower soon and I know people will want to give me things!
We bought the car seat when I was 8 weeks as it was on special, and we pretty much just bought things as they came on special (never paid full price for any of our big items). We had everything by 30 weeks (though I was a bit paranoid about having a premmie, I remember when my younger bro was born at 32 weeks so I just wanted everything ready JIC).
I'm 13 weeks & last week I bought a basinette & a carseat. They were such bargains & I thought I probably wouldn't see them for that price again!! I think it's smart to buy things as you go along so you don't have a huge outlay all at once. Another thing to think about maybe in the 3rd trimester is to start buying things that would add onto your grocery shopping bill. Things like washing powder & toilet paper etc that will be a help in those first few months with a newborn.
I always buy early! That said, I buy tins of formula and bags of nappies too. One or the other with every shop. At least have one bag of nappies before baby arrives. My babies enjoyed arriving just before payday - and many hospitals have had to stop providing nappies and ladywear.
Definitely buy all the furniture you will need immediately before hand - even if you have to buy gender neutral. Even with the baby bonus, you have to be prepared. You never got a magical credit card delivered with the baby to pay for things straight away. You don't want to be sat in the ward wondering how you and bub are going to get home because you cant afford the car seat and centrelink are telling you that it takes 28 days.
The only thing i had at 30wks was a cot (no mattress) and some nappies i'd bought as they came on special. I had my shower at 30wks so after that i bought everything else. The cot was the biggest item and we'd bought that on special. Pram was bought for us.
I would have to say with the pram do consider if you are going to have a two close together and also my pram although great was too wide to get through a normal checkout.
i was too nervous to buy anything until we had the 20 week scan (i'm such a chicken). i did buy 3 cloth nappies a week or two before then, but that was it!
i got some clothes on the weekend and that's it so far. i've started to research cots & prams and have been offered a bassinette and bath from friends. we just moved house so we need to finish sorting through all the boxes in what will be the nursery before we go too crazy!
do you have to order bigger things like cots or are they usually in stock?
My DD has a P&T and I love it. It is easy to handle with one hand and it fits through many of the checkouts. If you are planning to have more buy the second seat now as some colours are hard to get later on.
Start looking around now and buy slowly. That way the cost of buying items is spread out and easier on the hip pocket.
All the best as you prepare for the arrival of your baby.
We're only 21 weeks and have got most of the big things organised. We were so excited that we couldn't wait. But I am glad that we have lay buyed our pram, cot and change table early. The pram we lay buyed before christmas and it has only just arrived in the store. The cot and change table we did in early Jan and they still aren't in stock. So it doesn't hurt to start sooner than later.
Other than clothes and stuff we don't have anything at home with us. We've just started doing the big clean out so that bubs will have their own room. As soon as that's done, we'll start picking up our lay buyed items and getting the room ready.
When it's your first there are so many things to buy that you don't think of initially (thermometers, bottles, breast pumps, linen, and the list goes on and on) that I don't think it hurts to start early. And it is so much fun! I just put all the clothes we've bought into a drawer the other day, you wouldn't believe what a good feeling it is just to open the drawer and look at them all, I think it makes it all feel a bit more real.
We didn't really buy anything until after the 20w scan. I bought a few clothing items for girls and boys when I was 13 weeks as they were 70% off.
We didn't buy the pram until I was 29.5 weeks. We ordered the car seat at the same time, and they said there is a 6-8 week waiting list, so I wouldn't recommend buying that as late as I did. I would have bought more earlier if DH wasn't so anti-shopping!
Forgot to mention if its your first and you have a biggish circle of friends, don't buy to many clothes or toys. You will find you will be given these as presents when the baby is born and a baby can only wear so many of one size.
You don't usually get much bedding so have that before hand.
If you are going to breastfeed start buying breast pads as you will go through these, the same with disposables. (I found the ones from Aldi really good in both quality & price)
You could use cloth breast pads and cloth nappies if you wanted to save money. Have a look in the cloth nappy section if you want advice.
It feels like you are doing nothing but handing out money at this stage but once you have your setup you can reuse a lot of it if you have more.
being our second bub, i decided to wait untill 12w scan to organise all our baby stuff (majority stored at my parents place.) after my scan @ 17w i sorted through all dd's old clothes and made a list of what i needed to buy, i went out and bought & layby'd pretty much everything (with dd i bought up to size 1 before she was born, so ive done the same this time, except i havent had to by nearly as much!) so im now paying it all off in no real hurry.
it makes it so much easier when you have 2 kids of the same sex! im so excited i get to reuse all the pretty things dd has grown out of!
ETA: we use disposable nappies, i buy a packet each fortnight from Aldi for dd, so ive been buying a packet for the baby on the alternate weeks.. i have about 4 newborn packets, my next step is the infant size, then ill keep working my way up. i love watching the stash grow, nothing worse than having to do a late night dash to the supermarket for a packet of nappies! and im still working at the moment, for us it works out better to stock up now on products, as we're terrible savers!
i have started looking at what i want to buy...
we have decided on a pram, cot/crib & change table so far.
I dont think its too early to start now at all.... esp seeing your able to walk around with no problem.
Forgot to mention - I've got my baby shower this weekend (I'll be nearly 35 weeks) so I've been holding off buying a lot of stuff until after that. Plus I've been given heaps of clothes already. I've bought four 000 items, but won't be buying any more!
It really depend on your family situation. We bough pretty much everything before 20 weeks, because DH went away at the beginnning of February and won't be home until I have only 6 weeks to go, so I needed him to be here to pick it all up because it is bulky and we have 2 other children. DD2 will be going into a big girl bed when DH gets home, and we will re arrange so she is in the same room as DD1, and the nursery will be set up for DD3.