[rich1068]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

The NCT!

Geez,I attended those classes 26 odd yrs ago,I have never met such a bunch of stiff upper lipped,superior and pretentious people in all my life.

I'd never have known people could be quite so militant about childbirth,and have such a total lack of faith in the NHS,it was shocking!

We went twice,and after I had the audacity to question some of their beliefs,which ended up in a heated discussion,we never went again.

As he was already going and I think someone else had been I kept it to myself but my thoughts exactly. Birth Nazis the lot of them!

Hopefully this is the Dara O'Briain clip I'm thinking of too (I have no sound on my work PC)

[davyk31]

Isofix is essential in my opinion and also much safer. Flaffing round with belts making sure they lock at the right time etc is a pain. For our second we bought a Britax Isofix seat with a separate base which stayed in the car, just drop the seat onto the base and click its done!

Seat and base still in the attic if you're interested, immaculate condition! PM me. Loads of other Isofix next stage seats up there are well again all perfect.

[dobbo99]

Originally Posted by scottc

Well our little one is due on April 23rd and its our first. Not sure it's sunk in yet and yes I have had all the warnings!! Expecting a little boy which is great for me, loads more toys to play with :-)

We had a 911 and a TT so something had to give. Ordered an X6 which I something we both wanted regardless of kids.

good luck geezer, im sure we will find it sinks in pretty quick

[dobbo99]

Originally Posted by xs2man

Although, it is worth noting that your child is not meant to be in the car seat for more than 2 hours at a time. So when you go shopping or anything, you might have to take them out. When we take the beast (Range Rover), this isn't a problem. The boot is plenty big enough for a decent shop as well as the whole travel system. In the 3 series touring though, there isn't much room left for shopping. So if you are just going shopping, and will be away for more than 2 hours, just get a baby sling and forget the pram completely, as you will only be able to get toilet roll and cereal in the boot. When the 335d is due for replacement, it'll either be with a 5 series or X5. 3 series is just too small.

yeah man, I bought a sling already, think they look cool and will give us a chance to get out and about without everything that mothercare offer in tow.

[AlwynMike]

Originally Posted by dobbo99

yeah man, I bought a sling already, think they look cool and will give us a chance to get out and about without everything that mothercare offer in tow.

It's a long time ago (everything was still in black-and-white, and there was no such thing as isofix - even rear seat belts were rare!) but the sling, then rucksack carrier were a tremendous help. We went donw the quite expensive route for pushchairs etc, but TBH, we were given a McLaren pushchair, one of the cheapest available - 8 small wheels, plastic weave seat, and that got the most use of anything - it was light, we could throw it in any of the cars and both kids loved it - probably cost about a tenner!!

Mike

[mowflow]

I would reply with lots of advice but having a hyperactive 2 year old who is allergic to sleep and a 5 month old, I'm just too tired for that shit.

Good luck to all expectant parents.

[Mr Singh]

Originally Posted by mowflow

I would reply with lots of advice but having a hyperactive 2 year old who is allergic to sleep and a 5 month old, I'm just too tired for that shit.

Good luck to all expectant parents.

lol x2

Mine won't even let me put her to sleep she'll mess about and get both of us in trouble from the other half.. and now her new thing is opening her door coming into our bed and climbing all over us at 7am, like it wasn't worse when the cat used to do that.

Its all fun and games, but heck the first year doesn't half FLY!

[Frobius]

Talking about sleep and money.. Get all the sleep you can now. You'll need it. Also, you'd be surprised how cheap you can get some of the stuff like slings and buggys on eBay. We got a baby Bjorn sling for £15 still in its box with the receipt in totally immaculate condition. Not bad considering they're like £80 or so new. In fact the only things id say you should get new are safety things like the car seat and stuff like breast pumps or cot mattresses. Get the rest second hand and save a fortune!

Oh, finally, if you're using a Moses basket, don't skimp on the mattress. The one we got came with this foam mat thing which we thought would be fine - it's only for a few months. Oh how wrong were we! India just wouldn't sleep well in it at all until I bought a memory foam one for about £20 and she slept pretty soundly from then on.

