Baby stuff and registry

[sparks19]

AHHHHH..... kinda frustrating

I don't think i want a registry lol.

for the most part we are going to be buying for ourselves or our parents will be. What do I need a registry for.

I don't know any women..... well I mean I know a few but very few. my family lives in Canada and I would rather just get gift certificates from them that I can bring here and use rather than have to cart stuff over the border and pay duty on all of it.

I am apparently having a baby shower in July sometime. My MIL wanted to have it at a tea room etc etc. We said no that was not nessecary as for one I am not a tea room kinda girl lol AND there isn't really gonna be anyone there. Like I said.,... I know very few women. So it will only be my MIL, and Brians Aunt and females cousins and maybe one or two women that I know.

I have NO idea what I want as far as a nursery theme goes. there is so much stuff to choose from. I have no idea what to get lol.

Everyone knows what a baby needs.... blankets, clothes, bottles (even though i will be breastfeeding you still need bottles sometimes) towels... etc etc. You know generic baby things. I don't need a registry for that do I? lol

I havne't even set foot in Babies r us yet. I'm not due until September 22nd so I still have time.... but eventually I will have to deal with this stuff lol. it all seems so overwhelming and especially since it's not really practical for MY family to buy things for us. it's likely that I will not be having a baby shower up there and if I do I think I will just instruct everyone to get Gift certificates that are good in the US. LOL so much planning to be done.

[lizbud]

I didn't use a registry either. Our familes all knew what we needed.

Why don't you take your MIL up on her offer for using the tea room.It
probably would make her very happy. That is, if it wouldn't be too
uncomfortable for you.

[Sirrahsim]

The upside of the baby registries on Walmart.com or target.com is that people can pick things and just have them mailed directly to you... I agree with Lizbud, it's nice of your MIL to want to have something for you in a tea room, even if it isn't your thing
I just had a diaper shower at the local tea room and it turned out really nice and relaxing There were only 7 of us including me so it was small and personal.

[sparks19]

I didn't use a registry either. Our familes all knew what we needed.

Why don't you take your MIL up on her offer for using the tea room.It
probably would make her very happy. That is, if it wouldn't be too
uncomfortable for you.

I woud just hate for her to spend all that money renting a room for only a few people. The cost to rent one of these places for the day is a couple hundred bucks. I don't need anything that fancy.... and I am definately not a fancy kinda girl lol. Hubby's aunt is perfectly willing to hold the shower in her nice basement. I would just hate to see her spend that kind of money when there is only going to be a few people there. AND I also feel bad because I don't know hubby's cousins and stuff THAT well.... I hate to feel like I am asking them for gifts when I've only met them a few times.


HMMMM I didn't think about having it mailed directly here from online. I also feel bad because my mom will not be able to participate in this baby shower.... in fact I don't know if she will be able to have a baby shower for me at all. I know she is excited but we live 8-9 hours apart. But the mailing thing is a good idea.

but where to start there are so many things to choose from.... i dont know what is good and what is not lol. It's so.... overwhelming to look at babies r us or what have you lol. What kind of crib? what kind of car seat do you need? what are good features in these areas? lol I'm so lost lol.

[Sirrahsim]

but where to start there are so many things to choose from.... i dont know what is good and what is not lol. It's so.... overwhelming to look at babies r us or what have you lol. What kind of crib? what kind of car seat do you need? what are good features in these areas? lol I'm so lost lol.

It is very overwhelming and it can add up fast!! For a carseat, a 5 point harness hooked into your car using the LATCH system is the very safest but a 3 point harness buckled in properly is safe too. I swear by GRACO carseats/strollers/safety products. As for the crib... In my opinion it doesn't matter all that much. Your little one isn't going to care if you got your crib for $100 at Walmart or for $1000 at a designer store. As long as it is sturdy they will love it. Convertible cribs are great too because many convert to a toddler bed and later to a full size bed but consider that if you plan on having another baby in a couple of years you will need another crib/big kid bed anyway. Tyler's crib was a convertible crib but only spent a few months in the form of a toddler bed before we got him his own big kid bed and turned the crib back into a crib.
I could go on and on and on and on

[Lobodeb]

I had 5 baby showers. Yes, 5! My mom threw one for me back home in New Mexico, my sister-in-law threw one for me here, my co-workers threw one for me at work, my hubby's co-workers had one for him at his job, and another department collected money for us and gave that to us as a kind of shower as I couldn't go to them because of their secure work areas. The only ones who went of my registries was my side of the family in New Mexico. Everyone else just got what ever they wanted, not what I wanted. I was really kind of disappointed because I thought that was the whole purpose of a registry. For example, my SIL got us a high chair, but not the one we wanted that matched everything else. My BIL got me the travel system he wanted, not what I registered for, which BTW was a crappy stroller, I ended up buying another one anyway.

