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If you’ve got a little one on the way, now is the time to start thinking about how you’re going to afford everything your new baby will need.

Babies and all the stuff they need can cost an awful lot of money, far more than you might expect as a new parent. You need to buy everything from a cot, clothes and baby monitors to bottles, prams and a mountain of nappies.

How will you afford all of this stuff?

The answer to your cash flow crisis is online bingo, a fun and social hobby that could bring in the extra money you need to fully prepare for parenthood. You can meet new people, make new friends, enjoy hours of thrilling online bingo games and win some cash!

A great place to start playing online bingo is at the bingo hollywood site, as it has some great offers and promotions on right now for new players signing up at the site. Take advantage of them now before bingo hollywood changes its mind!

Why not give online bingo a bash whilst on maternity leave? Whatever you do, make sure you get a few games in before the baby arrives and you suddenly find yourself with no free time!

If you are a new parent, your baby’s first Christmas will be a special time. However, before you go overboard and buy a tonne of plastic and even more cuddly toys, have a look at the things you really need for your baby.

Your baby won’t even be a year old, so they are unlikley to even notice the day passing and will likely be happier with the cardboard boxes that your presents came in than the presents themselves. So, for a baby’s first Christmas we advocate buying items you need and itmes you will use. Things such as:

• A baby carrier
• A next stage car seat
• A new baby bath
• New baby towels
• Any next stage baby clothing

These things will make your baby’s life and your life much easier and will be of greater benefit than toys that may not be used.

If you can’t wait for your little one to utter their first words, why not try baby sign classes. There are loads of these classes now running up and down the country, and it’s a great way for you to interact with your baby and the perfect way to make new friends.

Some of the great things about baby sign include:

• Know what your baby is thinking or what they want
• A great way to introduce language to a baby
• Stop baby frustration as you will understand each other
• Give your baby time and attention

Baby sign offers a window into the mind of your baby so you can really get to know what they are thinking about.

If you need a playpen and a room divider the Lindam Safe & Secure Playpen is one of the most popular on the market. We bought one for our little bundle of fun, to use as a room divider. Here’s what we thought of it:

We bought our Lindam Safe & Secure Fabric Playpen as opposed to the all metal construction one offered by the same company after reading reviews online.

Good points:

• The playpen is safe and secure
• The mat is good quality and well padded
• The gate operates easily
• It can be used as a room divider
• Sections can be removed if needed

Bad points:

• We bought it from Tesco where it states on their website:

This Lindam Safe and Secure fabric playpen can easily convert from a playpen to a room divider.

It can howver only be used as a room divider if you get the additional wall brackets, which are not included. There is a voucher for these in the box, but you have to send off for them and pay £8.00 postage. We also had to wait four weeks for delivery.

• The sections are really difficult to remove and put back together
• The pen is quite large for a small house
• You need to use larger screws and wall plugs than are supplied with the product when fixing it to the wall

After the wall brackets were delivered we fastened the pen to the wall. It works really well, although we’re not sure the stability of its use as a room divider if more than four sections are used.

If you are looking for a baby carrier, you need look no further than Baby Bjorn. Baby Bjorn might be one of the more expensive brands of baby carriers available, but what you get is a quality product that you can always rely on.

We tried the Baby Bjorn Active carrier, around £80 from most baby stores, and it proved to be a hit. The instructions are simple to follow and when you get it adjusted to the size of your baby and your height, it slips on and off quickly.

The carrier can be used with your baby facing towards you, when they are a newbie, and when they get a tad older, they can face forwards (when they can hold their head). Our baby loved the carrier and it saw a lot of action over the summer. We also washed the product countless times and it still looked like new when dry.

If you buy new, you can always sell it on ebay at a later date when you don’t need it any more and recoup some of your investment.

When you have already spent a fortune kitting out your new baby with a cot, clothes, car seat and the million and one other things you need for your new arrival, your pennies may not flow so easily over the next few months. However, as your baby gets older, you may want to keep them entertained while you do the vacuuming or make dinner.

If you have a baby that needs constant attention like ours this can prove difficult – until we discovered the Rainforest Jumperoo.

At first glance you may think the Rainforest Jumperoo is a little on the pricey side, we did. That’s until you realise how brilliant this bouncy little friend really is. It keeps your baby entertained, gives you some time to do those chores and can be a life saver if you are at the end of your tether with a baby that seems to need constant attention.

£100 is cheap, Fisher Price could sell this item at double that and they would still fly off the shelves. If you have a baby that’s 6 months old you need, yes need a Jumperoo.

Oh, and when your baby has got too big, you can recover a large amount of your initial outlay, as they go for around £50 in good condition on ebay.

If you have a new baby, you can expect your household bills to increase rapidly. The heating costs will be more as you turn your heating on more frequently than in the past, the washing machine and the tumble dryer will be used more frequently and your water bills may increase due to the amount of water you use.

There are some things you can do though to cut these costs.

You can’t compromise on some things, your heating should be on if the temperature in your home gos below 17 degrees centigrade, but you can make sure your system is energy efficient and you have TRVs on radiators and a thermostat that can be adjusted. You can also turn off any radiators in rooms that you don’t use and make sure your loft is properly insulated.

If you buy a Bathdam you won’t have to fill the bath completely with water when your bathe your child. This can save fuel bills and water bills.

Getting a washing machine with a large drum capacity can save some money when you wash your baby’s clothes as you won’t have to wash them as frequently. ‘A’-rated machines are the best. Gas tumble dryers can also save you some money on your fuel bills as they don’t use as much energy as electric dryers.

If you are expecting a new arrival, you may be asked what gift you would like to recieve. The arrival of a new member of the family is a time for excitement and joy and you will most likely be showered with gifts from wellwishers.

If you are lucky enough to be asked whet you need for the baby, the easiest answer is clothes. But not clothes that will fit them now, clothes that will fit them in six months of nine months time. Baby clothing is really cute so your family members won’t be able to resist buying some booties or some vests when they do their regular shop. However babies grow really quickly and you may find that the 30 newborn you get sleepsuits only last a month then you will have to buy a new set. If you get ten sleepsuits aged 0-3 months, ten aged 3-6 months and ten aged 6-9 months, you will have enough to keep you going without having the additional expense in the future.

There are a lot of people who don’t think twice about putting their baby in front of the TV so they can have a break. And we are not talking about the odd occasion when you need to compose yourself for five minutes.

There is a time and a place for baby TV but it should not be used as the first port of call. If you are feeling tired don’t resrt to plonking your toddler in front of the goggle-box. Here are some other things you can do:

• Read them a baby book
• Go for a walk
• Let them play with their toys on a mat on the floor

You should do all these before you resort to the TV. Yes it might take a little effort to go out but you will both feel better for it.

Maxi Cosi are a market leader in infant and toddler car seats. Whether you need to fit an infant car seat in your car using a three point seat belt or a forward facing Group 1 seat using Isofix they have a product that will do the job.

Maxi Cosi Axiss

The Maxi Cosi Axiss is a revolutionary rotating Group 1 car seat. It is suitable for babies who are 9 months and weight over 9kg up to 18kg or around 3.5 years old. The rotating design can mean that you can sit your child into the seat without straining your back, although the seat has to be forward facing while driving.

The seat has had many positive reviews on the internet but there is one big downside. The seat cannot be fitted to cars whose seat belts protrude above the level of the seat. Maxi Cosi fail to tell you this when buying, you have to read the instructions to find this out. Otherwise, this is a brilliant car seat and a pleasure to use.