What sort of items did you buy yourself versus put on your registry? I'm tempted to buy certain things myself so that I don't have to wait until a month or two before due date to receive it. But if I do this, there will be nothing on my registry then lol!
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We went ahead and bought certain things that we found either used or on a great sale. I would go ahead and make a list of all the big ticket items you'll need/want.
Gifted:
Stroller/Car Seat
Crib/Mattress
Rocking Chair (hand me down)
Changing table
SwingWe bought:
Bouncy seat
Play mat
Exersaucer/jumper
Pack and play
high chair (bought later on)PS - some of the items we had already bought, I put on the registry but marked completed so people would see that we already had a PNP, etc.
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We focused mainly on purchasing the stuff necessary for the nursery - i.e. his bedding, crib, etc. I wanted to have my nursery at least started by 20 weeks (which was lucky as I went on bed rest at 32 weeks) and that didn't jive with the timing of my shower.
I sort of bought what I felt like (mainly if something was on a great deal) and figured I could have a returning party later. We actually didn't have much overlap as there were still tons of things on my list - PNP, bottles, etc - come shower time. It was mainly the big ticket items (stroller + carseat) that I purchased that could be shower eligible and I ended up getting that again, but I returned it and easily used the credit.
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We were gifted a lot of the big ticket items. Stroller, car seat, play mat, high chair, pack n play, swing, bouncer, etc. Also gifted things like towels, bottles, warmer, feeding supplies, clothes, etc.
We bought nursery furniture, nb clothes, wipes, convertible car seats, toys, bath tubs, etc but mostly as the baby grew and the needs arose.
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@LindsayInNY: We've bought the big stuff ourself, usually on sale. I wanted to have the crib/mattress done, same with the car seat and stroller. Our registry will mostly be smaller things. I feel like only family would buy us big things off the registry, and ours isn't that huge a family so we might as well buy things ourself.
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I didn't have a shower, so I focused on buying the things I will definitely need right away, like the cosleeper and car seat, because if someone buys a registry gift it will probably be after the baby is born. I also go ahead and buy myself if I find a great deal.
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I pretty much registered for everything except furniture, the nursery bedding, and items needed later like a convertible car seat. I had my shower on the earlier side at 28 weeks so I had plenty of time to buy what I didn't get.
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We bought the nursery furniture (crib, dresser, hutch) but put the rest on the registry and were gifted a lot of the big stuff (car seat, PNP, stroller, bedding, swing, ergo, etc). I couldn't justify buying things when I knew others would. My shower was at 32 weeks so there was still plenty of time to get anything we still needed.
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We bought the things that would seem ridiculous to ask for or I just felt like having ahead of time, like our strollers, bigger nursery items, car seat, etc. In my experience you get the stuff from your registry when baby arrives or later, so buy the things you want to have on hand when he/she is born! And in the first few weeks you'll think of more things you want to add.
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So far I have only purchased items that I really really really really wanted. Which have only been two so far. I am likely going to be having 2+ baby showers, so I could end up with being gifted a lot. Plus, we have had a lot of friends say they can give us a lot of their baby stuff that we may be missing. We are also creating a savings in case there are still items we need, but we are prioritizing items on our registry so hopefully the important stuff we get.
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We bought all the big stuff ourselves and put the small stuff on the registry, knowing that people would take it loosely and buy whatever they wanted anyway. Lol
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We bought the stroller, crib mattress, glider, and dresser. Most other stuff was gifted.
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Just another thought - if it's on your registry, many places will give you a discount if you purchase it later. So that helps with the bigger ticket items. Also, people will sometimes chip in for a big present. I got the travel system from my family who hosted our shower. Or sometimes work places will do that too.
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in laws: bought crib
my parents: bought travel systemwe bought:
bedding
nursing supplies
dresser
glidereverything else was pretty much gifted or we used gift cards to buy off our registry. We are blessed with large and very generous families.
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We live very far away from our friends, and I dont anticipate a shower other than a small work shower. Im not expecting or assuming our in laws will buy big ticket items (theyre still upset we moved so far away in the first place), and I'm not sure what my parents will get so we bought the crib and stroller so far since they were on discounted prices. I don't want to put nursery furniture on the registry, and will buy that myself. Other than those items, I made a registry with essentials, car seat, etc... but will end up buying most of it later anyways!
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My parents surprised us with the crib we wanted plus a changing table. We purchased the stroller and remaining nursery furniture ourselves and used some money from my grandparents to buy the car seat. People were very generous with clothes, blankets, toiletries, diapers, etc, but we got very little off our registry.
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I had a small shower and only put inexpensive things on the registry (except for the pump). We bought almost everything ourselves: crib, stroller, car seat, bedding, clothes. At my shower, EVERYONE bought from the registry, which was nice.
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I had my shower 2 months before EDD and I felt like it was plenty of time to get everything I needed before the baby came.
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We bought everything ourselves, my parents gave us money for my son's crib, but in truth, we spent like 1/4 of it and started his savings account with the rest of it.
We didn't have a shower or a registry though, as we were abroad. We got a ton of clothing after the birth as well as cash gifts.
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We bought nursery furniture ourselves and a few things I felt we were less likely to be gifted like cloth diaper supplies and a woven wrap. Another thing to think about is putting on there things that are harder to find at a discount since someone else might buy them but if not you will get a completion discount. For us it was the bassinet to our stroller and a dropcam.
