Choosing what to register for where?

Caitie81490 · June 2016

Hi ladies, I'm trying to decide what to choose at which store. For example, when we got married we registered at Target and Macy's. At Macy's we registered for our china, everyday dishes, kitchen tools/gadgets, cook ware, serving ware, and high quality bedding items like duvet, mattress pads, and luggage. At Target we registered for bathroom items (towels, shower curtains, baskets, tumbler, toothbrush holders, etc.), table linens, kitchen linens, curtains, home decor items, vacuum, etc. We are planning on registering at Target and Babies R Us. So far we're thinking possibly crib, rocker, nursery decor, layette basics, some care items, some toys, blankets, diaper bag, and possibly bedding from Target. Then we would register for the swing, Pack'N'Play, play yards, other toys, bedding set, stroller, carseat, some clothing, some care items, bottles, and bathtub at Babies R Us. What have you ladies decided to register for at each store you registered at?

katesmama0706 · June 2016

We registered at Babies R Us last time because we got rewards points with translated into dollars when people bought off our registry. But I found that people struggled to stick to it. But my sister in law registered at Amazon and had awesome luck getting items off her registry. It can't hurt to register at a bunch of places too because most will send you coupons and goody baskets just for registering.

Caitie81490 · June 2016

That's what I love about Babies R Us! I loved our Macy's registry when we got married. I wish they had a better baby selection! We have a small Amazon registry but I'm not sure how many people will order from that. We had good luck with Target when we got married and Target and Babies R Us are the big hitters in our area for baby showers. I like the perks of each of those. I just hate duplicating items at the two stores, especially since people don't always look at both before they shop and I don't want a bunch of duplicate items I don't need.

ashanne88 · June 2016

I really like Amazon for baby registries. We did Babies R Us and Amazon last time. I agree with PP, it doesn't hurt to register at multiple places. You will find that people will also go off registry too so bear that in mind when registering. Remember to take advantage of registry close-out discounts!

emilyn2012 · June 2016

We did babies r us and target for my first. The nice thing was that target was typically cheaper for things like the baby monitor, and even bottles, but you just can't get the same selection, esp in store, for target. I'd be somewhat cautious of starting your registry too far out. For some reason we did ours at 17 weeks with my first and a lot of things just stopped being sold or would gray out on my registry as out of stock... I personally don't like Amazon registries bc they're hard to use. But also full disclaimer. Before my showed I would monitor my registries and if someone bought something that I listed on both I'd take it off. I am sure that's tacky but for some things I really wanted them so I figured if I had it listed on both registries I'd be more likely to get it.

Emma61210 · June 2016

I stumbled upon Babyli.st (that's the actual web address) and I am in love!!! They have an app or you can use your desktop. You can literally register from any website (even Etsy!!) and everything is in one place!

ElleMF728 · June 2016

emilyn2012 said:

We did babies r us and target for my first. The nice thing was that target was typically cheaper for things like the baby monitor, and even bottles, but you just can't get the same selection, esp in store, for target. I'd be somewhat cautious of starting your registry too far out. For some reason we did ours at 17 weeks with my first and a lot of things just stopped being sold or would gray out on my registry as out of stock... I personally don't like Amazon registries bc they're hard to use. But also full disclaimer. Before my showed I would monitor my registries and if someone bought something that I listed on both I'd take it off. I am sure that's tacky but for some things I really wanted them so I figured if I had it listed on both registries I'd be more likely to get it.

I did this too but a little different. As people started buying things I would add more on in that price range. I wanted to make sure that there was a variety to choose from in different ranges. I know that when I shop for a shower I usually go into it with an idea of what I want to spend in total and go from there. It can be frustrating when you go to buy and the only things remaining are either $3.99 or $300.00.

Target is great for returns so if you aren't sure about something put it on your Target registry. I did all of my baby care things there (soaps, shampoos, medicine, thermometer etc.) As far as the rest if I could get the same thing at Target for the same or in most cases cheaper I went off of that. In some instances things just weren't available there and had to be purchased from a baby store.

