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jaynebee
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Moving Overseas - When to buy baby stuff? (long, sorry!)
jaynebee
member
My husband and I are moving to Stuttgart and I will be 20 weeks pregnant with twins. I've done a bit of research and it talks about cost difference, few big baby stores, etc.
I guess my question is, should I have car seats and other big ticket items shipped from the states or wait? I guess one of my biggest problems is, I've had a 3rd trimester loss so I can't get it out of my mind, what if something happens, which is something I probably have to deal with on my own. I do have a few items from that pregnancy, but I also returned a lot since I didn't know if we'd have future children. I also am not afraid of using used items (minus the car seats).
But if that didn't weigh in your decision, what would you do?
Thank you!
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Re: Moving Overseas - When to buy baby stuff? (long, sorry!)
Hi!
If I were still in the States (am in Bamberg atm) I would definitely buy stuff over there to bring over.
The stuff here is really pricey. Good quality I'm sure, but more than I expected nonetheless, and ordering stuff online can take a long time (when they ship to APOs). The Exchanges... well, I never really have great experiences with them, so my vote is definitely to find stuff you like there, and bring it over with you.
There are bookoo / used sites I'm sure Stuttgart has one as well, so if you might be interested in getting stuff used, you could also check that out and see what they have.
I would get some stuff in the US, but don't worry too much about having everything. Amazon ships to APOs and their stuff usually arrives pretty quickly.
Are you planning on taking your car(s) or buying a car in Germany? If you plan on getting a at in Gernmany I would also buy a carseat there. American car seats are HUGE compared to European cars.
Sorry to throw in one more thing to research. As someone mentioned car seats are often different sized in Europe, but they also have different safety standards, so check and see if you would need to get a European one to meet standards there or here in the US. The standards even vary from Canada and the US!
Good luck. And remember that IKEA has lots of cute baby furniture.
The baby stores are a lot more expensive. There are a few sites that will ship big ticket items, but it can be hit or miss. I would get the big items (crib, stroller, and car seat) in the States, and other things can be ordered online or bought at the Exchange. Plus bookoo it great too.
Also, I bought a convertible car seat at the Px and it fits fine in DH's European spec BMW.
I was about 19 wks pg with our first when we PCS'd to Japan. My friends and family wanted to give us a shower so we did it before we left and had the stuff shipped with all our household goods. So we had a car seat and swing and stroller and stuff like that. We had a changing table, but not a crib. I had a really hard time finding a crib in Japan- all the sizes are different and weird and they still allow drop side cribs. I bought one from another family that was PCSing back stateside. I also ended up buying another stroller as the one we bought stateside was too big to fit thru the Japanese train terminals. I'd say overall it's easier to bring stuff with you then to try to find it there, but the BX does sell baby items, as well as Amazon, etc. especially if you are paranoid to buy too much now (which I understand).
I would wait to buy most stuff. There are plenty of stores with a large selection where we live (about 2 hours from Stuttgart) plus an IKea. We were living in Alaska when DS1 was born and I made a big to do about getting everything ready for baby and having everything I could not find shipped from the lower 48.
Looking back, it was really unnecessary. Babies do not need much and what you do need you will be able to find. Prices really are not different, even cheaper on the economy. Just remember to use a VAT form when shopping which allows you to not pay the 19% tax. The tax is already included in the prices you see at the stores, maybe a reason why everyone thinks everything is more expensive.