Those Who've Had a Shower Already

Keianna

Did people actually buy off your registry or did they give you random gifts? Also, if people bought from your registry, where did you register? TFS

EastCoastBride

Many people bought off my registry (BRU), but I also got a fair amount of gifts (clothes mainly) taht weren't on it.

Kdonn15

I had two showers and between the two got almost EVERYTHING off my registry.  Dh and I were so grateful (we had about 60 shower guests total).  That being said some people did get us random gifts but nothing that was anything we wouldn't use/need or could not return.

Kdonn15

Oh and we registered at Babies R Us

wnk1029

Most people bought off the registry.  Of course, I think part of it had to do with the fact that we didn't find out the gender, so we avoided getting a bunch of cute (but unnecessary) baby clothes.

We registered at Target & Babies R Us

tpandr08

I have had one shower already with like 12 people there and of the 105 things on our registry we got 9 things off our regisry, mostly smaller stuff like bottles and burp cloths.  We have another shower this weekend with 30+ people there so we'll see what we get!!  We only registered at Target, which we have not had any problems with yet..a lot of people complain about them but they have been fine so far!!

jessknell

I got ALL random gifts! My MIL insisted I register at both Target and BRU and she got us a travel system and crib mattress which I am totally grateful for but neither of them were the ones I registered for!

I literally only had one person buy anything off the registery but on the plus side our little boy won't need any clothes for the first year! LOL

All in all, we did get things we'll need but not what I registered for.

oohgrrl11

I had 2 showers with about 60 people and registered at Target and BRU. The Target registry is almost completed but not one item was purchased off BRU. Maybe it depends on where you live.

brandibug

Most people were good about buying off my registry.  I registered at Target and BRU, and more people bought from Target than BRU I would imagine because there are a lot more Targets in my area than BRU.   I also got gifts that I didn't register for.  I think I ended up with 4 or 5 handmade crocheted blankets, LOL.

honeybee111

We registered at BRU and Amazon.  Most of my shower guests purchased off the registry.  I had some people buy stuff off the registry, but it was things I would keep anyway like blankets, books, etc.  I didn't get too many clothes.

DNK777

It was about half and half.  I registered at Walmart and BRU.  Walmart was a big choice for out of town guests due to their low shipping rates.  I received a lot of blankets, toys, and clothes that were not on my registry.

mrs_sherod

I received some things from my registry and some random things.  I am registered at BRU and Target but most people purchased from the Target registry.

mermer82

We have had very few gifts purchased off of our registry yet which kind of bums me out. We haven't gotten anything that I will take back, but there is stuff we need that we haven't gotten.

ak1234

We got mostly stuff off of our registries.  We registered at Target and Buy Buy Baby.  Caveat:  we didn't tell anyone the gender, so we got maybe 2 outfits.

whitneyandbrook

Most people bought us random stuff. I think I got 3-4 things off of my BRU registry.

GeoffreytheGiraffe

Any chance we could reframe the question?  Now, I know what the OP means... Did buy buy off your registry or did they bring other gifts?

 

But the use of the word random shows that we are falling into the entitlement trap.   I don't think friends and family who spend time lovingly choosing a gift for the new baby do so "randomly.  

In short, there is nothing "random" about presents that we are given, rather they just happen to NOT be on the registry.

It's better to prepare mentally for that unexpected gift that we don't know is coming with graciousness, imho.

mcdermom

Just about everyone but a few bought something off my registry. I registered only at BRU.

sunrocklove

most people got gifts from the registry, we litterally have not bought one thing for our son and he is a month old. people also bought there own things. at some point it though it like, how many handmade quilts do we real;ly need? hahaha i think target is the best place to register because its afforadle, easily accesible and they have alot to choose from, babys r us is always good too.

Lola'sDogMom

Both- I got a lot of clothes and I didn't register for any. I did get the PNP, bouncing seat, and some blankets that I wanted. I still have 2 more showers to go so hope more people buy stuff I need.

