I actually got only one swaddle (plus one Halo swaddle sleep sack that I registered for) and no bath sets as gifts. I'd heard people buy you that stuff whether you're registered for them or not. It works for me because we already do have various swaddles and I have sample bath stuff and it's not like it's super expensive for me to buy bath stuff.
I got at least three of the toys with the ring on them that you hook to the stroller handle (that I didn't register for) and of course, clothes. Buuut I got zero newborn clothes. I got a few 0-3 months, but I think a lot of people also assumed everyone else would buy the newborn/0-3 month sizes and tried to buy bigger to help us out.
We also have a million pacifier clips.
I just thought it was interesting that my experience differed quite a bit from what I'd heard!
This all makes me want to design a survey about registries and showers. I was looking at our invitation today and noticed again that my MIL included the registry info on the invite. For folks with lots of guests that ignored the registry, was that information on the invite? On an insert? Or not sent unless requested by the guests? So many variables in play.
We had our combined work shower yesterday and got a ton of clothes & bibs but zero diapers! Where are all those diapers everyone talks about?!! But we did get a few super-helpful things from the registry, like a sit-me-up and a 4-step baby bathtub, so I'm not complaining. But now tallying up all that practical (aka non-fun) stuff we have left to get from the registry... ouch.
+1 to the no diapers, but we did get a bazillion blankets. For my completion coupons I checked the prices at Target and Amazon and just moved things from one registry to the other depending on the price. Also target has a 90-day return window. or is it a year? Whatever it is, it was more than amazon's. Buybuybaby was consistently more $ than the others.
My coworkers threw me a surprise shower and had a diaper raffle with it. We got well over a thousand diapers! And the girl who one the raffle gave us the gift card too! I'm so grateful they did that. I also got a ton of gifts too
@MJDsquared we got 2 bath sets with DD1. She's 18 months and we've just now gone through 1.5 of the sets. It's insane how long they last, so not a bad thing to have to buy yourself!
@Amber_Waves Our registry info was on the insert. Well, specifically it was a registry info insert lol; it had our babylist link. I used babylist as the central link site, that had our 3 (BBB, BRU, Amazon) on it, and at the top of the babylist page I put a note with pertinent info like welcome, nursery theme, and colors.
In hindsight I wish I had registered somewhere like Target, because I didn't realize that back home we dont have a BBB or BRU very close to where my invitees live. Ah well, 95% of what we got was from the registry. Just one random teddy bear from H's grandma, a plush fox from my sister, and my SIL gave us a bath book and some plush blocks. I'm not real crazy about them but the baby has 0 toys yet besides a playmat so we'll probably keep them.
@djd0404 I'm so with you! I tallied up everything we still need to get and felt like I needed to butter up H before I broke the news of the total. If I honestly look over the list a lot of it could be considered "extras" (like if I lived out in a hut in the woods), but it's our first baby and I was really excited to get some of this stuff so we will. It's just still a lot, even though the generosity of our friends and family has been amazing.
Me: 36 | DH 35, Married 2007
TTC #1 June 2015 April 2016 - AMH, FSH, Progesterone normal June 2016 - HSG clear *TW* BFP - Aug16, demise confirmed Sep16, incomplete m/c, D&C Nov16 BFP 3/27/17, edd 12/7/17 DS - 12/9/17 TTC #2 December 2018 BFP 2/22/19, edd 11/4/19 DD - 11/1/19 My Chart
@Amber_Waves One of our shower invites was an evite and had no registry info, the other was mailed and said where we were registered. I guess for us we just didn't have a lot of very expensive stuff on the registry because we got a lot of hand me downs/bought big items used. But I was very pleasantly surprised that both the infant and convertible car seat were purchased for us from our registry! The evite shower was out of state, but I think three people bought us items from the registry and shipped them straight to our house (which is good, because those were all big items minus one wubbanub). Otherwise, we got a ton of Target gift cards at the evite shower.
We only got three boxes of diapers. I just put 1 box each of NB & size 1 diapers on each registry. DH's mom bought us one of the Amazon boxes early on, DH's cousin bought the other and had it shipped to our house, and a guest at the local shower brought one package of diapers from the Target registry. (We didn't have a diaper raffle or anything.) Oh, I guess we did get another box of diapers. We registered for Pampers Swaddlers and a guest bought us a box of Huggies for the out of state shower. I obviously don't have a brand preference at this point because this is my first baby, but we ended up having MIL return those diapers and put the money into our account just because we would've had to check them to fly home.
Also, my mom and MIL are eager beavers and bought us stuff off our registry early, like the box of diapers I mentioned, baby monitor, cube unit and bins for it, and my mom at one point bought every remaining book on our registry (like 10 books or so). Lol.
ETA: Oh, and no one touched any of the breastfeeding supplies I put on our registry--big surprise there! lol.
