1st pregnancy...what to buy before shower?

MistyandJr

This is our first child and my sisters are having a shower for me and so is one of my friends.  Im due July 3rd and my showers are May7th and June 5th...I feel like if I wait to see what I get for my last shower (before buying anything), it might be too late!  I just want some other opinions on what to buy and what not to buy as far as big stuff goes...I will not be buying clothes because I know I will get a ton!

 

 

HappyKlamb10

We decided to buy the nursery furniture beforehand.  Those are big-ticket items and we really wanted to make sure we had them set up well before the due date.  My last shower is when I am 36 weeks along, so if we hadn't bought the crib by then and no one got it for the shower, we would have been running the risk of not having it in time.  So we did the crib, dresser, and glider on our own.

We weren't intending to buy anything else before the showers, but our bedding just got discontinued, so we ended up getting that as well--otherwise we would have waited.  I also bought a few BumGenius cloth diapers today, because they're 15% off and I doubt people are going to buy off our cloth diaper registry as much as they will from our BRU or Target ones.

hepcats

Funny thing is that I've heard/read that the nursery stuff isn't as important to set up right away since often times baby isn't going right into the nursery. Up to you though. But I would say definitely a car seat since the hospital won't let you leave with the kid without one.

emmyloustu

I ordered my nursery furniture because it took 20 weeks to come in. Other than that, we waited until both the showers were over before we purchased anything else. We needed very little after the generosity of family and friends and because we got so many gift cards and had some exchanges, I don't think we spent much out of pocket at all. I would wait!

CocoBrynne

For the bigger items we have purchased our crib, mattress, mattress pad, dresser/changer, and highchair.  My mom is getting us the pack n play so that's crossed off our list too.  In addition we are ordering our bedding bc we are getting it from landofnod.com and I don't want to rely on relatives to purchase it.  Besides that stuff we have also bought assorted smaller items such towels, washcloths, etc.

kimwinn

This is also my first pregnancy. We've bought the crib/dresser/chaning table and the crib bedding. My shower is the last weekend of June and I'm not due until the middle of August. We planned the shower earlier so I would have time to purchase things that I may not receive as a gift at the shower. I say get what you want, but if you purchase something off of your registry, make sure you remove it so someone else doesn't purchase it for you.

islandgirl79

I wouldn't buy much.  You still have a month from your last shower to your DD so that will give you plenty of time to shop for the things you didn't get. 

Nursery furniture is the one exception I think.

MrsM1113

I think it depends on what the typical shower gifts are within your group of friends/family.  If no one ever buys anyone big ticket items (like a swing or travel set), then I would either buy before, or use my completion coupon after.

If no one has mentioned buying you nursery furniture, then I doubt you will receive any as a gift.  Go ahead and purchase that... when you're nesting, you will appreciate having it all ready.  I would also purchase anything you will need if the baby were to come early (i.e.- a pack of diapers, some onesies, and a carseat).

Whatever you do keep receipts for what you buy, because a lot of people don't give gift receipts with the gifts (in case you get what you've already puchased).

LaRue86

It really depends as to what people typically buy for showers. My first shower is in 3 weeks and the other is in 5. I do not expect anyone to purchase any of our big ticket items, including family. They may surprise us, but I would rather purchase myself. We purchased our travel system, nursery furniture (crib, dresser, glider, mattress), pack 'n play. We did register for a swing, 2nd car seat base,convertible car seat, jumperoo, and highchair. This items are "big" enough, but none of them are critical needs. I do have a few friends that may go in together, but if not, those expenses can be spread out over the first year.

You need to go with what you are comfortable with.  

 

CCinLove

We bought the nursery furniture, and the gear that we were comfortable buying used.

ashg8r

Well before the showers with our first our parents asked us/told us what they'd get us.  My parents got us the glider and PNP, and his got us the crib (which we didn't pick out until I was 37 weeks and didn't get until DD was 3 weeks old, but she didn't sleep in it until she was 5ish months anyway.  We were given a used dresser/changer from DH's boss.  Those were all the "big ticket" items we were given.  We bought the car seat and stroller before the showers, and waited until after the showers to buy bedding, swing, and anything else not bought off registry.  We waited to get a Jumperoo until DD was 3 months and bought one that looked brand new for $45 on CL. 

ohdrama09

We got the nursery furniture, crib mattress, and bedding set we wanted.  I have some of the 'lotions and potions' like wash and diaper cream as well.  I have some diapers and wipes too.

I'm a Kohl's addict so when there's a good clearance, of course I can't resist buying a few outfits. =]

We're waiting on everything else until after the shower.   

HeidiP14

I would say the crib and if you need o get a changing table/ dresser. Other than that I would just wait for the other big stuff and register for it. Of course if you see cute outfits etc. I would buy those but thats just me. BTW you have a good due date thats my anniversary.

AKBrideinMD

We didn't need any bedroom furniture because my parents gave us my little sister's old furniture (checked for recall, of course...). We need soooo much, so if I spot a good sale I will buy something and there's still plenty on our registry. We're team green so I've purchased some gender neutral onesies, a halo sleepsack from babysteals.com, an Ergo carrier from babysteals.com, and recently a swing because Amazon is having a sale. Then I've purchased some breastfeeding things for myself like hands-free nursing bras when they go on sale, stuff that I wouldn't put on my registry. I'll probably buy the car seat and bedding seat as well...Then there's lots of smaller items on my registry and our stroller and PNP if anyone wants to go in together, but I'm not getting my hopes up on that one.

Kuraks10

We just moved out here & know noone so we won't be having a baby shower so we're starting to slowly buy things ourselves.

I know lots of presents will be shipped anyway but we're going to take care of the "big" items first. We're starting the nursery in May so main furniture is first then car seat/stroller/high chair/etc. 

Then we'll leave the small items on our registry in case people want to ship us presents anyway.

I say go ahead and buy what you would feel comfy having ready first. 

klv

We already have the big items - crib, rocking chair, dresser, carseat and stroller.  I bought a handful of clothes but most are 3-6m or 6-9m. 

My shower is in a month.  I am not going to buy any newborn, 0/3M clothes, blankets ect until after the shower (if I even need to at all).

WhitePicketFence

I honestly didn't buy anything before my shower except for the nursery furniture. Then again, my shower was around 30 weeks and DD was born a week late so I had plenty of time to purchase anything that I didn't receive as a gift. We were lucky that we got so many items off our registry and many, many gift cards that we had very little to actually purchase ourselves.

Flyer256

In the teacher's lounge today I overheard a conversation about how people thought it was tacky to put breast pumps and things such as breast pads and nipple cream on a registry.  Maybe tacky is not the word, but there was definitely a sentiment that people would rather buy other things and think gift cards should be used for more intimate needs.  I quietly took notes since I haven't let anyone at work know yet!