Soon to be Dad and looking for best deals for streaming services as going to the movies will soon be a thing of the past for me…
Already have most of the essentials. Other than the cloth nappies and a clothes drier (all those dirty nappies!!).
I know that there are plenty of deals out there for things like Stan and Netflix. Just hoping to see some decent free trials that I cab utilise during this expensive few months ..
Thanks in advance :)
You think you'll have the energy to watch TV… forget that. The next 6 months will be pure survival on far less sleep than you've ever had before.
That means buying all the stuff your baby will need before it is born while you can still drive with your eyes open.
TV in the middle of the night rocking or holding Bub is essential especially for giving mum some well-earned hours asleep.
(Not that you'll get through an entire season on Netflix)
i was a chill baby
Agreed. I watched heaps of stuff while i held the 0-4month old in the middle of the night so that his mum could sleep. I was tired as all hell, but plenty of TV time.
Were you working or on parental leave?
@aboogee: First month was leave, went back to work 1 day then we got sent home due covid. Worked from home for about 6 months.
Yup. I went through the entire series of Breaking Bad. Didn't realise until I recently rewatch it how much I had missed being half asleep at the time.
You think you'll have the energy to watch TV… forget that.
Yup tell OP he is dreaming.
Already Dreaming
Father of twins here.
Agreed.
No TV for at least 4months.
after 6months up to currently 18months … cant guarantee a full lengh viewing at night. Maybe a few episodes of a show.
too tired otherwise.
I second this. 19 months in, getting to bed as soon as I can after the kitchen is clean after the baby is asleep after bath….fun times!
Does your baby wake in the middle of the night? That's really the make or break for this kind of thing. We did sleep training (which was very hard on us and him) around 4-5 months and whilst i do still feel worn out in general we do get a full nights sleep (13mo now). I know this is guaranteed to not be repeatable by everyone but i recommend anyone try a few sleep programs from online. We went through 4 or 5 from memory.
yep. doing the same thing. 22months and his been waking up 5 times a night for the past 3months. enrolled into sleep school and wait time is 9weeks.
You have time to get the kitchen clean!? - well done! :)
Almost up to 5 years here. Starting to get some entertainment in, although usually having to sacrifice sleep for it…
It's depressing how many votes this has. But I agree…it's not easy but you'll get through OP!
Yes, reality is being a parent sucks. I have a 8 month old, he is a covid baby. No family here to help. No one to pass the bubs for a 5 minute breather. Haven't been out past 7pm since. Don't get me wrong, I love him to bits but the journey is just depressing.
Sounds particularly rough. Those of us with partners/family don't appreciate how good we have it.
I feel you, pretty much my journey. I have a 1 year and 11 month old. Me and Mum haven't been out together alone for almost 2 years. Don't trust babysitters, family useless.
Not enough people actually tell the true story. It's worth it in the end but what you describe is my exact experience. Especially hard without any grandparents around for an hour off here and there. It's definitely made me think twice about the second one. The sleep deprived depression can be extreme and we need to talk about it more so hopefully more support becomes available.
Dad of 3 (youngest is 1ish), missus is having chemo, no help from her grandpa, my mother is far away. Yes it sucks on multiple levels … I needs to keep my mental health in tip top shape for job ( I think it does help in my situation too) … My only advise for OP is looking into breastfed n co-sleeping/dream feeding. That would save him n his wife a slot of sleepless night. Of course there a lot of factors in it.
When time is tough, only the tough get going.
Best of luck OP
I respectfully disagree with statements about not having time to watch TV or it being pure survival. Being a father is not hard, sleep is suffered yes, but not detrimentally so. You may lose out on a few hours but generally, you'll cope. The most amazing feeling is rocking or walking with the baby whilst trying to put it to sleep which will reinforce your bond with baby.
I used to watch TV with baby on my chest. You'll get used to it & good luck.