My shower invitation just said I was registered at Target and Amazon- no direct links. I didn't receive any diapers or bath products, which surprised me. I also received minimal clothing (and only one sleeper in newborn size). Overall, most people ordered off the registry, which I was so thankful for! The few that branched out and bought off-registry gifted me with really sweet and personalized items that I really liked!
@MJDsquared no such thing as too many pacifier clips! They are also helpful to clip toys/snacks to baby/toddler while riding in the stroller or carseat so you dont have to (or have an easier time with) fetch them off the floor/ground for them as often.
I completed all of my registries yesterday and HOLY SHIT, my husband almost has a heart attack. I just want to stop spending money! Let the madness end!! We did get a ton of help from our registry, though, so I’m grateful for ANY help we can get. First time parents with twins means we need so much crap.
@breezybee Ack! I can only imagine. We had so many hand-me-downs + most guests bought from the registry + we bought some stuff over the last 6 months + only one baby + we're not going overboard on contraptions or furniture = $400 to buy remaining essentials
And I still need to get a bunch of baby first-aid stuff, a few reference books, and I really want to frame some of baby's nursery decor.
Re: Guests refuse to use registry
I got at least three of the toys with the ring on them that you hook to the stroller handle (that I didn't register for) and of course, clothes. Buuut I got zero newborn clothes. I got a few 0-3 months, but I think a lot of people also assumed everyone else would buy the newborn/0-3 month sizes and tried to buy bigger to help us out.
We also have a million pacifier clips.
I just thought it was interesting that my experience differed quite a bit from what I'd heard!
DD - 12/28/17
TTC #2 3/2019
BFP 5/2019 || MC - D&C 5/2019
BFP 2/2020 || EDD 10/10/2020
TTC #1 since 12/2015
BFP 4/4/17, EDD 12/4/17
For my completion coupons I checked the prices at Target and Amazon and just moved things from one registry to the other depending on the price. Also target has a 90-day return window. or is it a year? Whatever it is, it was more than amazon's. Buybuybaby was consistently more $ than the others.
Our registry info was on the insert. Well, specifically it was a registry info insert lol; it had our babylist link. I used babylist as the central link site, that had our 3 (BBB, BRU, Amazon) on it, and at the top of the babylist page I put a note with pertinent info like welcome, nursery theme, and colors.
In hindsight I wish I had registered somewhere like Target, because I didn't realize that back home we dont have a BBB or BRU very close to where my invitees live. Ah well, 95% of what we got was from the registry.
Just one random teddy bear from H's grandma, a plush fox from my sister, and my SIL gave us a bath book and some plush blocks. I'm not real crazy about them but the baby has 0 toys yet besides a playmat so we'll probably keep them.
@djd0404 I'm so with you! I tallied up everything we still need to get and felt like I needed to butter up H before I broke the news of the total. If I honestly look over the list a lot of it could be considered "extras" (like if I lived out in a hut in the woods), but it's our first baby and I was really excited to get some of this stuff so we will. It's just still a lot, even though the generosity of our friends and family has been amazing.
April 2016 - AMH, FSH, Progesterone normal
June 2016 - HSG clear
*TW* BFP - Aug16, demise confirmed Sep16, incomplete m/c, D&C Nov16
BFP 3/27/17, edd 12/7/17
DS - 12/9/17
TTC #2 December 2018
BFP 2/22/19, edd 11/4/19
DD - 11/1/19
My Chart
We only got three boxes of diapers. I just put 1 box each of NB & size 1 diapers on each registry. DH's mom bought us one of the Amazon boxes early on, DH's cousin bought the other and had it shipped to our house, and a guest at the local shower brought one package of diapers from the Target registry. (We didn't have a diaper raffle or anything.) Oh, I guess we did get another box of diapers. We registered for Pampers Swaddlers and a guest bought us a box of Huggies for the out of state shower. I obviously don't have a brand preference at this point because this is my first baby, but we ended up having MIL return those diapers and put the money into our account just because we would've had to check them to fly home.
Also, my mom and MIL are eager beavers and bought us stuff off our registry early, like the box of diapers I mentioned, baby monitor, cube unit and bins for it, and my mom at one point bought every remaining book on our registry (like 10 books or so). Lol.
ETA: Oh, and no one touched any of the breastfeeding supplies I put on our registry--big surprise there! lol.
DD - 12/28/17
TTC #2 3/2019
BFP 5/2019 || MC - D&C 5/2019
BFP 2/2020 || EDD 10/10/2020
We did get a ton of help from our registry, though, so I’m grateful for ANY help we can get. First time parents with twins means we need so much crap.
And I still need to get a bunch of baby first-aid stuff, a few reference books, and I really want to frame some of baby's nursery decor.
Ya I'm sure you could figure out a way to clip his crap to him too