I want everything new!

lizjennings81

I'm kind of the same way. No one's offered anything yet (most of my friends had their kids long ago), but my husband showed me a garage sale on a listserv he's on that was selling girls' stuff from newborn to five years old. I hemmed and hawed and we didn't go. I don't shop at garage sales. Never have, never will.

But hand-me-downs for clothes and toys from friends would be okay. I say no on a car seat and stroller; I've made decisions on those based on what fits in our car and our apartment situation. The registry list is our shopping list; I don't think I'll have a shower so I plan on buying all that's on there. It'll be great if friends and family want to buy us something off of there, but not necessary.

schnitz9

I've been offered a tone of stuff from friends and neighbors. i am definitely taking all the clothes I can get.  Surprisingly fancy clothes is where I draw the line.  There is no way my kid needs to wear designer clothes.  I was in Neimans the other day and laughed at the baby true religion jeans.  $100 and they are even a snap crotch.  I'm a first time mom and even I know it wouldn't be fun to have to pull down and up those jeans on my 3 month old that they will only wear prob 2 times before they have a diaper blow out and they are destroyed.  The used gear that everyone is offered is going to my parents.  They live 4 hours away from me at the beach and we go to visit alot.  It would be great for them to have the stuff their so that all we have to take is the stroller, carseat, and clothes. My parents already ordered our nursery furniture for us.  It is being made in europe and should be ready in dec.  I'm excited as we are planning on keeping this furniture forever.  After our kids leave this will actually be guest room furniture. Well worth the price.

jaztastic

kkleigh10 said:

Super late to this party but throwing my two cents in: I felt like the second (certain) people found out I was pregnant, their eyes lit up and I could basically hear them think "someone to unload my crap on!!!" I've had acquaintances that I only say hello to at the dog park tell me about ALL THE STUFF they want to give me. Normally I'd be flattered that I'm thought of, but for some reason I feel like I'm being used as a garbage dump for people who want to clear baby items out of their house. One woman even wanted to give me her used pregnancy pillow. Um, no. The entire experience has put me off accepting things from a good number of people. It's our first kid and we'll be buying everything new. We won't even register for the big ticket items because if we want expensive stuff we sure as hell won't ask anyone else to foot the bill. We're fortunate that a cousin has offered a never-been-used Pottery Barn crib that's been sitting in her vacation house so we'll take that, but that will be the extent of our hand-me-downs. If we're lucky enough to have kid #2 down the road? He or she will be living in "previously loved" onesies and sleeping on sheets leftover from kid #1, I'm sure

Ohhh I thought I was the only one with this feeling!!!

cinderella4282

I was the same way with Baby #1. As she got older, I loosened up a bit but that first year I wanted to KNOW where everything had come from.

DH and I had gone to some garage sales with amazing deals, but there was always something that stopped us. A puppy that was peeing all over the driveway - the home owner telling us about the great features with a cigarette dangling from their mouth. Eventually I got over my cheapness and felt better opening new boxes

smg2302

I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting new things, but even for myself I buy second hand things often.  Some of our furniture, clothing, appliances, etc.  I buy expensive when it has a proven track record of being a quality product, but I don't like monogrammed or branded products just for the sake of the name.  I guess to me, expensive is not synonymous with quality and used is not synonymous with gross or out of style, so saying that I reflect one style or the other would be inaccurate.  To me, it's worth taking an inventory of what is being offered and actually see them in person. 

As far as the registry reflecting more affordable options, I wouldn't sweat it.  Everyone knows you're going to need diapers, if they don't want to spend a ton of money, they can buy a pack of pampers and move on with their life.  I think it's a great thing that you know what you want and won't settle.

jennypolkadots

I am the opposite. Unless there is a safety risk I am totally cool (and even prefer) used items. 

We have gathered lots of baby clothes at yard sales and a consignment store. I got my snoogle pillow at a consignment store. We bought a few cute little things at gap, but my fav outfits so far are used and in perfect condition. Most cost about $3. I won't care if they get torn up or only use for a month. But if they last for future kiddos, all the better. I wash them of course, but you should wash clothes you get from the store also.

We are buying the crib new (it is $200 jenny lind divinci crib) because I am very particular about having a non-toxic finish and no mdf. The mattress with also be organic and free of harmful chemicals. We will buy a car seat new for safety reasons. We will buy specific items new if we can't find them used - like DH wants a specific running stroller for example. 

We are getting a nice wooden high chair from my SIL for free and that is awesome. I love the idea of my kids getting to sit in the same chair as my sweet niece. Anything not given at showers we will look for used before spending the money. We have the money, but we are really frugal and enjoy not spending what we don't have to. But this sort of bleeds over into our general money management not just with the baby. We drive cheap paid off cars and don't use credit cards. We like having savings and we don't make a whole lot of money. We do have a well decorated home though and the baby's room is shaping up to look really awesome.

jennypolkadots

Just to clarify - I couldn't care less if some other mom wants everything new. I will be happy to buy the stuff a year later for less than half what she paid  

foxslaw

If you can afford it, get all new stuff! Who's stopping you?
I liked the idea where maybe just add a fewer lower ticket items to your registry like clothes or books.

