Pregnancy And Parenting

[Jacksgranda]

1 minute ago, 19QOS19 said:

You've kind of answered what I was going to say. If you have an active social life you'll feel it. I wasn't one for drinking every weekend or going away too often. My Saturday's were going to Palmerston, so it hasn't really effected me as I still get going.

Lack of sleep will probably be your biggest thing. We were incredibly lucky that Aila has always been a lazy shit and slept 12 hours a night from the 2nd night, so it never effected me from that point of view either (though baby no. 2 is bound to be a night owl ).

Financially we haven't felt the strain either tbh. You'll be falling over clothes that people will buy you so don't go mental on that front. You have 7 months to buy the essentials and again, we never had to buy the cot or the pram as the parents and in-laws wanted to do that. Hopefully you're as lucky there. We get around £80 from family allowance(?) and that was used solely for Aila and it covered pretty much what we needed. Nappies aren't that expensive tbh. Aldi and Tesco own are fine. Don't get mugged off with shite Pampers.

It's the planning that's been the biggest change for me. I used to leave the house at the last possible minute but with a newborn it's more time-consuming.

I wouldn't swap my current situation for before I had a child though and every day she's made me laugh. Soppy shite but she really has made my life better.

Wait till she's a teenager...

[Ross.]

1 minute ago, 19QOS19 said:

You've kind of answered what I was going to say. If you have an active social life you'll feel it. I wasn't one for drinking every weekend or going away too often. My Saturday's were going to Palmerston, so it hasn't really effected me as I still get going.

Lack of sleep will probably be your biggest thing. We were incredibly lucky that Aila has always been a lazy shit and slept 12 hours a night from the 2nd night, so it never effected me from that point of view either (though baby no. 2 is bound to be a night owl ).

Financially we haven't felt the strain either tbh. You'll be falling over clothes that people will buy you so don't go mental on that front. You have 7 months to buy the essentials and again, we never had to buy the cot or the pram as the parents and in-laws wanted to do that. Hopefully you're as lucky there. We get around £80 from family allowance(?) and that was used solely for Aila and it covered pretty much what we needed. Nappies aren't that expensive tbh. Aldi and Tesco own are fine. Don't get mugged off with shite Pampers.

It's the planning that's been the biggest change for me. I used to leave the house at the last possible minute but with a newborn it's more time-consuming.

I wouldn't swap my current situation for before I had a child though and every day she's made me laugh. Soppy shite but she really has made my life better.

The post above probably makes my life over here seem more active than it is. Just bad timing in general that we had all that planned and then this came along. Last couple of years I have calmed down a lot in terms of my lifestyle anyway, main worry is whether or not we will still get to the gym as often, rather than the pub!

Fortunate on the clothes/general gear as in the last 5 years the 3 of her sisters have had children, the last of which was born a couple of months back. They have all sensed the opportunity is there to get rid of the last of the stuff that they couldn't previously, so we are taken care of in that respect. Just need to hope someone else falls pregnant when ours arrives, so we can dump it all back...

Don't think there is anything similar to family allowance here, but we will now get a few additional tax allowances which will mean my tax bill should go down a bit so it's all the same really. Will look at getting married also, which would allow us to lump our allowances together and mean she can either quit or go part time and it shouldn't hit us too badly overall. Not the most romantic of proposals, but needs must. Also makes it a lot easier for me to deal with anything involving the wee one as they can still be quite "Traditional" in their approach to that sort of thing here!

12 hours kip a night works for me.

[Ross.]

7 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

15 minutes ago, Ross. said:

Not the greatest of starts...
The basics seem to be "Wipe away from the baws/fud" and "Breastfeeding is best for the wean, as well as making it more likely that the da' will get a good nights sleep".
The rest seems to involve Peppa Pig?

Don't listen to that bullshit either about breastfeeding. Formula is just as good nowadays so if your Mrs isn't comfortable with breastfeeding don't let her be pressured in to it.

That I am well aware of. At the same time, I cannot night feed if they are on the home made stuff...

[19QOS19]

Wait till she's a teenager...

Nope. Isn't happening. There will be some kind of cure for teenagerism by that point. I'm convinced of it.

[die hard doonhamer]

50 minutes ago, Ross. said:

That I am well aware of. At the same time, I cannot night feed if they are on the home made stuff...

That, and breastfeeding means you don't need to buy formula, so lessens the financial impact.

[Honest Saints Fan]

6 minutes ago, die hard doonhamer said:

That, and breastfeeding means you don't need to buy formula, so lessens the financial impact.

Fraser was on prescription milk to fatten him up. They took him off at 6 months as he was nearly obese! You fair notice the cost of milk when you have to pay for it. He's a milk addict. Can't get him to drop a bottle at all. Still on 24oz formula a day plus 3 meals and snacks! Fat b*****d. 

[carpetmonster]

That I am well aware of. At the same time, I cannot night feed if they are on the home made stuff...

Breast pump. Mum juice will keep for a few days in the fridge and (I think I remember it being) 3 months in the freezer. Maternity leave in the US is dire (she got 10 weeks paid and took 12 weeks unpaid and that was the max she could get; and this is at director level) and my wife travels a lot for work so it was invaluable for us.

[Ross.]

7 minutes ago, carpetmonster said:

Breast pump. Mum juice will keep for a few days in the fridge and (I think I remember it being) 3 months in the freezer. Maternity leave in the US is dire (she got 10 weeks paid and took 12 weeks unpaid and that was the max she could get; and this is at director level) and my wife travels a lot for work so it was invaluable for us.

Damn you and your technology for ruining my plans.