If you’re hands on or even single parent it, you’re too exhausted to watch tv. My wife has end stage/terminal cancer so I’ve had to pick up most of the care duties. Throw in a busy toddler too and the last thing you’ll be able to do is watch tv. Also, some lucky parents like me are blessed with 2 year olds that don’t sleep well at night either.
I wish you well and especially so for your wife - it must be a tough time so I can only empathise. This would be hard to pick up the burden and mostly because you're doing the majority of the work. If you're single then I agree but with a fair sharing of roles (for two parents) then it's manageable.
I was hands-on and I'm talking based on that. I had it hard with my daughter and sleep where I'd be getting up most nights and putting her to sleep (lost mostly 2 hrs most nights) but again I coped. I'm giving my experience so it's not prescriptive of everyone but always find it interesting when people say it's survival. I think it's not…
PS. Kia kaha!
Sounds like your child(ren) were/are good sleepers. Currently have 2 insomniacs. A 3 year old who sleeps 6-8hrs at night (wakes up at least once at night) and a 9 month old who wakes up 3-4 times too. I've been working full time and hands on, sleeping 4-5, sometimes 6 hrs at night broken into a few sessions. Yes it will 100% affect your health. Parent-hood is detrimental to your mental and physical health at least for the first 5-6 years I'd guess.
Sounds like you need to work in a better sleep routine or sleep training.
Soon you will be after YouTube Premium and binge watching series of CocoMelon, Daniel Tiger and Peppa Pig.
Keep an eye on the Aldi catalogs for kids things.
As for streaming services you will not have time for the first 6 months or so to watch anything over about an hour, so to save money you should have a look at the Freeview apps for the different channels.
Watch TV !!! Hahahahahaha
If you get time to watch TV be prepared for a guilt trip from your other half.
The first few months are going to be hard but the best moments of your life. Get all the sleep you can before the bub is here cause getting a full nights sleep will be a distant memory.
If you get time to watch TV be prepared for a guilt trip from your other half.
He’ll get the doghouse, that’s when he gets to watch TV… 😞
Get all the sleep you can before the bub is here cause getting a full nights sleep will be a distant memory.
You can't accumulate sleep… So getting too much now is not going to help when the child arrives.
Thank you for pointing that out to me.
No worries. It's like eating all you can now because for next few months there won't be much chance/time to eat.
@RSmith: Figure of Speech :
A figure of speech is a word or phrase that possesses a separate meaning from its literal definition. It can be a metaphor or simile, designed to make a comparison. It can be the repetition of alliteration or the exaggeration of hyperbole to provide a dramatic effect.
Surely i can't be the only parent who watched bucketloads of tv when the baby was a newborn. I don't mean in the relaxing way watching while my partner was taking care of the kid, but watching tv while feeding, watching tv while the kid was asleep next to me (even if i missed half of it because I was dozing).
Amazon Prime stream + more nappies combo.
Yep, do not underestimate the power of subscribe and save amazon nappies, wipes and paper towels
I agree with the Amazon suggestion. Prime is pretty good but the best bit will be when someone to delivers a huge box of nappies and wipes to your house that you didn't have to pick up yourself in your new crazy busy & tired life. Congrats on the excellent news!
Hang the nappies outside in the sun to save money.
Other half asks why the dried washed clothes already stink. Hmm.
SBS On Demand has some good stuff for free, ad supported.
ABC iView, not as good as On Demand, IMHO (but no ads at least)
BBC iPlayer if you already have a VPN set up.
Amazon Prime Video ("free" if you're Prime Subscriber already, Great Value if you're likely to buy more than 1 or 2 things off Amazon across the year.)
Binge if you're a Telstra Customer and can get free access for a few months.
Kayo can be had cheap, $5/month for 12 months, again if you're a Telstra customer.
But yeah, sleep will take up a lot of your "free" time.
As for other bargain tips, Buy the stuff you need that will do the job required efficiently and easily. Don't buy the bargain item that will only partially do the job or require extra time to do the job.