And, I have to agree with what Missy said about Graco products. They are truly superior. The crappy stroller I got was Cosco. I strongly advise against that brand. They aren't made very well and they have several complaints against them at the BBB. As far as car seats go, I think it's the law now (at least in the US) to use 5 point harnesses. It's much safer than the 3 point. Again, Graco travel systems are awesome.

Other things you will need are lots of onesies, clothes, wipes and diapers. Hopefully, people will get you various sizes rather than all newborn because they grow soooooo fast. I had packs and packs of newborn stuff I never even opened. Partly because I had a near 10 pound baby. lol

Also, don't rule out bottles. I know you said you were planning on breastfeeding, but there may be issues that could prevent you from doing that you you might want to be prepared. Hugito didn't latch on right and I wasn't able to tolerate the pain, so I opted to pump for a while. So, you may want to consider a breast pump. Don't go cheap on that. The electronic are much better than the manual ones. With that, you'll need something to store your milk in as well.

Another thing I will buy for every new mother from now on is baby Tylenol, Motrin, Mylicon and Benadryl. These are MUST haves. With all of Hugito's allergies and stuff, I'm quite sure that Benadryl has saved him. The first time he got a fever, I about panicked.

You can hold off on the high chair for now, obviously, but a swing was a life saver for me. That was where Hugito first slept through the night.

I can't think of the site right now, but one of them had an excellent checklist for everything that you'll need. If I find it, I'll PM you.

As an alternative to registering, you could just ask people to get you gift cards to Baby's R Us. I would recommend going there for all of your things. Target and Wal-Mart are good, but Baby's R Us is really a one stop shop.

Oh, I'm having so many memories about when we were getting ready for Hugito. I'm so happy for you.

Have fun and enjoy this time. It is really special.

[Lobodeb]

Oh, and as far as your theme for your nursery goes, I tried to think of things that would be easy to find for everyone. My cousin's wife wanted Baby Looney Toons. I had the hardest time trying to find stuff to match. I ended up paying like $45 for a little mobile on ebay. It was outrageous. A girl I used to work with had everything Shammy Lamby. I never heard of it, but once I found it, I was shocked at how expensive the stuff was.

I opted for Pooh. Not Classic Pooh, just regular Pooh. I know it's very popular, but it was easy for everyone to find and it was the most gender neutral as we didn't know that Hugito was going to be a boy.

However, if you know the baby's gender, that'll help tremendously, I would assume. Had I known he was a boy, I would have opted for a sports theme. If it was a girl, I probably would have gone for Disney Princesses or butterflies or something like that.

[Husky_mom]

I´ll admit I haven´t read all replies but i wanted to give you my input before i forget about it......

USE A REGISTRY!!!...... even if you are buying your own stuff, some registries give you some sort of points or accumulate $ for future thing, so register ALL you want, even if you are going to buy it this way you accumulate either points or $$ and that way you can buy more stuff...... just check how each registry works, but it´s great, some will even let you register non-baby stuff.....

and maybe someone might be able to buy you something through the net and get it delivered to you...... I think it´s nice for all people that live far from you and you might even get lucky and get them buy you some nice things for the baby....... JMO

now to read all above posts

[sparks19]

Thank you so much everyone. Your posts were great and gave me a lot of info. Lobodeb... if you can find that checklist that would be AWESOME.

I did get a graco catalogue yesterday in the mail. I looked through it and I did find a cute little set.... it's cows haha. it's blue but I am not picky... girls can be in blue stuff (if it's a girl. we don't know)

this is the car seat I really liked http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/pro...3&CategoryID=1 and it says it is 5 point harness... for new borns they have to be reverse facing right? I think this one is. they have a whole little set for that one. a "pack n play" thing.... which has a raised up section for new borns too.

but I can't find any cow stuff for the nursery lol. I was thinking "woohoo I found my theme" but no such luck haha.

I did not know about the baby registry points thing. I will definately have to check that out. I know I have signed up for just about every coupon I could find though lol.

