Registry question from a first-time pregnant lady...

[buko]

I figured this would be the group to ask!

A couple of quick questions based on discussions in my DDC and on diaperswappers...

1) How much did you get from your registry, if you had one (especially curious about your first)?

2) If not (or not so much), what did you get as gifts?

3) If you registered for cloth diapers, did anyone actually buy any for you?  Did you get lots of sposies even if you don't use them?

4) If you stayed Team Green, did you find that cut back on clothing gifts (at least before the baby was born)?

Thanks for any insight!

[phathui5]

Many of the gifts we got were from our registry. We got a few things that I hadn't registered for. The unexpected things that I liked, we used; the things that I wasn't comfortable with (like Johnson's baby lotion) got returned to Target.

I didn't register for cloth diapers, as we're using the "better" disposable ones.

[rtjunker]

One person bought from my registry, so it felt like a waste of time, except that it did help me narrow down what I really needed for baby. Most people really just wanted to buy adorable baby clothes, it's what certain friends enjoyed buying so...I also requested hand me downs and homemade items. I happen to have a group of friends that also cloth diaper, babywear, and such, so I ended up with some great stuff from them, glass bottles, cloth diapers, better disposables, and lots of hand me down carriers, diaper bag, and clothes enough for the first 2 years. I returned a ton of stuff, kept what I could use, and regifted what didn't suit me, but would work for someone else.

[LilyTiger]

We were Team Green and we got a fair amount of clothes, all in nice neutral colors.  We also got some of the cloth diapers we registered for, but not all.  Overall, we got a ton of stuff of our registry, though to be fair it was pretty minimal.  I think what helped us was not putting any clothes on the registry.  If you want something really specific (like a particular type of swaddle), put it on there, but otherwise we left clothes off and that sort of encouraged people to look at the other stuff that was there.  And of course, people still got us lots of stuff that wasn't on there, which I liked.  We did get a few packs of newborn dipes from people, which was actually pretty helpful at the beginning since DH was still getting used to cloth (as was I).

[SGJLR26]

I received almost my entire registry, everything except a baby gate.

I only received the diapers I registered for, I was stocking up from early on when I saw the brands I trusted on sale.

I knew what I was having and I got a ton of clothing..a ton, even still at 14 months I'm working off things I got before she was born.  I didn't register for any clothing at all, just the basics and then I got a few calls from aunts about how there wasn't enough on the registry so I went and added more(we have big families)  Toys, books, more diapers. I took back anything I didn't think we would use.

[SGJLR26]

I received almost my entire registry, everything except a baby gate.

I only received the diapers I registered for, I was stocking up from early on when I saw the brands I trusted on sale.

I knew what I was having and I got a ton of clothing..a ton, even still at 14 months I'm working off things I got before she was born.  I didn't register for any clothing at all, just the basics and then I got a few calls from aunts about how there wasn't enough on the registry so I went and added more(we have big families)  Toys, books, more diapers. I took back anything I didn't think we would use.

[Zirconia]

I got quite a bit from my registry - bedding, cloth diapers, swaddles, cups, etc.  Maybe I'm just nuts, but I ended up with "buyer's remorse" over most of it, even returned some of the items I'd registered for!  Registering totally stressed me out.  I really wanted to focus on enjoying my pregnancy and loved poking around resale shops for little treasures to stash away.  People kept asking me, "What are you doing your nursery in?"  I finally picked an owl theme just to appease the masses.  :)  Then baby's born, and she has her own needs and preferences that threw my preconceived notions right out the window anyway!

I did get quite a few cloth diapers, even from people who didn't know how they worked.  Also one "diaper cake" (those tiered shower decorations) made of disposables, but the cloth diaper registry pretty much clued everyone in not to buy packs of 'sposies..  My favorite gifts were handmade items, knitted items, cute clothing, artwork, books, and hand-me-downs.  Pretty much the things you can't register for!

My generation ordered stuff off Amazon (great for cloth diapers!), and my mom's generation preferred a brick-and-mortar store.  I had three small showers, and at each of them at least somebody (like the hostesses or grandparents) wanted to get a "big-ticket" item, like a quilt or car seat.  Acquaintances often went in together on a gift.  I'd say the showers were about 50/50 registry items and other gifts.

[buko]

Great input, thanks!