Sierra - Strawberries, Duggars, Strawberries

[Eternalbluepearl]

I am pregnant and just had my shower. I purposefully chose neutral colors for what I registered for. but neutral is more my aesthetic anyway for everything. I do get annoyed when on store websites items will be labeled as boy or girl as though my daughter couldn't spit up on a blue bib. I wish we'd all stop assigning gender to colors. But strict gender roles are really important to fundies, unfortunately. 

[fluffernutter]

Regarding her ob appt- What other option does she have? Hire a sitter? Like that's gonna happen. Take all four or five kids with her? Cause taking care of several kids while simultaneously having an ob appt is so convenient. It's ridiculous.

And the stuff. So much stuff. I'm going to sound like an old geezer-hippie here. But we bought like nothing compared to what people get now. We got a crib, baby wrap, some clothes and diapers, and a car seat. An aunt gave us her high chair and my grandma gave us an extra dresser. I kid you not, that pretty much got us through 3 kids. My mother in law got us a changing table which converted into a hutch thing from ikea that is now in my hallway. My best friend just had a baby two years ago and i was astounded at how much more gear there is now. And these kids nowadays with their rock and roll music and hem lines up to here... ok. I am done channeling  my Great Aunt Mildred. Carry on...

[Shadoewolf]

The one 'extra' my mom bought us outside of the most basic things was a glider rocker with an ottoman. That chair was the best baby gift I ever got and lasted 12 years. With youngest Wolfie we bought a lot of stuff from Craigslist and reputable thrift stores. Saved a fortune! We got the $180 (at the time) Fisher Price swing for $40 because the lady's baby hated it. She'd used it all of 3 times. So yeah a lot of the time buying new is just costly and pointless.

[themothership]

I think if Sierra is footing the bill for her baby needs, she’ll end up with the cheapest stuff that there is. I bet when she has to fork over $200 for the baby swing she will think twice.

[Eternalbluepearl]

1 hour ago, themothership said:

I think if Sierra is footing the bill for her baby needs, she’ll end up with the cheapest stuff that there is. I bet when she has to fork over $200 for the baby swing she will think twice.

I agree with this. My hubby is in school and every dollar counts. I didn't even register for a swing, I have a hand-me-down bouncy chair and that's fine. My family has been so generous with the items off of my registry that they did choose to buy.  We did receive a few expensive items but the gifts that made me feel the most loved were  handmade blankets, clothes hangers, wipes, nail clippers, and any size package of diapers. I received a few board books too and that was so nice and unexpected. 

[HarryPotterFan]

The baby swing discussion is reminding me of that time Anna called her baby swing a vibrator. 

[NakedKnees]

8 minutes ago, HarryPotterFan said:

The baby swing discussion is reminding me of that time Anna called her baby swing a vibrator. 

To me, that was the most "Oh my sweet summer child" moment watching the Duggars 

[Coconut Flan]

It was the bouncy chair.    Many have a vibrating option to help the baby sleep.

[Coy Koi]

On 10/18/2017 at 12:51 PM, justoneoftwo said:

This is the problem with buying things for a baby, you never know if its going to go over well or not!  And that can get really pricy.  A friend of ours gave us like 50 different bottles her LO had rejected . . . 

That's exactly it, there's just no way of predicting what those fickle little things will like! A deluxe swing may well be worth it if, for instance, it's the only thing that will let you get a few moments of peace a few times every day for the first few months, but that's pretty unlikely to be the case. And most people can't afford to just buy every damn product available to see if any of them will be the savior.

I had a top-of-the-line swing for my daughter (but that was 17 years ago and they didn't have anywhere near the bells and whistles they have now). I only had that because my dad asked what we needed and I was exhausted from holding her every second and said maybe a swing, and I think he just went to Babies R Us and bought the most expensive one, because he didn't know a thing about baby gear but was just trying to be as helpful as possible. She would use it sometimes, but it wasn't a lifesaver or anything. My dad probably could have spent half as much and gotten the exact same results (although of course I appreciate his effort!).

My cat, though. She's generally kind of a bitey jerk, but she gets a lot of use out of absolutely everything we buy her. I never buy some random cat product and feel like I've wasted my money. So the lesson here is that sometimes your money is better spent on your cat, if you have one. Unless your cat is fickle too. Then just buy yourself a present as a reward for putting up with all these fickle creatures in your life. You deserve it!

[AtlanticTug]

It's incredibly tacky to have a registry for #6. I mean it wouldn't even occur to me to do it for #2 (child of different sex), nevermind 6.

My son lived in the Mamaroo. Just loved it. The reason we bought it despite the price is because it is a huge space saver. Most of those Fisher Price swings are freaking enormous, it's like having an outdoor swing set in your living room. That works if you have a massive house, but we are an urban family, so floor space comes at a premium. It could be what she's thinking as well, her house has got to be pretty damn crowded.

It's also really unusual around here to see restaurant gift cards on a baby registry. I mean I guess it makes sense, it's just...bizarre. 

[2manyKidzzz]

I'm just glad for registries so I don't have to stew over what gift to give for any occasion. Something the people want specifically and you can order it online!! 

