How many things on your registry?

flufy82 · September 2013

Hi Ladies,

Probably most of us FTM's have started our registries by now...I've been M.I.A. the past week or so from here, trying to finish mine, all online. Holy CRAP is it NOT as fun as I thought it would be. I'm using MyRegistry.com which links to my Amazon, BuyBuyBaby and Babies r Us registries. It's cool because you can also add things from here and there and anywhere without having to actually register there at each place for each little thing (I want bath towels from pottery barn, and a nursing cover from Bebe Au Lait.com). It isn't perfect, but its nice having everything in one place, both for you, the mom, and for the guests. I counted everything on mine today, because I'm OCD like that.........I'm embarrased to even admit this...but there are 79 things on that effer...I'm not even done yet, AND I feel like I've "done a (semi) good job" of only going for things I NEED!

So here's my question...

For those of you FTM's who are done (or almost) with your registries, about how many items are on your registries, total?

Is 79 (lets be honest, it will be more like 90) just totally obnoxious?!!!

Jmattis · September 2013

I registered at BRU and finished at 50 items. We didn't register for anything for the nursery as we are in the process of trying to move and if we can't, we don't have the space yet. I'm sure that sounds about right when you add the nursery items as well.

ETA: I'm having a shower of only closest family and friends of about 30 guests. I'm sure that has something to do with it as well- If you're having multiple showers or a very large shower, than a lot of options is great for your guests.

[Deleted User] · September 2013

I also think it depends how many people are coming to the shower. If you have a large gathering or more than one shower, that's fine. Also, when I go to showers, I love a good selection on the registry, so I would be thanking you silently since I could chose from more items. No worries!

HappyDoc · September 2013

I started with around 170 items total between Target & BRU, and that number included EVERYTHING. DH and I then purchased all the large items (crib, dresser, mattress, carseat/stroller, high chair etc.), and there are now 152 items left. Some of these are small items (pacifiers, baby wash, wash clothes, single toys, wipes, etc.) and then there are some moderately priced items like the activity mat and changing pad.

peanutmuse · September 2013

I just started mine today and there are 9 items on it, lol.

Side note. A friend of mine recently used myregistry.com and I found it quite obnoxious to use. Some of the things you actually had to go in and mark off yourself as having purchased them, which I'm sure a lot of people forgot to do -- she had a lot of duplicates at her shower. I would find a couple things that together fit my price range, but then would realize that they were all from different places and I would have to do separate orders and pay separate shipping. Not sure what others' experiences with myregistry.com have been, but I hated every second of it as a shopper.

HappyDoc · September 2013

@peanutmuse

Same experience here. I briefly considered using it for my registry, but quickly changed my mind.

pinkyxboo · September 2013

At babies r us they recommended we put 200 items or as close to it as possible on the registry. Even if we don't get things we need, hubby and I can go back and buy the Items ourselves with a 10% off discount. I think we have like 160 items on there.

AnnikaD20 · September 2013

I finished up my registry last night (although I may tweak it and check to make sure things are still in stock as my shower approaches). I have 42 amazon items, 49 at target for 91 total right now. There are some big ticket items on there, but the majority of stuff is under $10. There are actually quite a few things under $5, so some people may buy more than one thing. I don't think I'm going to have a huge shower, but I'd like for people to have options, and DH and I can buy the rest.

peanutmuse · September 2013

Bookshelves said:

ETA: Can I just say I'm glad to see someone else is just getting started, too? I'm still staring at my laptop, trying to decide WHERE to register.

@Bookshelves -- I am completely clueless here. We picked a car seat, stroller, and diaper bag while we were in the store today. I wanted to make sure that my husband was ok with those things, but the rest of the stuff I'm just picking. It's taken me like 3 hours to pick 6 (now 7) other things. I have no idea what I'm doing so I have to research EVERYTHING along the way, haha.

HappyDoc · September 2013

For those of you just starting or feeling overwhelmed creating your registry, when I was making mine I did random searches of popular names on Target & BRU to search for registries, for ideas of what to register for. When it was first recommended for me to do this by a friend, I thought it was ridiculous, but it was actually really helpful!

peanutmuse · September 2013

BMReid said:

@peanutmuse - have you looked at any online lists? Lucieslist.com has a cheat sheet that I've found helpful.