KarliQ88 · June 2016

Our wedding i did target and amazon. I found amazon was great for people who couldn't make it. We would still get gifts from them and had it delivered to my mom's house. Then we had lots of moving boxes! Oh how i love amazon. Lots of people used target still.

asnowsurfer · June 2016

@Emma61210 I also came across babyli.st and have loved putting together a registry there! It's awesome that you can add stuff from Etsy or Target or Amazon or whatever. This is my first so I'm not sure how much gift-purchasers will love it just because I haven't put it into action yet, but I've really found putting the registry together enjoyable and easy. Also, super awesome that they send you price alerts when the items change in price.

sagoon · June 2016

Last time we did Babie R Us, Buy Buy Baby, and Amazon. The Amazon registry was more a personal list but we did share it with people that asked for it. Most people preferred going to a brick and mortar store to buy. We only had a couple duplicate items on the registries and we made sure to delete the extra if someone bought one of the items. The only big duplicate items we ended up with were two Boppy pillows, one of which was not on our registry at all. We ended up giving one to my cousin when she got pregnant. This time around I just have a secret Amazon registry since I'm not expecting a shower/gifts etc.

afayville · June 2016

I had no idea what to register for as this is our first, but Amazon does a nice job of breaking down categories for you and all you have to do is click on that category and the list of possibilities appears. I needed something like this versus just blindly searching and having to think of different things!

ThePax89 · June 2016

Register everywhere. Free swag bags.

Knottie1443924966 · June 2016

ThePax89 said:

Register everywhere. Free swag bags.

Give some examples

katesmama0706 · June 2016

@Knottie1443924966 literally almost everywhere. Bottles, sample size lotions and soaps and diaper creams, diapers, coupons. The only one I've never heard about is one from Amazon but they may. All your box box stores: target, BRU, BBB, Walmart

azwildcat62 · June 2016

Do you have to go into the store to register in order to get the swag bags? Can you literally just register for 5 things and then later delete them? Wouldn't they catch on to what you're doing?

stumptownmama · June 2016

I registered at target, babies r us and Amazon. I can't stand going to babies r us but they had the crib we wanted and some people love shopping there. It was a small registry of 10-15 things. Target was my biggest registry. And I like Amazon because you could find things the other stores didn't have. And you get usually 15% off whatever remains on your registry. When you do your last big shop after all your showers, be sure to add everything you get to your registry so you can take advantage of the discount.

I also registered at kohls but didn't tell friends and family. They had some sort of promo that if you opened a registry you got a $30 gift card.

ChaoticWolf · June 2016

I registered at Buy Buy Baby and I have a babyli.st as well for the "cool or unique things I find on the internet". I tried the small Babies R Us but I didn't like it (it was combined with the Toys R Us). I might register at Target for the additional clothes and extraneous/miscellaneous things after we see the sex because nearly everyone has a Target near them.
Edit: Also Buy Buy Baby did a swag bag but Babies R Us didn't.

Lecool · June 2016

This might have been answered elsewhere, but when is a good time to start registering?

MandiB07 · June 2016

When I was pregnant with my daughter, most people went to Target instead of Babies R Us. We have a lot of Targets in my city and only one Babies R Us, so I think that is why more people shopped off that registry. If you have a lot of twenty-thirty somethings coming to your shower, I would also suggest Amazon. I love doing my shopping online!

ThePax89 · June 2016

Target, babies r us, and buy buy baby have the best bags.

stumptownmama · June 2016

I never got any swag bags with my registries! Do you have to register in store to get them?

MrsRahl · June 2016

I did myregistry.com so I could add whatever I wanted from any store in the world. I wanted a lot of cloth diaper stuff so it was easier that way to be able to have people buy online from cotton babies, etc.

cjs260 · June 2016

@MrsRahl Do those types of registries offer a completion discount?

mommywesley · June 2016

We did Walmart and Target with our first. This is #5 so won't be doing a registry and just letting people know diapers are much appreciated but no gifts necessary!

With #4 we got loads of diapers and I have a few 1s in my closet still. Also, I'm thinking of just asking my mom to just do like a meal train for us instead of a shower. There is no bigger blessing/help than to not have to cook that first week or so!

ChaoticWolf · June 2016

@lecool I've hear sometime in your second trimester is the norm, but as a loss mom I did mine way early so I could celebrate being pregnant now, even if I wouldn't be later. Nobody was surpised at the stores, I think a lot of FTMs just do it early because we're so excited. Do it whenever you want to.

Also, yes I think you do have to do your registry in the store for the swag bags.

ashanne88 · June 2016

@Lecool Honestly, any time is fine. I personally think earlier is better so you have more time to add and delete items before your shower(s). Just keep an eye on it to make sure that items are still available/in stock.

MrsRahl · June 2016

cjs260 said:

@MrsRahl Do those types of registries offer a completion discount?

No, but all the places I registered things for didn't offer that anyway. You can still add things that didn't get bought into another registry with a completion discount and buy whatever remaining you need.

mommywesley · June 2016

@MrsRahl I LOVE your name! And now want to go read Wizards First Rule! Lol

ThePax89 · June 2016

Yep @underthesea. If you register online, you can pickup in store.

