So as a member of one the pregnant lady forums, I get daily updates from the site as to what I can expect each week, what I should be eating, what I should be doing and not doing, etc. One of the tips this week was registering. This tip was backed up by long conversations on the forum board about when is a good time to register and what are good items to register for. Most women agreed a good time is around the 20 week or half way mark. Since i am almost 20 weeks I thought I should get cracking.
So this past Sunday, I sat down at my computer and naturally, I went to the one place I knew a person could register and that is Babies R Us. So I created my registry name but when I got down to selecting items I was immediately confused and bewildered. Basically, I had no idea what-so-ever which items were the best to select. I immedately found that creating a baby registry is a lot harder (not to mention more stressful) than creating a wedding registry. The difference is I know what I wanted in my kitchen and bedroom but I have no idea what belongs in a nursery or a diaper bag.
Luckily, the site had an option where they suggest items that most moms pick. So I started with that. The one thing I had read on the forum is that there is a lot of crap that parents just don't need. So I pulled hubby into my project and had him researching stuff like car seats and strollers and stuff. But those items are the easy items. Then you get to stuff like thermometers and grooming kits and safety kits and jumpy bouncy things and receiving blankets and burping blankets, bottles that do this, bottles that do that, toys, more blankets, sheets, cribs, closet stuff, bath time stuff, pooping stuff, you name it and there was a category and tons of stuff to accompany that category.
So after a little while I tell hubby we should just go to the store and check out what this stuff is. I am super happy now that I went and visited my brother's baby for a week after he was born because I recognized some of the items my brother and sister in law had.
We spent a good 2 hours in the store with our little registry gun, zapping this, zapping that. Hubby and I differed on what we think we need. I think he was coming at it as the stuff we immediately need and I was thinking about all the various months and first few years. We both agreed though that registering for potty training stuff was just gross.
My view point was you can't just get a sippy cup (or insert any baby item) for a new born, you have to get a sippy cup for the 3-6 group, the 6-9 group, the 9-12 group and the 12-18 month group. The groups go on and on!! It's all very confusing these month things. I get it but in getting it you need to be good at quick math in your head. Especially when it comes to clothes. Like my baby will be 6 months old in the summer so it makes no sense to get winter clothes at 6 months.
The same kind of logic applies to nursery furniture. I don't want to make the room totally baby. I want a room where my kid can grow for the next few years. If you constantly change items out for the various age groups a parent could go broke.
Our first trip to Babies R Us was a good learning experience. We made a registry but I wouldn't call it finalized, more like a starting point because after taking hours to select the right baby bottle my brother called me and said oh you should get the kind where you drop the bags in. ARRRGGGH! Now I have to research those! Then when we were at the store the kind registry lady came up and asked if we had questions so we asked her about car seats. We had registered for a car seat and a stroller separately but she goes on to tell us that most parents buy the traveling combo thing (I forget what she called it) and that thing has the stroller and the car seat all in one box. Eie Yie Yie!
So after a long visit at Babies R US we go to Target and you know what? All their stuff is pretty much cheaper than Babies R Us! Arrgh! Saving Target registry for another day because I couldn't bare to go through all their products. Then my girlfriend reminded me of Amazon.com's registry so now I have to look at that. Between the three registries I am sure the baby will be properly clothed, bathed and burped but alas, I feel like I need to do even more indepth research before finalizing. My brother called again and said "don't register for Johnson and Johnson products because they made his son itch." They liked Aveno products better. Oh dear is all I can say.
Being a parent is no easy task!
So this past Sunday, I sat down at my computer and naturally, I went to the one place I knew a person could register and that is Babies R Us. So I created my registry name but when I got down to selecting items I was immediately confused and bewildered. Basically, I had no idea what-so-ever which items were the best to select. I immedately found that creating a baby registry is a lot harder (not to mention more stressful) than creating a wedding registry. The difference is I know what I wanted in my kitchen and bedroom but I have no idea what belongs in a nursery or a diaper bag.
Luckily, the site had an option where they suggest items that most moms pick. So I started with that. The one thing I had read on the forum is that there is a lot of crap that parents just don't need. So I pulled hubby into my project and had him researching stuff like car seats and strollers and stuff. But those items are the easy items. Then you get to stuff like thermometers and grooming kits and safety kits and jumpy bouncy things and receiving blankets and burping blankets, bottles that do this, bottles that do that, toys, more blankets, sheets, cribs, closet stuff, bath time stuff, pooping stuff, you name it and there was a category and tons of stuff to accompany that category.
So after a little while I tell hubby we should just go to the store and check out what this stuff is. I am super happy now that I went and visited my brother's baby for a week after he was born because I recognized some of the items my brother and sister in law had.
We spent a good 2 hours in the store with our little registry gun, zapping this, zapping that. Hubby and I differed on what we think we need. I think he was coming at it as the stuff we immediately need and I was thinking about all the various months and first few years. We both agreed though that registering for potty training stuff was just gross.
My view point was you can't just get a sippy cup (or insert any baby item) for a new born, you have to get a sippy cup for the 3-6 group, the 6-9 group, the 9-12 group and the 12-18 month group. The groups go on and on!! It's all very confusing these month things. I get it but in getting it you need to be good at quick math in your head. Especially when it comes to clothes. Like my baby will be 6 months old in the summer so it makes no sense to get winter clothes at 6 months.
The same kind of logic applies to nursery furniture. I don't want to make the room totally baby. I want a room where my kid can grow for the next few years. If you constantly change items out for the various age groups a parent could go broke.
Our first trip to Babies R Us was a good learning experience. We made a registry but I wouldn't call it finalized, more like a starting point because after taking hours to select the right baby bottle my brother called me and said oh you should get the kind where you drop the bags in. ARRRGGGH! Now I have to research those! Then when we were at the store the kind registry lady came up and asked if we had questions so we asked her about car seats. We had registered for a car seat and a stroller separately but she goes on to tell us that most parents buy the traveling combo thing (I forget what she called it) and that thing has the stroller and the car seat all in one box. Eie Yie Yie!
So after a long visit at Babies R US we go to Target and you know what? All their stuff is pretty much cheaper than Babies R Us! Arrgh! Saving Target registry for another day because I couldn't bare to go through all their products. Then my girlfriend reminded me of Amazon.com's registry so now I have to look at that. Between the three registries I am sure the baby will be properly clothed, bathed and burped but alas, I feel like I need to do even more indepth research before finalizing. My brother called again and said "don't register for Johnson and Johnson products because they made his son itch." They liked Aveno products better. Oh dear is all I can say.
Being a parent is no easy task!
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