[dobbo99]

im trying to buy as little as possible, for no other reason than its the first grandchild from my side of the family, and my mums already buying clothes etc.
being a tall lad myself, we arent quite sure how big the new arrival will be.

got a moses basket from someone else who never used it, but good info on the mattress, maybe I'll look at spending some money on a good one as Ive saved it elsewhere.

got a few other bits from a nearly new event (or should I say jumble sale) through these NCT classes - ie buying stuff off people who now have 2 year olds, and never used half the stuff they bought before he/she was born.

having bought a whole travel system, ive now discovered that you cant get an iso-fix base for it......yee ha!

[FRG]

We have the Maxi Cosi family fix base and it's brilliant, just ready now for getting the forward facing seat as my daughter is getting big, fast!

People have said on here that babies don't sleep through the night, ours didn't until about 16 weeks but she does every night now, 11-12hrs. We believe the reason is that when she went in her own room (16 weeks) there were two new toys in her cot (Elfie and Mop for those who know) which she loved so we keep them in the cot and they're only for bedtime. Every night when I take her to bed she'd so excited to see the toys, you can hear her on the monitor for 15 to 30 mins playing with them before falling asleep. It must tire her out. Just a little tip that may help you .

Oh, and enjoy every minute as I'm sure you will, because 8 months on and it feels like 5 minutes. Good luck

[Frobius]

16 weeks! Envy head!

Ours didn't regularly go through for 8 months!

[Boyd1963]

Originally Posted by Frobius

This!

All really good advice. What I'd offer is get yourself to an NCT antenatal class. Take what they say with a pinch of salt though, but what it's good for is meeting other folk in the area that are in the same boat as you and have the same fears etc. Well worth the money IMHO - met some really good friends there.

I met most of my best friends at an NCT class 20 years ago.

[BanziBarn]

We had our second 11 weeks ago and he's sleeping from 8 to 8, with one feed when we go to bed..... so its not always a nightmare!

And, if anyone says you need to sell your 3 series and get something bigger then ignore them, its plenty big enough for two kids. You might need a roof box for holidays but thts it!

The family fix base is great. like has been said, just take the car seat off the base and straight onto the push chair. When they get older just buy a seat that fits on the same base.

We have a Bugaboo b buggy and that fits perfectly in the e90, takes half the floor plan, with room on top and beside it.

OP, Good luck, its a great experience and you'll be fine!

[rich1068]

Originally Posted by BanziBarn

so its not always a nightmare!

Don't tell the OP! It's that game we like to play!

[dobbo99]

dont worry, you cant put me off.
we are floating round in a little bubble at the moment, untouchable.

ask me how I feel in April and Im sure it will be a different story.

her sister has a now 5 week old girl, who apparently never sleeps, but shes only ever asleep when we've seen her, or seen photos of her, or anyone else has seen her.

[mowflow]

God! This place is like mums net or something. I feel an urge to go an listen to the V10 video over and over again until the masculine balance is restored.

Anyway. if you are actually shitting yourself about becoming a parent then these tests will help you prepare. My wife read these out the other day and it's very funny. Unfortunately it's all true.

Test 1: Preparation
Women: To prepare for pregnancy
1. Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2. Leave it there.
3. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.

Men: To prepare for children
1. Go to a local chemist, tip the contents of your wallet onto the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself
2. Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.

Test 2: Knowledge
Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild.
Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behaviour.
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.

Test 3: Nights
To discover how the nights will feel:
1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 4 - 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast.
Keep this up for 5 years. LOOK CHEERFUL.

Test 4: Dressing Small Children
1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hangout.
Time Allowed: 5 minutes.

Test 5: Cars
1. Forget the BMW. Buy a cheap 5 door euro box.
2. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Test 6: Going for a walk
a. Wait.
b. Go out the front door.
c. Come back in again.
d. Go out.
e. Come back in again.
f. Go out again.
g. Walk down the front path.
h. Walk back up it.
i. Walk down it again.
j. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
k. Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
l. Retrace your steps.
m. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
n. Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Test 7: Conversations with children
Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.

