Those of you who recently had kids what gender specific toys/cloths etc did you wish you had recieved from a friend prior to bringing the child into the world??

9/19/2008 8:14:01 AM

Are they state grads? If so, you can't go wrong with some baby state gear.

9/19/2008 8:16:48 AM

^ good one too!

babies r us gift cards.

also it was cool when friends bought us stuff like ralph lauren baby clothes because we would never spend that kind of coin on clothes that a baby will grow out of in a couple of months.

[Edited on September 19, 2008 at 8:26 AM. Reason : asdf]

9/19/2008 8:17:57 AM

my mom told me that babies always need onsies

and anything that snaps in the crotch is prefered by most parents

but i don't have a baby, this is just what my mom has recommended me to buy my pregnant friends... and my mom hasn't had a baby for ~ 17 years :-P

9/19/2008 8:50:23 AM

Include gift receipts for everything.

9/19/2008 9:04:33 AM

We got my nephew this little "wee wee blocker." It's one of those extremely useful yet rarely gotten gifts. You put it over the baby's penis when you're changing him so that he doesn't hose you! Babies 'R Us had them.

9/19/2008 9:31:03 AM

things that i'm told needed that are at the top of the list are onesies, bibs, and pacifiers...b/c once they get nasty you just throw em away, so you need a lot.


something else to think about are DIAPERS. my brother threw their friends a diaper party after the baby was born...that's all you brought, diapers sizes 2-4. the couple had enough diapers that they didn't have to buy any for months. diapers are expensive! talk about a penny saver for a young couple. i'd like to and am planning to throw one for both of our friends that are having january/february babies. it's cool cause it also got everyone together to meet the baby for the first time

9/19/2008 9:34:45 AM

as the proud new dad of an 11 week old boy...

kids don't really need toys for a while. clothes are a pretty safe bet.

clothes for a baby that are sized 6 months or over were much appreciated. This is partly because everyone gives newborn size clothes because they are "so cute", and partly because the kid can grow out of them basically right away. Mine is not yet three months and wears a lot of 6month sized onesies.

onesies are not quite as useful if your friends are using cloth diapers. shirt & pant sets cover all bases. oh also, if you find boy-specific stuff, try to find not-blue. it's a little ridiculous how much blue stuff we have for this kid even though we set out trying to avoid that.

Quote :

"We got my nephew this little "wee wee blocker." It's one of those extremely useful yet rarely gotten gifts. You put it over the baby's penis when you're changing him so that he doesn't hose you! Babies 'R Us had them."

this is a pretty good example of how much total bullshit there is in the baby products market. Do you really need a single purpose item whose job is so easily done by everyday things? You could use a dry washcloth, or another diaper. Seriously.

oh but one thing we used a lot was a swaddle-wrap sleep sack. This is a zip up sleep sack with a wrap with velcro closures that makes it about 1-2-3 to swaddle a baby, and won't come undone easily.

https://www.halosleep.com/

[Edited on September 19, 2008 at 10:12 AM. Reason : ..]

9/19/2008 10:10:34 AM

we were very lucky to have 3 baby showers and got pretty much everything we needed.

necessities include Diapers (get the jumbo boxes at Bjs, Sams club). The average infant goes through 8-12 diapers/day and it adds up.

Bibs - for drool, spit up, food.

Clothes - simple things such as onesies, pants, socks. I recommend buying 6 months. My daughter was 9.7 lbs and she started off in 3-6 month clothes. Don't waste money on expensive name brand clothes if they only wear them a few times. The Morrisville outlet mall has a CARTERs store. great place to buy baby clothes.

First aid kit and baby healthcare kit (thermometers, bulb aspirators, nail clippers, infant tylenol, gas aid med, A&D, etc...) I put together a basket of these necessities for a friend. Really useful stuff.

Vaporizer
night light
teethers
sippy cups (I like the 'Nubby' ones)
Steam sterilizer bags


[Edited on September 19, 2008 at 10:23 AM. Reason : h]

9/19/2008 10:22:11 AM

I'm trying to figure out where i can get ncsu stuff around charlotte ?

9/19/2008 10:27:58 AM

My little boy just turned 4 mos.

It really depends on the parents' likes/dislikes on what they used.

I am sure capncrunch and I probably used some of the same things, but we also liked/used very different things as well.

Clothes size 6 mo. and greater are a big plus. Most everything we received was newborn to 6 months and my little whopper is wearing 12 months now at only 4 mos old. The rest of the stuff he got that WAS 12 mos. was longed sleeved and it is still too warm for that.

