Best place to get baby gear?

[nuggety goodness]

With a little bundle of nuggety goodness on the way in late Jan we are in need of a lot of gear.

where is the best place to buy the necessary items we will need for our little one?

Mrs NG has been on ebay snoopin around for a bargain and there seems to be a few on there too, a lot are pick up only (prams, change table, cots) which causes a headache as we both work and live very busy lives so a day trip to Melb to pick up would be difficult to say the least...

alternatively are there any of you who are looking to move on some old furniture etc that is no longer needed or know of anyone in that boat?

any help is good help, even if it's 'steer away from xxxxx'

thanks friends...

or should i say acquaintances...

or anonymous forumites...

what are you?!?

[Dirko]

OK, here's a bit of advice. Unless your going walking ie long walks every day or jogging or pretending to be some yuppie dickhead, don't get a three wheel jogger pram.

They're a pain in the arse to get into the boot of the car, they roll into the Torrens easily, and they tip up if you chuck a shit load of shopping over the handles.

Buy a pram that suits all sorts of needs (ie Baby sleeping, take the carrier insert out, convert into a toddler pram etc).

We got most of our gear from YCN. They seem pretty good.

[fisho mcspaz]

For clothes you can't go past Target. They are perennially having a 30% off sale on kids and baby clothes. We get all Luke's things from Target and they've always held up well, and there's quite a big range (furry giraffe suit, anyone?).

With the pram, I'd go for one with a handle that flips, so you can have bubs facing either towards you or away from you. That way you can always make sure the baby's out of the sun.

Also, baby slings/carriers - stay away from the brand Baby Bjorn. I haven't used it but my sister-in-law is a breastfeeding counsellor and she seems to know quite a lot about baby stuff and she reckons the Baby Bjorn carriers aren't safe.

[Mr Beefy]

Dont try and be environmentally sensitive by washing nappies - save your time, effort and baby's nether regions by buying disposables in bulk from somewhere like Nappyland.

All the detergent you use is probably worse for the environment anyways.

[MatteeG]

Go Baby Bunting IF they have specials for your big things (Pram etc).

Although we got our furniture from Toys R Us, who have a surprisingly big baby section.

Clothes at target, nappies wherever they are on special.

[Dogwatcher]

For sleep measures, I recommend Tizzie Hall's book Save Our Sleep. I think there's also a forum for it as well.
We used SOS and it gave us a great guide as to how to set a sleep pattern for your bubs and it's worked all the way through. And by we, I mean Mrs DW.
Let's hope number two is as good as sleeper as Lil Miss DW.

Mrs DW has been on facebook of late looking at group's that have secondhand baby stuff for sale/swap. There are some Adelaide based ones. You can organise delivery or pick-ups.

Congrats mate!

[nuggety goodness]

For sleep measures, I recommend Tizzie Hall's book Save Our Sleep. I think there's also a forum for it as well.
We used SOS and it gave us a great guide as to how to set a sleep pattern for your bubs and it's worked all the way through. And by we, I mean Mrs DW.
Let's hope number two is as good as sleeper as Lil Miss DW.

Mrs DW has been on facebook of late looking at group's that have secondhand baby stuff for sale/swap. There are some Adelaide based ones. You can organise delivery or pick-ups.

Congrats mate!

is there a number two on the way? (baby number 2...)

[Dogwatcher]

Sure is mate.
December.

[nuggety goodness]

Sure is mate.
December.

well congrats to you too mate...

[devilsadvocate]

Dont try and be environmentally sensitive by washing nappies - save your time, effort and baby's nether regions by buying disposables in bulk from somewhere like Nappyland.

All the detergent you use is probably worse for the environment anyways.

Disagree. The detergent you have to use is environmentally friendly because it has to be for sensitive skin.

We have a range of washables and they are brilliant. Not only have they saved us an absolute bucket load of cash*, but think about all the landfill created by disposables.

* The washable nappies cost approx $13 each and we have a set of 22.
The cost per wash is probably around $3 including detergent, electricity, water and depreciation of your washing machine and we'd do a wash every 2 days. So for the 1st year, we're looking at around $833

Compare that to disposables, which are around 60c each (on sale). At 7 nappies per day, that's $1533 for the year.

[A Mum]

Baby Haggle and Toys R Us.

And then play one off against the other.

Worked very well for someone I know - who saved hundreds of $ off marked prices in the end.

