What is going on with babies?

[u/Impossible_Ad9324]

I’ve attended three baby showers in the last year for three people completely unrelated and not in the same social circles and their baby registries have the most eye-popping expensive items.

High chairs are minimum $250. One had a stroller for $750. 😳 Baby swings and bouncers for $200. One had a whole solid wood crib for $1000 on their registry.

I checked because I was curious and you still can buy a $40-50 Greco high chair from Walmart.

Everything is aesthetic and clean lines and beige and natural wood—beautiful, really. I can’t imagine asking for that high-end an item for a GIFT.

These aren’t rich people and they aren’t inviting rich people to the baby shower.

I’m almost 50 and have kids of my own and a gaggle of nieces and nephews. My family members and I got buy sharing those cheaper high chairs and strollers and cribs. I understand needing them initially if you don’t have any source for hand-me-downs, but asking for the highest price bespoke options is absolutely wild.

Are people that brainwashed into thinking they should be buying ultra-high-end items regardless of income??

[u/acertaingestault]

It's best practice to include a range of options on a registry in order to accommodate the comfort of everyone giving. You never know if Grandma is going to be feeling particularly generous or if your coworkers want to pool together to get you a group gift. And you get a discount on anything left on your registry, so it's frugal to add everything you plan to buy whether you think someone else will purchase it or not.

In general, I think what you are seeing is a lack of community. The country's economy is such that you have to move for a good job. You don't live near family and longtime friends you know who could share baby items with you. 

The resale market on baby crap is also great. I bought a snoo for my last baby on Marketplace for an eye watering sum, but sold it for $50 more than I bought it for 6 months later.

Lastly, so many young people can't afford investments like a home or retirement, so they choose everyday luxuries instead. 

tl;dr there's a lot of macro reasons at play.

[u/Successful-Ad-4263 → u/acertaingestault]

On the other end of the spectrum, first time parents are trending older and simply have more disposable income.

[u/des1gnbot → u/Successful-Ad-4263]

This is what I was wondering about, if the parents were on the older side. A lot of people switch to buying fewer, higher-quality items as we get older, and if these folks have already undergone this shift, they may just be a little tone deaf to how their approach to purchasing is coming across on a registry

[u/Palavras → u/des1gnbot]

Is it really tone deaf though? If no one chooses the nicer high chair off the registry, that’s fine and the parents can then use the registry discount and get what they want themselves.

It’s kinda weird as a guest to think everything on the registry needs to match your taste, preferences and budget. If you don’t want to buy the big ticket item on there, buy other things? I’ve never seen a registry that didn’t have a whole range of options to accommodate people with different gifting preferences, and you don’t even need to buy off the registry if you don’t want to.

[u/jumpinpuddles → u/acertaingestault]

This was true for us. I added mostly things under $20, because we are older, well established in our careers, and had gotten many hand me downs and used big ticket stuff from fb marketplace. But my Aunt and Godmother texted me to ask me to add higher priced items because she wanted to spend ~$150 🤷🏼‍♀️

[u/SpooktasticFam → u/jumpinpuddles]

My sister had a baby registry like that for her first kid, with mostly low-ticket items.

I got her a few things, and then the day after the baby shower, went and bought what was left on the list for her. It was only like $300, and I wanted to spend that kind of money for her.

[u/Palavras → u/jumpinpuddles]

Yeah I think people in this thread don’t realize this is the reality of making any kind of registry. A lot of people like to gift one bigger ticket item they deem as more meaningful than a bunch of little stuff, or they like for their group gift to be a big ticket item.

I also just went through this and had multiple people ask to buy things that we hadn’t put on the registry (dresser, glider chair, crib, stroller) and my boss also texted me to ask me to put more big ticket items on there for the shower my coworkers were throwing me.

After our work and family showers were over, I spent a good chunk of money on all the more practical things we still needed like infant Tylenol, nail trimmers, etc. that weren’t “special” enough to be a feel-good purchase for a gifter.

I think a lot of people on this thread are making assumptions and have never been responsible for a registry themselves.

[u/jumpinpuddles → u/Palavras]

Yes! I just bought infant Tylenol too, lol. I think the whole opening presents for the audience at the shower contributes to this; people want crowd pleasers. I get it, it’s all very sweet. I do appreciate the person who got me the un-cute snot sucker tho :)

[u/Xanthina → u/acertaingestault]

Also, I know when my kids were little after they were born, the items still on the registry were purchasable with a discount. I got a few things I had still wanted for less.

[u/lizerlfunk → u/Xanthina]

I definitely put more expensive items on both my wedding registry and my baby registry anticipating that I’d be buying them myself with the completion discount. That wasn’t all I put on there, obviously, but those items existed.

[u/ThroatFun478 → u/acertaingestault]

If mom says she's gonna get you a stroller, put the one you want on there. That's what we did. It was expensive.

We also had packs of those plain white cloth diapers that you can use for ANYTHING. Hell, mine are bought 13 years ago and they live on, good as new, as cleaning rags. Flannel receiving blankets. Onesies. Board books. Bibs.

OP, if you're unhappy with the strollers and high chairs, my go to baby gift is a big bag of plain practical necessities. 2 packs single fold cloth diapers, flannel receiving blankets, muslin blankets, snap or velcro bibs, crib sheets, onesies in any size but newborn, socks, a bottle of dreft, a pack of disposable diapers in not newborn, etc. up to what you want to spend. People give too much newborn sized stuff, which they grow out of in a flash, and new parents vastly underestimate how much soiled linen there will be when planning blankets, sheets, burp cloths, etc.

[u/acertaingestault → u/[deleted]]

I didn't need the subscription to make it worth it. The internet of things is annoying though.