On another note, I have a question since we are talking about registries.
I'm a FTM & having the first grand baby/great grand baby in each of our families....so we are really starting from scratch. People don't have a lot to (Hand-me-down wise) give us, which is perfectly fine! However, both my boyfriend & I have large, generous families who I know will give us gifts at the shower (they have expressed this). However, because of the holidays, I think my shower is going to be in January (I'm not planning it, so I don't know what date my family is thinking, but they said January), and I'm hesitant to buy things because I don't know what my family is going to get off my registry! I'm due in late February so I'm kind of stressing to get everything together, because I'm very much a planner. What things should I buy in the meantime, or shouldn't buy?

jaztastic

I love all the feedback. I think clothes would one thing i dont mind accepting from good friends at the moment. Im anti designer baby clothes, because its a waste in my mind, unless gifted or deeply discounted.

Cookie0875

I'm late to this party as well, but what the hell!  I keep getting interrupted trying to write this too...damn work!  

I would prefer to buy everything new, but a very good friend has offered up her rock n' play, bath tub, swing, bottles, and clothes (her daught was born this past Feb 3rd).  I have a sanitize cycle on my clothes washer and dish washer, so I'm perfectly fine with all of that.  And like @Chickenonsunday (I think) said, the tub is plastic, so I can sanitize that as well.  Also, she's a close friend so I definitely trust items from her.  BUT, her taste in clothes is way different than mine, so some of that stuff may get donated.

I also bought a bassinet, burp cloths, a moby, some sheets, and of course, some clothes at a big consignment sale they do around here called Switch-a-Roo's.  I figure anything I save I can spend on nursery decor!  I have BIG plans for this nursery, so I'll take some hand me downs afterall!  

I see nothing wrong, however, with wanting all new.  Go buy Dolce all the wonderful things you want!!

williamandrachelray

I feel the same way. I just like that brand new out of the box clean and perfectness. This is our first and we plan to have more so we both agree we want to spend the money to buy things to last through future kids. There are some things if be interested in borrowing first to see if we like them but if we do we will probably buy our own. I am only planning to share our target registry which has lots of smaller items on it-soaps, diapers, etc. I have a registry at PBK that I set up just to get the 10% completion discount. If family wants to buy something bigger they can just ask us what we have picked out and I'll happily tell them. We have budgeted as if we would have to buy everything ourselves so we don't expect anyone to buy us a $x stroller or a pottery barn crib etc. Any gifts we get will be great but we aren't relying on getting things gifted.

hawynne

Absolutely go new for a car seat. I went all new for everything and quickly realized how ridiculous it was, even more so the second time around. Don't guilt yourself for wanting fresh stuff for your new babes - you may change your mind down the road and that's okay!! Remember, no stress is best!

daciadanae

I thought that way at first, but two points to consider:

1) Babies are all so different that you can end up wasting ALOT of money on new items that will never be used. For example, My son used his swing maybe 3 times. I was SO glad I got that used and didn't spend a ton of money on it!

2) Maybe upfront it seems like you can afford everything new, but over the first year or two it will really hit you how much baby stuff costs! diapers, clothes, SHOES (holy cow, kids shoes are freaking expensive!), food (we waste alot because DS ends up not eating it, throwing it on the floor, giving it to dog, etc), odds and ends that you didn't know about. I'm glad we saved on some used things to make up for the extra costs over the last year.

I LOVE shopping at our local Once-Upon-A-Child. It's a buy-sell-trade baby store that only accepts items that are gently used and in good condition. I got our bassinet there, our swing, an umbrella stroller, toys, clothes and I've paid a fraction of the cost for the exact same things that are currently in full price stores.

Oem617

If you want everything new and you are willing to buy everything you want yourself I see nothing wrong with it. Your kid, your rules.

I'm super cheap and took everything anyone offered for DS. If I didn't think I would use it, I wouldn't take it, but most things I did. Crib and dresser, breast pump, bottles, sheets and car seats we got new. Swings, bouncers, etc, we took used. Clothes mostly used. Not that it stopped me from buying stuff. Bottom line is babies use things for such a short amount of time, that even the used stuff we got, was like brand new.

CatLadyTX

When I was pregnant with DS I wanted only the best for him - new everything. I quickly realized that I'd be able to get him more stuff if I saved on some things by buying used. I bought most of his clothes at consignment sales, unless there was something special I wanted like his going home outfit. We still got a lot of clothes at our showers, so it wasn't like he was only wearing used clothes. DH found a brand new high chair on CL for a quarter of the price we would have spent and it was the exact pattern we wanted. His coworker found out that we registered for a specific jumper, swing and bouncer and offered us her son's because they were the same ones we picked. While I was bummed that the items weren't brand new, it allowed me to splurge on things like the pump, car seat and stroller.

bbergman

Certain things I will absolutely buy new (car seat, crib, breast pump, cloth diapers, and bottles are a few things), but things like clothes I actually try to buy used. Babies grow so fast that spending all that money on brand new wardrobes every few months just seems like a waste to me. Plus, the older they get, the messier they get- and I'd rather "ruin" used clothes than brand new. 

We have a used bassinet, high chair, certain toys, and exersaucer (and most clothes), and so far so good.