We use the Avent Naturally bottles and have had to go buy lots of greater flow nipples because we only asked for the 1st stage. This gets expensive fast considering we have about 30 bottles in the cabinet that we cannot use.

NCSU baby stuff is great too.

But I would pick something off of their registry if it was me.

9/19/2008 10:47:29 AM

Quote :

"I'm trying to figure out where i can get ncsu stuff around charlotte ?"

In Raleigh, I found good selections at the mall sports memorabilia stores and cutesy boutique gift shops. Perhaps you could try similar stores in Charlotte.

9/19/2008 10:47:46 AM

there's a store in carolina place mall that has all college clothes, i'm sure they have baby stuff there.

9/19/2008 11:27:47 AM

Our twins are due in 6 weeks or less, and I have to say, there is nothing like getting a Babies R Us card.

Any of those that come in have allowed us to buy the necessities we didnt get at the showers, but we need to get before the babies get here.

Its been nice to get clothes and stuff, but to be honest, we are starting to feel its nicer to have a stack of gift cards for when they are born. That way when we need to go buy stuff we didnt expect or didnt plan on, its not going to destroy us in the wallet.

9/19/2008 12:07:55 PM

Bibs and burp cloths or cloth diapers. At 8 months old we are still using bibs and the burp cloths are still handy dandy.

It is nice to have some large clothes in the closet. Your kid will almost magically move from one size to the next in a single day. It's nice to not have to panic and run out to the store when your baby's clothes no longer fit.

That being said, we didn't have enough clothes that were SMALL enough for our son because everyone bought larger sizes. When my best friend called asking if he could bring us anything, I told him that we were in desperate need of Newborn Onesies.

We actually got some cute little tennis shoes and several baseball caps for our son. I would have never bought that kind of thing for a new baby, but he sure has heck wore it. The shoes actually kept his socks on during the chilly weather. And the caps served a dual purpose, they kept his head warm and when he was sleepy, I could pull the brim down over his eyes.

9/19/2008 12:32:13 PM

don't buy bottles unless they are the ones on the registry. We use the Avent bottles and people bought us other random (cheap) ones that we haven't touched.

9/19/2008 12:42:32 PM

yeah true.... i know about the non gender specific stuff... i have 2 nieces and probably know more about having a baby than they do since I'm their godfather and 2nd string baby sitter (behind their grandma).


I got the kid a newborn onesie and a 3-6 month overall-set and a good burb cloth.

[Edited on September 19, 2008 at 1:10 PM. Reason : .]

9/19/2008 1:10:31 PM

if anyone ever wants something funky/unique (though a little on the expensive side, but they have great sales) you should check out http://moxiekidsonline.com/

they're in cameron village. it is a kids' boutique. weird i know. but all the stuff is really cool and funky and hip and you can find interesting gifts there (clothing...no toys really). and they have amazing sales. probably not for everyday shopping (for most people anyway) but great for a unique clothing gift or maybe a special occasion outfit. it is locally owned by 2 moms so not a chain. i worked there so obviously i like it...but a lot of people don't know stores like that exist. i realize it is stupid to buy your kids overpriced clothes when they will grow out of them/ruin them but sometimes it is nice to have things that not everyone else has or a couple of special outfits.

plus they carry this brand http://www.teacollection.com/s.nl/sc.32/.f which IS pretty reasonably priced and really great. all cotton mix/match clothes for boys and girls 0months to 5/6 years old. all of the color schemes overlap from season to season so you can throw on like a summer dress with a shirt and leggings from fall.

just food for thought if anyone is having a baby or buying a baby gift in the near future. your gift will totally stand out if you get it from there

EDIT: when i say funky i mean they have cutsie (maybe too cutsie) things like this:


[Edited on September 19, 2008 at 2:06 PM. Reason : .]

9/19/2008 2:04:10 PM

DIAPERS

assorted sizes. one box of each.

9/19/2008 5:47:02 PM

Quote :

"Clothes size 6 mo. and greater are a big plus. Most everything we received was newborn to 6 months and my little whopper is wearing 12 months now at only 4 mos"

Quote :

"Clothes size 6 mo. and greater are a big plus. Most everything we received was newborn to 6 months and my little whopper is wearing 12 months now at only 4 mos"

Quote :

"Clothes size 6 mo. and greater are a big plus. Most everything we received was newborn to 6 months and my little whopper is wearing 12 months now at only 4 mos"

Quote :

"Clothes size 6 mo. and greater are a big plus. Most everything we received was newborn to 6 months and my little whopper is wearing 12 months now at only 4 mos"

9/19/2008 6:16:43 PM

Boppy Pillow and Organic Pillow cover

It is great when she is going to be feeding the baby.

