Baby gear... first time mum

Instead of buying those items now put the cash away and just look out for a sale, since your so early you can afford to do that. As farmers, baby city, baby factory etc have several sales around easter etc so you could save some money there.

Buggy - depends on how many kids you plan on having and when. If you plan on more than one close together then look into options where you can add a toddler seat later. If you only plan on having one then I found a cheap one at farmers was great. It was a 3 wheeler buggy and was just as good as the exensive brands but I got it for $200 on sale.

Capsule, I wouldn't bother getting one again but thats just me, some people love them.

Carseat - do alot of research. One that can go forward and rear facing. They vary quite a lot in terms of weight and height limits so it really pays to look around.

Do some searchs in the product review section you'll be able to find previous threads

Thanks for the all the advice, i've found some sale deals which include the capsule but i'm still doing some research.

I'll check out the product review section.

We have told our friends and family, i would say i'll get alot of the small stuff which is why i'm only buying the big stuff for now.

Congrats on your pregnancy!

Caseat/Capsule:

If you have the opportunity to go and see a Baby on the Move rep - I highly recommend this! I think there is one in Wellington (unfortunately not in Palmy). They are great, they can tell you all sorts about which is safest/easiest/cheapest. They hire and sell so you can decide what you are going to do after you've met with them. We have a Graco capsule with a base which we love :)

Pram:

We have a Mountain Buggy\. We got a universal capsule clip which allowed us to take the capsule out of the car and just clip onto the buggy. So great in those early days. We now use it normally. We got out secondhand of TM - was only 2 years old and came with lots of extras, half the price of buying new! But see down the page about my comment about not needing a pram.

Some Other Things I thought of: :)


Cloth Nappies - awesome money saver. We don't use sposies at all. Modern Cloth Nappies are nothing like the old flats with safety pins. They are cute and oh so easy. Cost for Birth to Toilet Trained is around $600-$700 depending on what kind you get or even cheaper if you get them secondhand. But you don't have to get them all at once :) It ends up being MUCH cheaper than buying sposies plus when you've finished with them - you can sell them on.

Moby Wrap baby carrier: Awesome baby carrier especially for the very young babies. I have an Ergo baby carrier as well but I'd say the Moby is far better for young babies, the Ergo comes later on. If you are going with a carseat that stays in the car rather than a capsule then I would go so far as to say - you don't need a pram, just spend $75 on a Moby Wrap and you are sorted. We "wear" Jude FAR more than we take him out in the pram.

Cot: You don't need to buy a basinet or hammock for the baby to go into earlier on - your baby can just go straight into a cot.

You get given HEAPS of blankets and toys :) So only get a few of these. We didn't buy any toys and Jude's toy box is overflowing.

Baby Monitor: You don't need one. Haha. Even in a big house we still manage to pick up when Jude is awake and when he isn't.

Check out TradeMe for awesome bargains - things for little babies are often sold secondhand in great condition because they only use them for such a short period of time. (But I wouldn't recommend getting a secondhand carseat as you never know whether they have been in a crash or not.)

That's all I can think of for now. Good Luck!

Edited by StaceyL

Oh they are cute Mamma2N, you should make them to sell. I'd definitely consider buying some from you.

Thank god for TM, if your wise and take your time you can really find a great bargin. So far I've found a very cute bassinet and change table with a bath. Both of these items were in great condition and not expensive at all, plus i got extras for no cost. I know i didn't need a bassinet, but after lots of discussion we decided to get one as it will be useful to us.

My lovely Father brought us a cot this week, so i just need to get a mattress, buggy and carseat. I will definitely but a new carseat, maybe secondhand buggy (although flybuys have a really good one) and a friend has a mattress she's giving me. So far all is going well.

oh yeah forgot to plug MCNs too! lol Mum is making all of ours for us.... we will be using sposies though for the first couple of days for the meconium poos (and until DP can change a nappy without worrying about inserts n all that jazz lol) but there are some adorable fabrics out there! and if you can make em yourself, you can make them for about $5-$7 each (or if you get fabric on spesh even cheaper... keep your eye out for the spotlight specials where they have $2/m etc.)






they can go from a NB size (almost prem size) through to walker size, just by using the different velcro bits. but still really easy! my fave ones are these zebra pattern ones mum made lol.

/hijacks

So...uh...what pattern(s) would you ladies recommend?

*looks at neglected sewing machine*

Orsi - TWH has a new maternity range... bras are $18. this week they on spesh from $12 i thnk... (H&H)

dango_chan - i think you can find them online. i dont know where mum got her one from... ill try find out for ya.

Orsi76 wrote: Hi Guys, I'm 13 weeks pregnant and all my bras are already too small. Any idea from where can I get some good cotton bras in Lower Hutt or Wellington. Also looking for an exercise class in the same locations

I actually found KMart to be my best source of maternity bras. Love my Bub2B Maternity Camisoles.

Thanks Ladies, will check out TWH 2morrow, not sure where is KMart here will try to find one next week (probably to late for the weekend discount tho...)

Edited by Orsi76

Bendon factory was having an awesome sale the last few weeks - nothing over $20. Check them out if they are in Welly! Hopefully the sale is still going...