A friend (who is in her second trimester with a baby girl!), recently stated on Facebook that she was starting her registry and asked for suggestions (which is one of the best uses of Facebook, in my opinion).
I wrote her a short comment and decided to write a longer message with links to some of the things we got/bought/were handed down. And it was a LONG message, with another long message attached to it. Who knew I could write so much about baby stuff (uh, everyone?)
I decided that I could copy and paste the message for other mothers who ask in the future, then realized I could blog it!
As I wrote to her, I believe that if parents don't end up getting everything on their registry, they should strongly consider asking friends for things, checking Craigslist, and looking at consignment stores before heading to Target or Babies R Us (save those wonderful gift cards for things you can't find anywhere else). Companies are getting loaded preying on new parents. When we were preparing for Everett, Brian kept saying, "I need to start selling baby stuff! These prices are outrageous!" Or something to that effect.
Before you head to Target, stop yourself and think, "have I asked friends (on Facebook)? Have I checked Craigslist? Might they have it at a consignment store?" Reduce, reuse!
I also believe that all babies are different (as all pregnancies are different), and all families are different. Something one baby needs another baby may not. Some babies spit up all the time, necessitating millions of burp cloths. Some babies rarely spit up (I won't say never. They all must from time to time, right?). Some families would rather pass on a high chair to save space, other families like to put the baby in the high chair while they cook and eat and play cribbage.
With that said, I'd advise against getting too many of one item. Just have a few burp clothes on hand and get more if you need them. Or if you get a lot of one thing, don't open the packages! For example, we got a lot of Soothie pacifiers at the shower, and Everett didn't really like Soothies. Target will take them back even if you don't have the receipt.
I also gave her the advice of looking at other people's registries for ideas. Who do you know who's pregnant, totally on-the-ball, and about to have her shower? Also people who recently had a baby. The registries will still be up. Might sound kind of stalker-ish, but I imagine that other parents are happy to share their registry info with you. It's an easy way to help other soon-to-be parents.
Also, when you're looking at pictures of your friend's babies, look at what's in the pictures. You'll see swings, Boppys, baby gyms, excersaucers, highchairs, baths, cribs, changing tables, blankets, pacifiers, etc. If the baby uses it a lot, he'll probably get his picture taken with it.
Ok, on to the list!
But (hold on!) I'm not writing a comprehensive list. Lots of sites have lists, "layette" lists that have everything you can think of. These are just the things we found especially useful, many we bought ourselves after realizing we needed them (or used our gift cards!!). I'm also including my thoughts on the items, why they're good or not-so-good.
Let's do this thing.
The Arms Reach mini co-sleeper. A great way to keep baby close to you while you sleep. We got the mini to save space, and I thought, "why would one need the original size for a baby!?!" Then he grew out of the mini at 3 months, and it would have been nice to have the co-sleeper around for some of the 5/6 month teething episodes. But, if I had it to do over, I still would have bought the mini, since the original would not have fit in our apartment.
This is our swing. Kind of cheap and cheesy, but gets the job done and is suuuuper small. I think some of the nicer ones swing in different directions (and have mobiles and make sounds and such), but we had friends with nicer ones come over and comment how much they liked ours because it was so small. It fits in the bathroom for when you need to take a bath or shower and baby is sleeping or sleepy, and it's really easy to move around.
When your baby's too old for the swing, the next life-saving device is the exersaucer. Both of ours are loaned/given. We got the first from our neighbor, and it's a ridiculously fun contraption, but it's HUGE! It is a pain to move from the kitchen to the living room, and I certainly couldn't carry it up the stairs and put it in the bathroom. I guess it's not even really an exersaucer; it's a bouncer. We now keep it in the entry way and usually only use it on the porch.
When we realized this bouncer was too big to cart around, Rachel offered her children's exersaucer, and it's our staple now. It's light, easy to move around, and even fits in the bathroom.
Not so much a lifesaver, but a little entertainment for your baby, is the baby gym. When they get old enough to look at things but not really play with things yet, these are great. We couldn't handle the idea of paying $60 to $80 for what basically amounts to a piece of fabric with tent poles over it, so we went to our local consignment store Mollywogs, and picked one up for $27. Some of the toys were missing or replaced with toys from different items, but Everett didn't care. And we had received some toys at the shower with rings on them that fit on it perfectly.
Gotta have a Boppy. A nursing pillow is a must if you're nursing, but the Boppy is also great for the baby to rest in. I know that's not the intended use of it, and it says: "never allow the baby to sleep on the Bobby!!" on the tag. But when they're newborns, they sleep all the time. I would be right next to him on the couch, and the Bobby would make sure he didn't go anywhere.
