Where did you buy yours? Baby equipment.

My first baby rode around in a beautiful Silver Cross coach built pram, second hand from a friend, but like new, it had never been outside! The cot was my auntie`s cast off after her 3rd baby, the carry cot and stand (on their last legs!) were given to me, Nappies were bought from a local cotton mill, 19 shillings a dozen, we bought some clothes, some were bought for us, my mother knitted a fair few things, as did a workmate. The baby bath was given to us by a neighbour, one of those heavy papier mache ones, we still had it years later, it got used for all sorts. We bought a new pram for baby number 4, a Pedigree one, vinyl coated, a good size but not as big as the Silver Cross, bought from a local store`s baby department, it did for baby 5 as well.
Our first pushchair was a Cumfifolda with hood and apron, something quite new then, when baby 2 came along 13 months after the first, we bought the twin version of the Cumfifolda.
I was expecting my third before we had a washing machine, till then I went to the launderette with half the washing and hand washed the rest.

Had done part one midwifery, so knew things could go wrong and was surprised when I came home with a live baby! Basic stuff from mothercare. My mother bought a carrycot on wheels. Then when baby 2 came along I bought second-hand twin pram, silver cross. Wonderful suspension and room for the shopping underneath. Then a second hand twin Mclaren. Great design, you could hold child in one arm and fling the buggy open with the other. Very little money so lots of preused stuff.

Pram came from a local shop. It was in the sale and I queued outside for ages in freezing cold only to find they had several. We eventually posted it on eBay and a company bought it as they needed a 70s pram for the tv programme 'Forgotten'. However it just appeared at the beginning...blink and you missed it but at least it had a little bit of fame!

There was a lovely shop in Bath called The Golden Cot, sadly now gone, not many independents left now

For my 1st my mum and dad bought a lovely pram from the co-op and terry towelling nappies and three lovely dresses from the co-op, baby turned out to be a boy! Younger sister crotched a pram cover, matinee coats and booties. We lived in a top floor flat, no washing machine but mum gave us a single spin dryer and remember the nappy bucket with Napisan in it then washing them by hand. I had nappy liners from boots which helped. No where to hang out so everything went on a clothes horse in the spare bedroom. He was forever getting nappy rash bless him. We had a second hand cot from a girl I worked with and that was used for all three babies. 2nd baby a girl we had another new pram. we had a council house by then and a washing machine so things were a bit easier. Still the nappy bucket but at least I could hang outside. 3rd baby a second hand pram from a friend like a carrycot on wheels. Still terry nappies. Maybe there were disposable ones by then in 1984 I don't know but couldn't afford them even if there had been. Some clothes came from Mothercare, Woolworths and the town market. I used to get rubbers and safety pins and vests from an old little musty smelling shop in town called Annie Barwicks. I remember my mum taking my sister and I in there for our multi coloured wooly winter hats with attached scarf and our liberty bodices as youngsters.

Mostly second hand or family hand me downs. I did have a new silver cross pushchair for my oldest daughter. I then had twins and mum and dad bought me a swallow double buggy. Clothes Mothercare, Adams and Woolworths.

When my first baby came along, I was pretty clueless, a friend who was a nanny, bought me a book called “how to raise children at home in your spare time” I lent it to someone, and never got it back, but it saved me from despair on many occasions

I had my son when I was living in Australia but my parents bought me quite a few things from Mothercare (clothes) that were not available in Oz.
We had saved up for most of the things, my MiL had said she would buy the pram as she had for her DD.
We went to a small independent shop MiL came too as we needed her bigger car, and chose what we wanted including the pram (McLaren 3in1) when we got to the till and she paid for the lot- refusing anything from us!
We had a secondhand cot, but a new mattress. At that time I did a lot of sewing, so I made the cot bumper, and quilt, as well as a quilt for the pram, nappy holder, and even pram sheets and cot sheets. I too had cloth nappies - not towelling but brushed cotton and bought "Fluffies" pants made out of fleece fabric to go over the nappies - they worked better than plastic, washed and dried easily and my son never had nappy rash while he wore them !

Most of the equipment was bought in a couple of local pram baby stuff shops. Can remember buying little dresses for DD in Mothercare. I was fortunate in that I had a contact in Harrington nappies so got their gold label for almost nothing. Also had a relative who worked in Babygro factory so I never had to buy a y if those. She was a treasure posting parcels of the stuff for DD and then twin sons .

