Am I being high maintenance re: baby gear?

SuzyQq02 · September 2013

Please note: This is a total first world problem. You've been warned. ;-)

My style is, in general, pretty minimal. I'm big on clean lines and neutrals with lots of texture and bringing in bold colors through accessories. So all of the printed/busy baby gear isn't exactly working for me. I'm finding some stuff I like, but the strangest things (Boppy covers, for instance) seem to skew heavily towards the busy side. I feel like I'm being wicked picky.

Is it wishful thinking to hope that at least the big stuff that lives in our living room can still be in line with how our house looks now? Or do I embrace the alphabet/animal everything?

ahare2009 · September 2013

I have been doing the same thing, picking out things that will fit in with our decor. I keep telling myself we are not going to have all the baby stuff sitting around the living room. I'm sure it will happen though.

ETA: wording

PinkLillyLover · September 2013

I'm totally with ya. You're not crazy or high maintenance.

TessyMessy · September 2013

I say embrace it because it only will get worse when baby gets bigger and latches on to whatever the latest theme is... For DS it was and still is Disney Cars. Also people will likely buy things for the baby that may or may not be your taste. You can return the item(s) if the person will never be in your home. I made the mistake of returning a very tacky crib bedding set that my aunt got for DS.. of course when she came to visit she was very upset when she didn't see it.

mamacrunch · September 2013

Stophoney said:

I say embrace it because it only will get worse when baby gets bigger and latches on to whatever the latest theme is... For DS it was and still is Disney Cars. Also people will likely buy things for the baby that may or may not be your taste. You can return the item(s) if the person will never be in your home. I made the mistake of returning a very tacky crib bedding set that my aunt got for DS.. of course when she came to visit she was very upset when she didn't see it.

This!

Right now we are on Mouse. Mickey mouse everything.

SuzyQq02 · September 2013

Stophoney said:

I say embrace it because it only will get worse when baby gets bigger and latches on to whatever the latest theme is... For DS it was and still is Disney Cars. Also people will likely buy things for the baby that may or may not be your taste. You can return the item(s) if the person will never be in your home. I made the mistake of returning a very tacky crib bedding set that my aunt got for DS.. of course when she came to visit she was very upset when she didn't see it.

Good point on the returning things!

As for it getting worse, I totally know I'm going to end up with the giant plastic play kitchen living somewhere totally inconvenient and Dora/Cars/princess/Star Wars sheets soon enough... so I'd like to maintain some illusion of control while I still can before kiddo has opinions (which, if they're anything like me or their dad, will DEFINITELY have strong ones!).

TessyMessy · September 2013

mamacrunch said:

Stophoney said:

I say embrace it because it only will get worse when baby gets bigger and latches on to whatever the latest theme is... For DS it was and still is Disney Cars. Also people will likely buy things for the baby that may or may not be your taste. You can return the item(s) if the person will never be in your home. I made the mistake of returning a very tacky crib bedding set that my aunt got for DS.. of course when she came to visit she was very upset when she didn't see it.
This!

Right now we are on Mouse. Mickey mouse everything.

Then people buy your child EVERYTHING with that character on it! We have Disney Cars plates, cups, sheets, pillows, books, towels, underwear, pjs, shirts, poster, etc. None of which I purchased for DS.

ziggy903 · September 2013

embrace it. it's inevitable at some point.

cbear47 · September 2013

@SuzyQq02 can you tell me where I can find Star Wars sheets?!?!

SuzyQq02 · September 2013

cbear47 said:

@SuzyQq02 can you tell me where I can find Star Wars sheets?!?!

Pottery Barn Kids! I haven't seen crib bedding for SW, but I know they make twin bedding. I'm also sure you could find something on Etsy.

BzeetyD · September 2013

I agree with you and being very picky. I'm a designer/illustrator/creative by day so I'm pretty critical of a lot of stuff I see. It's all WAY too busy. My husband and I don't wear shirts with logos for stores or brands, generally. And, JMO, I'm not much into branding kids or their spaces in any way. There will be plenty of time for that as they develop their own tastes and likes. Gender neutral stuff is also sorely lacking.

Friends have offered their pack n plays and such but they're not our style. Too busy and at the same time trying to blend into adult living rooms with beiges and such. So strange.

We really like a lot of stuff from montessori based education/toys. They're very simple and usually made of wood, sometimes in beautiful colors that don't make you seize up.