Aden and Anais muslin swaddling blankets are super nice, especially as they get bigger and other blankets won't contain them. They're also good if the weather's warm because they're very breathable. We received these as a gift and had no idea what they were. We hope the friends who bought them for us understand how much we grew to adore these.
When he was little, I really appreciated PJs with zippers instead of snaps (but I wouldn't bother registering for clothes. People love giving you clothes at your shower. Or handing them down to you).
We registered for a few different types of pacifiers to figure out what he liked. Everett wasn't a big fan of the Soothie. We usually buy him the NUK brand, but he's good with anything with a bulge at the tip so it stays in his mouth. The Soothies just pop out!
We have a shinny new Britax that we just installed. The Graco-type seats are good to start with because you can take them in and out of the car, and if baby's sleeping, you don't want to wake him to go into the store or back in the house (at least we didn't).
We love our BOB (which I found on craigslist), but our Chicco umbrella stroller is really nice for shopping (when you don't wan't to be the A-hole who brings the BOB into the store).
Speaking of shopping, you could register for one of those shopping chart covers (I'm pretty easy-going, but I still wouldn't put him straight into the shopping cart). I asked Rachel (my usual first step), and she had one that her mother had made her.
Another little knick-knack we enjoy is the mirror you put on the seat of the car so you can see the baby in the rear-view mirror (make sure the sun's not in his face). I was unamused that the only brand they had at Target was Eddie Bauer, and said "Eddie Bauer" across the front of it. Fortunately we got a silly elephant one at the shower.
I also couldn't function without a nightlight so I can see him at night. In keeping with our nursery theme, I found one in the kids section of Target that was a rocket. I think there are often overlapping themes in baby nurseries and "big kid" room themes.
I was advised not to register for a high chair and just get a booster seat (this is obviously all some families need), but he couldn't sit up in the booster when he was smaller, and we use the high chair* all the time now. Everett loves to be part of what's going on, and the chair brings him up to our level when we're cooking and eating.
We also broke down and bought a wipe warmer. We would have used it earlier, but when we started making our own wipes, that's when it became a necessity.
California baby products are really nice but kind of expensive, so they're great to get as gifts!
And momma related gifts:
If you know you're going to need a pump I HIGHLY recommend picking one up before the baby's born. I won't go into it, but there's a lot of milk in the first few weeks, and newborns don't eat that much. Since I stay home, I got the Medela Swing.
I waited a very long time to have Rachel make me a nursing cover (I was slow finding fabric I liked). And by the time we started using it, Everett was a little confused by the idea. It's still really great to have when I'm out and about, but it would have been nice to teach him to deal with it earlier
Not really registry related, but I'd have a few nursing tank tops on hand.
And if your feet swell, and your shoes are getting tight, don't try to stick it out until after the baby's born. Your feet will swell MORE the week after the babe's out. Just get some slip-ons that have some give (possibly a size larger).
If I think of anything else, I'll just add it on!
*we just moved Everett into his booster seat for meal times (early February). We're still using the cloth-covered highchair when he hangs out with us in the kitchen, cleanly. But I was getting tired of washing the highchair cover and straps so often (or putting him in it when his clothes were clean and didn't know there was old yam in there--ew!). The booster is so easy to wipe off, and he actually sits much straighter in it!
Let's do this thing.
The Arms Reach mini co-sleeper. A great way to keep baby close to you while you sleep. We got the mini to save space, and I thought, "why would one need the original size for a baby!?!" Then he grew out of the mini at 3 months, and it would have been nice to have the co-sleeper around for some of the 5/6 month teething episodes. But, if I had it to do over, I still would have bought the mini, since the original would not have fit in our apartment.
This is our swing. Kind of cheap and cheesy, but gets the job done and is suuuuper small. I think some of the nicer ones swing in different directions (and have mobiles and make sounds and such), but we had friends with nicer ones come over and comment how much they liked ours because it was so small. It fits in the bathroom for when you need to take a bath or shower and baby is sleeping or sleepy, and it's really easy to move around.
When your baby's too old for the swing, the next life-saving device is the exersaucer. Both of ours are loaned/given. We got the first from our neighbor, and it's a ridiculously fun contraption, but it's HUGE! It is a pain to move from the kitchen to the living room, and I certainly couldn't carry it up the stairs and put it in the bathroom. I guess it's not even really an exersaucer; it's a bouncer. We now keep it in the entry way and usually only use it on the porch.