ElleMF728 · June 2016

Has anyone gotten the amazon baby registry welcome box or has anyone gotten it in the past? What kind of things were in it? I'm thinking about registering through amazon and just using it so we can buy whatever extra things we may need for this baby since we have a prime membership. I'm wondering if the box and discounts are worth it or if we should go somewhere else for the 20% at the end.

emilyn2012 · June 2016

I've never heard of the Amazon box thing.... Tell me more @ElleMF728

Caitie81490 · June 2016

I put together an Amazon registry when I first found out I was pregnant because I wanted to get the Baby Box. The only catch is you have to put together a "completed registry" (they give you a check list to complete) and order $10 off of it so I just ordered a $10 box of Pampers wipes. A few days after the wipes were shipped, the box was shipped! It came with: a Mam newborn pacifier, sample box of 2 Huggies Little Snugglers diapers, Advent Breast Pad samples, an Advent Natural Bottle, a Kind snack bar, a 32 pack of Huggies wipes, small bottle of Johnson's Bedtime Baby Lotion, a sample of Aquaphor Healing Ointment, a sample of Burt's Bees Renewal serum, and a sample of Babyganics detergent with coupon.

I would say it was definitely worth the time to create a registry and the $10 wipes order!

Caitie81490 · June 2016

When you go in to the store to add to the registry and it's your first time coming in to work on it, they usually give you a bag. We got a bag at Target and Babies R Us. We're thinking about taking a day trip up to Grand Rapids to go to Buy Buy Baby because we've heard good things about their gift bag! The Babies R Us bag wasn't too exciting but it did have some nice coupons and a registry checklist/advice booklet. The Target bag was good. A Munchkin Latch Stage 1 bottle, a Mam newborn pacifier, some Honest Diaper and wipes, a Pampers diaper clutch with a diaper and wipes, a few smaller samples, and coupons. It came in a super cute gray chevron re-useable bag too!

Caitie81490 · June 2016

We've started playing with some gender neutral things we definitely want with our registries at Target and Babies R Us. They're the big hitters in our town. I have a small Amazon registry to take advantage of their completion discount closer to Baby's due date. We're going to put together a small one at Buy Buy Baby too just to have some more options to look at. I think we're only going to tell people about the Target and Babies R Us registries though.

Caitie81490 · June 2016

While I'm thinking about it, is it tacky to register for specific children's books or movies? There are some Disney movies we would love for our baby to have and some books we read as children we would love to read with Baby. My only concern is that the person throwing my shower may do the "book instead of a card" idea and I don't want to seem too pushy by telling what books I want. However, on the other hand, I would think registering for the books I want would help out those shopping and not knowing what books to buy.... thoughts?

emilyn2012 · June 2016

So I don't think it's tacky to register for books but I must confess I hate the book for card baby showers. I don't want to get like a dollar store book, but nice quality books are normally 8-20 dollars and unless you're family or a very good friend I typically don't spend more than 30 on a shower gift so the book starts to eat into the actual gift

MrsRahl · July 2016

mommywesley said:

@MrsRahl I LOVE your name! And now want to go read Wizards First Rule! Lol

Hahaha it's not my real name

my husbands gamer name is The Lord Rahl , so there you have it! We are also fans obviously hahaha!

mommywesley · July 2016

MrsRahl said:

mommywesley said:

@MrsRahl I LOVE your name! And now want to go read Wizards First Rule! Lol

Hahaha it's not my real name my husbands gamer name is The Lord Rahl , so there you have it! We are also fans obviously hahaha!

Very nice! My husband and I are also gamers, though with 4 kids my game time has become very limited!

BriannaE129129 · July 2016

I'm also obsessed with Babylist, I think that it's a great concept certain items such as my stroller aren't at most baby sites, so I can register for it there, as well as other things. I plan on doing a Babylist registry and then registering for other items at Babies R Us since there is one close to us so that people who prefer a traditional registry can go in and shop in person. Best of both worlds! Never want to stress out those buying gifts for you so that's my plan.

emilyn2012 · July 2016

Omg! I had to dig this up! I'm trying to complete the Amazon registry bc I want the free box! Some of the stuff they make you register for is dumb, also why is it so hard when you don't know the gender. Also Amazon is so much harder than wandering around a store....

afwifey2014 · July 2016

We had our first registry with Amazon, since we don't have any Baby R'Us close to us. We loved being able to get everything we wanted, the only issue was when we had to return one thing. Although we chose the items through Amazon, our family bought it through a 3rd party. It was going to cost more to ship the item back than keep it. I ended up re-gifting it.

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