9/19/2008 6:41:07 PM

http://www.particlezoo.net

9/19/2008 6:48:19 PM

OMG! Boppy NewBorn Lounger. I use that more than ANYTHING. Even more than the standard Boppy.

A Snuggle Nest or a Co-sleeper of some sort would be a great gift. A lot of parents do not think about co-sleeping or worry that it is not safe, but these make it so that you can safely sleep with your baby. It is a life safer when you're a new worried parent to have your little one right there with you.

I just ordered my little guy a bunch of stuff from American Apparel and I really like their clothes. They fit Silas really well and are sized to wear for a good long while with 6 month size ranges and such.

9/19/2008 7:43:48 PM

Quote :

"I'm trying to figure out where i can get ncsu stuff around charlotte ?"

i can mail you something if you need it. let me know.

joie just got a couple NCSU suits for other soon-to-be moms. i think she got them at kmart on western

9/19/2008 8:11:51 PM

you might want to try college park pharmacy and medical center pharmacy (belmont and gastonia). They are owned by 2 brothers, and I know for sure that medical center pharmacy has a essentially a college sports/mechandice store, and I would assume the college park does, too. Both are right off 85, so easy to get to.

9/19/2008 8:26:21 PM

Don't buy toys. Clothes are a much better gift.

It's also a good idea to buy clothes that are for the 3-6 month range rather than newborn. Babies grow fast and they'll appreciate having some clothes they can use later on rather than receiving a ton of newborn items that they'll burn through.

I second the NCSU gear. Also, if you go to the outlet mall near RDU, they have a Carter's outlet store there. You can get good baby clothes for CHEAP and the women that work there are super helpful. I was able to buy $75 worth of nice fleece clothing for my friend's baby for $20.

9/20/2008 7:05:51 AM

he's in charlotte........

9/20/2008 8:45:53 AM

boppys
bjorn baby carriers (FTW). when i was nannying, this was SUCH a huge help. see if someone will go in on it with you.

our vet office chipped in and bought the tech supervisor this:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku5279732/index.cfm?pkey=cspecialty%2Delectrics
she is so excited to use it.

9/20/2008 2:01:59 PM

Quote :

"boppys bjorn baby carriers "

Two of the most used baby items (for me at least). I still use the boppy everyday and it's very helpful for nursing. The carrier is very handy. I wore Madison everywhere when she was smaller. I preferred this over hauling out the stroller. My husband liked using it too.

9/20/2008 7:06:21 PM

^^ At first I thought it was an overpriced food processor but that's actually really cool

9/21/2008 5:17:39 AM

Quote :

"Organic Pillow cover"

organic? seriously?

9/21/2008 2:24:04 PM

The peepee teepee!

9/21/2008 2:53:44 PM

Those things are neat for those who aren't pros at changing diapers. I wish we had one the first time my husband changed a diaper. He left Silas uncovered a little too long and Silas ended up managing to pee on his own head.

9/21/2008 3:41:46 PM

They even have santa hat ones for Christmas time!

9/21/2008 3:50:52 PM

Baby blankets, can never have enough or gift cards so they can by diapers and such.

9/21/2008 5:40:56 PM

when I went to a baby shower this was apparently like pretty awesome among the moms. i didn't know what the hell it was.

9/22/2008 8:37:40 AM

http://www.hotslings.com/

these are awesome too if you are thinking about a baby bjornish type thing. i like these better because they are soft, you can carry in many different ways, there isn't a lot of excess stuff, and you can carry up to a toddler. but the problem with these is, they aren't exactly the greatest gift as the person really needs to try them on to get the correct fit. but they're awesome. comes with an instructional dvd.

9/22/2008 1:56:56 PM

Babies grow fairly quickly. It helps if you buy them some stuff that the baby can grow into. many people will provide onesies and stuff for the baby when it's born to six months, so yeah, year old stuff helps too

9/22/2008 2:03:06 PM

it'd be cool if they made clothes that would stretch from like 3 months to age 3

9/23/2008 3:42:41 PM

I love my Hotslings. I had one on the small size for Silas as a newborn and one on the larger side that I use now for the hip carry. I like a sling for every day use over a front carrier like the Baby Bjorn. The front carrier is more back friendly for longer hauls.

9/23/2008 4:37:31 PM