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Where did you buy yours? Baby equipment.

(78 Posts)
gmelon Sat 13-Jul-19 12:49:46

There seems nothing you cant buy for babies from supermarkets nowadays.
When I was pregnant Mothercare was one of the few places to buy baby equipment.
I bought most of the clothes from there with the odd addition from Woolworths. The cot was Mothercare too.
With a pram from Debenhams and later on a pushchair from again Mothercare.
Oh and the baby bath came in a set with bucket and potty. From Littlewoods.
Of course there were all the knitted layettes from friends mothers and random ladies who loved to knit.
Plenty of hand me downs from a young aunt who'd completed her family.
As for gifts no one worried "but will they like it" and everything was gratefully received by us.
Where did you buy/acquire yours.

silverlining48 Sat 13-Jul-19 15:39:10

Oh yes the maclaren striped easy to fold pushchair for what was a lot then (£10?) east getting on the bus ( no car) not like the pushchairs today, like tanks with so many buttons to press.

Alima Sat 13-Jul-19 15:40:53

We bought our carry cot/pram and pushchair from Mothercare in Plymouth. The high chair, 7-in-1, came from a catalogue. The cot, playpen and safety gate were supplied as we lived in Navy married quarters.

annodomini Sat 13-Jul-19 16:35:19

I'm very impressed with the baby boxes supplied by the Scottish Government to all new babies in Scotland. It takes a lot of pressure off new parents having to stock up on baby clothes, nappies and so on. My nephew and his wife were given two baby boxes for their new twins. They are made of tough cardboard and have a mattress and blankets all ready for a baby to sleep in for the first month or so. No doubt they well serve as toy boxes in the future. Of course, they will have to buy all the big equipment. But what are grandparents for? grin

blossom14 Sat 13-Jul-19 20:36:57

In the sixties I bought a coach built pram from the Co-op. I do remember that they had a scheme that if anything untoward occurred with the pregnancy they would cancel the order, which showed a compassionate foresight. I needed a decent pram as it was a two mile trek to and from town. It certainly helped to regain my 22" inch waist back again doing that two to three times a week.
Everything else was second hand (except for towelling nappies).
With my second DD in 1972 a second hand Silver Cross pram that folded down to get in the boot of my car and later a new Maclaren folding pushchair again from the Co-op in Plymouth as I lived in the wilds of Cornwall by then.
By then disposable nappies were available and I used those for day time and towelling for night time.
I was still using the old yellow nappy bucket with lid from Mothercare for household cleaning up to ten years ago.
Gosh, everything was built to last then.

Deedaa Sat 13-Jul-19 21:07:30

A lot of our stuff came from Mothercare with some hand me downs from friends. The pram and a carrycot we bought from a friend of a friend (the carrycot was about fourth hand by the time we got it. All the old baby stuff was sold to a pregnant friend when our two had grown out of it.

Sara65 Sat 13-Jul-19 22:04:45

Oh , the nappy bucket, yuck! With my first unplanned baby, I didn’t have a washing machine, I washed everything by hand, including the nappies, looking back, I’m not sure how clean they must have been!

Calendargirl Sat 13-Jul-19 22:13:22

A Restmor pram from the Coop. Deposit secured it and DH picked it up before collecting me and DD from the hospital, as it was considered bad luck to have new pram in house before baby was born. That theory didn’t seem to apply with further babies! I also had stuff from Heinz Baby Club, cot, pushchair, high chair, using coupons from my sister. I re-sold all my baby equipment when no longer needed.

Sara65 Sat 13-Jul-19 22:25:00

I kept a lot of things from my third baby, and my eldest daughter had them for her first baby, some items are still being used now, on baby no 6

gillybob Sat 13-Jul-19 23:14:18

Oh , the nappy bucket, yuck! With my first unplanned baby, I didn’t have a washing machine, I washed everything by hand, including the nappies, looking back, I’m not sure how clean they must have been!

OMG me too Sara65 . I wouldn’t wish those years on my worst enemy !

jura2 Sat 13-Jul-19 23:17:37

Mostly second hand - and also made lots of stuff + a bit of Mothercare and especially Corah's seconds shop in Leicester.