Etsy is a great source for onesies and clothing that's not branded or busy. Amazon has a lot of products too (bouncers, p.n.plays and bassinets) that are solidly colored or simply designed and some of it can be found online, or in store at normal stores like b.uy bu.y baby and B. R. Us too.

ras26 · September 2013

We've avoided actual characters so far, but embrace the bold/bright/animal. We had a rainforest animal swing and it didn't "go" at all, but it was only there for a short time, and DD loved the animals/colors, so no complaints here. We chose neutral stuff when possible, but even "neutral" usually has some sort of print or color scheme.

halfthetree · September 2013

I am so with you. We avoid all trademarks (seriously a Cars themed boys room would drive me batty), and stick to single colours and nice patterns.
I like Aden & Anais blankets and receiving blankets, and am making my own crib quilt and avoiding all "sets".
I have a hard time finding baby clothes that aren't covered in things, but I find boutiques are easiest.

RondackHiker · September 2013

It's going to happen guys. You're bringing a new person into your home. A little person who likes contrast and bright colors and wants toys out and accessible, same as you want your toys (TV, phone, etc) out.

Try to find neutral things, fine. But that won't work forever. Within a few mints baby will be going nuts over bright toys. I get wanting things to coordinate and not wanting your living room to look like a toy store threw up, but this is your kid's house too. Let them have dangly toys on their bouncy seat.

Also, light colors mean stains show faster.

becausemom · September 2013

SuzyQq02 said:
Please note: This is a total first world problem. You've been warned. ;-)
My style is, in general, pretty minimal. I'm big on clean lines and neutrals with lots of texture and bringing in bold colors through accessories. So all of the printed/busy baby gear isn't exactly working for me. I'm finding some stuff I like, but the strangest things (Boppy covers, for instance) seem to skew heavily towards the busy side. I feel like I'm being wicked picky.
Is it wishful thinking to hope that at least the big stuff that lives in our living room can still be in line with how our house looks now? Or do I embrace the alphabet/animal everything?

Are you creative or handy with a sewing machine? For now you can make your own boppy covers or fitted sheets etc. Eventually, you'll have to embrace it bc there isn't enough time in the day to make everything you'll need.

BzeetyD · September 2013

RondackHiker said:

It's going to happen guys. You're bringing a new person into your home. A little person who likes contrast and bright colors and wants toys out and accessible, same as you want your toys (TV, phone, etc) out. Try to find neutral things, fine. But that won't work forever. Within a few mints baby will be going nuts over bright toys. I get wanting things to coordinate and not wanting your living room to look like a toy store threw up, but this is your kid's house too. Let them have dangly toys on their bouncy seat. Also, light colors mean stains show faster.

I don't want neutral things, I just don't want 10 million patterns competing for attention in one space. I'm very cool with bright and contrasting, just not ducks and rainbows and trucks and planes and bows and monkeys and fish and noah's ark and giraffes and everything.

SuzyQq02 · September 2013

BzeetyD said:

RondackHiker said:

It's going to happen guys. You're bringing a new person into your home. A little person who likes contrast and bright colors and wants toys out and accessible, same as you want your toys (TV, phone, etc) out. Try to find neutral things, fine. But that won't work forever. Within a few mints baby will be going nuts over bright toys. I get wanting things to coordinate and not wanting your living room to look like a toy store threw up, but this is your kid's house too. Let them have dangly toys on their bouncy seat. Also, light colors mean stains show faster.

I don't want neutral things, I just don't want 10 million patterns competing for attention in one space. I'm very cool with bright and contrasting, just not ducks and rainbows and trucks and planes and bows and monkeys and fish and noah's ark and giraffes and everything.

Yep. Anything that I can put away (and I know it isn't realistic that things will always be put away, and yes, my house will look like a toy store threw up some to most of the time), bring on the primary colors and crazy patterns. But it's the big stuff, like the PnP, swing, a Boppy cover (since I plan on keeping one in the LR and it's not exactly small!) that I don't want a thousand different prints/animals/designs coming at me. I feel the same way about baby bedding... I'm trolling Etsy for simple prints/solid colors since I don't like themed or branded things. There will be plenty of time for that later, but I'd prefer to wait til I have to. ;-)

slwprincess · September 2013

Nope, I'm the same way. My children LOVED the bright rainforest line from Fisher Price but I couldn't handle it on anything other than the bouncy chair that I could easily hide!

mingaling2 · September 2013

The best part about being Team Green the first time around was sticking with pretty minimal, neutral stuff (after searching high and low for it). So at least we have that stuff this time around, since my DD is PRINCESS ALL THE THINGS right now

Robinandbaby · September 2013

Agree with all of this. It's just one of those things that come with having kids and it will get worse as your child gets older and develops a preference for a certain theme.

