monkeypeaches

Hello!

We will hopefully be moving to Oz in October with our baby, who will be 12 months old by then, and I just had a couple of questions...

1) Is public breastfeeding accepted in Oz? Here I feed him when and wherever, usually in a coffee shop or the park. I'd like to continue in Australia - is it cool to do so or am I likely to get comments and filthy looks? Not that it would bother me but forewarned is forearmed and all that!

2) What about baby clothes? Here you can get packs of vests/sleepsuits etc in Tescos really cheaply and I was wondering if it was the same in Oz? I don't like to spend a lot of money on clothes - is it worth me stocking up on summer gear for him (and us for that matter!) before we leave?

Thanks!

Rach x

bethandneil

hi there

when we went out on our rekkie our daughter was 7 months old and still being breastfed, i didnt encounter any problems at all, as for the clothes we found it difficult finding a baby shop that sold parasols and such like but didnt actually look for clothes, i would probably stock up before you go and that will give you time to get settled and find the best shops for bargains before you need to start shopping!

Beth

rubyredlips

I second what beth said..

You see mums with their boobs out everywhere you go where I live!

Buzzy--Bee

I foresee mass UK male emigration to Manly coming up.....



Buzzy

thebears

Breast feeding seems to be okay - not looking for it but have noticed a few women breastfeeding in our local cafes.

Warning about baby clothing - do a big shop at Tesco before coming out. We miss Cherokee - cheap and durable for nursery wear. You can get most things in Oz but the quality is poor - its either very cheap in nasty or very expensive and then only reasonable quality. (Internet shopping is a godsend).

But on a brighter note everything else is very well catered for bringing up children over here. The red book is replaced by a similar yellow book and they do more through checking during the checkups.

You will also find mothergroups in your area and through this will make a socia network very quickly.

gedge

we got a blue one in NSW

gedge

my wife had no worries breastfeeding in public, so you don't have to be too concerned imo
i second what is said about clothes, they definitely appear to be cheaper and better quality in the UK supermarkets, you can get cheap over here in KMart/Target etc. but we certainly notice the difference with the stuff sent from rellies in the UK

stevemich

Cheap baby/young kids clothes can be found at quite a few places, depending on where you are based.
We often get stuff from Target, K-Mart and Cotton-On for the girls. We found the quality much the same as Tesco's own stuff, but as they grow out of it so quickly it is a waste getting lots of top end stuff...

On the other topic, as Buzzy said, I think I may have to pop over to Manly again soon !!

Steve

gedge

i'll see you down there

monkeypeaches

Thanks everyone!

Will stock up before we go (or get the lovely grandparents to send a few care packages)

Rach x

JackTheLad

Hi Rach,

As others said already, breastfeeding in public is acceptable here. There are parenting rooms in all the shopping centres and in the department stores.

I have a 13 month old daughter who was born here and we haven't had any trouble getting reasonably priced baby clothes for her. We get lots of her clothes from Target - there are sales almost every other week. Sometimes it's 25%, and sometimes is buy one get the second one half price. Same goes for the toys. "Bonds" is a fairly good quality brand and they make very good sleepsuits.

To give you an idea of the quality - I have another baby on its way, and all the clothes from the first one are still in very good condition.

Cheers,
Mrs JTL

utopia

Firstly apologies in advance for deviating away from the subject matter!

But does it cost alot to have a baby in a state hospital or is it free like the UK?

I found clothes and baby goods alot cheaper when I was holidaying in Sydney last year.

But wanted to find out whether, if I got pregnant in Australia and went to a regular state hospital to have the baby, would it cost me anything... i.e would I get billed by the hospital?

walaj

yep breastfeeding fine (what I'm doing at the moment, )

There are many really good parent rooms (in shopping centres), just the odd few that are not so nice. But now mainly bf in coffee shops (prefer to be with family than stuck in a rm). It is the norm to get free water (in cafe/resturants), which is great to make sure you avoid dehydration. In hotter weather, my baby prefers smaller feeds but more frequent, so often getting me babs out

Also meet up with other Mums in the park, so there is a whole gang of us bf (won't mention the park as will get the likes of steve & buzzy hanging around )

btw: in NSW the blue book is given only if born here, otherwise the uk red book is kept.

walaj (mum of 2yr old DD & 3mths DS)

gedge

yes, those two are irreformable i'm afraid

walaj

Gave birth 3mths ago in state hospital (nsw) - if you are a PR the costs are minimal, but do charge ifsay you are on temp visa.

costs we had were during pregnancy - 1 scan was done at private where most was claimed back on medicare. The rest were at another hospital where no pymt required as went straight to medicare.

Unlike UK, there are no concessions for free prescriptions/dental care whilst pregnant (or the year after birth).

if PR you will also be allowed to claim baby bonus, which is currently $4k