BlueSapphire Sat 13-Jul-19 23:24:01

Nearly everything from Mothercare. Pram, baby clothes, maternity clothes, cot. I really wanted a coach built pram, but DH, being practical, said that a decent carry cot that would fit in the car would do, so we bought the best they had, which actually was a good choice. Never forgave him, though, for not letting me have a Moses basket!

fiorentina51 Sun 14-Jul-19 01:04:00

Most stuff came from Boots. I worked there and got staff discount.

SueDonim Sun 14-Jul-19 01:28:05

Oh, the nappy bucket. We lived in the far north of Scotland when I had my ds2. We had no central heating and in winter I used to have to break the ice on the nappy bucket to wring them out. Excruciatingly painful on the hands!

I still have one of the buckets in the garage and use it for gardening chores.

absent Sun 14-Jul-19 06:17:42

I think I was born with my baby equipment and she just popped out at the right time.

Willow500 Sun 14-Jul-19 07:17:47

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sara65 Sun 14-Jul-19 08:21:54

Gillybob

I know! Imagine what a dream disposable nappies would have been! I’m not sure how I dried everything in winter, didn’t have any heating except a two bar electric fire!

harrigran Sun 14-Jul-19 09:55:26

Like gillybob I never had a washing machine and nappies were soaked in Napisan and washed by hand. One coal fire with a clothes horse round for drying. If the weather was nice we had a back yard for drying the washing but as it was a cottage the soot from coal fires used to descend into the yard and leave sooty marks. When DD was a year old I was able to afford a twin tub, thought all my birthdays had come at once.

Sara65 Sun 14-Jul-19 10:19:22

I was left a small amount of money, £300, I bought a reconditioned washing machine, it was wonderful, but it was always breaking down, we’d moved by then, and there was a launderette at the end of the road, I must have spent hours in there, but I have quite fond memories of it, always warm and soapy smelling, and everything washed and dried

MissAdventure Sun 14-Jul-19 10:23:56

All given to me by someone who wasn't going to have any more children after the one she had, including nappies.
She did have another baby though.

maddyone Sun 14-Jul-19 10:29:23

My PiL bought a beautiful, green silver cross prom for us. My parents bought a Maclaren buggy, the most basic one, no lie back facility. More or less everything else was second hand, including cot, carry cot and stand, baby bath, safety gate and some clothes.We did buy a fire guard, a baby bouncer, changing box and mat, Harrington nappies, and some clothes and other small pieces of equipment.

EllanVannin Sun 14-Jul-19 10:46:52

It was certainly tough in the early 6o's ! I think this is why a lot of us overindulged our first GC because of what we didn't have for our own.

Theoddbird Sun 14-Jul-19 10:46:53

Mothercare. I also made a lot of clothes

Sara65 Sun 14-Jul-19 11:00:11

Ellanvannin

My third child was born 18 years after the first, having had nothing new, and quite a hard time, it was wonderful to go into a shop, and buy everything new, including a coach built silver cross pram!

silverlining48 Sun 14-Jul-19 11:05:32

It was still tough in the late 70 s Ellan. One could say thank goodness but it seems to have gone to ridiculous lengths now with such high expectation of top of the range baby items today.

If I come across a young mum sensible enough not to consider second hand as anything other than good I congratulate them.

When my dd was pregnant I idly wandered into the nursery section of a well known store. I saw a pushchair for what I thought was expensive but sort of ok, until I realised I had not seen the extra zero on the tag. It was the price of small second hand car, or a third of the cost of our first home. A pushchair! ?

They had to pick me up off the floor and revive me with smelling salts! Luckily dd was sensible enough to go fir second hand.

glammanana Sun 14-Jul-19 11:05:49

My DDs pram came from Debenhams it was a huge Silver Cross and so heavy to push.
My mum and grandmother made lots of knitted jackets and pram sets either white or lemon and those loopy little bonnets.
All my nappies came from TJ Hughes either Harrington Gold Tab or Red Tab (I think) you could buy them as singles at one time they lasted for my 1st son 5 years later,by the time my 2nd son was born disposable where coming on to the market in a big way but no where near as good as they are now.
My DGSs baby is using cot sheets I had for DS2 they have been amazing quality and served well over the years.