What to buy before shower

jrschube

I'm a FTM due in mid February . I keep getting coupons for bru and buy buy baby that are better than the completion discount will be. You can't use them on diapers/wipes and I don't plan to formula feed, so I'm wondering what to buy pre-shower. My shower isn't til mid January and I don't want to be stuck buying things at mostly full price if I don't get everything at my shower. I bought the crib and mattress so far and am considering just stocking up on laundry detergent and soap/lotion type things. Any wisdom?

kmc84

I'd just get furniture at this point.

Don't buy detergent and soaps-you don't know if your lo may have an allergy to something. Also, 'baby laundry detergents' are not as gentle as they are marketed.... They are full of fragrances and softners, and are way overpriced. Your better off picking up a free clear of whatever brand you use.

You'll likely get lots of gift cards, so plan on doing a big shopping trip the weekend after your shower so you can inventory everything you already recieved.

For bigger items you may not receive, check on amazon as their prices are often the same or better than you can get in store with the 20% off coupons.

dogperson11

I would wait. They send out coupons all the time.

Sugarplum0217

Just FYI buy buy baby is owned by Bed Bath and Beyond and take expired coupons. Don't worry about using them right away.

I agree to check Amazon, there's only a couple things I've found that Amazon doesn't carry or somewhere has a better sale.

jrschube

Thanks for your help.  I've only been buying the most mild detergents that are okay by the Environmental Working Group, so I'm not too concerned about that affecting baby.  I'm thinking I might get the carseat because it was on sale on top of the coupons and the cash back on my registry items : ) Thanks again!

HorseLover11

If you get a great deal Id buy all the boring stuff like crib sheet covers, changing pad covers, medicines, burp cloths, bottles, dishwasher baskets, bottle warmers, swaddles etc as people don't tend to buy those and if they do return what you bought and use your money towards what you need. I was glad I did that as I didn't get those items and I wanted to have them for when she was born.

C&Q5409

No nursery is complete without a personalized piggy bank!!! 

SunAndRain

I bought our stroller because I wanted a specific BOB model and wanted to buy it from a particular store (100% return policy) that puts them on sale once per year. And I bought a car seat because the $180 Chicco dropped in price to $150 on Amazon.  Other than that I waited until the shower.  I was pretty much stocked after that.  All I needed to replenish throughout the first year I subscribed to via amazon mom for the savings...but more for the convenience!

Don't stock up on too much.  Even with diapers which I got on discount via amazon mom, I ended up not using entire boxes because DD would outgrow them and I didn't bump her up in size soon enough.  Plus that is a lot to store and baby items tend to take up a lot of space already.

tbarker14

We bought everything that we wanted or needed... such as crib, mattress, dresser, shelves, chair, stroller (bob), pack and play, change pad...cloth diapers, etc. We did not buy clothes since we had our DD we have not needed to buy any clothes for her. Everyone likes to buy clothes as gifts so we did not depend on others to buy the big ticket items.
(The only thing we got was money for the crib from one set of grandparents since that was their gift) if people plan to get big items most of the time that would be communicated to you ahead of time.
Have fun setting up the nursery!