You start to value time far greater once you're a parent (and find that you no longer have any time to spare).
Agree with comments above re: sleep. That will be your body’s number 1 priority, whether you like it or not!
If you do have “time”, treasure those precious moments or wash and dry those cloth nappies, rather than watch TV 📺 :)
Otherwise congrats and enjoy your journey.
I think you would save a small fortune by drying nappies on the line instead.
Although OP will need to buy a lot more nappies as they take a while to dry. Especially as we are coming into winter.
I joined this forum when I took 6-months off work for my second bub, so you're already one step ahead of me. I also got hugely hooked into points churning during that time which is a habit that is show no signs of abating.
Set your alarm for every couple of hours every night of the week to get used to your future :-)
More seriously, congratulations and good luck!
Not related to your original question, but if you have private health, look into sleep school for your new baby.
Not sure what everyone is talking about, the first 6 months is the easiest time, yes you will get less sleep but other than crying and sleeping new borns don't do much else.
It's when they become mobile is when the hard work begins.
Yeah, but you are daddy pig…
Oink!
The hard work begins when they are born…its myth that it is easier sooner or gets easier later…
it never ends…loving every bit of it though…
loving every bit of it though…
Even the teenager part?
No!
I've got 4 mate, trust me it gets harder after 6 months then easier after 4 years then harder when they are teenagers! Hopefully easier again when they are no longer teens but I haven't reached that stage yet.
I can vouch for this because I had similar experience. None of them are teens though so you are way ahead of me. I think the first 6 months would be more challenging for mums compared to dads
I don't know. I find my two year old much easier then my infant. When they're really young they cry for anything - so every time they cry you have to run the whole process to figure out what's wrong. The two year old will normally answer you if you ask him yes/no questions at least.
Wait till they start using curse words.. on you..
I totaly agree with you. My parents keep telling me it will get easier.. I ask them WHEN?
every 3months its something that gets better and something new comes up.
Wait till they start going to DAYCARE, I m yet to see what happens when my LO goes to School
I was gonna say the same! Lots of cuddles for the newborn while watching tv (from memory, been a couple of years now)
Depends on the kid. Try having a baby with silent reflux. First 6 months were the hardest.
Not if your kid has colic. The first 6 months were a living hell for us.
If you think that all newborns do is cry and sleep then I've got news for you…try being the one with the boobs. Give me a mobile baby over a newborn any day.
You are about the incur the lifetime costs of a child and you are worried about an $11 / Month subscription fee?
beginning a habit of lifetime saving potential
Dont buy a $2,500 pram. You may feel like you are doing the best for your child, but it's just a $250 pram with a "0" added to it for "new mummy and daddy" tax.
Might not suit a newborn though…
True, need to lay down flat.
As a bargain and for fitness, OP can cradle their baby in their arm, until the baby can sit on a upright stroller.
There is a pricepoint where the benefits come down to the badge, but a $250 pram is pretty junky.
There's a big jump in ease of use, lighter-weight and higher build quality in a mid-range model over the bargain basement stuff.
You can get junk for $250 RRP, but one of the absolute best in terms of ease of use (Cybex Eezy S) can be had at that price on sale.
I went second hand of gumtree. 2 or 3 years old and 30% of the new price for a good pram. it's been great.
This is true. We have a relative who insisted on buying a $400 pram for us, but neither of our kids want to be in it - they both want to be free or at least able to see around. We get much more use from one of those $100 beach carts: both kids fit in at once, and so does all the stuff you were carrying previously.
I hear you.
I wss concerned that this would be one of our big spends.
I wanted a baby car capsule that would go straight from the car to a pram (not disturbing the sleeping baby).
Ironically I discovered 'Kidsafe' organisation and the will provide a free baby capsule for 6 months use for a deposit of $60. Even comes with two carseat connections for use it either car..
