Wow what a relief we started buying stuff for the little one! I was starting to get worried, you need to get so much stuff for the baby I wasn't sure where to begin.

I am now nearly 31 weeks pregnant and I'd like to have everything ready as soon as possible. So we identified the 3 big ones which are the cot, the travel system and the bath cabinet and this week we managed to tick the first two from the list which is a BIG achievement me thinks :)

Yesterday we spent half a day going round at IKEA having a look at lots of stuff that we needed for the house (shower curtain, dish drainer etc) and finally we had a look at the nursery section. We had been looking at cots all over the place and here we found something that we liked. It can have the bed base at 2 different heights and the side of the cot is removable for when the kid grows up and s/he can get in and out of bed on his/her own.

From here as well we got a chest of drawers for all the clothes and stuff that the baby already got from friends and family! It is very spacious but I'm sure we'll fill it up soon.

All we need to do now is get poor husband to assemble this furniture :D

Today we went to John Lewisto have a look at the iCandy Cherry travel system. It is the Silver 2008-2009 winner of the Mother and Baby awards. It is also the lightest travel system that I came across weighing only 8kg. The sales assistant there took us through all the features and we had a play around with it. Both my husband and I liked the style of both the pushchair and the carry cot. It is also very easy to use and manouver so we decided to go for it! It has very similar features the Bugaboo Cameleon featured in this article. The Bugaboo Cameleon has inflatable tyres and adjustable handles and the iCandy Cherry does not. Also the Bugaboo Cameleon has a slightly longer carry cot but this one is £200 cheaper (and this includes the carry cot and the car seat adapters), I guess for Bugaboo you have to pay for the name too.

While we were at John Lewis we had a look at the car seat as well. We finally decided on the MaxiCosi Cabriofix Car Seat in Deep Red to match the travel system. This car seat has deep sides for extra side impact protection, a 5-point adjustable harness, head support, buckle and harness pads so baby is comfortable when strapped in and a sun canopy for bright days. The curved base allows you to gently rock baby in a soothing motion when you arrive at your destination.

To go with that we got also the MaxiCosi EasyBase that is fixed to the back seat of the car as a car seat base. This has colour indicators to show when it's installed correctly and the whole system feels very secure once the car seat is popped in as it hardly moves at all.

What do you think of all this? Have you bought something similar to this? Please let us know if you liked it.

Lately we've been looking at baby carriers. They are useful for carrying the baby close to you or where a pram and a puschair is impractical.

A carrier straps to your body and the baby sits securely inside it while you can freely move your arms. This is especially useful when going shopping in crowded places, when taking the underground with no lifts are available or if you have another child who is still in the pushchair. Baby carriers are also great for babies who want to be carried all the time.

John Lewis have the BabyBjörn Carrier, City Black available which we tried and liked. It feels very secure and it's not fiddly to put it on. You can use this one from birth.

I also liked the Sleepy Wrap Baby Carrier (Black) as the baby is positioned snuggly to your chest, they look so cute! The good thing about this model is that it has no buckles or buttons and you just pop the baby inside. It can also be used indoors around the house as it's not bulky.

BabaSling Midnight Black also is a good one. It has 7 different positions to suit yours and the baby's needs. This hammock style sling looks very comfortable.

Fortunately our friends AK & RS (tnx!) had a brand new Beco baby carrier they never used and they showed it to us. It feels very secure and has adjustable straps. It can be washed in the washing machine in a cold cycle. It also has a waist/hip belt to distribute the weight. The Beco Butterfly Baby Carrier can be worn on the front or as a backpack on the back. The best thing about it is that husband likes it as I can foretell he will be doing most of the carrying. :D

This is a good guide to carrying babies.

Bugaboo Cameleon Specifications

• Capacity - 1 Child
• Maximum Weight Capacity - 40 lbs
• Stroller Weight - 20 lbs
• Front Wheel Size - 6" or 12"
• Width - 23"
• Ground to Handle - 35.5-44"
• Stroller Length - 38"
• Folded Dimensions w/out wheels - 33" x 20" x 9.4"
• Bassinet Length - 35.5" (exterior)
• Underseat Storage Capacity - 6.1 gals / 24 L