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(for preggers & mums)
Useful resources for preggers & moms (page 1)
I
put together this list because when I first became a preggers, other than
the major department stores, i.e., John Littles, Robinsons and Mothercare,
I felt a bit "lost" as to where to shop. Also, being new to
the whole world of bumps & babies, I wasn't sure what to shop for,
how much to buy or what to do when!
Thankfully, I found a lot of web resources to help me compare prices &
products. Also, picked up many tips along the way, from friends and other
parents-to-be. Hope this is useful to you too!
Shopping
for baby
Shopping for mother
Forums and support groups
Essential items - what goes in the 'daddy
bag'?
Shopping
for baby
(clothes,
breastfeeding, bottlefeeding, prams, baby baths, cots, car seats, sheets,
the whole shbang...)
| Where | Description |
| http://www.babytown.com.sg | Run by an American couple, babytown is a haven for second-hand items, from clothes to toys to even, cots & prams. They have a very informative & detailed website to whet your appetite and they're also v friendly over the phone. Check it out! (They also sell new items & buy used items.) |
| http://www.yahoo.com.au http://www.ebay.com.au | Browsing through the auctions here may yield some stellar finds. I found some BRAND NEW cot sheet sets (100% cotton) at better-than-Singapore prices (factoring in shipping) and in elegant designs that are really hard to find. Be sure to bid only for those that ship worldwide! |
| http://www.yahoo.com.sg | The auctions are less vast than the Australian ones, but worth a browse. We found it useful when buying baby monitor, for e.g. |
| http://www.embrio.com.sg | A delightful store that sells cute & quirky items for babies. They also have a storefront at Suntec, next to Eng Wah. |
| http://www.kidzloft.com | Online mall for everything, good for comparing prices & products. |
| http://www.babyconcept.com.sg | Ditto |
| http://www.kidsmall.com.sg | Ditto |
| http://www.firstfewyears.com.sg | Ditto |
| http://www.bbshop.com.sg | Ditto |
| Baby 's Kingdom (Kaki Bukit) | Note: There are TWO baby stores at Kaki Bukit to check out. The more famous one is Baby Hypermart. Baby's Kingdom is the lesser known, newer one. And I think it is BETTER. We ended up buying our cot here - the service staff was more attentive and knowledgeable than Baby Hypermart and the quality of cots was definitely higher. But don't take my word for it - check out both! (Since they're next to each other.) You can't miss them, once you get to Kaki Bukit. Address: 83 Kaki Bukit Ave 1, Shun Li Industrial Park. |
* All the
above websites are based in Singapore or ship items to Singapore! Isn't
that great?
Other tips:
1. Wait for Robinsons, John Little and Mothercare (http://www.mothercare.com.sg)
sales. Being preggers for 9 months, chances are you'll still be pregnant
when the mid-year or end-year sales begin. Get your big items, like cot
& pram, during the sales period and you can save a lot!
2. Only buy essential items and determine what you can live with
getting second-hand and what you need to buy new. Personally, I feel baby
clothes can be second-hand, esp the new-born ones, because they get out-grown
very quickly. However, you might like to buy 1 or 2 sets of new born clothes,
if you fancy. Items like mattresses & cot sheets are better new because
if second-hand, mattresses might sag more easily & second-hand cot
sheets could have been dirtied previously (think baby vomit, burp, pee
etc). For list of essential items, click here.
3. For cot: things to have: wheels (with breaks), so that cot can be moved to parent's room at night, teething rail, 100% cotton sheets, the softer the better (no polyester blends as they are uncomfortable. Feel them to see the difference!), convertability to junior bed (long-term planning!), different heights, drop down rail, sturdy bottom, 4" or thicker mattress. Basically, try & get the best mattress possible!
4. Don't
forget to think through whether you need to install grills and BLACKOUT
curtains in your house. Grills would be for baby's safety (if you living
on high floor) and blackout curtains are to ensure his sleep is not impaired
by bright light.
