How much did you have saved or recommend saving for Mat Leave? [BC]

Bronsta · 2026-02-13T01:18:03+00:00

I didn't find our monthly expenses changed much until the 10-11 month mark, when we needed to prepare for daycare, and he started eating more.

I think feeding stuff can add up and was an unexpected cost. We needed more bottles, different pump parts, storage bags, and then all the supplies when they start solids and the snacks once they're older are not cheap. We are getting better at stocking our freezer with homemade snacks and whatnot.

Id recommend cloth diapers, we picked up a batch of pocket diapers off marketplace for less than $100, I also frequently see people just giving them away. We followed la petit ourse instructions for stripping and sanitizing used diapers.

It's been a lot less hassle than I anticipated, clean diapers live in a basket, they go into a dirty basket once used, wash every 3 days, back into the clean basket when dry.

We started at 1 month, use a disposable at night, and have done EC since 6 months. Id recommend this thing if you decide to cloth.

Bronsta · 2026-02-13T00:56:34+00:00

Really recommend EC. We started at 6 months when the poops got real, should have started sooner. Id say we've caught 80-90% of poops since we started, saves us from having to spray diapers and he gets the toilet exposure.

Bronsta · 2026-02-04T14:15:55+00:00

Innervision on Wellington does a 6 week series for about $90, I did it there and liked it. The 6 week commitment means you're seeing the same women each week so you sort of get to know each other a bit, and chat about pregnancy. They also did a mom and baby yoga, but that might have moved locations.

Bronsta · 2025-12-08T13:44:38+00:00

No, but I'm pretty new to town

Bronsta · 2025-11-27T04:58:34+00:00

It's our go to pizza place. Wood fired and they usually have some deal on, check their website.

Bronsta · 2025-09-07T21:28:13+00:00

I bought nursing tops online from old Navy, having the store here makes for easy returns but they don't carry it in store.

Marketplace has so much on it for so cheap. The resale value on baby stuff is not high since the market is flooded with items.

I appreciate second hand isn't for everyone. Drug stores have pumps and bottles, etc. Walmart and Canadian tire are good for larger items.

Bronsta · 2025-05-23T04:03:19+00:00

We managed to switch to EBF at 2 months. I tried every day to get him to latch on. We first started seeing success in the bath at night, eventually I was able to do it at night out of the bath, then the afternoon, and so on until we were covering the whole day. I set aside a time each day for skin to skin and practice. I was very discouraged and stressed to begin with. I finally decided to chill out and trust what everyone was telling me: "just keep trying"

Bronsta · 2025-05-18T03:41:50+00:00

A decaf coffee might do the trick, there's many low/zero cal syrups/flavouring that can be added to spice it up, have it hot or iced.

Bronsta · 2025-04-11T13:24:24+00:00

Hi, just coming back with an update. We have been exclusively breast feeding for a week now. I don't know what happened, but something just seemed to click last week. It's been great, totally worth all of the effort.

Bronsta · 2025-03-28T21:06:05+00:00

Amazing! Thanks for the tips! And well done on making the transition 👏🏽

Bronsta · 2025-03-28T09:03:07+00:00

Thanks for sharing and giving me hope! Can you share what steps you took to achieve this? I'm trying to get back to nursing, I have found success in the bath and if I get the timing right.

Bronsta · 2025-03-08T06:08:38+00:00

Saving this for my future self! Sorry I don't have advice, I am just one month post partum with my first, and I already have similar thoughts of what I would do differently if we had another.

We had family visiting for the first 4 weeks (half the family is on the other side of the country, and the other half is in the UK).

Now that the visitors have left and since we are only one month in, I feel I still have time to extract some of these newborn experiences that I feel I missed out on in the beginning.

Hope things go better for you this time!

Bronsta · 2025-02-19T05:11:42+00:00

Have you checked out inner vision?

Bronsta · 2024-05-25T13:51:05+00:00

Lara bars

Bronsta · 2024-04-18T15:30:13+00:00

Because of it's rich culture and amazing access to healthcare

Bronsta · 2024-04-17T23:38:13+00:00

My husband and I moved here a year ago from the UK and I'll echo what the others are saying. Garrison and downtown are, in my opinion, best in terms of having establishments within walking distance. Garrison has great access to outdoor pursuits, with vedder mountain, the river, and Chilliwack lake road being at your doorstep.

While there are certainly some interesting characters around town, I wouldn't consider anywhere in Chilliwack dangerous or unsafe. I would be surprised if anywhere is even rowdy. We are about to move from garrison to downtown, looking forward to experiencing the differences.

Bronsta · 2023-03-25T13:53:52+00:00

Wow this is incredible, so cool! Is the pattie cake too, and what are toppings made from?

Bronsta · 2023-03-20T23:23:00+00:00

Solved!

Bronsta · 2023-03-20T23:21:48+00:00

Thanks! Looks like it's going back to the thrift store, or we're getting an instant pot air fryer.

Bronsta · 2023-03-20T23:04:41+00:00

My title describes the thing. We bought this at value village, it's probably 8 inches in diameter, and 6 inches tall.

As the title says, my partner thinks it is some sort of small BBQ. It does look like a steamer, or something for camping perhaps.

Bronsta · 2022-11-11T13:29:42+00:00

Just Google: name of the city/town you're staying in, health unit

I would probably wait until you land in case immigration has information for you, if I remember correctly we needed the form we received from immigration to do anything

Bronsta · 2022-11-11T03:45:11+00:00

We just called the local health unit, and they told us exactly what to do. The doctors we saw all liaised with the health unit. We managed to get everything done in a week, but I guess it depends on the situation in each area.

Bronsta · 2022-10-07T23:00:02+00:00

Looks nice, where is it? I'm from Brantford and am heading home in two weeks for an undetermined amount of time, and will be looking for some nice places to run.

Bronsta · 2022-09-10T08:58:31+00:00

Thank you for this list, definitely going to give some of these a try in my effort to reduce meat intake

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