Pregnancy #65

[LavaFlake]

Can we add a chat about good pram bags/nappy bags/bags for carrying all the baby kit when you’re out? Despite spending as much on our travel system as most people do on a second hand car, it didnt come with a bag unlike some of the systems. Looking for something in the grey/dark grey sort of colourway to match how dull and boring me and MrDragName are and it will go with the system we bought as well.

I just bought one off Amazon. Think it was about £25 when I bought it . It was grey and had quite a few pockets for different baby bits and pockets with insulation if you’re planning to bottle or combi feed. Some people spend a lot on bags and some of them look lovely but I wasn’t willing to. A baby and travel system is expensive enough I would say go for a bigger one you can stick in your back as when they get older it’s good for putting toys, books and snacks and water to keep them entertained!

 

[clmay]

Massively recommend a backpack style bag. You’ll need way more stuff than you think as well so go bigger. When baby becomes toddler you’ll need space for thousands of snacks and toys . Mine was a leather one from Storksak, not cheap but well worth it

 

[Greencatfysh]

speaking of sheets, what do you put in their pram? We have bought the egg 3, and the mattress topper/sheets that go with it, but none of these are waterproof, and it doesn't seem that there is a waterproof version? Am i missing something or are sheets/mattress topper enough? Also, the mattress topper is shearling and probably better for winter for the pram basinet, so is a sheet suffice on the pram mattress?

These things are distracting me from thinking about labour! 37w2d and finish work this week!

Didn’t use anything. We used big muslins and wrapped it around the mattress. Again, we never had a poop incident that was bad enough it touched the bassinet, although again being a winter baby this was probably because she was so wrapped up.

 

[lilykestrel]

Did anybody else find the post-week 13 "wow I feel like a functioning human again!" honeymoon massively dipped round 16/17? Had three weeks of bopping round not feeling completely wiped and suddenly whoooooops here we are again. I think I read that Babby is doing some extreme growing this week so I guess it's probably that.

 

[fishsticks]

Can we add a chat about good pram bags/nappy bags/bags for carrying all the baby kit when you’re out? Despite spending as much on our travel system as most people do on a second hand car, it didnt come with a bag unlike some of the systems. Looking for something in the grey/dark grey sort of colourway to match how dull and boring me and MrDragName are and it will go with the system we bought as well.

Definitely recommend a backpack style over anything else. So much easier especially when carrying a carseat too. We bought a Gigil one after struggling with an over the shoulder style for 6 weeks that came with the pram. It had lots of compartments and insulated bottle compartments if that's what you need. We didn't use them as had a nuby rapid cool! It lasted well for 2 years everyday use. Had friends who had Storksak and Tiba and Marl, but I didn't find the quality matched the amount spent!!! Would also recommend a pram organiser that sits on the bars. I didn't get one for the longest time bcus I thought they were useless, but when baby is weaning and they want snacks/water it was a game changer for me!

 

[Hinchhater1442]

I think everyone is so different with bags as I haaaaated backpack style ones 🫣 I have the Tiba + Marl pocket tote which is about my 4th bag and by far my favourite! I hated anything with a zip as trying to unzip one handed was a pain. Also anything too deep as digging for something would fluster me if baby was crying I love all the pockets on it for little bits- dummies etc - so they don’t get lost in the main compartment. I think it depends on your lifestyle too!

 

[ThisIsMyDragName]

Thanks for the bag chat! Lots to think about. I use a backpack for work and like it, MrDragName must have terrible posture though as he hates wearing a backpack. So we’ll have to see! He liked one he saw in boots because it was a wipe clean fabric but looked like a ‘real’ fabric.

He’s had a conversation with his bosses today about Paternity Leave. Stat. Pat. Pay is so poor he is taking his two full weeks as annual leave. His employers are small and could claim 108% or whatever it is now back but it’s not worth it for him and they have refused to uplift it to full pay, which is their right, but is annoying when he has worked so hard for them for so many years. He’s agreed to work shorter weeks afterwards and they’re being flexible that maybe the days will need to change if it doesn’t work for us.

All feels a bit real and a bit scary! Not helped by not having a great morning either at home or at work and I suddenly want to crawl into bed and stay there. The mature mum to be response to this extreme adulting!

 

[ThisIsMyDragName]

Did anybody else find the post-week 13 "wow I feel like a functioning human again!" honeymoon massively dipped round 16/17? Had three weeks of bopping round not feeling completely wiped and suddenly whoooooops here we are again. I think I read that Babby is doing some extreme growing this week so I guess it's probably that.

It personally took me till about 16-18 weeks to feel more human and less zombie but it’s easy to overdo it once the energy comes back! When I do something out of my norm I’m knackered these days. Had a wee trip to the shops on Saturday and needed a nap when I got home. I was too hot, the shops had no air and standing around hurt my back, haha.

 

[RoseyThorney]

This is the bag we’ve got. It was recommended on here and loads of my mum friends have it in different colours too. Pretty decent Prime deal on it too. I’m obsessed with it - it fits so much!!

 

[ThisIsMyDragName]

View attachment 3633174

This is the bag we’ve got. It was recommended on here and loads of my mum friends have it in different colours too. Pretty decent Prime deal on it too. I’m obsessed with it - it fits so much!!

