buying baby stuff? is there a good system?

[janiejones]

Should we register? I know we'll have at least 2 showers.
Should I just buy crap when I'm shopping (I hit Target in Niagara Falls yesterday and bought some small stuff).
Should I make lists?

I'm not sure when to start, what to do. We have the big stuff picked we'd like (stroller, car seat, crib), but what about the rest of it?

[cleo29]

Yes, register. If it does not get bought out, you get a discount on the remaining items. I think making a list is a great idea and a great book, if you don't already have it, is Baby Bargains. The couple have been reviewing baby products for like 20 years or something and they cover everything from furniture to clothing.

Basic things that are boring for people to buy but are needed are: burp clothes, those little hooded towels, wash cloths, sheets, there is this sheet thing that is waterproof and snaps around the crib rails. Get it. I can't tell you how nice it makes changing the crib sheet, especially if you have a sick baby, diapers, pacifiers, bottles, blankets (I love the flannel and muslin ones), sleep sacks (I adore these) and of course, clothes which is fun to pick out.

[janiejones]

I read that book eons ago, they had it at the library and I made a list for our adoption. Maybe I still have the list?

Babies R Us are kinda assholes, but the alternative is sears and a local place that doesn't do registeries. Most of our friends/family are OOT, so sears or BRU makes the most sense. But don't want to register with assholes, and I can't handle the smell of sears stores. (Old people's basement!)

[cleo29]

I think I would just suck it up and register with the assholes. I feel like baby showers are when people really appreciate a registry. I mean you might still get the odd item you didn't register for, but seeing all the options out there, people want and need the guidance. Plus, you don't want to have to be running around town returning things, you know?

i would also add any and all stroller accessories that you like and work with the stroller you picked out. If you want to go a little fancy, you can register at Pottery Barn Kids for the bedding and stuff. They have some really sweet sets and decorative items. If you don't want to go that route, I cannot tell you how much I love Land of Nod stuff.

[onesweetworld]

Aug 12, 2012 8:04:15 GMT -5 janiejones said:

I read that book eons ago, they had it at the library and I made a list for our adoption. Maybe I still have the list?

Babies R Us are kinda assholes, but the alternative is sears and a local place that doesn't do registeries. Most of our friends/family are OOT, so sears or BRU makes the most sense. But don't want to register with assholes, and I can't handle the smell of sears stores. (Old people's basement!)

Register at Snugglebugz. Your people can order online. Sears is good though because you can get the points too and that adds up to $$$ to spend on other things.

I'm sure you can handle the smell for a few minutes to pickup gifts lol.

[mamasaurus]

I hear a lot of people really like doing an Amazon registry. You don't get to play with a scanner gun if you do that, though.

What you should maybe buy now is very basic baby clothes. People bought us tons of frilly shit she wore once or twice--some of it was $$$ and I didn't register for anything like that. The plain white onesies and footed jammies I registered for and hardly got any of? Used a million times. You can get stuff from clearance racks now for this time next year, and while you can't be sure what size to get, a lot of things like onesies or socks are good all year.

[eatsrainbows]

Register for everything. You might be surprised at what people buy And like
Others said you get the discount on the stuff you have to buy.

[ladystardust]

Aug 12, 2012 20:42:53 GMT -5 heybetch said:

Amazon.com for the win.

Agreed. You can also add items from other websites on the registry as well. I added a few wall art pieces from etsy and a lamp from urban outfitters on mine.

[Marle]

Buy the baby bargain book to narrow your choices. I basically followed that book and my budget. I saved money and it was easy to chose. Imagine that!

[papie]

Lol
You need to register. Bru is better than sears around here, much more choice. Make a list and then whatever they don't have at bru (like a good sling or cloth diapers) you buy yourself from a local store

[sawyerthedestroyer]

Aug 12, 2012 21:05:54 GMT -5 ladystardust said:

Aug 12, 2012 20:42:53 GMT -5 heybetch said:

Amazon.com for the win.

Agreed. You can also add items from other websites on the registry as well. I added a few wall art pieces from etsy and a lamp from urban outfitters on mine.

Yep. Team Amazon.

[vanillacourage]

Register. I would suck it up and do BRU, you can do it all online if that's your objection.

Try not to buy too much stuff on your own until after your shower.

