In Hindsight.....

gaz wac

Hi all,

Father to be for the first time so of course have a million questions but I was wondering if we could start a thread where people can pass on their tips and hints that they’ve gained from going through their previous pregnancies. A list of all the stuff you got ‘wrong’ the first time and found yourself saying,” jees that would have been handy to know before I had the baby” !! or “ I wouldn’t do/buy that if I was to do it all again”, might help out us first timers. Ill start…

Our first appointment in Hollest Street was booked for 2pm, a friend told us to be there at 1pm as you are allocated a number and the doctor only arrives at 2pm, we got there at 1pm and all ready there was five people in front of us and I saw a person with number 31 !! get there early!

A friend told us about the fixed car seat system ( isofix ), that you can just lift the car seat without messing with seat belts etc and then put it on a buggy..said they are expensive but was the best thing he bought to save on time and stress

Cheers

Gaz

Goldenquick

Hats of to you as a first time Dad wanting to find out how to do things.

My daughter used to work in a well known shop in the city centre and was trained in the correct use & fitting of baby seats, buggies and prams. If you would like to pm me I can tell you the name of the store and you will get good advice from one of the assistants there.

CathyMoran

gaz wac wrote: »

A friend told us about the fixed car seat system ( isofix ), that you can just lift the car seat without messing with seat belts etc and then put it on a buggy..said they are expensive but was the best thing he bought to save on time and stress

Re: ISOFIX, yes it is great but make sure before you buy that your car actually has the ISOFIX fittings (we are having to get ours fitted retrospectively on ours).

It may seem obvious but one of the best things that we got was a bottle warmer (we are breast and bottle feeding)...husband says that steam steriliser is the best...oh, get lots of bibs, babygrows and vests when you know the size if your baby.

January

Oh god I hated my bottle warmer... takes ages... not good when you have a screaming baby in your arms!! I used it for about three months on Addison and then started to microwave the bottles making sure to shake them well to even out the heat. I continued microwaving on my second... although you know what is best??? Getting them to drink it at room temp!!! My two are just fussy!

janmc

Our first appointment in Hollest Street was booked for 2pm, a friend told us to be there at 1pm as you are allocated a number and the doctor only arrives at 2pm, we got there at 1pm and all ready there was five people in front of us and I saw a person with number 31 !! get there early!

I presume you're referring to the Semi-Private Clinic. This actually really bugs me and everyone seems to do it. My doctor starts at 1pm, and has started on time every single time. The reason they give you a time is to avoid everyone arriving at the same time so it reduces waiting time and means that there are less in the already crowded corridor waiting. By you arriving early, you are just throwing their system out of whack. /rant

But this is a good idea for a thread.

aniascor

The absolute best thing my husband did during my pregnancy was learn acupressure for labour. (We took a class but really it was he who had to learn it) It provided great pain relief for me during my labour and it made him feel really useful!

A mistake we made was not packing the hospital bag properly. I was in denial that the baby could possibly arrive early - was convinced he would be two weeks late. Anyway when he did arrive 10 days early we didn't have enough babygros, vests and baby blankets packed. This was partly because I wasn't really sure what to dress a new baby in so I had bought lots of different types of clothes. But in reality we only used little vests and babygros for the first month.

Totally agree with the others about the isofix base. We didn't buy it until my son was 10 weeks old and now I'm not sure why. It's great. If your car doesn't have isofix, you can just get the easybase instead. It uses the seatbelt rather than isofix points. (this is for the maxi cosi car seat)

aniascor

Oh and one more thing I would have done differently is that I would have made a note of who gave us presents and what they gave us. I was not prepared for how much we got. And also I thought I'd remember who gave what but I just didn't. I've had several conversations with people asking me if my son has worn the outfit they bought yet and I've had to admit that i can't remember which outfit that was.

Swizzles

Ok so on the pregnancy aspect of it..
I wish id known how emotional id be :eek: I mean crying becoz i broke a glass is not like me at all ..And be prepared for mood swings (Best to be prepared just incase:D)Ive been like a wild woman to live with ..Crying one minute wanting to break more glasses the next ..:o

Also shop around when buying bits for the baby ..Somethings can be up to E40 cheaper in another shop so its defo worth a look .
Will let you know more as i learn

ebmma

i might come across as selfish, but I don't care :D:D

have lots of couple time and with friends time. go on trips, go out, go to movies, embrace your hobbies. Once baby arrives you'll have very little time (at least at the start).

treat each other, make it an extended 2nd honeymoon :-)

Das Kitty

Thought of a silly one for this thread this morning!

I couldn't get James to keep his scratch mits on and he had his little face shredded! I may have been too tired to notice this but Next brand sleep suits have inbuilt scratch mits, you just turn the cuff over the little hand.