[heater31]

For clothes you can't go past Target. They are perennially having a 30% off sale on kids and baby clothes. We get all Luke's things from Target and they've always held up well, and there's quite a big range (furry giraffe suit, anyone?).

please no you didn't

[fisho mcspaz]

For clothes you can't go past Target. They are perennially having a 30% off sale on kids and baby clothes. We get all Luke's things from Target and they've always held up well, and there's quite a big range (furry giraffe suit, anyone?).

please no you didn't

oooh yes I did. It looks like a cross between a giraffe and a sheep. I also went to Baby Haggle, didn't buy anything but I did get to shout at the top of my voice, 'You've got to haggle, haggle!' at the poor CSR. Mr McSpaz said afterwards that he should have known not to bring me there.

Baby shopping is fun.

[Dogwatcher]

For clothes you can't go past Target. They are perennially having a 30% off sale on kids and baby clothes. We get all Luke's things from Target and they've always held up well, and there's quite a big range (furry giraffe suit, anyone?).

please no you didn't

You didn't ask if the giraffe suit was adult sized before asking that question Heater

[fisho mcspaz]

I won't dress myself up as a giraffe... actually, I probably would, just for the hell of it. But they don't come in my size.

[Hondo]

For sleep measures, I recommend Tizzie Hall's book Save Our Sleep. I think there's also a forum for it as well.

We used that book too (well, Mrs Hondo did!). Saw it on the Today Show on morning and ordered a copy online.

A good sleep routine is good for baby and good for mum and dad!

[heater31]

For clothes you can't go past Target. They are perennially having a 30% off sale on kids and baby clothes. We get all Luke's things from Target and they've always held up well, and there's quite a big range (furry giraffe suit, anyone?).

please no you didn't

oooh yes I did. It looks like a cross between a giraffe and a sheep. I also went to Baby Haggle, didn't buy anything but I did get to shout at the top of my voice, 'You've got to haggle, haggle!' at the poor CSR. Mr McSpaz said afterwards that he should have known not to bring me there.

I feel sorry for little Lukey.......


where is the number for Families SA? surely that has to be some form of abuse

[Dogwatcher]

Routine can initially scare some parents, who are 'relaxed' about life.
But a sleeping routine really helps you get through the parts of the day when you need to do stuff.
We wouldn't have been without it.

[Squawk]

Family and friends are a great start....hey, some people even have baby showers to get started!

With a bassinette/cot - if you get them second hand you MUST get a new mattress for them both. And for each extra kid thereafter, they need a new mattress too. (SIDS guidelines).

We got a mountain buggy "swift" pram and it's great. Yes, it is a 3 wheeler but it folds up beautifully for the car and only weighs 9kg (as opposed to 11kg+ for most prams). Also, the little fella is out in it pretty much every day for walks with Mrs Squawk (and sometimes me on weekends). It has racked up probably 20-30km a week and we haven't even had to pump up the tyres yet.

As for clothes, your price point is a big factor choice wise - whether that's retail outlet or fabric. There's a heap of guides out there about clothes, but generally they say to make sure the baby doesn't overheat (SIDS risk again) so towelling is not great.

Dont buy too many clothes to start with. You dont know what size your baby will be born at, so just get a couple of things to get started with and use hospital gear while there. As soon as baby arrives, most gifts are typically clothes so you get a good supply pretty quickly.

As for outlets, Baby Bunting is good plus they offer a VIP card for 5% discount to pretty much everyone. I call BB the "Bunnings for Babies" as they have just about everything under the main roof. What I like best is the service they offer - much better than YCN in my experience. Target is good for the quick and easy things where you dont need much assistance and can grab stuff straight off the shelves.

Good books we have used (although I must confess, I do limited reading of them myself! ) include "Baby Love" by Robin Barker and "The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting" by Gina Ford. CYH also put out a small publication called "Toddlers A to Z" plus National Pharmacies have 4-5 little books they sell (recommended by CYH) for about $5 each. If you are a member of National Pharmacies, you get 20% off everything which is great for big purchases like an Express pump!

[JK]

OK, here's a bit of advice. Unless your going walking ie long walks every day or jogging or pretending to be some yuppie dickhead, don't get a three wheel jogger pram.

They're a pain in the arse to get into the boot of the car, they roll into the Torrens easily, and they tip up if you chuck a **** load of shopping over the handles.

Buy a pram that suits all sorts of needs (ie Baby sleeping, take the carrier insert out, convert into a toddler pram etc).

We got most of our gear from YCN. They seem pretty good.

Have to agree with this, I don't think the 3-wheeler has been too flash, certainly has it's moments of difficulty for maneuvering ... Mrs P is due again on Saturday, so I think she's grabbed a double pram/stroller thingy for future use.

The place at out Gepps Cross seems to carry quite a lot of stuff.