Lambs of South Shields. Lovely baby shop only had new pram on third very unexpected baby the rest came from sis who had finished with her family. mothercare were in Washington was newly opened and loved it as I could pop in weekly to buy stuff for son. Number 2 .

Grammaretto

I think he had the cheek to say he thought I was overloading it, well, how would he suggest I get home from the supermarket?

Yes Sara65 I can picture you now. Comiserations.?
I think I must have insisted that my 3yr old walked that day.

Gramaretto

I had to phone my husband from a call box to come rescue us, because the buggy collapsed with baby toddler, and big bags of shopping hanging from it.

The only drawback of the maclaren was that it eventually buckled under the weight of a tired 3 yr old with the baby on his lap plus shopping hanging from the handle. Not my best day! We lived at the top of a steep hill too. No wonder I was slim.
I'd given everything away by the time the next baby arrived so I borrowed a coachbuilt silver cross . It was much stronger and we lived on the flat by then. Still I fitted all 3 in when collecting the older boys from school. One travelled on the shopping rack.

Oh and loved my McClaren buggy...what a boon they were. Easy to fold and took up no more room than a shooting stick.Had only upright when daughter was born but invested in a lie-back model when son was born in 1980...brilliant .

I think the least-prepared-for-a-baby prize must go to a friend of mine. A few years ago her 16yo daughter was taken to hospital one evening with stomach pains. Three hours later, my friend was a grandma! Her daughter had known she was pregnant but hadn't told anyone.

My friend was in town hammering at the door of Mothercare at 9am the next morning in order to buy some basics for this extremely unexpected new arrival!

Second hand rose, me..... waited five years by choice for first baby and we still couldn’t afford new stuff. Pram £15...cot £8... (new mattress)... baby clothes ...heater for baby’s room.... sterilising unit .....carry cot £5, all bought if friends and neighbours ....it’s what we did! Nobody thought worse of anybody! New covers ..sheets... blankets and two dozen new nappies! Went we went out anywhere , spare bottle and nappies were thrown into a carrier bag. Chilled out days indeed.... now new parents have at least three bags of ‘stuff’ when so much as go on a picnic!!

A local shop called Vaughan in Warwick stocked everything, the rest was bought in Boots and Mothercare. My DDs both went to the Mother and baby shows, gave them money towards their travel systems, pram, pushchair and car seat. When second DGS came along, paid for their baby photos and hand and foot prints. All cost money that they can't afford ?

When I had my first daughter 46 years ago, my father came home with a huge, and i am talking monsterous pram, it had a steel base and a removable wicker basket on top....I loved it, it was big, ugly and creaky but my baby had the best sleeps in it

Everything from Mothercare, everyone in my office clubbed together and bought my pram and Mothercare vouchers so I could pick the rest. But Mothercare's was very reasonably priced back then and the supermarkets didn't stock baby stuff either.

I got everything from
Mothercare. Two neighbours had had stillbirths and a third had just had a cot death. Everything was paid for and was to be collected after the baby was born as I was so worried. I was booked in for a two week stay in hospital so plenty of time so I thought. She was born late Thursday night and on Saturday morning they decided to discharge me despite the fact I was unwell from a massive haemorrhage. My husband was at work and I couldn’t contact him so my parents travelled to where I lived via Mothercare. Meanwhile I had been sent home by ambulance in my nightie and my daughter was in a hospital gown and nappy which I had to return. I couldn’t even change her nappy until my parents arrived! I gave everything away after number two and when an unexpected third arrived, friend rallied round and everything was third or fourth hand.

I agree Grammaretto

I’ve had to phone my daughter on several occasions because I haven’t been able to dismantle the heavy and complicated pram!

If only I’d saved my mackaren buggy

Oh, and clothkits, loved their little knitted dresses

In 1989, when I had my first DS I bought nearly everything from Mothercare as they had a discount card which made their products incredibly cheap compared with other places.

I was lucky that my parents bought cot for my first child and in laws bought pram, white and navy Marmet Royal, my Health Visitor loved it and always pushed it from dining room to front room every visit. Most other things were bought as presents, my mum and auntie knitted loads of matinee jackets, cardigans, bonnets and pram blankets/covers. Following my 2nd everything was passed on.

I've still got the mothercare catalogues in the attic. From the 1970s. along with clothkits and habitat sigh!

We had one of the first Maclaren buggies. We had to go up to London as John Lewis was the only place which stocked them back in 1970.
When I see the monstrous buggies some my DD have now I'm quite surprised. They are very hard to fold, esp for us old folks, and take up such a lot of space on buses.