Phew.. Now we just need to buy a pram base and a 0-4 year car seat 6 months after.
Just be aware not all capsules are compatible with all prams. We ended up getting a different capsule because Britax cannot be compatible with the pram we have (Uppababy)
I second this 100%. You may feel like you "have" to get the latest and greatest… because everyone at Jane's mum's group was raving about it and if you didn't you'd be labelled a pauper. Just don't as you'll either hardly use it (our case) or a $100 one will do exactly what you need.
Same goes for labelled toys/brands…. (saying as I have a full room with "toys" and baby gear which I tried to sort but apparently the kids want to keep as nostalgia - also the fact they're too lazy to sort it so everything is "to keep".)
While I agree with you that $2500 is waaaay too much for pram, I feel the ones in ~$800 range have some benefits that could be useful for someone willing to spend a little extra.
The three sides to prams is - weight, durability and price. Pick the two that you want. There are many quality prams in ~$400 range that are stellar quality but are sub-15kgs in weight, that was a deal breaker for us.
The one we ended up with was $800, about 8-9kg and durable still.
The one tip I have is to try it out in a store. See how you like opening and collapsing method. Try to manoeuvre the pram around the store around tight corners and aisles (especially with just one hand). You will be doing all of that a lot later (especially checking ozbargain while pramming around ;) )
get recommendations from your GP clinic/friends for those with experience with babies/infants in your area.
good and experienced Doctors are hard to find, that will give our reassuming advise when you child is sick. Rather than tell you to visit the local hospital emergency.
Stop buying so much useless shit and posting photos on Instagram
Second hand and hand me down stuff are a great way to save money. Kids clothes especially don't fit for long because of how quickly they grow so don't need to buy expensive stuff!
A surprising number of people don't want old kids clothes or toys or furnishings. It was actually hard for us to give stuff away. Gave away a mid-sized box filled with duplo that would have cost hundreds of dollars to vinnies the other day. Still got boxes of kids clothes somewhere, boxed by age up to say 15 months, careful packed with tissue paper between the layers, that I had assumed other people would want and don't, and I'll just donate those too. Part of the problem seems to be that kids clothes are just too cheap now, part of it I think is that some people seem to like researching and shopping for kids stuff, part of it is that some people don't like used stuff, and part of it is just a co-ordination problem (ideally you want a child of the same gender about 6 to 12 months older than yours to get stuff from, and a child of the same gender about 6 to 12 months younger, to then hand your stuff down to). We, on the other hand, took everything second-hand that was offered to us (bassinet, cot, car seat, breastfeeding pillows, etc), and then bought to fill in the gaps (second hand pram from eBay, changing table for a great price on eBay, etc), but in our family & social circle there wasn't anyone obvious to hand stuff down to at first, and then later when there was, they were so fussy (including multiple times refusing items we offered them and then going and buying the identical or very similar item brand new a few months later; or they didn't want the model of pram that we had offered them because although they liked the brand, it was superseded by some other model and so they bought that new at a cost of nearly a grand; at first these things annoyed me, particularly when they were later followed by complaints about money being tight, but then I thought "not what I would have done, and that's fine - I tried my best to help - let it go - you do you"). I can't help but feel that what's needed is something sort of like a very relaxed library, where you borrow a kit with the clothes / toys / etc for up to say 6 months, throw away anything that broke or has had it from wear and tear, add in any stuff that you bought, return it all clean and packed up when you're done and need to move to the next one, and that's your "kit" that covers (say) 0 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 12 months, 12 to 18 months, 18 to 24 months, and so forth. You'd probably need boy's kits and girl's kits. You'd need to be relaxed/lenient, because what you got back would not be exactly the same as what you lent out - and that's okay. Everybody buying stuff from scratch and using it for such a short time just seems really wasteful and unnecessary.
You get me.
Been getting a lot of freebies on marketplace etc atm.
And yes.. Happy for second hand clothes etc.
