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byeo said:
We picked up some baby freebies the other day and it came with loads of flyers and coupons and one was for the Baby Show at the NEC, think it was a discounted price or maybe 2 for 1, I can't remember. Is it worth going then? It would be nice to have a day wandering around looking at things, test driving prams and getting a load of freebies in the process. Tickets aren't exactly cheap and parking is just as much :eek:.
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Depends. I think people overthink things with babies. For example, we bought a matching bedroom set of cot, wardrobe, drawers, changing table etc. Was well over £1k. Didn't use the wardrobe, the changing table was too high (our little one was a fidget) and got used once.

Same for prams. We bought a stroller that was very expensive. It was nice to use but really big and impractical. Getting in and out of shops was a pain, we quickly realised we'd turned into those parents :p

The best things we bought were a push chair/car seat combo and a roll out changing mat. Oh and one of those "umbrella" fold out buggies for when little one was a bit older, like £20 or so. All the expensive stuff was a waste of money imo.

The amount of rubbish new parents get suckered into is astounding! You can barely give used stuff away as well, let alone sell. No-one wants to deal with Scumtree ***** when deprived of sleep when it comes to get rid (if not planning more), I can tell you :p

You'll appreciate lots of baby grows, huge number muslins, a microwave sterilisation kit and more wet wipes than you can count
 
Yep, wont make the same mistakes we did with the 1st one. 2nd hand cot, furniture. Comfy floor changing mat. Cheap pram cos it gets ruined in the mud and rain. Spend money on the car seat.... And shoes, lots of shoes haha
 
Kreeeee said:
I just pre-boiled water and put it in the bottle the night before, and also measure out the powder. Then it's just a case of putting the bottle in the microwave for 40 seconds and chucking in the powder for night feeds. There's no need for any fancy gadgets if you organise yourself a little.
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Unfortunately this doesn't follow the "NHS rules" on making bottles, according to them you have to make every bottle from scratch every time, with no storing of boiled water, also the powder has to hit the boiling water (to sterilize it)
Also they say never use microwave to heat it - its pretty strict https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/making-up-infant-formula/

Although that said yes, im sure most people wont have a problem if they dont follow it, but good luck persuading your mrs that they should ignore the midwives and doctors :p besides once your kid pops out who wants the risk of making it sick?

Its such a ball ache doing all this in the middle of the night I gave up and bought the prep machine, the filters last about 6 months and it was so worth it
Also the pre mixed cartons are handy, for middle of the night or when you are out and about, yes again expensive relatively but there is a certain price worth it for the convenience at times

Tonyabrhm said:
We were advised against those as you cant properly get to the tubes inside the machine, there are test studies available on the internet were they found mould and the like in the tubes.
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If i remember correctly that was from people using knock off cheapo filters on the internet rather than the proper ones, ours is 20 months old and no issues.



Pushchairs - we spent a lot on a fancy Joolz system - and it works nicely, but they all end up a creaky bag of **** after nearly 2 years of continual use in the rain etc, so spend what you will but dont expect it to last forever, I wouldn't spend that much again personally
 
gettothechopper said:
Unfortunately this doesn't follow the "NHS rules" on making bottles, according to them you have to make every bottle from scratch every time, with no storing of boiled water, also the powder has to hit the boiling water (to sterilize it)
Also they say never use microwave to heat it - its pretty strict https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/making-up-infant-formula/

Although that said yes, im sure most people wont have a problem if they dont follow it, but good luck persuading your mrs that they should ignore the midwives and doctors :p besides once your kid pops out who wants the risk of making it sick?

Its such a ball ache doing all this in the middle of the night I gave up and bought the prep machine, the filters last about 6 months and it was so worth it
Also the pre mixed cartons are handy, for middle of the night or when you are out and about, yes again expensive relatively but there is a certain price worth it for the convenience at times


If i remember correctly that was from people using knock off cheapo filters on the internet rather than the proper ones, ours is 20 months old and no issues.



Pushchairs - we spent a lot on a fancy Joolz system - and it works nicely, but they all end up a creaky bag of **** after nearly 2 years of continual use in the rain etc, so spend what you will but dont expect it to last forever, I wouldn't spend that much again personally
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Rules. Lol it's just a guide. They don't follow those "rules" 100% in hospital.
 