When we realized this bouncer was too big to cart around, Rachel offered her children's exersaucer, and it's our staple now. It's light, easy to move around, and even fits in the bathroom.
Not so much a lifesaver, but a little entertainment for your baby, is the baby gym. When they get old enough to look at things but not really play with things yet, these are great. We couldn't handle the idea of paying $60 to $80 for what basically amounts to a piece of fabric with tent poles over it, so we went to our local consignment store Mollywogs, and picked one up for $27. Some of the toys were missing or replaced with toys from different items, but Everett didn't care. And we had received some toys at the shower with rings on them that fit on it perfectly.
Gotta have a Boppy. A nursing pillow is a must if you're nursing, but the Boppy is also great for the baby to rest in. I know that's not the intended use of it, and it says: "never allow the baby to sleep on the Bobby!!" on the tag. But when they're newborns, they sleep all the time. I would be right next to him on the couch, and the Bobby would make sure he didn't go anywhere.
Aden and Anais muslin swaddling blankets are super nice, especially as they get bigger and other blankets won't contain them. They're also good if the weather's warm because they're very breathable. We received these as a gift and had no idea what they were. We hope the friends who bought them for us understand how much we grew to adore these.
When he was little, I really appreciated PJs with zippers instead of snaps (but I wouldn't bother registering for clothes. People love giving you clothes at your shower. Or handing them down to you).
We registered for a few different types of pacifiers to figure out what he liked. Everett wasn't a big fan of the Soothie. We usually buy him the NUK brand, but he's good with anything with a bulge at the tip so it stays in his mouth. The Soothies just pop out!
We have a shinny new Britax that we just installed. The Graco-type seats are good to start with because you can take them in and out of the car, and if baby's sleeping, you don't want to wake him to go into the store or back in the house (at least we didn't).
We love our BOB (which I found on craigslist), but our Chicco umbrella stroller is really nice for shopping (when you don't wan't to be the A-hole who brings the BOB into the store).
All terain strollers are really the only way to go in Atascadero. For where we go, there's really no point in owning a regular stroller. The BOB is good for walks in the neighborhood, and the Chicco's good for smooth store floors. But I must admit that I get a little embarrassed to be at the park with my BOB. It feels like such a status symbol, and I've always hated being trendy. I feel like screaming out, "I got mine for half-price on Craigslist!!"
Speaking of shopping, you could register for one of those shopping chart covers (I'm pretty easy-going, but I still wouldn't put him straight into the shopping cart). I asked Rachel (my usual first step), and she had one that her mother had made her.
Another little knick-knack we enjoy is the mirror you put on the seat of the car so you can see the baby in the rear-view mirror (make sure the sun's not in his face). I was unamused that the only brand they had at Target was Eddie Bauer, and said "Eddie Bauer" across the front of it. Fortunately we got a silly elephant one at the shower.
I also couldn't function without a nightlight so I can see him at night. In keeping with our nursery theme, I found one in the kids section of Target that was a rocket. I think there are often overlapping themes in baby nurseries and "big kid" room themes.
I was advised not to register for a high chair and just get a booster seat (this is obviously all some families need), but he couldn't sit up in the booster when he was smaller, and we use the high chair* all the time now. Everett loves to be part of what's going on, and the chair brings him up to our level when we're cooking and eating.
California baby products are really nice but kind of expensive, so they're great to get as gifts!
And momma related gifts:
If you know you're going to need a pump I HIGHLY recommend picking one up before the baby's born. I won't go into it, but there's a lot of milk in the first few weeks, and newborns don't eat that much. Since I stay home, I got the Medela Swing.
I waited a very long time to have Rachel make me a nursing cover (I was slow finding fabric I liked). And by the time we started using it, Everett was a little confused by the idea. It's still really great to have when I'm out and about, but it would have been nice to teach him to deal with it earlier
Not really registry related, but I'd have a few nursing tank tops on hand.
And if your feet swell, and your shoes are getting tight, don't try to stick it out until after the baby's born. Your feet will swell MORE the week after the babe's out. Just get some slip-ons that have some give (possibly a size larger).
If I think of anything else, I'll just add it on!
*we just moved Everett into his booster seat for meal times (early February). We're still using the cloth-covered highchair when he hangs out with us in the kitchen, cleanly. But I was getting tired of washing the highchair cover and straps so often (or putting him in it when his clothes were clean and didn't know there was old yam in there--ew!). The booster is so easy to wipe off, and he actually sits much straighter in it!
No comments:
Post a Comment