I get wanting everything to be clean and streamlined, as that's my style as well. But those big gear items such as a PnP, swing, bouncer, etc. are only going to be used for a short time and then put away. For me, it's not a hill to die on and once DD was here, I could've cared less what the bouncer looked like as long as it soothed her colic.

This. All of this. Try to find what you like, but realize that most of that stuff (boppy, swing, pack and play,etc.) will only be used for the first year (some of it just for a few months) and that first year will go by like a freaking Mac truck. When it's all said and done, I promise you won't care what the prints do or don't look like. I would be pickier on stuff that will be used past the first year, ie bedding, high chair, diaper bag.

Robinandbaby · September 2013

Agree with all of this. It's just one of those things that come with having kids and it will get worse as your child gets older and develops a preference for a certain theme.

I get wanting everything to be clean and streamlined, as that's my style as well. But those big gear items such as a PnP, swing, bouncer, etc. are only going to be used for a short time and then put away. For me, it's not a hill to die on and once DD was here, I could've cared less what the bouncer looked like as long as it soothed her colic.

This. All of this. Try to find what you like, but realize that most of that stuff (boppy, swing, pack and play,etc.) will only be used for the first year (some of it just for a few months) and that first year will go by like a freaking Mac truck. When it's all said and done, I promise you won't care what the prints do or don't look like. I would be pickier on stuff that will be used past the first year, ie bedding, high chair, diaper bag.

Robinandbaby · September 2013

I don't know what happened with my formatting, I was trying to quote @darbie914, or why my response posted twice. Sorry! The internets are hard :-(

SuzyQq02 · September 2013

Thanks broccoli! I love the Melissa and Doug puzzles (I get them for my niece and nephews at Marshalls all the time), good to know they have lots of other options, too.

I can practically HEAR my sister rolling her eyes at me right now (she has 3 LOs and a ton of toys!) but we have very different ideas about stuff like this. ;-)

jburdet1 · September 2013

I can understand wanting neutral gear; I'm glad we went that route with DD. Her car seat and PNP are Chicco; they have very neutral patterns, so I was able to match my car seat to my car's interior.

We do have a pretty wild bouncer, but it was a gift and DD loved it from the first moment and was the only thing she would sleep in, so it stayed!

We got her bedding set from PBK kids, which is very subtle for girls, but the baby boy bedding always seems to have some type of animal, but they do have a couple solid/stripe sets now.

I always see very neutral clothing on Zulily.

I'm glad you understand that you won't be able to avoid the character/bright toys. I swore when my sister had children that my babies would only play with wooden toys. My tune changed pretty fast when I discovered how happy and occupied all the loud toys kept her! lol!

[Deleted User] · September 2013

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SuzyQq02 · September 2013

That's seriously beautiful, Lex... you did a great job! Hope! ;-)

Megazelda · September 2013

Last year everything my friend registered for was grey, white, and black. I thought it was gonna be really boring but it looks beautiful. Inevitably there will be color from other items, but for as much as possible I will be following suit. Playing it up with patterns can be really nice ie, stripes, chevrons, polka dots, etc. Just tell everyone that you want items to work for future kids too.

PS my other friend's house looks like Dr Seuss threw up... I'd really like to avoid that!

AshandThree · September 2013

Your taste and mine are similar. I'm reading from a phone, so I only skimmed other posts and may be repeating something... but basically, you can have alphabets and animals, or you can spend a lot of money on something that is more aesthetically appealing but may not have improved (or equal) function. There are brands like Bloom, Nuna, and some slightly more obscure scandivanian based lines/higher end manufacturers that make less obnoxious stuff, if you have the budget for it. Some things you can have custom covers made for on Etsy, like the Boppy and most car seats. When your LO gets to be a toddler, it becomes very difficult to not have a house full of tacky plastic toys....

https://www.diapers.com/p/bloom-coco-baby-lounger-plexistyle-transparent-coconut-white-81981

https://www.giggle.com/Nuna-Leaf-Curv-Bouncer-(Organic-Cotton-Insert)/LEA565D,default,pd.html?start=1&cgid=nuna-modern-baby-gear-high-chair-bouncer

AshandThree · September 2013

Forgot the pack'n'play.

https://www.giggle.com/on-the-go-gear/playmats-travel-beds/4moms-Breeze-Playard/MM454,default,pd.html?start=11&cgid=on-the-go-gear-playmats-travel-beds

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