Pick up a copy of Baby Bargains, it's very helpful at what you need, budgeting and product recommendations. There's so much baby crap out there, it can get overwhelming.

[janiejones]

I just checked, we don't get amazon registries in Canada. They only started selling more than books & movies very recently.

[Cayl]

Definitely register. My mom and I also kept a look out for good deals either with sales or at baby consignment shops and if we got something that we thought people might buy if it wasn't on the registry - like the Diaper Genie or Boppy - we put it on the registry and marked it as purchased. I did like Baby Bargains as well, especially because they gave recommendations for different price points. We didn't register for clothes but we got a ton. If you see plain white onesies or socks on sale I would get those. We put a onesie on under every outfit for the first couple of months, and I would guess we'll probably do the same this winter.

If you get a lot of clothes for later on down the line I would suggest not taking the tags off. We got a lot of 6-9 month clothes for summer/fall, which seemed perfect based on their age, but they just started wearing some 3-6 month clothes in the last month and most of that is still too big for them. So now I have a whole wardrobe of washed clothes with no tags that we'll probably have to put a long sleeve onesie on underneath or a jacket or something which isn't a huge deal, but I wish we could have just exchanged it for long sleeve stuff.

[Deleted]

I didn't read responses. But this is what I did.

Like you, I researched what I wanted for the big stuff -- and so far have been spot on with how they work for us. The mini-cribs are great and space saving -- the space saver swings were awesome in the beginning, b/c we could move them easily, and now we use them as chairs; etc. I did the same research for diapers and bottles.

We ordered diapers from diapers.com and Amazon Mom. We use Earth's Best and it was one of the best ways to get them. We had 4 cases (so 16 bags of 44) by the time they were born. This was perfect for us. We also took diapers from the hospital and have been using that brand (Pampers Swaddlers) at night (thinner and more absorbent, plus the stripe is nice for night time feedings -- we don't like the chemicals on them all day, that's why we use EB and cloth now).

We got 2 types of bottles and only got 1 pack of 3 for each. I figured I'd have to supplement but this worked for a bit -- it let the boys choose before we really invested in a type.

We had lists and checked things off as we got them, either as gifts or for ourselves.

Register for things that you would like but maybe wouldn't buy yourself. Like the Bumbos -- we wouldn't have bought those ourselves but people wanted to buy them for us and we use them a lot now. Also cute things like Boppy covers, A+A blankets, etc. And DEFINITELY put big things on there for the after discounts!! We put a breast pump on there, plus the cribs, not expecting people to get them for us. I ended up getting a pump for free from the hospital but the discount would have been worth it. (and people ended up getting our cribs) There is very little we got from showers that we didn't end up using.

Things you seriously can't have enough of:
diapers (not just newborn, size 1 too)
onesies (don't register for those or if you do, only 1 set of white ones so people can see the sizes you want/need -- ppl love buying clothes)
blankets (we used them ALL THE DAMN TIME!)
sleepers
crib sheets (I don't like those sheet savers, it was easy enough for us to change the sheets as needed, and Marc peed a lot lol)

Things we had to run out for were more bottles once they chose and pacifiers (again, bought a few types, let them choose).

Also, we registered at BRU pretty much only for the rewards. They ARE generally assholes but you get, essentially, what people spend on you towards your rewards. We got something like $50 "free" which we immediately used.

[Deleted]

JFC that was long.

[Tacocat]

Yes, for sure register. So far, I've only registered at Target and my first shower was last weekend. I think about half the stuff was from our registry and half wasn't. We got the big items ourself - crib, dresser, carseat, stroller and registered for everything else. I'm waiting for my 2nd shower closer to my due date before buying anything else.

[partiallysunny]

I did not register. I figured people were going to purchase clothes, blankets, diapers, and stuffed animals, so why bother with a big registry.

So I didn't purchase clothes and used this checklist as a general guideline for everything else: www.babycenter.com/0_checklist-baby-registry-must-haves_632.bc?page=2. And I used some common sense (splat mat a necessity?). After the showers, I did an inventory and supplimented with my own purchases. Along the way, I bought the big things I thought we would need (crib, breast pump, etc.) and put somethings on a may-need-later list (bouncer seat, baby bath tub, etc.).