Hi everyone! My name is Kevin, I'm almost 31 years old, and I am a new user on the boards. My wife of 3 1/2 years is 9 weeks pregnant with out first child.
Over the weekend, on a whim, we decided to take a trip to the local Buy Buy Baby store. No real point for going there because we're so early into the pregnancy, I guess I was just curious to see what types of baby-related items were available. Wow, simply overwhelming. We walked around that store just laughing at the sheer amount of merchandise for sale. Not just strollers and bottles, but items like toilet lid clamps to prevent your child from opening the toilet? Obviously I'm a complete novice to all of this but I'm a little nervous about the inevitable creation of our baby registry.
I guess my question would be, when the time comes, what store would you guys recommend? Buy Buy Baby seems like Bed Bath and Beyond and I don't want to end up registering for items we will never use.
Re: My First Trip to Buy Buy Baby...yikes
We had a similar experience when we went to Babies R Us. The registry we created there still exists, but we aren't broadcasting it. We had a much better experience at Target. That is the registry we are telling people about.
It doesn't hurt to at least start a registry everywhere. Most places give you some free stuff or some good coupons.
Buy, Buy Baby is actually owned by Bed Bath and Beyond, hence your correlation. The stores have the same layout everything... good news is you can use Bed Bath coupons and gift cards there, so if you have any of those laying around, you can do that.
We registered at Target and Babies R Us. We also registered at Buy Buy Baby, mostly for the free bag of stuff, no one had access to our registry there... we also used it for a couple of unique items and the completion coupon.
As far as what to register for, simply think to yourself... is this really necessary and how much do you really think you'll use it? There are essentials, diapers, crib, clothes and there are "extras" like wipe warmers (which some really like), portable bottle warmers (a cup of hot water does about the same job) and so much more.
FYI- A toilet lid clamp could come in handy if you have a toddler with access to the bathrooms, so things like remotes and toys don't wind up in the toilet... but for a baby, not so much.
I cannot stand buy buy baby!!
We registered at Target and Babies r Us. Got the crib, strollers, breast pump and monitors from babies r us. We will get the second car seat from there as well. Got a majority of the little stuff at Target.
We get all of our diapers and formula at Sams.
Amazon, Target and Babys R Us are our go tos, along with our local consignment store.
Most of the childproofing stuff isn't really necessary until the baby is crawling and pulling themself up. Those little plugs that go in electrical outlets are like 99 cents for a dozen.
Get as much second hand as you possibly can.
Luckily most people don't buy griddles for baby showers!
You will get too many baby clothes. You will also probably get too many toys. If it's possible, try to exchange some of the NB clothes for some 0-3M or even 3-6M stuff or other necessities. Clothes are easier to exchange as no one judges you for selling or donating them after the kid outgrows them, but toys are a bit tougher to get rid of quietly.
On that note, don't register for any clothes at all if you can avoid it.
You guys will want to register at babies r us too. I recall my wife and I getting a bunch of bonus coupons coming out of the baby shower that translated into free stuff or huge percentages off of items. She used those deals for the first three months after our boy was born. Things like diapers, paci's, bibs, etc....
This is exactly why I brought this up. I never knew such offers existed if you simply register at a store like Baby's R Us. That will be very helpful when the time comes. Thank you!