So far, pretty much all we’ve decided is where we’re registering. Given that we live in Oregon but are going to be having a baby shower in Michigan, we decided that registering on Amazon would be the best option for us, and then we’re also going to register at Target as well. As for my personal preferences when it comes to baby items, I’d prefer to buy something higher quality that is simple, well designed, and will last for years to come. As for aesthetics, I’m not a huge fan of anything super colorful, cartoon-y, or overly babyish, especially with more expensive items or things that I have to have sitting out in my house. I’m not trying to be a killjoy as I do think there is definitely a time and place for cute, colorful things when it comes to clothes and toys and stuff…but I want bigger items to be gender neutral and in colors that aren’t going to look like crap after a month. So basically if an items comes in black, then we’re probably going to register for it in black (or gray) 🙂
It just seems like there are SO MANY choices when it comes to baby things and being that this is all new to us, we want to do our best to make informed choices, especially when it comes to bigger ticket items. I’ve been a regular reader of quite a few mommy blogs in the past and have a few family members/friends with kids (although not too many…) and so I have a general idea of the popular baby items on the market. Lately, I’ve been scouring Pinterest/my favorite blogs for recommendations and reading lots of product reviews, but I’m still having somewhat of a hard time narrowing down all the options…which is why I wanted to write today’s post to (hopefully) get some input from YOU!
The first item I’m debating is…strollers!
Here’s are the options I’m weighing:
#1 – Only register for a BOB and use that as my primary stroller
This is probably the most cost effective option as the BOB I’m looking at is actually the most inexpensive of the strollers I’m considering. If I did this, I would definitely plan on getting the car seat attachment as well, and I feel like it would probably be fine? Granted, we would potentially have to get a more lightweight stroller for our Europe trip next summer, and we’d also most likely have to purchase a new stroller down the road when we have a second child…but since that is most likely a few years away, it seems like something I don’t necessarily need to worry about this second.
#2 – Register for a BOB and another stroller
I realize these are pretty big ticket items so I’m definitely NOT expecting friends and family to just buy us strollers left and right. However, given that one of our showers is out of state, I have a feeling we may end up with some money/gift cards that we could potentially put towards investing in two strollers right now, so that way we’d have one of each type, including one that’s convertible that we could continue using when we (hopefully) have a second child.
#3 – Only register for a modular convertible stroller and buy a BOB next year
Since the modular convertible strollers I’m looking at are a little more pricey, we could just register for that now and then wait until next spring/summer to look at getting a BOB. Keep in mind, I’m due in December, so I don’t really anticipate I’m going to be doing a whole lot of jogging the first few months anyway due to the weather and I do like the variety of configurations with a convertible stroller.
Moms out there – I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts! What stroller do have? Do you have more than one? What would you do if you were me? Also, if I do end up going with one of the convertible strollers (so option #2 or #3) is it necessary to get a bassinet attachment? They seem nice to have but like you’d realistically only use them for such a short period of time, that I don’t know if it’s worth it vs. just using a car seat attachment? Any suggestions/recommendations on strollers would be much appreciated!
Ok, the stroller is probably my biggest question mark at this point…but there are still a ton of other items that I’m looking for recommendations on! Here are a few of the things I’m debating…
If you have any suggestions on which infant carriers, car seats (which seems it could be somewhat influenced by which stroller we chose…), high chairs, or travel cribs you liked/didn’t like, I’d love to hear them! I’m also looking for input on baby monitors, bassinets, swings/bouncy chairs, and any other more big ticket items that you would recommend!
And finally, I definitely don’t want my baby registry to be all super high-priced items either! Granted, Cam and I will probably register for a fair amount of more big ticket baby items, however, this isn’t because we’re expecting for people to buy them all for us. We fully realize that we’ll probably have to end up buying quite a few of the bigger things ourselves, which is totally fine. (And all the more reason that I really want recommendations on which things to choose!)
So here are a few of the more “fun” things that I’m definitely planning on registering for…
I know that there are a ton of options when it comes to little things too, so any suggestions on things like diaper bags, pacifiers, swaddles, clothing, bottles, etc. are all VERY welcome! Just FYI, we are planning on breastfeeding and possibly cloth diapering (although I’m really not 100% sold on that just given how on the go we are) but we will definitely be doing disposables in the beginning, so any recommendations on things to register for regarding those two topics would be great as well. I’d also love to hear if there were things you got for your baby shower that you felt you couldn’t live with out, even if it’s something random! (Or on the flip side, if there are things you registered for and never use, I’d love to know that too!) Basically, I am starting to go all type-A, neurotic planner with this baby registry and so I’d be incredibly grateful if all my mom readers out there could talk me off the ledge just tell me what the heck we need for our baby boy! Thanks in advance!
(PS: I didn’t list links for all the products I’m considering, but you should be able to just click directly on the images and that will take you to the links in case you’re curious – just FYI!)