Just finishing up the sanding and then painting the cot, change table and an antique rocking horse. The rocking horse was the only one I parted money for, and gyta was for $22.
I loved doing the DIY stuff for the nursery, and it made it even more special.
Especially knowing that my father did this for us like this.
If you find the right seller like I did, then your kid will be wearing more fashionable clothing that I could ever hope for.
The best actually is to have some stylish friends who have a kid just a few months older than yours. Hand-me-downs for life!
Yup, that's my situation :) Some of the clothes still have their tags on
Lololol good luck with the tv watching mate
Don’t forget to check out your local library’s digital section. Obviously local council dependant, ours has ebooks, audiobooks and limited streaming.
Had no problems watching plenty of TV with our first one. I'd have the baby cuddled up asleep on me while I watched TV and partner caught up on sleep in the other room. Trick is to turn subtitles on, then volume or other noise (sleeping babies aren't quiet) isn't an issue. First couple of weeks literally all they do is sleep and eat. Don't get me wrong, there will be periods where it will be very difficult, but it's not impossible either with only one baby. Once you've got two it's game over.
My recommendation would be stream stuff from the ABC, plenty of great shows and no cost.
In terms of saving money, not much you can do when they are very young. Chances are you've bought most things already but if not, check out facebook marketplace. It's full of parents trying to offload stuff. Some are dreaming but you can get just about everything you need very cheaply. Change tables, prams, cots, clothes - literally an entire box of clothes, most of which will be unworn can be had for about $20. Sleepsuits and swaddles are also good to get second hand as they can be expensive outside of clearance sales.
Once they are about a year old you can start stocking up on the second hand toys, walkers, outdoor playhouses, water tables etc. Grandparents especially seem to have lots of barely used extravagant stuff for their grandkids that they happily sell for $20-$50 when they paid hundreds originally. We've even been able to on-sell most stuff for the same as what we paid for it.
Great tips.
Thank you for taking the time for this lengthy reply.
Appreciated.
Congrats OP!
One thing you should consider is setting up a Chromecast and linking it to a Photo Album of your newborn.
You might not be watching a lot of TV, but it's a nice screen saver to have in the background.
Its a nice reminder on how quickly they grow.
Don't worry too much about all the "no TV" comments. You might get lucky and have a baby who sleeps through vacuum cleaners. I've seen it.
Worse case scenario is that you can put your headphones on so you can keep watching TJ Hooker or whatever it is.
But remember that they are only that small once and rely on you to keep them safe and alive and you will bond with them as you spend time with them. So try not to be watching stuff all the time.
Your key survival method here has nothing to do with TV. You need to learn the art of ‘lying doggo’.
This requires practice and discipline, particularly the breathing. Enjoy…..
Commiserations on the end of your previous life. get ready for a wild ride
You contradict yourself here… if you are expecting a baby, do you think you will have even the time to watch internet movies.
Whats wrong with OTA?
Whats wrong with OTA?
You think he's going to have very little time to watch TV so he should spend half of it watching ads and the other half watching shit he doesn't want to see? When free time is precious then quality becomes very important.
Thank you :)
You get me.
I hope you have a million dollars laying around because that kid of yours is gonna stick around longer than 30 years….. …unless it turns into one of us tightarses, cheapskates or and not a spoiled brat in which case you may not spend as much….
I have a one week old baby and I got plenty of time to watch tv and movies. I do have to pause a lot and catch up on them later.
It is still early days but my bub just sleeps, eat and shit - mostly sleeps. I feed it while watching tv at normal volume and finish the rest of the show or movie at normal volume while he sleeps in the basinet. Supposedly newborns like white noise so the loud tv doesn't bother him at all.
It does suck getting up at 5am to give him a feed. I am up now because he wanted a feed :(
When people say it gets better, they’re lying. It just changes to a different kind of hard.
Congrats. Hope it all goes smooth for you and mum to be.
I have nothing else to offer.