Yeah, those types of sites are definitely helpful. But, for example, when selecting bottles -- every resource tells you basically that you won't know what will be best for your baby until you try them. So how do I decide what to register for? (This is just a rhetorical question, I don't need an answer.) Andplusalso there is a chance my baby will be lactose intolerant (both my husband and his father are/were). So I can't say whether I will be able to breastfeed or not. It's just daunting.

cpm1223 · September 2013

We have about 90 items on our registry (BRU) There are lots of small things on there too like pacifiers, creams/body lotions, breast pads, teethers etc. in addition to the "big ticket items." We bought our crib, changing table, bedding set, some hooded towels, some toys and clothes ourselves. We will most likely have about 40-50 people at the baby shower (huge families for both of us) so I think we have a good combo of lower priced stuff, middle range and higher priced (potential for group gifts) on the registry.

hopeful808 · September 2013

There are 83 items on my registry. When I registered at babies R us they said to have 3 to 5 items on your registry per person invited to your shower in a range of prices.

apickett925 · September 2013

I've got about 50 items on each BRU and Target registries so far. And then my Amazon registry has mostly the Etsy stuff I like and a few bigger items because their prices fluctuate so much on Amazon I figure if we catch a good deal we'll grab it. Plus our shower will be after Black Friday and I wanted to give people options because we know several people that are big Black Friday shoppers, both in store and online.

peanutmuse · September 2013

BMReid said:

@bookshelves I didn't find it overly pumpkin-y. The evaporated milk and pecans mellow it out. @peanutmuse I know exactly what you mean. I want to ebf, but I won't know if that's a viable option until January. I was in the bottle aisle for at least 30 min. I ended up registering for 2 different brands, just a couple of each.

I think that this is the approach that I'm going to take. I don't want anyone (myself or my friends/family) to spend a ton of money on things like bottles that I might not even use.

LaurenIone · September 2013

I have 78, I only registered at babies r us though

Dishylo · September 2013

peanutmuse said:

Bookshelves said:

ETA: Can I just say I'm glad to see someone else is just getting started, too? I'm still staring at my laptop, trying to decide WHERE to register.

@Bookshelves -- I am completely clueless here. We picked a car seat, stroller, and diaper bag while we were in the store today. I wanted to make sure that my husband was ok with those things, but the rest of the stuff I'm just picking. It's taken me like 3 hours to pick 6 (now 7) other things. I have no idea what I'm doing so I have to research EVERYTHING along the way, haha.

This is me too. I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed as there are so many choices for each type of item; bottles, bibs, pacifiers, toys etc. That is a LOT of research! I really just want a STM to tell me what I "need".

lmills730 · September 2013

I have 90 between my 2 registries. This is small and large items.

gracete · September 2013

103 items @ BRU!

Dishylo · September 2013

I've been trying to do this for over an hour now and I'm still looking at car seats, strollers and travel systems. Aye!!!

cpm1223 · September 2013

Not sure if this is helpful for others but for me, it was all about researching one item at a time.

I did use lucies list as a starting off point, but for each item there, I looked on two websites (amazon, bru) to see the reviews other people gave the item. This helped me make a decision faster than trying to figure out what I might like/dislike about the product. I also google everything to see if I can find any other info on stuff.

The babies r us registry checklist, in my opinion has WAY too many things listed, but it's a nice way to see what else you might want to register for if you're looking for ideas or if you think you're forgetting something.

I was also told to register for things for the whole first year of the babies life. So we have sippy cups, food bowls, toys that are 6M+ etc.

Edit: I'm a FTM so clearly I'm no expert but I wanted to share my experience with registering in case it could help someone else.

PocketofSunshine09 · September 2013

Dishylo said:

peanutmuse said:

Bookshelves said:

ETA: Can I just say I'm glad to see someone else is just getting started, too? I'm still staring at my laptop, trying to decide WHERE to register.

@Bookshelves -- I am completely clueless here. We picked a car seat, stroller, and diaper bag while we were in the store today. I wanted to make sure that my husband was ok with those things, but the rest of the stuff I'm just picking. It's taken me like 3 hours to pick 6 (now 7) other things. I have no idea what I'm doing so I have to research EVERYTHING along the way, haha.

This is me too. I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed as there are so many choices for each type of item; bottles, bibs, pacifiers, toys etc. That is a LOT of research! I really just want a STM to tell me what I "need".