Modern life is just great, ha ha

[AtlanticTug]

2 hours ago, 2manyKidzzz said:

I'm just glad for registries so I don't have to stew over what gift to give for any occasion. Something the people want specifically and you can order it online!! 

Modern life is just great, ha ha

Haha, I know. Most of my friends who had babies but no registries said they ended up with like 30 baby blankets and enough newborn clothing for 10 kids...which their baby would outgrow in a month.

[itsme]

The stuff on that registry is over 2000$ in total .... How do you need that much stuff with child #6, shouldn't there be economies of scale? 

 

(Yes i actually added up all the prices, I was very bored at work)

[Eternalbluepearl]

I was surprised at the sheer amount of some of the items Sierra registered for. FOUR of those gigantic Costco-sized packages of baby wash? Goodness! I mean I guess she does have a lot of kids to wash...just wow. I wouldn't even have the storage room.

[TeaGrannie]

3 hours ago, AtlanticTug said:

Haha, I know. Most of my friends who had babies but no registries said they ended up with like 30 baby blankets and enough newborn clothing for 10 kids...which their baby would outgrow in a month.

This is why I buy clothes as baby gifts in larger sizes then newborn. Even for our upcoming grandchild I'm buying things in a variety of sizes and diapers in various sizes too. Buying cute newborn stuff is fun though.

[justoneoftwo]

36 minutes ago, TeaGrannie said:

This is why I buy clothes as baby gifts in larger sizes then newborn. Even for our upcoming grandchild I'm buying things in a variety of sizes and diapers in various sizes too. Buying cute newborn stuff is fun though.

Everyone did this for us.  After the baby showers we went out and got newborn cloths, or we wouldn't have had anything that fit him :).

Now he is 17 months, and we haven't had to buy more cloths since. 

[patsymae]

Great Aunt Mildred here. I find registries tacky for the most part (I know they can be convenient) and showers way over the top, especially for subsequent children.

That said, when my daughter-in-law was pregnant with girl twins her sisters threw her a shower (big etiquette no-no but common now). These were the first girls on either side of the family for ages, so lots of people had fun getting girly stuff. But the guests were actual intimates--family and friends--and if there were any big-ticket items I wasn't aware of them.

[Lurker]

They may be tacky but I love having a registry to refer to for gifts.  My family is at the stage where my cousins kids are getting engaged, married and having babies.   I don't know them that well since I see some of them only at Christmas, funerals and a yearly reunion.  Most of the  registries start with inexpensive items to a few really deluxe splurges.

I don’t feel obligated to buy but if I give a non registry gift I can feel comfortable in choosing colors or keep within their style.  

[Baxter]

I never had a baby registry and I didn't want a baby shower. But I was lucky that my older sister was one of those people who seemed to have almost every type of baby gear imaginable. A lot of the bigger items like the fancy bassinet, swing, exersaucer, etc she is lending to me until I am completely done with them. Then I will give them back and she will sell them. I doubt we would have bought all of those things on our own. 

 But I would have absolutely bought a swing. That was a godsend with my son. Only place he would nap other than in my lap for many months. While I think it is wrong to expect people to be buying you baby gifts for your sixth kid, I don't judge any parent on what they have for baby gear. Whatever makes your life easier with a baby!

[Botkinetti]

My oldest son had colic. My SIL lent us her swing. It saved my sanity some days.

We would put him in it in front of our fridge which in those days had nothing on it and it would mesmerize him and he would sleep. I loved it.

[Desertrose]

For me to be a licensed foster parent, I had to have a car seat, crib, high chair. I bought a convertible car seat,amazon open box (saved$50), I got the crib and Hugh chair on sale. My stroller I bought new (ouch), that was I wasn't able to find a used one at a reasonable price. I got an amazing deal on a pack and play from Kid to Kid. I used my baby swing for all my kids, and my SIL used it too. For kid #6, you really shouldn't need that much. 

[Gillyweed]

Didn't Sierra film herself getting rid of all her baby stuff a couple years ago? Obviously if she did get rid of everything, she actually does need to start over. 

[Jana814]

I once saw an episode of A Baby Story where the couple was expecting twin girls. They already had 5 sons including a set of twins. She had gotten rid of a lot of her baby stuff because she thought she was done. But ending up having a shower where she got a ton of stuff for her new twins. 

[Jigsaw3]

I feel like showers for twins are completely kosher even if they're not first, because you might have everything but now you need everythingx2.  More clothes, a second carseat, a double stroller... you might not need a second change table or new carrier/sling, but you do need a second snowsuit (Canadian here.)

But merely because baby-to-come is a different gender from last-baby? Woman, please.

[Meowkitties]

I do nurse home visiting for first time moms, and have a lot of conversations about what type of supplies babies need. There is SO much marketing in the pregnancy/baby industry, people get so swept away with all the things they feel that they should have. 

We support families in focusing on having a safe place for baby to sleep, a car seat, safe sleep wear, and diapers (keeping in mind that babies may come out not ever fitting into newborn size). I also like to reassure moms that things like adult towels work just as well as "baby" towels. Some of the extra stuff can be helpful, or just plain cute, but when you're on a tight budget you can still raise a happy healthy babe without it! 

Sierra, I know Pinterest is fun, but step away from the fancy baby swing...