Confessions: Waitrose Mango Fingers & the patter of tiny feet…

Congratulations. My daughter was born on December 26th. She was due in the middle of February, but just did not want to wait! She was 7 weeks premature and spent her first 30 days in ICU. She is now a successful adult (5 ft 7in & normal weight). We celebrated her birthday when she was school age early because many of her friends were away over the holidays.

August 27, 2011 at 8:36 pm

Hey, well done you!
We found the most thrifty place to buy baby stuff was our local NCT sale. Look out for the next nearly new sale in your area and hit it with a list and maybe a willing helper or two. We saved a fortune and I now also sell stuff at them to fund the next round of toys and clothes!
caroline

August 27, 2011 at 8:53 pm

Hi – my son was due in February also, and was born on the 29th December, 5 weeks early. I spent New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in hospital, as he was in the neonatal unit. The problem with having a baby around Christmas is 1) the expenditure of two lots of presents quite close to each other, and 2) no presents the rest of the year!

When it comes to baby stuff, there is a lot that you do not need, a lot of stuff is the cult of baby’s idea of what every yummy mummy should need, not really a case of practicality.

I would look out for your local Freeshare/Freecycle, charity shops, friends who already have babies, or young children. Once the word gets around, you will probably get offered things as well if you have a network of friends and family. Other good places to look for baby paraphernalia is Poundland, B & M Homestores and the like. They are good for things like baby toiletries, small plastic bits and pieces like feeding spoons and bowls, grooming bits and pieces like hair brushes, combs, nail clippers, cotton wool and the like.

Car boot sales are a good source of baby clothes, as at that age, children very rarely wear out their clothes before they outgrow them. You can get good deals on baby clothing, pushchairs, baby cots, etc, but look in the shops first because you need to know how much things cost, as some people try to get their money back for the clothes, and want far too much for them.

I have had two children on an extremely tight budget, and if you want any advice on preparing for a new baby thriftily, just ask. I am always happy to help!

Smiles

Karla

August 28, 2011 at 8:59 am

Congratulations! I thought you had been quiet lately. Lovely news, and glad to hear you are feeling better. Good luck with the baby on a budget, I’ll look forward to reading about it x

August 28, 2011 at 1:30 pm

Congratulations Miss Thrifty on your special news. I’m a fellow thrifty and pregnant person and I had to laugh when I read your comment about Mothercare, because that is exactly how I felt when I went in there, and then I vowed not to go back if possible at all. Anyway, very special news indeed, have fun preparing and enjoying it.

August 28, 2011 at 4:22 pm

I’m sure mum is so excited she is finally going to be a grandma that she will buy you lots of things. Your baby is going to be incredibly spoilt until the next grandchild is born and i don’t plan on having any children anytime soon!!!!

August 28, 2011 at 7:03 pm

Extra sheets definitely. With our first baby, we were seriously skint, and cot sheets were SO expensive. We went to the local market and bought fabric, particularly colourful gingham, and sewed a seam all around the edges, and then just tucked it in, didn’t bother with elastic, or anything like that. The good thing about them is that my husband made our daughter a cradle that used a pram sized mattress, so they were useful for the cradle and also for the pram, a Silver Cross that was given to us by friends. When the baby was more active, then we managed to get some on sale, proper ones with elastic to stop them coming off! There are always tricks! xxx

August 28, 2011 at 9:18 pm

Congratulations! I was born on Christmas day and used to think it was one of the worst things ever: everybody used to forget my birthday and I could never have a party as my friends were visiting family etc. Now I think this is brilliant because the place where I work closes for the Christmas holidays so I never have to work on my birthday!!

There are lots and lots of very cute knitting patterns for babies on the internet- you should check Ravelry for loads of funky, cute and free knits.

August 30, 2011 at 7:34 pm

We used cloth nappies for our daughter (now three and a half). They are more economical only if you get them second hand, and or are given them (there will be LOTS of washing to do). As they can be washed on a very hot wash at least once, second hand should work well. I bought several off the used nappy website http://www.usednappies.co.uk/ and have since passed them on to a friend. They do sometimes come up on freecycle too, so it’s definitely worth putting up a note asking for them.