Need to double check the rules here but from brief discussions with her it's 3 months maternity leave on full pay, then after that you pretty much go onto sick pay. I'm entitled to 1(one) solitary day of paternity leave. Fortunately we are able to carry over holiday time, so I'll be able to take 2 or 3 weeks off when it arrives. I imagine that won't be nearly as much as we really need but it's better than nothing.

[Northsea80]

The baby had a wee Harry Potter type mark on her forehead initially from the giant salad tongs, that’s gone. Just a wee bit of a cut left on her nose.

Born with loads of dark hair. Makes me feel bad for the little bald kids.

Oh question, did any other first time parents ask the question about why their babies eyes are initially all over the shop?

[carpetmonster]

Damn I'm entitled to 1(one) solitary day of paternity leave. Fortunately we are able to carry over holiday time, so I'll be able to take 2 or 3 weeks off when it arrives.

 

I'm sure you will be, but do make sure you take the first week off. I've never been as tired in my life as I was day 3 or 4 of her being home. It gets easier as you work out his/her habits/feeding pattern/sleeping pattern and can attempt to time stuff round that but the first few days were complete chaos. Top tip - if Amazon Moms is a thing in Switzerland, stick a load of shit on a list and give em your due date - when you get to 4 weeks prior they'll discount all the stuff on the list so just buy it then. We got nappies delivered on a subscription from them too, it was cheaper than anywhere else bar Costco, which was 7 miles away, so bollocks to that.

[carpetmonster]

The first couple of weeks are the most overwhelming so it's good to be about at least for that. I remember hi fiving that we'd kept him alive for a week, then two, then a month, you start to chill out a bit after that.

Agreed. Month 2 of her being alive was the 2014 World Cup so just planking her on my chest with a bottle for each of us and watching the football was the business.

[Ross.]

3 minutes ago, carpetmonster said:

Top tip - if Amazon Moms is a thing in Switzerland, stick a load of shit on a list and give em your due date - when you get to 4 weeks prior they'll discount all the stuff on the list so just buy it then.

No Amazon in Switzerland at all, nor Costco for that matter. Mate of mines here(Also Scottish with a Swiss partner) has just had his second, I'll be pumping him(Kenneth Williams gif) for this sort of info, and will get her to check with her sisters also. I'm sure there will be something, somewhere that is exploiting the "new parents" market for whatever it can make.

[Archie McSquackle]

Breast pump. Mum juice will keep for a few days in the fridge and (I think I remember it being) 3 months in the freezer. Maternity leave in the US is dire (she got 10 weeks paid and took 12 weeks unpaid and that was the max she could get; and this is at director level) and my wife travels a lot for work so it was invaluable for us.

Once you've seen (and heard) one of these contraptions in action, you'll never get the memory out of your head.

[carpetmonster]

Once you've seen (and heard) one of these contraptions in action, you'll never get the memory out of your head.

 

Boobs being a fun thing dies an instant death right there. Which is handy, because she's not gonna let you touch them for quite some time.

 

EDIT - just been told it's 6 months in the freezer not 3, and that kellymom is a useful website.

[RH33]

Breastfeeding lead to me hating the first three months of my sons life and having therapy after the second one.

the third I was so ill they told me not to bother as I wouldn’t make any milk anyway.

Buy the basics and nothing else! Then once the gifts stop see what you need.

[die hard doonhamer]

1 hour ago, Ross. said:

I'm entitled to 1(one) solitary day of paternity leave. Fortunately we are able to carry over holiday time, so I'll be able to take 2 or 3 weeks off when it arrives. I imagine that won't be nearly as much as we really need but it's better than nothing.

I'm incredibly fortunate that the company I work for launched a market leading parental leave policy last year, so I'm about to be off on paternity leave for 6 months at full pay.

[Ross.]

38 minutes ago, Rowan said:

Buy the basics and nothing else! Then once the gifts stop see what you need.

This is definitely the plan. Neither of us is particularly bothered about whether we get stuff new, second hand or as a pass down, as long as we have what we need. I expect the change in spending habits will be expensive enough anyway.

20 minutes ago, die hard doonhamer said:

I'm incredibly fortunate that the company I work for launched a market leading parental leave policy last year, so I'm about to be off on paternity leave for 6 months at full pay.

We have offices across the world and each office generally goes with the local customs/regulations on stuff like this. On the plus side it means we are far better paid relative to some, but the negatives are on things like this. Balances out I suppose, and the holiday entitlement is relatively decent so I won't have to miss out completely at the start. Boy I work with had to take unpaid leave last year as he had used up in full his holiday entitlement very early in the year and his missus fell pregnant while they were away traveling. Had nothing left when the kid was born! I've generally carried a bit over each year as I tend to be quite impulsive with my trips home so I make sure I have something left over. Need to cancel those for a wee while.

[19QOS19]

The baby had a wee Harry Potter type mark on her forehead initially from the giant salad tongs, that’s gone. Just a wee bit of a cut left on her nose.

Born with loads of dark hair. Makes me feel bad for the little bald kids.

Oh question, did any other first time parents ask the question about why their babies eyes are initially all over the shop?

How do you mean about the eyes? My wee one appeared to be taking everything in. Her eyes were everywhere but more trying to soak it all in.

[RH33]

3 hours ago, Northsea80 said:

The baby had a wee Harry Potter type mark on her forehead initially from the giant salad tongs, that’s gone. Just a wee bit of a cut left on her nose.

Born with loads of dark hair. Makes me feel bad for the little bald kids.

Oh question, did any other first time parents ask the question about why their babies eyes are initially all over the shop?

They can’t focus until about six weeks iirc.

[Aufc]

Anyone got some tips for a 3 year old that keeping doing jobbies in his breeks? He was fine until we went on holiday where he didnt do one for 5 days then just keeps hacking them out in his boxers.

To be honest, its fucking stinking