As a STM here are the list of things we registered for that we really used:

Baby monitor
Bouncer
Pack n' play
Stroller/carseat
Bottles
Bottle Brush
Shampoos/creams
Grooming kit: nail clippers, brush
Burp clothes
Changing pad/cover
Boppy/cover
Hooded towels/wash clothes
Bathtub
Diaper pail
Swing

Things people bought us anyway that we used:
Nursing pads
Nipple cream
Diaper rash cream
Pacifiers
Clothes
Blankets/receiving blankets
Hats/mittens
Books
Toys
Diapers
Wipes
Swaddle blankets

Things we bought:
Carseat strap pads
Carrier (Ergo)
Crib, bedding, mattress
Clothes hamper
Pacifiers
Diaper pail refills
Carseat mirror
Carseat wet proof pad
Thermometer
Bumbo

hurricanekb · September 2013

Just a hair over 100 at BRU. Prices are a solid range.

kteeswei · September 2013

130 or so, registered for everything I need as a checklist of sorts.

ScarlettDahlia · September 2013

When I first walked into bru, i felt completely overwhelmed. So I asked my sister to come with me. Today, my sisters, mom and I went to bru and were there for almost 2 hours. We registered for just over 90 items. I realized at dinner that I forgot a few things, so tomorrow, I'm going to start another registry at target and probably put 50 or less items on that one.

ashleywiz · September 2013

Eek I have about 36-40 items total and I was thinking it was too much... Then again we will be moving before the babe is old enough to need a high chair/etc so we don't want to have too much to ship off island. It's so hard but I think we are finally settled on a stroller and car seat! Next up is figuring out what the munchkin will sleep in until we get to MN!

Dishylo · September 2013

@PocketofSunshine09 - thank you so much. That's really helpful!

km_md · September 2013

We started ours at BRU last weekend and they had a cute Disney giveaway contest thing if you registered for at least 35 items so that was our goal. We really struggled to find that many things! We don't need most of the big stuff. We already have a bassinet and pack and play and crib mattress. I also have some very generous family members (mom and grandma) who are taking care of some of the other big stuff. I still need to do some tweaking but I think it will still end up under 50 items.

chicki1012 · September 2013

pinkyxboo said:
At babies r us they recommended we put 200 items or as close to it as possible on the registry. Even if we don't get things we need, hubby and I can go back and buy the Items ourselves with a 10% off discount. I think we have like 160 items on there.

This, DH and I went to finish ours at babies R us and the lady suggested 200 items if u were to have have about 40 people at your shower. I started to laugh, I think 200 is a lot.
We ended up having about 55 items at babies R us and about 45 at Target.

SarahA918 · September 2013

I think I ended up with 83, but the lady asked how many people will be at my shower. We decided between my work shower and my home shower, probably 80 altogether. She said I need to have 400 things on my registry bc people like to buy four or five each. Yeah right!! Haha do they even have 400 items there? Crazy people.

bananas1112 · September 2013

i have about 130 items at BRU and 50-60 items at target. target is more of a supplemental for random things, cloth diapers and I have children's books on that one. my focus was BRU and it has everything from the crib and conversion rails down to pacifiers, nipple cream and breast pads, etc. not gonna lie, i spent days OBSESSING over them and I only started early because my shower will probably be by mid-Nov and my sister was pushing me to do it starting around 12 weeks.

COgirl29 · September 2013

I've heard similar things about myregistry.com as peanutmuse. You can do the same thing with amazon registry if you want to add a few items from random websites (I added sheets from etsy on my amazon one) but also registered at BRU if people wanted to go into a store.

gina0485 · September 2013

I have approximately 100 items between my 2 registries as a FTM. I am having two showers with a total of around 60-75 people (large families) and I am wondering/hoping that its enough. Many items are higher ticket (stroller, pack n play, carseat) so I bet people will pool together on those things.

peanutmuse · September 2013

SarahA918 said:

I think I ended up with 83, but the lady asked how many people will be at my shower. We decided between my work shower and my home shower, probably 80 altogether. She said I need to have 400 things on my registry bc people like to buy four or five each. Yeah right!! Haha do they even have 400 items there? Crazy people.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Yes, it's true -- people will buy multiple itesm... if they are buying only small items. But a lot of baby items are expensive and multiple people split the cost of one item. That lady was off her rocker. I would have seriously told her that she was being ridiculous and giving bad advice.

On another note, I am now up to 51 items on BBB and Amazon. Finally getting somewhere!