And I will definately mention that I want onesies and things of that nature to be in all different sizes. LOL I was a ten pound baby and I am terrified that my first is going to be a large baby like me lol.

Thanks again for all the info everyone. VERY VERY helpful. I am so excited yet so overwhelmed at the same time lol. I know I still have about 5 months to go... but it seemed just the other day I had 9 months to go lol time is really flying by and I am feeling the time crunch.

[JenBKR]

I can't think of the site right now, but one of them had an excellent checklist for everything that you'll need. If I find it, I'll PM you.

Could you possibly PM me that site too? I have looked at a few checklists, done a little in store looking around to get ideas, and I am amazed at how much space a little baby can take up! There are so many things to get.....it's all sort of overwhelming......

[Husky_mom]

I saw one checklist at Baby Depot back when my time was almost due.... it really helped me realize I was missing a few things I had NEVER thought about..... and if you ask me I have completely forgotten ......

ETA: I found this!!! themed nursery

cow stuff

[lizbud]

I woud just hate for her to spend all that money renting a room for only a few people. The cost to rent one of these places for the day is a couple hundred bucks. I don't need anything that fancy.... and I am definately not a fancy kinda girl lol. Hubby's aunt is perfectly willing to hold the shower in her nice basement. I would just hate to see her spend that kind of money when there is only going to be a few people there. AND I also feel bad because I don't know hubby's cousins and stuff THAT well.... I hate to feel like I am asking them for gifts when I've only met them a few times.

Still think you're missing out on an opportunity to LET your MIL honor you
in this way. It could be a way to get to know his family members & other
relatives. Hope what ever you do, it turns out great & you get many nice
gifts for the baby, O.K. , I'll shut up now.

[prechrswife]

When we registered before Mary Joyce came home, we registered at both Target and Babies R Us. Both places had good checklists to go by. We had to pick and choose because she wasn't a newborn and some things just didn't apply, but it was still helpful to have some kind of a guideline.

On car seats, we have a Britax Marathon for our daughter, which we love. It has the highest safety rating by Consumer Reports and is a convertivle seat. It is a bit pricey (we got ours due to a generous gift), but it is well worth the cost for peace of mind. We have an infant carrier style seat for the coming new baby. This was highly recommended by other moms of newborns, as you can go from the car into the stroller, into the house or a restaurant with the baby still in her seat. Later, we will invest in another convertible seat. I think our infant car seat is an Evenflo. The big full-sized Babies R Us stores generally have a "sample" car seat so you can get an idea of how the baby seats will fit in your vehicle. Some seats are quite large and may not be a good fit for every car. Also, make sure you can fasten and unfasten the straps easily. One couple we know just returned their seat for another brand because the mom could not undo the harness easily and feared for what would happen in an actual emergency.

On strollers, go to the store and try them out. Push the stroller a bit to find out which one works best for you.

The newborn stuff is new to me, too, so I'm not a lot of help there.

[Husky_mom]

there is this baby wipes warmer that is SOOOOOO handy in cold weather..... and you´ll be having a newbie in the winter months..... there are this ones that warm them up and don´t dries them and is really nice when having to use them un the warm toshies.......

also get some crib mattress protector, it´s really handy for those "accidents"

there is also a shampoo to use dry, just like mousse, and you don´t have to wet the baby when too cold.......

[sparks19]

I saw one checklist at Baby Depot back when my time was almost due.... it really helped me realize I was missing a few things I had NEVER thought about..... and if you ask me I have completely forgotten ......

ETA: I found this!!! themed nursery

cow stuff

Those are awesome too cute.

I wonder if baby depot has a website and if they do they might have the checklist on there.... I will have to check it out.

there was a checklist in one of my magazines... but alas I think I threw it away lol.

A baby wipes warmer.... interesting. Might have to look into one of those.

LOL my MIL has already been sending us lots of stuff so I already have a head start. got some cute outfits, some pacifiers, even diapers lol. She's really excited. She also gave us the baby blanket that she used when my hubby was born.... I love stuff like THAT. Stuff that has a history.

I wish I knew how to knit or crochet.... or sew for that matter LOL. I wonder if my MIL knows how. I will have to ask her.

Have any of you seen those bunting bags.... you are supposed to put them on the baby to sleep at night instead of a loose blanket? I saw them somewhere... I wondered if they work just as well as a blanket. they say they are better because it can help prevent SID's.