Shopping
for mother
(preggers
& nursing clothes, maternity/nursing bras, creams, did i mention clothes?!)
| Where | Description |
| http://www.bellysima.com http://www.momsinmind.com |
Sells affordable & fairly hip looking clothes & other mother items. Have bought from them before - good, reliable service! |
| http://www.newmaternity.com | Also very affordable & very elegant designs for bras, dresses etc., |
| http://www.mothersenvogue.com | Very hip! |
| http://www.Moms-RUs.com | Worth browsing! |
| http://www.gothemilkyway.com/ | Another online site set up by an entrepreneurial mother. Stuff is elegant and simple! |
| http://bigbellymum.com.sg | VERY WORTH it for good prices & hip, electic maternity wear. |
| http://www.sassymum.com.sg | Sensible maternity clothes that are well-priced and fairly hip. |
| http://iwantmilks.com | A very good site for nursing tops & accessories! Affordable! |
| Maternity House | The only non-virtual maternity storefront I bought clothes from - because of affordability and style. Their collection around Chinese New Year was especially nice! They have outlets at Plaza Singapura & Parkway Parade. |
| Far East Plaza Basement or the like | You may find this weird, but I resorted to buying baby doll dresses and larger sizes at teeny-bopper stores, like The Hereen and Far East Plaza. They are more affordable and being petite in size, the clothes fit and looked hip! |
* All the above websites are based in Singapore or ship items to Singapore!
Other
tips:
1. Singapore has an active cottage industry of online maternity shops.
The above is only but the tip of the iceberg, but I listed them because
they were the sites I most often returned to and bought from. If you need
more sites, just pick up any motherhood or parenting magazine and flip
through the ads, or email
me for more sites.
2. Department stores, like OG, Robinsons, Kiddys Palace, Mothercare etc., tend to sell expensive maternity clothes (e.g., dress for $50-80). Plus, everything there tends to look very "maternity", i.e., with bows, stripes, buttons. That's partly why I turned to Far East Plaza Basement or the like - to find shapely cut, hip looking clothes for preggers! Thankfully, baby doll cuts are "in" now, so I found a lot of clothes that could accomodate my growing bump! As for bras and panties, I just ended up buying bigger sizes - didn't buy those new-fangled especially-made-for-preggers bras and panties. And it worked out just fine.
3.
Maternity clothes are meant to be shared! See if you can find friends/rellies
who are about your size and purge them of their maternity clothes!
Forums
and support groups
As with preparing
for my wedding, I found browsing through forums & support groups for
tips very helpful when preparing for Baby Daniel to come along. Here are
some of the ones I often returned to for insights, recommendations &
info!
| Where | Description |
| http://www.baybsupplies.net/forum/default.asp | A lively forum to ask questions & search for tips with other Singapore parents! Hear about the latest sales in Singapore, read through what is best brand to buy for items, e.g., diapers, get contacts, swap stories... |
| http://www.nmsg-singapore.com | New Mother's Support Group Singapore - they have a comprehensive list of resource links & hold regular gatherings. |
| http://www.momsinmind.com | More of an online store, but it also has good links to resources on breastfeeding & other mother-related issues. |
| http://lllsg.tripod.com/index.html | This is the weblink for the Singapore site of the famous La Leche League International, a non-profit organisation that promotes breastfeeding. The site has a lot of good tips and instructions on how to breastfeed. |
| http://www.babycenter.com | A very popular American website, chock filled with info & resources to help preggers. If you sign up for them (it's free!), they'll send you a weekly newsletter with articles and FAQs tailored to fit your stage in pregnancy. Very helpful! |
Other
tips:
1. We signed up for this yahoogroups mailing list called parentsgalore@yahoogroups.com.
It is basically an info and chat site where you can meet other parents/parents-to-be
and they will also send you the latest info on classes/courses relevant
to preggers & their husbands, e.g., a talk on breastfeeding or a prenatal/antenatal
course coming up. Good thing about signing up is that you become more
aware of the resources and courses available in Singapore. To sign up,
go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/parentsgalore/
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