I went into it with the mentality that baby needed clothes, a few blankets, a place to sleep and a car seat for day one, everything else was a bonus and could be purchased later.
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We bought the big stuff ourselves: car seat, stroller, furniture. We also bought the bedding (and mattress), and diaper pad ourselves. We put everything else on the registry. In the end we ended up buying the monitor ourselves also. Most everything else was purchased by friends and family.
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We bought our cloth diapers, as I wanted a specific kind. We also bought all of our nursery furniture. Nearly all of the other baby stuff was on our registry or given to us as a handmedown.
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Don't put anything you actually need on your reg8stry. No one looks at it anyways.
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I had two showers.
My family bought:
-stroller
-crib (my brother and SIL)
-misc. stuffInlaws:
-Pack n Play
-Graco bucket carseatWe bought:
-changing table (on Zulily, cheap)
-changing pad
-crib mattress
-tub
-Rock N Play
-other stuffHand me downs:
-baby carrier
-breast pumpWe got gifted a ton of clothes. We only bought kimono tops for LO when he was newborn because of weather and his stump.
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We made sure we had the absolute necessities (bassinet, car seat), but even those were gifted to us. At the shower with my family (10 hours from where we live), we got almost only gifts off the registry. The shower with my DHs family was canceled because the baby came early at 35 weeks. Basically, I would make sure you have the basics, but put the rest on the registry.
@anonysquire: I always look at the registry to get what the family really wants/needs.
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@anonysquire: I just bought some items off of a friend's registry for her shower next month. Going off registry for baby showers aren't my thing unless I know them well enough or want to gift them our go-to's as ones who survived the infant phase.
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@JennyG: I wish people had done that with me! I mean yes of course, any gift is wonderful!! But I got 14 4 packs of aden swaddlers and 500 outfits. And disposable diapers which we were going to use cloth. Just would have been helpful for them to look on the registry
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@cascademom: I usually get 1 item off the registry and then make an item. So I'm not perfect. I just find that most people have great intentions but get distracted by the cute baby stuff at the store!
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@anonysquire: I agree with the getting distracted part. My friend has a lot of clothes on her registry. It's pointless since people love to gift baby clothes not necessarily the ones you register for. I stuck to some bath stuff we like. I think she looked at my Pinterest page on newborn gear because she grabbed some of the stuff we liked for LO as infant.
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@anonysquire: haha, I only buy off the registry, if there is one, I don't have the time or desire to be creative!
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@cascademom: @looch: maybe it's just Utah people with this problem haha. Same thing with my wedding!
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@anonysquire: We received registry stuff from our wedding. The weirdest non registry gift was a bottle of cherry wedding wine from Door County, WI. It looked gross. I think we finally got rid of it recently.
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I registered early and checked it often... No one bought our cloth diapers and I started purchasing one at a time every couple weeks during my pregnancy. We didnt have a nursery space to set up until i was 33 weeks and didn't have a shower until i was 35-36 weeks. I was sweating bullets....
I purchased all our nursery decor, diapers, random things that i saw and loved. My parents and inlaws gifted us our furniture (crib, mattress, dresser) and we were gifted a 2nd hand rocker from my mom's friend. These were not surprises and we had them in our house before the shower.
One nice thing about having the later shower and checking the registry was that I knew what we were going to be gifted but i didnt have to store all the baby paraphernalia for weeks and weeks while we tried to get the nursery ready.
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If I found a good sale, I bought it. I hated the idea of someone else spending more than they had to on something or if I didn't get it I would pay more than I had to. The big items I never even put on my registry because I wanted to buy them were the carseat and crib.
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We registered for everything except nursery furniture and fixtures (although my father in law did buy us the glider.) At our shower we received pretty much everything we registered for and a good amount of cash. We then used the cash to purchase the one big item that was not purchased (the mattress), and to pick up the random odds and ends that we didn't receive at the shower. I was really blown away by people's generosity at our shower.
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Also worth mentioning...l registered at Target & Amazon so I have been buying little things from PBK, Nordstrom, IKEA, BabyGap etc. Even though Amazon lets you sign up for universal registry items, I only wanted a few fun things on there since I think people who are not as tech savvy may not get it.
We bought our own crib, mattress and bedding. As well as changing pad and covers and a fair amount of basic clothes since we are team green.
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We purchased the stroller and the infant seat ourselves. They were more pricey (City Mini and Britax) than I was comfortable putting on the registry, considering cheaper options (Graco, etc.) would have worked just fine. I found great deals on ours.
We also purchased the crib and dresser from IKEA, because who wants to haul one of those to a baby shower?!
We got 2 pack and plays, activity gym, high chair, Ergo carrier, as well as a few other $40+ items from our registry. Hardly anyone went off registry and we got minimal clothes even though everyone knew it was a girl. I had a hard time keeping the registry stocked with the $40-$60 items, which people seemed to gravitate toward. I was shocked.
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i bought the crib and some bedding. we got a ton of hand me downs for clothes, but if we hadn't i would have bought a few pieces and see what people got from the registry. we also had diapers, wipes and emergency supplies (thermometer, tylenol, etc.).
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@anonysquire: I think people get distracted by clothes when they know the sex of the baby, to be honest. It happens a lot--they'll ignore your registry for cute clothes, esp girls.
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@Mrs. J: see and I was team green. And got so many gender specific outfits. Which is fine. But it's just funny
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