If you don’t have a tumble dryer, you need particularly soft ones. If any one is selling Tots Bots fluffles, although they are bulky and more synthetic, they are lovely and soft. I like them and the motherease/sandys bamboo (not the cotton) as the bamboo is that much softer. NB, totsbots bamboo wasn’t as soft, so not as good without a dryer. It is worth buying disposable liners for them as much easier to deal with and clean and if there is no “solid waste” in them, most of them can be washed too, I used most of them 3/4 times after I found that out on the nappylady’s website, I think.

Two things I found out quickly were: 1 use a barrier cream (but only something innocuous like petroleum jelly (or although it seems expensive, Waitrose bottom butter is cheaper than alternatives if you don’t want the petrochemicals) and 2 always ensure that the nappy is totally inside the wrap (wicking = more washing).

Our daughter, very, very rarely got nappy rash but when she did, metanium was brilliant. We bought one tube, when she was a few weeks old and have still got 2/3 of it left. Real nappies are fab, if used with care.

Sorry for length but here’s a couple more real nappy tips:
They are more bulky than disposables so you can make a little “vest extender” just by hemming a rectangular piece of fabric and putting poppers at each end (little green earthlets sell them if you want to see a picture of what I mean)

Also, when buying second hand clothes, particularly trousers, look out for ones that say on them cut for real nappies, or indeed by companies like Frugi/Cut for cloth. More expensive than mothercare, but wash and wash and wash, have good sales and do show up on e-bay.

Hope this is useful on the real nappy front (once you use them, you do get evangelical about them, all that horrible landfill waste with the disposables).

September 1, 2011 at 12:29 am

Many many congratulations! What an exciting time for you 🙂 I’ve been dipping in and out of your blog and love your posts, so I hope motherhood doesn’t leave you too exhausted 😉

We were very frugally-minded when awaiting the arrival of our son Theo. Like some of the posters above have mentioned, we also used cloth nappies- which not only saved us a fortune long-term, but also earned us a ‘rebate’ from our local council of £100- an incentive many local councils use to help reduce household waste. If you do go own this route, it’s worth contacting your local council to see if they offer anything similar. We also used cloth wipes (which I far prefer over the conventional ones!) and never had any issues with them at all- washing at normal temperatures and line drying meant we weren’t created astromonical costs for ourselves. Oh, and we bought them at the BabyShow in Birmingham at cost price, saving an additional £50- and asked the grandparents-in-waiting to chip in for those, as opposed to piles of clothes. They were only too willing!

We also got our entire nursery set off ebay using localbargainfinder – the set was from Argos originally and was one I had been eyeing up at a costy £800. We got it all for £50 for a local pick up- in beautiful condition!

Shop around relatives and friends for short-term items like the moses basket (if you’re going to use one) and respective sheets and blankets- babies grow so unbelievably quickly that you rarely get your moneys worth out of them, so I always found the borrowed ones looked as good as new. Same with newborn clothes- if you can resist the beautiful alluring outfits when out shopping!

Breastfeeding- simply the best both in terms of frugality and every other way. But I worked for 2 years as a breastfeeding support worker, so I’m a tad biased 😉 However, it IS true that formula is incredibly, unbelievably expensive- something to bear in mind! And don’t been caught up in the marketing ploy of companies convincing you that you need bottles anyway, or a steriliser, pump, breastfeeding tops etc. etc… I found a vest top under a v-neck t-shirt always did the job just as well.

There’s sooo many more I could pass on, but I’m sure I’ll bury you under it all so will leave it there for now. Will be watching with excitement with all fingers crossed for a smooth pregnancy and birth for you!!

Becki (toddleronour.com)

September 6, 2011 at 4:27 pm

Children’s parties aren’t that bad. They are actually very fun, especially that it is a new experience for me. I had been worried though, not having enough games or activities for the kids to enjoy but it turned out well. It is okay that you haven’t bought anything for the baby yet, just remember to enjoy when you finally do so. Congratulations, you will love being a mom.

September 12, 2011 at 7:53 am

lots of babygrows, a changing mat and a basket so you can have the baby sleep downstairs with you whilst you iron/watch tv, fall asleep hanging upside down from the ceiling…..don’t bother with changing tables or those huge prams ( get a pushchair that fits in a car that folds down flat for a newborn)
Get lots of bibs, lots of baby wipes, nappy rash cream and help from family so you can sleep…..
Snore…I’m asleep……

September 15, 2011 at 12:47 pm