Were you upset when people bought you things that were not on your registry?

Question

I'm going to a baby shower on Friday. My husband’s brother’s girlfriend. Anyway, we are pretty tight on money since we just got married and bought a house. We wanted to get her something off her registry that was in the $20-30 range. All they registered for was really expensive things! Like car seats and strollers?! What happened to bibs and onesis? Were you upset when receiving things not on your registry? Because I'm thinking of getting her a cute outfit. I'm sorry, but I'm not buying her a 99-dollar baby monitor!

Answer 1

No,I was not upset. The registry is a guideline - basically I was telling people that if they wanted to buy a stroller then 'this is the one I want'. I only received 4 items from my registry and liked only one of them. It turns out that you don't need everything that you think you do and many of the guests at the shower probably will have learned this on their own in the past. I received many useful items that I never thought I would use (along with some beautiful handmade quilts and afghans to keep as treasures).
Make a gift basket of the smaller things they will need. Find out if the mom will be formula feeding or breastfeeding - provide appropriate items for that choice, or a bath buddy - not just soaps and lotions, add bath toys. Also include any related coupons that you might come across.
If you buy clothes for the baby, stay away from newborn items, buy them too big. I'm sure she will be receiving lots of cute, newborn clothing and this kid will grow - fast. It would be great to have something put aside for that overnight growthspurt (and it can happen just like that).

Answer 2

I think buying her an outfit or receiving blankets or something like that should be fine. If she gets mad that you bought her an outfit or blankets, then I think that's pretty shallow, especially since babies are so expensive to begin with, and having extra clothes and blankets is a real blessing. Maybe you could get an idea from the registry, (like, oh she likes this color pattern of stroller, so this outfit is in those colors,) but not everyone can be expected to purchase a big ticket item. Maybe you could also do something like a package of newborn size diapers. There are also lovely little gift packs of baby soaps, or baby memory books and albums if she likes those things.

As a mom, I'm grateful for all the gifts I receive.

Answer 3

It's sad to say, but people buy way too many clothes for newborns and all those cute outfits only look good hanging in the closet. Most people end up getting rid of clothes with tags still attached or stuff that only got wore once. My daughter mostly wore sleepers and onesies.
If you can't affort anything big, no problem. The small functional stuff is best. Make a gift basket full of stuff they will actually need and use. Like diapers, wipes, bath stuff, bottle scrubbers, etc.. This stuff you know they'll need. Also, I really wanted a boppy which I didn't get, cuz I got tons of clothes instead!

Answer 4

I wasn't upset at all when people bought stuff that wasn't on my registry. I liked getting everything that i needed and people bought stuff that I didn't think i would need and I ended up using it. She should have registered for things with a range of prices for everyone. That's what I did. and you don't have to have a $99 monitor. I think mine was $30 and it works just fine. I love it in fact. You can never have enough baby clothes either. I got a lot of those and I even got hand me downs so now my daughter has enough clothes for a year and a half without me buying any. She should be grateful for what she gets. Good luck!

Answer 5

Let me share my experience with this. I registered online and at a store for everything we needed, including some expensive things. I did not expect that everyone would get us some expensive thing nor did I get upset when I didn't get everything we wanted. I will say that useful gifts are the best ones. Everyone gets clothes for the baby because they are cute but it is also fun for the parents to do that themselves. Let me suggest the best parenting tool known to man as a gift. If she is breastfeeding, get her a Boppy. It's a nursing pillow but can also be used for other things. Every baby store has them and there are a ton of cute covers to choose from. Diapers are an excellent (and always needed) gift. Find our if she's using washable or disposable and go from there. Another great inexpensive gift is a baby record book which is sort of like a journal that follows them through the first couple years of life. Any book store probably has that. Hope this helped. Remember EVERYONE gets clothes.

Answer 6

Buy her whatever you want. The baby will need clothes, even bath products. As far as I am concerned, it would be one less thing I would have to go and buy myself. If you end up with six bottles of shampoo, oh well, pass it on to the next shower holder or consider yourself stocked up. If you have kids, buy her something you found useful when they were babies.

A gift is a gift. It should not be an extortion attempt. You shouldn't expect shower guests to buy the larger more expensive items you need for baby. Most shower gifts seem to be those little items you need a lot of like bibs, onzies, clothes, bottles and blankets. Make sure you include a gift receipt. If she doesn't like your gift or it is a duplicate, she can exchange it.

Answer 7

At first I was going to answer yes but after reading the rest of your question I say get them what you want. The only reason I got upset with the whole registry thing was people kept asking me what I wanted for my baby. I registered and told them that. (I registered in all price ranges) I only got like 2 things on my registry and like 5 diaper bags. I ended up returning most of the gifts (at least the ones I could return) and I gave the rest away to others who needed them.

If your friend only registered for high dollar amounts then she should expect to get things not on her registry. My suggestion is get her a box of diapers. It was one of my favorite gifts and it is something you know she will need.

Answer 8

You could go in with some other people on one big gift. Or you can get some cute little necessities. if this is their first child, they're going to need all the basics! They're just being hopeful by registering for that stuff. They'll figure out pretty quickly that if you don't give people a range of prices to choose from, you won't get anything.

At my baby shower, we got mostly toys and cute, fun stuff. But nothing much that was really "useful". That's tough 'cause now we have to go out and buy it ourselves.

Answer 9

I totally was when it was things like a blanket. I mean how many blankets does one child need??? Mine got 18, and I had some hand-me-downs. But at least my freind gave me the reciept. Cute Outfits I loved, especially stuff in 3-6 month size, because my guy grew so fast, and it was good to have thigns to grow into. I also LOVED my friend who gave me a new laundry basket filled with diapers, wipes, onesies (never enough) birp cloths(never enough) powder lotion etc. It was so nice to have those things and not have to run out and get them. Just give the gift reciept so she can exchange for things she may need ot the next size of diapers if alot of people had the same idea.

Answer 10

I didn't have a registry when I was pregnant. The BEST thing I received was diapers. In the rush to get all the things needed, some people forget how important those are! I'd get her a package of newborn diapers and a cute little outfit. If she gets pissed because it wasn't on her list, oh well. It's the thought that counts!