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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Baby items to buy in the States
I am very early in my pregnancy, but I am actually going to be in the States next month. I was thinking of picking up some baby things, what do you think I should pick up?
Right now we live in Spain, but are moving to Amsterdam in August. I noticed here in Spain baby things are much more expensive than in the US...not sure about Amsterdam though.
Re: Baby items to buy in the States
No idea about Amsterdam, but big baby things seem ridiculously expensive in France, especially strollers. If you can easily travel back with a stroller, do it. But if you have to ship it or pay an extra luggage cost (not sure if it's still free if you're not actually traveling with a child), then you'd have to compare to the costs in Spain and see if it really constitutes a big saving
It may be the case that you know more people in the US with baby stuff to give away/lend, in which case, definitely make room in your suitcase for those things.
Everything? lol. Prices here are crazy so I will be buying almost everything in the States (with the exception of furniture and some clothing). I just discovered that amazon.com ships internationally for relatively cheap so I will be doing that with the larger items that I can't fit in my suitcase.
I don't have a kid yet, but I'd say figure out what you'll need in throughout pregnancy (maternity clothes, etc) and the first few months after baby's birth and buy whatever you can fit in your suitcase.
I don't have a lot of space, so it wasn't too much of an issue. I did find that so many things that are "musts" on the baby boards that are based in the US (the bump) aren't even really available here. I'm actually surprised at how much stuff I didn't need to get that I really thought I would need to.
The things I got from the states and used: pack 'n play, crib bedding (which actually fits the crib I bought here better than the bedding I bought here), cloth diapers, books, materinity and baby clothes and blankets. Most of those choices were because I liked the style in the US more and/or my parents bought and sent to me.
For bigger items, I did eventually find that I can get the stuff easily on amazon.de (not sure if there's an amazon.nl, but .de ships to the Netherlands anyway). I just had to know the brand name and what it was called. For example, if I wanted a specific high chair, I didn't just look under the german words for high chair, but put in the brand name and style I wanted. The price difference, for the most part, isn't too bad and the hassle is non-existent.
For baby #2, I'm 95% sure I'm going to get the stroller and a playmat in the states. I bought my first stroller here and there was a 12 week lead time and since I have to go to the states when #2 is only 2 months old, I'm just going to get one when I'm there.
While I'm here I'm planning on buying a few things for me that I couldn't find easily in Germany while pregnant with DD, including 1) witch hazel / Tucks pads, and 2) Colace. Luckily I didn't have too many problems since I had a c/s, but I'm hoping to VBAC a second child and would like to have those things on hand for PP comfort.
Otherwise we've gotten some cute toys from my parents, but in general we've found that DD (like most babies) is way more interested in the stuff we handle often (remotes, phones, pens, etc) than the toys that are for her.
And as someone else said, browse the maternity section where you are to see the style they have and whether you like it. I thought most of the German maternity stuff was pretty ugly, so I was also planning on getting things here in the States.
Yeah we were thinking furniture we would buy here in Europe. My BFF in the States wants to throw me a baby shower so I might get some of the smaller stuff from the guests.
I am a planner so all this unknown is driving me crazy...
I got all of my maternity clothes from Old Navy in the States (or my mom bought them for me and sent them over). We also ended up getting a lot of baby clothes at home (onesies, T-shirts, etc); I just think American stuff is cuter than European stuff. I think some European baby clothes are kinda weird, and a lot of times there's even weirder English on them (my daughter has a T-shirt with a ferris wheel on it that says, "Big Fun on a Big fair" or something).
We've decided to do cloth diapers with this one, so my family has kindly pitched in and ordered things off of Amazon.com; my mom will bring them over with her when she comes in May. At least here in Germany, cloth diapering is not nearly as wide spread as it is in the States (which I find surprising), and it's more expensive than at home. Also important, at least for us: a couple of SwaddleMes.
Congrats!
I have no idea about any of the prices in europe but I just wanted to say that I ended up ordering most of my maternity clothes from the gap and old navy. I thought the prices were very reasonable and I had a terrible time finding things here that I liked and that were not crazy expensive. The gap and old navy do ship over seas but then at least you wouldn't have to pay for shipping.
A Bumbo! I couldn't live without ours
Everything else wasn't that outrageous in Amsterdam.
You can look at www.prenatal.nl or www.hema.nl to check out prices of things. What we really really liked that we had was:
-Baby bjorn travel crib (it weighed like 5 pounds and was AWESOME for quick weekend trips away from home)
-Portable travel stroller (it folded up and fit into a bag for going on planes and in the trunk - it was equivalent to the Quinny Zap but the back folded down so he could recline while sleeping)
If you don't have to worry about shipping costs, exersaucers and jumperoos are ridiculous in Amsterdam. We brought both of ours back on the airplane from the US to Amsterdam. Husband's company paid but I think it was like $50 a package??? Still cheaper than buying it in Amsterdam.
Baby got a crib and dresser from Ikea. The crib turned into his toddler bed. The mattress from Ikea didn't fit regular sheets so we had to get all his sheets at Ikea. That was OK because they were cheap. I also adored the Ikea high chair. I could take it apart and put the whole thing in the dish washer when he covered it in crap.
I found a Bugaboo on marktplaats for about 300E. Nothing of the plastic wheeled strollers we found in the US would hold up on the city streets of Amsterdam.
One thing that I could NOT live without and have no idea what took me so long to get was a Bakfiets. A bakfiet is a bike with a basket in front of it:
http://www.marktpleinholland.nl/bakfietsen/2266-popal-cangoo-240,-twee-zitplaatsen-en-3-versnellingen,-rijklaar
They can cost anywhere from 500E to 2000E. I paid 650E for mine new. It was similar to the one I posted. It was amazing for hauling the kid around in the rain, picking up groceries, etc. I highly highly recommend one especially if you don't have a car but do have a kid.