Liquid_Entity said:
Yep, wont make the same mistakes we did with the 1st one. 2nd hand cot, furniture. Comfy floor changing mat. Cheap pram cos it gets ruined in the mud and rain. Spend money on the car seat.... And shoes, lots of shoes haha
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Yup. We bought a nice new Mamas & Papas furniture set for our first, costing about £1200. We liked it all, so much so that we bought the same set for our second.... from Ebay for a total of ~£200!
 
robj20 said:
Rules. Lol it's just a guide. They don't follow those "rules" 100% in hospital.
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hey like i said - thats just what the NHS say (I mean what do they know - right?), upto you if you follow them or not
In hospital (birth and then later operation) they only ever gave us cartons. which are sterile and sealed, and included throwaway sterile spouts
When I discussed the arduous bottle making regime with the midwifes at a check up, they told me how babies getting sick off of bottle feeds is on a massive increase across the country, hence the strict procedure.

backstory context -
ours had pyloric stenosis in his first few months, and was ralphing his milk up everywhere (required surgery to fix) so milk / bottles was a hot topic in our house :p
 
@gettothechopper - My experience of midwives is they don't give two hoots about your pregnant partner for the majority of the time unless there's something seriously wrong or labour is in full swing. They're still pushing that "breast is best" - what an absolute load of rubbish that is.

The whole NHS Guide is to mitigate the idiots out there that have no clue about how bacteria grows and the reasoning behind sterile water/bottles/environment etc.

Boiled water in a sterile bottle, allowed to cool with then added formula will be fine. I never reheated in the micro due to having Bottle Preps but it should be perfectly ok.
 
I gladly admit our experience was not normal, as ours was very ill (requiring surgery to fix)
Once you see your 2 month old projectile vomit every drop of milk you ever give it, for several weeks, it makes you pretty darn careful afterwards
 
gettothechopper said:
Yes let's ignore those idiot medical professionals
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Well he is right in my opinion. The current NHS policies are stupid and change on a whim. if your child doest take, it doesn't take. The NHS supposedly care about mental health, So its kinda of desperately sad when midwifes play their part in many ladies leaving their units feeling down and depressed due to their ****** 'policy of the year' situation
 
iamtheoneneo said:
Well he is right in my opinion. The current NHS policies are stupid and change on a whim. if your child doest take, it doesn't take. The NHS supposedly care about mental health, So its kinda of desperately sad when midwifes play their part in many ladies leaving their units feeling down and depressed due to their ****** 'policy of the year' situation
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Are you referring to the breastfeeding policy?
If so I completely agree, after a reasonably stressful birth we got stuck in the ward for two days and told we couldn't leave until he would breast feed several times, when it wasn't happening the nurse got all huffy and puffy with us until eventually a better nurse took over and gave us help, when still didn't work they gave us milk and let us go

Setting up a brand new first time mother with the idea that they are useless and their body doesn't work wasn't the confidence builder she needed on day 1
 
iamtheoneneo said:
Well he is right in my opinion. The current NHS policies are stupid and change on a whim. if your child doest take, it doesn't take. The NHS supposedly care about mental health, So its kinda of desperately sad when midwifes play their part in many ladies leaving their units feeling down and depressed due to their ****** 'policy of the year' situation
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It's a lot trickier than you say. We have a major problem with childhood obesity and the decline in breast feeding is looking to be a major factor in that. Not the only factor and probably not the biggest but significant.

Now there is a lot of pressure to get mums to breastfeed and that's good and bad. It's not easy and takes a lot of effort in reality.

Getting it right is not easy. Throwing formula at every teary mum on day 1 or 2 is not the solution though.
 
rhysduck said:
@gettothechopper - My experience of midwives is they don't give two hoots about your pregnant partner for the majority of the time unless there's something seriously wrong or labour is in full swing. They're still pushing that "breast is best" - what an absolute load of rubbish that is.

The whole NHS Guide is to mitigate the idiots out there that have no clue about how bacteria grows and the reasoning behind sterile water/bottles/environment etc.

Boiled water in a sterile bottle, allowed to cool with then added formula will be fine. I never reheated in the micro due to having Bottle Preps but it should be perfectly ok.
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The beauty of breast feeding is that your baby gets some of those bacteria to train their immune system, without risking making them ill by giving them the wrong ones.

It is better, all other things being equal. Certainly not 'an absolute load of rubbish'. Of course, you're right that it isn't always the right choice for everyone - there are other factors at play.

In practical terms, ours being breastfed until 21 and 18 months respectively was miles easier than bottles. For both of us. It's much easier to just plug the thing into mum who, once past the first 6-8 weeks or so, could just lay in bed and have baby do its thing. Mrs Cheesyboy thought a few times that the baby had slept through the night because she didn't wake up enough to remember it was there :D
 
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