MrsChowBella

We've had one of our two baby showers, and so far about half of the guests bought stuff on their own rather than going to either our Target or Babies R Us registries. That said, we're still grateful for what we received, which were mostly clothes (thankfully in LOTS of different sizes). So far, most of the people are going to Target instead of BRU, but we'll see with our next shower in a couple of weeks.

ella.mabel

I would say half bought off our registry.  We registered at BRU and Baby Depot. Of course, people who bought according to the registry included gift receipts, and people who bought random stuff did not include receipts so we're trying to figure out where everything is from. We also got a lot of handmade stuff. 

blondie315

For the most part, people bought off the registry.  There were a few that bought off of it and they were items that I had registered for but a different brand. 
I registered at Target and BRU.

FinallyMrsM

I had one of my showers already and most of the people did buy from the registry.  I registered at Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us.  The people who did not buy from the registry gave me clothes and baby toys and blankets. 

mayowife

25 gift giving guests at shower. 23 gave 1+ item from registry. 2 guests gave non-registry items.

10 gift givers who dropped of or mailed something, but didn't attend shower. 6 gave 1+ item from registry (or GC to BB/BRU). 4 gave non-registry items.

A total of 53 items purchased off registry (Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us) have been purchased so far.

We are very fortunate and extremely thankful!!!

(My information for thank you notes, etc is on a spreadsheet... which is why I know these numbers.)

kdiaisfly

GeoffreytheGiraffe:

Any chance we could reframe the question?  Now, I know what the OP means... Did buy buy off your registry or did they bring other gifts?

 

But the use of the word random shows that we are falling into the entitlement trap.   I don't think friends and family who spend time lovingly choosing a gift for the new baby do so "randomly.  

In short, there is nothing "random" about presents that we are given, rather they just happen to NOT be on the registry.

It's better to prepare mentally for that unexpected gift that we don't know is coming with graciousness, imho.

 

Ugh shut up. 

nickicl

Keianna:

Did people actually buy off your registry or did they give you random gifts? Also, if people bought from your registry, where did you register? TFS

I had two showers, one with family and one with friends.  I had originally set up two registries one with Amazon.com because I love the Universal Registry and one with BRU because they are basically the only big name baby store around here. 

I can't stand BRU because they are overpriced and they don't know how to manage their inventory, but that is where most people got most gifts.  The exceptions to this were diapers, clothes and family keepsakes.

nickicl

Keianna:

Did people actually buy off your registry or did they give you random gifts? Also, if people bought from your registry, where did you register? TFS

I think if you want to encourage people to use the registry make it easy for them by choosing a place with both website and physical location and make sure there are plenty of items to choose from in various price ranges and categories. 

I have seen some of my friends registries have only a few items and they were super practical such as bottles and breast pumps.  Um. . I'm not buying her a breast pump, forget it.  People enjoy giving gifts of clothes and other cute accessories, toys, blankets, books, etc. 

We went to the Baby Depot at Burlington to check off what we still need, mainly bottles.  I do want to get a basket or bassinet though in addition to this crib we have.

nickicl

GeoffreytheGiraffe:

Any chance we could reframe the question?  Now, I know what the OP means... Did buy buy off your registry or did they bring other gifts?

But the use of the word random shows that we are falling into the entitlement trap.   I don't think friends and family who spend time lovingly choosing a gift for the new baby do so "randomly.  

In short, there is nothing "random" about presents that we are given, rather they just happen to NOT be on the registry.

It's better to prepare mentally for that unexpected gift that we don't know is coming with graciousness, imho.

You are reading way too much into the OP question.  There are some people who feel entitled and that is a shame for them. 

There is also such a thing as a random gift - its one where a person feels obligated but really doesn't want to buy a gift and therefore they may wind up re-gifting or just grabbing something cheap and quick.  I don't mind this as I would rather enjoy the person's company than a gift but I wish they'd save their money if it is out of feelings of obligation and not something they specifically wanted to give us.

The nice thing about registries when they work correctly is that its not like Christmas where everyone in the family calls constantly to ask me what DH and I want and try to figure out how many people already bought this or that one thing. .

The commercialism of all special events does become too much where only the retail stores win.