Does it hang off a travel system or does it always need to be on your back? I did buy these hook things for the handlebars of the travel system off good old TikTok but maybe they’ll scratch and dent the push handle? Who knows.

I am feeling all the back pack recommendations though!

ETA: ohhh I see the ‘stroller straps’! Well, this is a game changer….

 

[Greencatfysh]

Does it hang off a travel system or does it always need to be on your back? I did buy these hook things for the handlebars of the travel system off good old TikTok but maybe they’ll scratch and dent the push handle? Who knows.

I am feeling all the back pack recommendations though!

ETA: ohhh I see the ‘stroller straps’! Well, this is a game changer….

I always bung mine under the pram in the basket bit

 

[ThisIsMyDragName]

I always bung mine under the pram in the basket bit

Yeah good point! It will probably just bang against my legs otherwise

 

[RoseyThorney]

Does it hang off a travel system or does it always need to be on your back? I did buy these hook things for the handlebars of the travel system off good old TikTok but maybe they’ll scratch and dent the push handle? Who knows.

I am feeling all the back pack recommendations though!

ETA: ohhh I see the ‘stroller straps’! Well, this is a game changer….

Yeah it’s got stroller straps as you’ve seen! I prefer to wear it as a backpack but you can also carry it in your hand like a normal bag as well. I’ve not hung it off the pushchair handle yet as I keep envisioning the weight of it tipping the pushchair whenever I take baby Rosey out if it.

We got some buggy clips for the pushchair handle too but I mostly hang my car keys off them and sometimes the shopping if I can’t fit it all in the nappy bag or underneath!

 

[LittleMissMuffet]

View attachment 3633174

This is the bag we’ve got. It was recommended on here and loads of my mum friends have it in different colours too. Pretty decent Prime deal on it too. I’m obsessed with it - it fits so much!!

Is this just a small pram or is the bag that big? Because my knees bashing into it while pushing the pram would drive me crazy!

 

[RoseyThorney]

That is a small pram!! It’s just normal backpack sized.

 

[calabazarock]

Worst than bumping into my knees, I would worry it makes the pram to heavy on the back and flip.

 

[LavaFlake]

I also ended up baby wearing more than using the pram so a rucksack was far better. But a lot of these things you can’t predict til bubs is here.

I’m debating a double pram and selling my Egg and getting a secondhand Bugaboo Donkey but I just don’t know Baby Lava will be 23 months I imagine he’ll still be in the pram. I can baby wear newborn but what if I have a c section or they hate it ugh.

 

[lilykestrel]

I'm 17 weeks with my first when do I need to begin thinking about all this pram and car seat and crib stuff, when I try to comprehend it my brain is like a monkey playing the cymbals at the moment

 

[ThisIsMyDragName]

I'm 17 weeks with my first when do I need to begin thinking about all this pram and car seat and crib stuff, when I try to comprehend it my brain is like a monkey playing the cymbals at the moment

I found it all super overwhelming. Literally had a small cry in a Baby Megastore place when I couldn’t get a single pram/travel system to fold or come apart and couldn’t drop down the side of any of the ‘next to the bed’ cribs and I went into full ‘I can’t possibly be a parent’ mode. Then I remembered I was wearing big girl pants and we got a sales assistant to show us a specific system then asked to see any others that met our requirements which she did, then we went back around and tested them all by ourselves and I felt like I could actually do this. No criticism of the shop, we had decided to walk round the whole thing first and then ask for demos. They were helpful and completely not pushy about buying in the slightest. We did go to Mamas and Papas as well on the same day, but that point i was hot, tired and emotional and I’d been having crampy pains all day and I was just furious at the entire world and tried to wrestle with a car seat and failed but again, the woman in the shop was great, really helpful, helped me understand that the car seat and base I wanted did the thing I want it to do (swivel both ways and slide out to help my back and the fact that we sometimes park facing one way, sometimes another and I don’t want to get the boy out the car in the middle of the road). Again, she was zero pressure. She talked about buying appointments and getting some money off and about price matching but she wasn’t pushy about it.

I first went at 21 weeks pregnant. Probably had the smallest bump of all the shoppers but it was a 3ish hour round trip and we have had to plan our weekends with military precision lately to get everything done!

We knew we wanted an all terrain system because of where we live. We have accepted its heavy as a trade off, and that if we want to go on holiday we’ll need to buy some wee foldy lightweight thing, but I doubt we can even afford a drive down the street anyway the ‘city’ stuff is definitely more nimble and light, but depends on where you live and what sort of stuff you tend to do really!

 

[LittleMissMuffet]

I'm 17 weeks with my first when do I need to begin thinking about all this pram and car seat and crib stuff, when I try to comprehend it my brain is like a monkey playing the cymbals at the moment

You have a bit of time so don’t even worry about all this right now. With my first, we were isolated during covid (pre any vaccines) so we didn’t get to go and test things out and the pram we chose, while a tiny bit heavy, we love.
I remember calling my sister when I was 30wks and sobbing because we didn’t have a blanket for the baby and that clearly meant I was going to be a terrible mother because how could I not know to buy a blanket? Hilariously we then ended up with more blankets than we could ever use because people sent gifts once baby was born.