HappyDoc · September 2013

peanutmuse said:

SarahA918 said:

I think I ended up with 83, but the lady asked how many people will be at my shower. We decided between my work shower and my home shower, probably 80 altogether. She said I need to have 400 things on my registry bc people like to buy four or five each. Yeah right!! Haha do they even have 400 items there? Crazy people.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Yes, it's true -- people will buy multiple itesm... if they are buying only small items. But a lot of baby items are expensive and multiple people split the cost of one item. That lady was off her rocker. I would have seriously told her that she was being ridiculous and giving bad advice.

On another note, I am now up to 51 items on BBB and Amazon. Finally getting somewhere!

I initially thought this was ridiculous advice as well. I am expecting around 50 people at my shower, so was told 200 items was the ideal amount to register for. Around 90% of the items on my registry are below $20, and many are $5 and below, so I don't think 200 is excessive. I should also note that DH and I purchased all large items ourselves.

SarahA918 · September 2013

peanutmuse said:

SarahA918 said:

I think I ended up with 83, but the lady asked how many people will be at my shower. We decided between my work shower and my home shower, probably 80 altogether. She said I need to have 400 things on my registry bc people like to buy four or five each. Yeah right!! Haha do they even have 400 items there? Crazy people.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Yes, it's true -- people will buy multiple itesm... if they are buying only small items. But a lot of baby items are expensive and multiple people split the cost of one item. That lady was off her rocker. I would have seriously told her that she was being ridiculous and giving bad advice.

On another note, I am now up to 51 items on BBB and Amazon. Finally getting somewhere!

We laughed at her and told her we were done. I might add some smaller things like bowls and spoons for when the baby is older. I do have a lot of big ticket items and my mom wants me to have a bunch of smalle items "because people like to make baskets."

peanutmuse · September 2013

SarahA918 said:

SarahA918 said:

I think I ended up with 83, but the lady asked how many people will be at my shower. We decided between my work shower and my home shower, probably 80 altogether. She said I need to have 400 things on my registry bc people like to buy four or five each. Yeah right!! Haha do they even have 400 items there? Crazy people.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Yes, it's true -- people will buy multiple itesm... if they are buying only small items. But a lot of baby items are expensive and multiple people split the cost of one item. That lady was off her rocker. I would have seriously told her that she was being ridiculous and giving bad advice.

On another note, I am now up to 51 items on BBB and Amazon. Finally getting somewhere!
We laughed at her and told her we were done. I might add some smaller things like bowls and spoons for when the baby is older. I do have a lot of big ticket items and my mom wants me to have a bunch of smalle items "because people like to make baskets."

Well, to be fair -- I honestly don't think 83 is enough if you are expecting 80 people at your various showers, but 400 is excessive.

peanutmuse · September 2013

HappyDoc said:
I initially thought this was ridiculous advice as well. I am expecting around 50 people at my shower, so was told 200 items was the ideal amount to register for. Around 90% of the items on my registry are below $20, and many are $5 and below, so I don't think 200 is excessive. I should also note that DH and I purchased all large items ourselves.

Given this set of circumstances, I totally agree with you. I think there will be 50-60 people at my 2 showers (2 sides of the family), and I hope to have approximately 100ish items on my registry. But we do have some big ticket items -- so if there were none of those, I would aim to have at least 150.

But 400 items is excessive. No matter what the circumstances. You run the risk of getting the "crap" that you don't really need and not getting the essential items. If people need to come up with other small things to get, they'll supplement with clothes, diapers, etc.

Dishylo · September 2013

Agreed, 400 is excessive. If I went onto a friends registry and saw 400 items, I'd likely side eye them. That's practically everything in the store!!

Like Peanutmuse said, you run the risk of getting a lot of stuff you don't want and will probably never use.

slmille4 · September 2013

I am going registering today with my BFF who was a two year old so hoping for some insight.
In regards to myregistry.com. I used it for my wedding and found that very few people used it so am not doing it at all now. U can see total views and I think it was around 12 of the 160 guests invited.

Dishylo · September 2013

I'm going to Target today with a friend who has a 5 month old little girl. She's going to go through the must haves, the needs and then the wants with me. Then afterwards, I'm having coffee with a friend who has 3 kids under 6. She's offered me her crib and dresser/change table. They need some sanding but as DH is a carpenter, I'm sure he can probably make it look better than when it was bought. That's $1,000 saved!!!

Want a personalized experience?

How many things on your registry?

Re: How many things on your registry?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards