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Registry questions for the moms
My sister suggested I register for stuff the kids will need around the one-year mark. I already registered for a potty seat thing, two space saver high chairs, and convertible car seats. We have cribs that convert to toddler beds. She suggested I register for storage tubs for packing away their seasonal/wrong size clothes, kid-friendly dishes, sippy cups, etc. Should I really register for all that? If so, any suggestions on how many? I thought registries were generally for the things to get up to the first year, but not so much beyond that. I didn't register for any clothes beyond 3-6 months because I don't mind getting all that stuff second hand.
In terms of quantity, how many baby hangers should I have for two kids? How many receiving blankets?
In terms of basics, we already have cribs (need mattresses and sheets), infant car seats, a twin nursing pillow, a stroller, a couple baby carriers (an ergo, ring sling, and sleepy wrap), and the newborn cloth diapers to get us through a day/day and a half. Everything else is icing on the cake, right?
Re: Registry questions for the moms
If you can easily add that stuff to the registry, I say do it. If it's going to be a pain in the butt, don't worry about it.
As far as clothing goes, I would register for larger sizes. As kids get older they tend to wear out their clothes more. DD is in a 2T and I can hardly find anything worth buying at a consignment store that doesn't look tattered and worn. After 9 months is when I started noticing how difficult it was to find decent stuff. Clothing up to 9 months is pretty clean unless stained with spit up, but after that when they start getting into solids they get pretty yucky.
Are you going to have a dresser or storage for things like onesies, pants, etc? If not then buy as many hangars as you can fit in a closet lol. At first I put everything on hangars, everything she owned, but realized that was silly. Now I only keep out the size she's in and the next size up. The rest of it is in storage bins.
We didn't really use receiving blankets just the muslin ones. We have about 10 that were gifted to us even though they weren't on the registry. I wouldn't add those unless you already know exactly what you'll use them for.
Do you plan on getting a breast pump?
Personal opinion from a non-mom, I hate opening a registry and it being full of things that aren't needed until the child is 2. It really bothers me. That could just be me though.
As far as the hangers go, the more hangers the better I would think. Reciving blankets you can never have to many of. You may want to register for different weights of them since being where you are the weather is so different from the time the boys will be born to September.
Oh! oh!! Twin pirate swords and outfits!!! yarr!!!
No one steal my gift, bishes...
I changed my name
I only had newborn necessities on mine, but I've seen some registries with stuff for one year olds. I don't think it's that big of a deal. I ended up buying my daughter sippy cups, plates, bowls, and utensils (probably 6-8 of each), along with other necessities last year to fill her Easter basket. I figured she was too young to care what was in it, so I got her stuff I needed to buy anyway.
She probably has 50 hangers in her closet, in addition to storage bins with clothes that are too big or small.
We received 10-15 receiving blankets and burp cloths, but I rarely used receiving blankets. I ended up buying some 'swaddle me's' since that was the only thing little Houdini couldn't wiggle out of.
I think you covered the basics, I would add baby bath tubs to your list too.
I wish I had registered for things like standing toys, clothes (I didn't register for any and only got cute summer stuff for her which she grew out of in a hot second).
Register for the convertible car seats, tableware (sippy cups, resealable bowls).
Storage totes aren't a bad idea...I've had to buy 5 so far.
I bought about 100-120 hangers in two different colors so I could separate sizes (all the 12 month stuff is on white hangers right now and the 18 month stuff is on pink hangers).
Register for drawer dividers if you can...it helps with keeping the undershirt onesies and socks in some sort of order.
Are you CDing? You can always register for some CDs.
If you're BFing get a pump (or register for it) and make sure you register for additional pump parts. I wish I had more bottles and an extra set of horns because I pump everyday and we have to wash it every night it's a PITA.
I've got blankets coming out the ying yang. They do get used though...especially the receiving blankets when the babes are really tiny and they like to be swaddled at all times. Now I send one to the sitter's house, we each keep one in our cars, I use them if we go outside so she's not sitting directly in the grass (heaven forbid girlfriend has to touch the grass!). I also have certain keepsake ones I've used for her Baptism and for photos.
I registered for things that I would only need for probably the first 6 months. I guess I just didn't want to be storing things away that I wouldn't be using right away.
I suggest just registering for whatever. Even if you don't receive the items, you will have a go-to shopping list already prepared!
Since these kiddos are summer babies, get some type of screen/shade thing to put over the stroller. I had to put a receiving blanket over Sophia anytime we went out because her stroller canopy didn't cover her all the way. I felt bad that she couldn't see anything.
Hats are also something I didn't get and didn't think of until we wanted to go outside.
We did register for an Exersaucer and got it and used it...it's now being retired.
Someone gave us a brand new Jump & Go that you hang from the doorway...she wasn't a big fan but I know a lot of kids that love them.
One of my favortie baby items were the portable high chairs we had. They fold up to be about the size of a small boot box and store away in the trunk very easily. We took them every where. There were often times we would go out to eat and the restaurant would not have two high chairs available or the seat belts were broken. We would just run out to the car and get our own. We also used them all the time for pic nics, dinner at some one's house or if I drove to have lunch with J at the kennels. They were $20 each and were seriously two of the best items we had.
You can honestly never have too many receiving blanket or crib sheets. My youngest kids are 5 and 4. We still use many of their receiving blankets and heavier winter blankets for road trips. Multiple crib sheets were a must. Between spitting up, leaks and blowouts, I was changing crib sheets for one baby 2-4 times a day. There are sheet protectors, but kids move.
I would go ahead and register for a convertable car seat. That's one of those things people usually go in on together to get new parents. You'll need them by the time the boys are 5-6 months old.
I really wouldn't register for clothes. People will get those. I try to get clothes that are at least 6-9 months. Everyone always buys the tiny sizes. You'll have a crap ton of those but not enough of the larger sizes. If someone asks what sizes you need, tell them the larger sizes.
I also agree with who ever said the thrift stores aren't the greatest places for sizes from 12 mos to 5T. They are usually a bit dingy. I usually hit the clearance sales at department stores, Walmart and Target. You can usually get great items for only a few $$. Geranimals from Walmart are fantastic. Shirts are usually $3.50. Same for pants. You can get them on clearance for $0.50 to $1. I refuse to spend much money on items they will only wear a few times before they are stained. BTW, my kids still wear the stained clothes here around the house and out in the yard. They wear "the good stuff" out to church or when we are out and about.
Burp clothes are another thing you can not have too much of.
I wouldn't register for things like sippy cups and toddler plates. You can pick those up fairly inexpensively. There are constantly coupons available for sippy cups. I kept a few bowls, plates and cups per kid. I also wouldn't register for towels. Baby towels really don't absorb much water. I found them to be more of a waste. We usually chose a regular towel over the baby towels.
I would register for a monitor system.
These are a few other small items I would put on there.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12758307
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2792405
I never used receiving blankets. I probably have about 50 (didn't register for them) and I used them a handful of times, mainly under DS when I'd give him tummy time of the floor. The standard ones people get are too small to use for swaddles and I preferred to use a sleep sack.
I would go ahead and register for the plates/utensils. I don't know where you're registering, but on amazon they have bamboo toddler plates that I bought for DS because I didn't want to use plastic. I also got him an aluminum sippy cup for the same reason.
For the CDs - do you have all the ancillary stuff? Cloth wipes, wet bag, pail liner, pail, detergent, swim diapers? You can add that too if you want to.
I didn't register for clothes because unless people are shopping online, it's kind of a PITA to comb through racks to find the right outfit that you want. Most people give up before then and get something else anyway.
Sorry for the delay. Their dresser is huge, almost 6' wide, huge drawers, so we did register for drawer dividers. We're working on designing a new closet system, but for now it's two shelves up top and two racks for hanging, and I'd venture a guess that the closet is about 3.5' wide, so I don't imagine finding room for clothes will be an issue either way.
We are CDing, so I have a separate registry dedicated to that stuf. I have 27 KL0s and about a dozen other pockets and AIOs for newborn stage already. MIL is making our OS stash as the kids grow so she can adjust the legs and gussets as necessary. I did register for 24 prefolds in each size, along with nice things like hemp doublers, some hemp prefolds, wool covers, wool wash, CD-safe creams, etc. I registered for Tummy Tubs on that site too.
We're getting hand-me-down exersaucers and a stationary jumper/activity center toy. Someone already bought us the 2-in-1 swing/bouncy seats. I registered for one rock-n-play thing because I figure it'll come in handy next to my recliner when I'm trying to nurse.
I need opinions on these:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11915102 Dumb or worthwhile for hanging out in the yard?
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11107467 Summers here are really humid and I'm not sure how much I'll even be leaving the house before it cools off. I registered for the heavy winter covers (the ones that have the peekabo flap so you can open it in the car), so are these canopies worth it? Can't I just drape a blanket over them if I want people to leave them alone?
Thanks for all the feedback! I'll be making some edits to the registry.
I'm not sure how I feel about the Go-Pod. It's a good idea in theory but I don't know how much I personally would have used it. If we were outside, especially last summer, she was way too small to go in it and by the time she was old enough the weather was too cold to go outside. You could take it with you to someone else's house but people like to hold her or play with her so much that it would never get used.
If you're going to go for that canopy I say skip it...it's just an overpriced blanket with some velcro. From the sound of it, your mom is pretty handy with a sewing machine...she could make you two.
Definitely get the Rock n Play. I forgot all about it. We only used it for four months tops but it definitely did it's work. When I was on leave and wanted to take a shower but Sophia was awake I would put her in that and bring it into the bathroom with me. She took a lot of naps in that in the beginning as well.
I figure the babies will be about 10-11 months when it warms up again, which would be a good age to need a containment method when we're outside with the dogs. For this summer, if they're awake while I'm outside, I can snap them onto the stroller. If they're sleeping, their bedroom window is right next to my patio, so I'll be able to hear them if they wake up.
I'll skip those canopy things.
I did register for a manual breast pump. I can rent a hospital grade pump if I need something heavier duty.
I only registered for one of most of these things (pack n play, rock n play, one exersaucer, one jumper, etc). I know the resistance against having my house look like a preschool is basically futile, but I'm in denial.
My house is so small I don't think we'll benefit much from a monitor. Joe said the only reason he'd want one is so we can actually see the babies, but we'd need two for that.
Do you have a link for the kind of high chairs you're talking about?
I think I registered for 14 fitted sheets. I have a tiny registry at Target for my work people since that's the only decent store around here and all that's on it are fitted sheets, bath stuff, first aid and grooming items. Basically everything in the $10 range.
Meltoine, my CD registry is at Jillian's Drawers. Their stuff goes out of stock so frequently that it's been a bit frustrating to keep up with it all. Shower invites are out already though, so I'm sticking with it.
My DD dislikes being stuck in her jumper for too long anymore so I think you may be better off with a play yard (one of those plastic gate things that sets up in a hexagon) around 10-11 months so they can move around while still being contained.
Registering for totes is a good idea. I have 4-6 filled up and I rotate everything out so that only the current size is in her dresser.
You may want two bouncy seats. We had two just for one baby. They're excellent to stick them in quickly. I suppose you could use a bouncy seat for one and the RnP for the other but DD loved the bouncy seat for months and used it differently than the RnP (which we used for overnight sleep for the first few months and naps for awhile after that).
Put the convertible car seats on there too. Those things are expensive!
ETA: We have three crib sheets and two changing pad covers and that's been plenty for us to cover blow outs or regular sheet changing so 14 seems like a lot. I'd suggest a double electric pump (I love my Ameda Purely Yours, Medela is a great brand too) so you always have the option of building a little freezer stash or pumping quickly before an outing, etc. A manual is a PITA for anything other than relieving a little discomfort IMO. Ditto J on having a second set of tubing/horns/etc.
I agree you have way MORE sheets than you'll ever need and at 10 months those little boys will be mobile so the play yard aka baby jail is your best bet.
Definitely get an electric pump...whether you rent or buy it's up to you but make plans for it now. Even when I was home with Sophia 24/7 I still pumped once in the morning for several months just to have a back up in case I was out and she needed to be fed or if we wanted to leave her with a sitter for a few hours.
The set of parts that go with the hospital pump comes with a manual pump. I'd just buy that. And the hospital pumps are ah-maz-ing. I used one last weekend while I was at the hospital with my sister.
ETA: They will also give you the set in the hospital if you ask.
I did register for two of those big play yards. I figure we'll put the baby swings in one of the play yards if they need to nap in the swings and we need a boundary for the dogs.
We got swings like these: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11222640 The seats come off and are bouncy chairs, to avoid having four separate pieces of gear.
I think you can skip the outdoor jumper thingy then.
I know I'm a 'new' mom, LO is going to be 6 weeks old tomorrow.
We didn't put any big items on our registry and bought them ourselves because of where we are stationed, but we probably would have put a convertible car seat on there if we were closer to home and probably a few things for maybe close to a year out like a jumper or walker. We did ask for gift cards in place of gifts to save on shipping from home and I have to say, they have definately come in handy. This way, we get things as we need them and we don't have anything we don't 'need' and just takes up space. Also eliminated the non-returnable because "they didn't put a gift receipt with the package" for things LO refuses to use.
I wouldn't put too many blankets either, but for the summer, (it's always hot where we are) the Aden and Anais blankets are the BEST, but are a little pricier. They are lightweight and breathable and bigger than some other receiving blankets I've seen. They have been a lifesaver for us to cover him up but not make him sweat to death.
It sounds like every one's pretty much covered it, but of course, I'll add just a little of my own thinking.
I wouldn't register for toys or "big gear" like carseats, furniture, what not. I wouldn't include clothing or blankets, those things will be given to you from every direction until the babies are 2.
I think the dishes/ silverware/ cups thing is an awesome idea. You can never have too many sippies or spoons! It will be nice to have them when the time comes.
If the kids are in the same room, I would include a video monitor system. You could mount it high enough to get both cribs in, and then be able to *see* what they're doing ( if they're actually awake, stuck, or just rolling over in bed and made a noise, putting themselves back to sleep) If you get it, awesome! If not, no biggie, right? I just know when it comes to sleep struggles we prized our video monitor, it was way easier to judge if we needed to actually enter the room and rile her more, or let her be for a minute or two.
Ojo, I thought of this last night: register for a jogging stroller even if you have no plans to ever jog with it. I have one and after using my sister's Graco with the standard four wheel configuration I'll never use anything but a jogging stroller again. It maneuvers so much better.
You don't have to have two video monitors, Ojo! I have this one: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12610135
It is expandable to 4 cameras and 2 parent units. I have one in M's room and one in the playroom. I need to get a camera for R's room too. It switches back and forth easily and you can talk to them. I LOVE it.
If you can easily add the tubs, I'd do it. So far we're packing up about a tub per size, though it will likely be less from here on out since the sizes we're done with (up to 6 mos) are ones that had lots of shower gifts. D is already in his convertible car seat, hit the height limit, so that may not be as distant in the future as you think.
I'd put the eating stuff on the registry. We're into that stage now and I'm loving the hand-me-downs I got from a SIL...but am still having to purchase things like sippy's and eventually dishes. I would say a few sippy's per kid, that way there is a little leeway for things to be in the dishwasher, etc. Toss an exersaucer/jumperoo and a swing or two on there for good measure. Our swing and exersaucer were/are sanity savers.
For hangers, it depends on if you have a dresser as well. I have both and honestly use the dresser like 85% of the time. Its so much easier to toss things in a drawer than to hang things individually on hangers.
So excited for you!
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