Resisting the urge to augment my registry

[LadyPeter]

So for the last few months, my husband and I have been working on "voluntary simplicity." Purging the house of unneeded junk, keeping only the best and longest-lasting items, etc. I'm a shopper and he's a packrat, so you can imagine the magnitude of this task.

In keeping with the spirit of our new philosophy, we've only registered for the simplest, most practical baby items. We already have lots of clothes, so we just registered for diapers, wipes, crib sheets, nasal bulb, thermometer, etc. Only the must-haves, and a FEW extras that will make life simpler for us as first-time parents.

Also, most things are pretty plain because we don't like "baby style" stuff.

My first baby shower is tomorrow, and both our moms have called to berate us for our Spartan registry. (His mom bought us a BJCM and my mom bought us our crib, so it's not like they haven't already done MORE than enough.) They're telling me no one is going to have any fun shopping for us because all the stuff is so plain!

Bolster my resolve, BBBers. Convince me NOT to go online tonight and add a bunch of useless junk!

[mommylamb]

This isn't what you're looking for here, but in your shoes I would add to the registry. Yes, we've all bought stuff we didn't need, but I (for one) ended up using a lot of stuff I didn't realize I would need. If you don't get it as a baby shower, you'll end up having to buy it yourself.

[KrisM]

I guess I'd make sure there are enough things for people to buy, or you'll end up with 698 onesies to sort through and return .

[BabyBearsMom]

I would add a bit too. Otherwise you end up with TONS of impractical clothes (someone gave me a size newborn bikini, I kid you not) and tons of stuffed animals.

Also, I don't really think of a nasal bulb as a necessity. We have never used ours and some books say that they can be bad for baby (dry out the nose).

What do you have on your registry? Do you have a baby carrier (I love my ERGO but wish I could also have a Moby)? Do you have a PnP or similar portable crib on your list? What about decorations for the baby's room? What about asking for really nice baby care products like California Baby?

[babyready]

We had a similar registry for our first. Only the essentials because we had NO money and I didn't want a bunch of stuff I didn't need and not have things that were important. It actually worked out quite well for us. We got the necessities. People will still go off the registry and buy you cute stuff (or ugly stuff they think is cute and some of that was great and some of it went back to the store and we used the gift card to buy things like our stroller and other essentials that came up over the first few months.

I would make sure that there are plenty of choices, though in different price ranges. Definitely put nursing/feeding supplies, nursing pillow, books, gear, nice shampoo, etc. These are all essentials that would be nice to get and I would love to buy anyone for a shower!

I WOULD NOT register for useless, cute things just because people feel the need to shop for "cute" stuff. Be strong.

[bostonsmama]

Register for books! Register for diapers! Feeding gadgetry alone could add tens of items to the list--I found all kinds of cute bowls w/ lids, suction cup mats, portable restaurant feeding placemat, 2-3 good quality bibs, 2-3 sizes of spoons (I didn't know they were sized for baby's mouth or handles for self feeding), those "ice cube" trays for homemade babyfood....the list goes on. My registry is really spartan, too, if you take away the books & feeding items since we bought our own crib, dresser, mattress, monitor, mei tai, Boppy, pack n play & stroller either through Craigslist, eBay or the cheapest online retailers. I didn't register for a swing, either.

The bottom line for me is that if you don't have enough items for your guests to get an idea about your tastes, you'll end up w/ all kinds of random crap--and even if you CAN return it to various stores (some people take off ALL tags/stickers/barcodes), you'll be driving all over God's creation trying to do it w/ random store credits at a million places.

[sunnyside]

We also are trying to be minimalists, but I had 4 showers and so we did end up with lots of things.

For my 4th shower, I had the hostess let people know that we were trying to put together a nice set of children's books for my daughter and that no gifts were necessary, however if they wanted to bring their favorite children's story to add to Chlöe's bookshelf, it would be really appreciated.

People loved this idea and I now have around 40 books for her. They are books I'd mostly never have thought of myself, and I saved myself from getting a ton of clothes for the 4th time.

Maybe you could ask the host if they would mention something similar?

Even with that, I probably have $500 worth of unused clothes. I didn't want to be wasteful, but once the baby was here, I realized that I just couldn't bring myself to put her in all these princessy, stiff, clothes, especially the ones that were scratchy and fancy and uncomfortable. The sheer wastefulness of it all nearly drove me into a bit of PPD, so I would definitely be proactive if you are trying to not end up with a bunch of unneeded things.

[LadyPeter]

Didn't know that about the nasal bulb, thanks!

We do have some "older baby" items on the list - teething and feeding stuff, larger diapers, a few books.

I'd say, if you count duplicates (more than one pack of bottles, or breastmilk storage supplies, etc) we have more registry items than people invited to the shower. That should be okay, right?

You all have me stressing out about stuffed animals and outfits, now. Thank goodness we're having a boy. People tend not to buy as many clothes for boys. At least nothing dumb, pink and glittery.

[lizzywednesday]

My shower got snowed out.

Twice.

I resisted adding to the registries once I saw that people were buying, but was kind of left in a lurch before DD arrived because I hadn't had a shower (though one had been planned) and pretty much had nothing but some clothes, a pack of diapers & wipes and a place for the baby to sleep.

PLUS I wasn't allowed to drive for 2 weeks following the delivery ... and once I was allowed to drive, getting myself and a newborn out of the house was ROUGH!

Maybe you could add stuff like butt cream (currently we like A&D ointment for preventing diaper rash and Boudreaux's Butt Paste to treat it & for overnights), a couple of different types of dipes (if using disposables) in a couple of sizes ... ?

Good luck!

[lizzywednesday]

...

You all have me stressing out about stuffed animals and outfits, now. Thank goodness we're having a boy. People tend not to buy as many clothes for boys. At least nothing dumb, pink and glittery.

You'd think that, but, IME, it's totally untrue.

My sister got TONS of clothing for my nephew at her shower!!!! (What's worse? He was 9lbs 3oz, 21" at birth, so the 10-foot heap of newborn stuff never fit him and the 0-3's fit for like a month.)

I took a bunch of it off her hands ... I had a girl, but a baby doesn't care what color/design is on his/her clothes when they're a newborn. That's the poo-machine stage!!!