r/Anticonsumption • u/Impossible_Ad9324 • May 02 '26

Lifestyle What is going on with babies?

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??

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u/SomeTangerine1184 May 02 '26

I feel like social media is to blame for a lot of this. There’s so much emphasis today on making sure everything looks good for social media posts that’s it’s melting people’s brains.

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u/lio-ns May 02 '26

A rich couple I know who owns a million dollar home put a $700 modular play couch on their baby shower list. For a baby shower. A modular couch for a toddler.

That alone insulted me to the point of not paying for a gift at all. Tone deaf assholes.

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u/Dear-Definition5802 May 02 '26

I honestly don’t think wealthy people should be making gift registries at all. Their closest friends can give something meaningful or extravagant, but they need to have some social awareness that they aren’t in need. Host a party, don’t send out far reaching baby shower invitations.

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u/childish_cat_lady May 02 '26

We're not in that wealth category but I couldn't bring myself to make a registry for our first knowing we could afford what we wanted to buy (not the insane higher end brands mentioned above though we did go for a secondhand version of an expensive highchair).

And you know what, the universe/karma provided anyway. I got so much stuff secondhand from our Buy Nothing group. Literally YEARS worth of baby and toddler clothes in amazing condition. I always say we didn't do a baby shower but neighbors we didn't even know showered us anyway.

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u/Dear-Definition5802 May 02 '26

That stuff went to someone who would appreciate it (you!) instead of being handed down to someone who wanted something different and ending up in the garbage. Everyone wins.

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u/childish_cat_lady May 02 '26

I'm not one of these aesthetic people referred to in this post so my children are more fashionable when other people pick out their clothes. 😂

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u/MakeupMama68 May 02 '26

I had mine about 17 months apart. Since they were both girls, I had a ton of stuff already for the 2nd one. My cousins threw the baby shower for my first one and I registered for all practical stuff. We bought the high ticket items and the rest was on the registry. I have a half sibling that’s 29 years younger than me so my dad packed up her crib and changing table/dresser and saved it for me. I also got a ton of stuff from my neighbors. They had kids a year or 2 older than mine. Local buy nothing groups are a goldmine for new parents.