Jack and Jill Haul

I have been going to the Jack and Jill Markets for three years now.  A colleague brought them to my attention and recommended a pre-shop visit to scout out the market before your big visit.  I would definitely advise this, as the markets are overwhelming, especially by the time they have been open for half an hour.

For the initiated, Jack and Jill Markets sell second-hand maternity to 9 years goods.  It's a bit like a car boot sale indoors and I have been told that anything looking shabby is removed from stalls.  From my experience, everything sold is in pretty good nick.

I bought loads of stuff for Angus at the markets, including his moses basket (obviously, we got a new mattress), bouncer, play gym, cot blankets, Gro bags.  Since then, I go every few months when I've built up a shopping list; things such as bath seats, swim suits etc.  It's also a really good way to refresh your stock of toys between birthdays and Christmases.  Now Angus is approaching 3, I find he enjoys what he has but when he was 12 to 24 months (ish), pulling a new toy out of the cupboard for him gave me a real life line (i.e. stopped him pulling everything out of the kitchen cupboards!).  For £5 you can pick up a £15-25 toy, a big ticket product which will distract and entertain.

The website also has a really good classifieds section.

Back to today, my local market is the one at Bellahouston Leisure Centre.  With another baby on the way, there were a few bits I needed to get, so I made sure to get there for 10am (the market opens at 10.30am, if you have a very particular list, I would recommend getting in the queue early).  I estimate that I was about 60th in the queue (and it was starting to rain).  Here is my (very restrained) haul:

The three top items on my list for the new baby were a swing, a projector and a buggy board.  As soon as I entered the hall, I saw a pregnant lady carrying a buggy board and, sure enough, it was the only one on sale.  Boo.  I had a choice of swings and chose this one from Bright Stars for £20.  There were much fancier options, which were not only more expensive but much bigger.  Again, there were a few options for a projector but I had bought this one for a friend so it was a known quantity - and £2!

I was also looking for some specific clothing items but generally clothing gets bundled up and piled up and you have to really rummage.  If you are on the breadline (and some marketeers are), you are happy to devote the time but I think I will just purchase what I need from the shops.

Everything else I bought was an impulse buy for Angus.  I got Gruffalo Giant Snakes & Ladders for £3 (currently being played with on the floor), a Play Dough ice-cream and waffle mold for £3 (played with for half an hour before dinner), Mog and the Baby for £1 (seemed a good idea with one on the way and a pre-programmed love of Mog), Where the Wild Things Are DVD for £1 (another favourite book) and, the highlight, a big bag of trains, carriages and track to supplement our Early Learning Centre train table for £5.  There was more in the bag than pictured, as it was all put straight to use.

If there are any products you would like a review of, pop a comment in the box below!  I highly recommend the markets to parents old and new!