Test 8: Grocery Shopping
1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child - a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Test 9: Feeding a 1 year-old
1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.

Test 10:TV
1. Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney.
2. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.

Test 11: Mess
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds and then rub them on clean walls. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?
4. Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house onto the floor and proceed with step 5.
5. Drag randomly items from one room to another room and leave them there.

Test 12: Long Trips with Toddlers
1. Make a recording of someone shouting 'Mummy' repeatedly. Important Notes: No more than a 4 second delay between each Mummy. Include occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet.
2. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Test 13: Conversations
1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mummy tape listed above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Test 14: Getting ready for work
1. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2. Put on your finest work attire.
3. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
4. Stir
5. Dump half of it on your shirt
6. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
7. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
8. Do not change (you have no time).
9. Go directly to work

[dobbo99]

Originally Posted by mowflow

God! This place is like mums net or something. I feel an urge to go an listen to the V10 video over and over again until the masculine balance is restored.

i went out for a pre xmas curry and beer up on tuesday, out of 10 of us, only 2 didnt have a kid or one on the way, I remember we used to talk about girls, football, golf, old nights out, mans stuff.
90% of talk was about babies/kids. getting old!

[rich1068]

Originally Posted by mowflow

Test 1: Preparation
Women: To prepare for pregnancy
1. Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2. Leave it there.
3. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.

Men: To prepare for children
1. Go to a local chemist, tip the contents of your wallet onto the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself
2. Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.

Test 2: Knowledge
Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild.
Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behaviour.
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.

Test 3: Nights
To discover how the nights will feel:
1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 4 - 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast.
Keep this up for 5 years. LOOK CHEERFUL.

Test 4: Dressing Small Children
1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hangout.
Time Allowed: 5 minutes.

Test 5: Cars
1. Forget the BMW. Buy a cheap 5 door euro box.
2. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Test 6: Going for a walk
a. Wait.
b. Go out the front door.
c. Come back in again.
d. Go out.
e. Come back in again.
f. Go out again.
g. Walk down the front path.
h. Walk back up it.
i. Walk down it again.
j. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
k. Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
l. Retrace your steps.
m. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
n. Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Test 7: Conversations with children
Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.

Test 8: Grocery Shopping
1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child - a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Test 9: Feeding a 1 year-old
1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.

Test 10:TV
1. Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney.
2. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.

Test 11: Mess
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds and then rub them on clean walls. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?
4. Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house onto the floor and proceed with step 5.
5. Drag randomly items from one room to another room and leave them there.

Test 12: Long Trips with Toddlers
1. Make a recording of someone shouting 'Mummy' repeatedly. Important Notes: No more than a 4 second delay between each Mummy. Include occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet.
2. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Test 13: Conversations
1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mummy tape listed above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Test 14: Getting ready for work
1. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2. Put on your finest work attire.
3. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
4. Stir
5. Dump half of it on your shirt
6. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
7. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
8. Do not change (you have no time).
9. Go directly to work

All this. But oddly it brings a smile to my face rather than tempting me to jump off a high building.

[Dizzle]

Congratulations pal my little man is nearly two.

When choosing a seat etc. I had to have one that was compatible with the other half's too, and a push chair that fit her boot (Mini Cooper). So we went non ISOfix, had the Mamas and Papas belt fix base with the cybex Aton carrier seat that clamps onto the M and Ps Urbo push chair. Fit was really good - highly recommended

[dobbo99]

got excited over Xmas and bought pretty much everything we need in the sales.
as we are still in the 1 bed flat, we currently are now eating of a flatpack box which is a moses basket stand.
should move last weekend of January, which cant come soon enough. Could have moved quicker but our solicitors have been closed for 3 weeks.
the mrs is getting a) massive and b) excited about finishing work in 8 weeks.

[andyoxon]

Check out the City Mini Gt, great piece of kit and not crazy money. Our little one just had her 1st birthday been the best year of my life.....most tired .....worried.......but happiest deffinately. Glad she likes my E91 335i she prefers fast to slow and cries when I stop at traffic lights. NCT was interesting best thing was the friends you make. Best of luck