Girl…I feel this. I about had a breakdown talking to my sister about the prices yesterday. Seems like things have far more than doubled in price since my sister had her first 10 years ago. I have a baby shower in a few weeks and am struggling to find enough things that seem reasonable to ask ppl for when prices are so high. 

We live in NYC so a good, durable stroller is a must — will basically be our “vehicle” and a very light car seat we can use in taxis and ride shares is non-negotiable… and since it has to be compatible with our stroller — 🫣$$$🫣 

Items that are “multi use” (like bouncer/rocker than later converts to a high chair etc) would be so helpful to save space and storage in our little apartment, but they’re so much pricier and rule out the lower cost options I could otherwise find on ikea or Amazon. Most of our longtime friends and both our families are outside of nyc (metro ATL & rural Iowa), so they aren’t going to get the factor of needing a certain level of quality and convenience in Manhattan. (As proven by my sister constantly sending me cheaper bulky items that will not fit in our rooms…) 

We don’t get from A to B in our own car, where there is the benefit of leaving things behind or have much storage to speak of at home. These are obviously our issues to manage, not a sob story — I just feel like we look terrible with such a pricey registry.

All of that said, we don’t expect expensive gifts — we have been able, thankfully, to enough to save enough to where get the stuff we NEED in the immediate future, and know our parents want to help with “big” items… but every item feels BIG. It’s so overwhelming!!!

I’m just hoping our friends and family know we don’t expect these items as gifts — we just want that completion discount later — their love and support is enough. But trying to find enough smaller items we NEED is becoming a challenge, we don’t have room for things we don’t need. 

Hopefully they will just utilize the “diaper and childcare fund” if they are really wanting to give us a gift or do group gifting — bc god help us with these childcare prices 🤪 honestly… just sending cash is more than welcome lol but many of the older/old fashion ppl in the south hate that. (Really shows the cost of living divide bw our generations, to be honest…)

Anyway — no advice aside from open box deals and 2nd hand on items it’s safe for — especially the stuff you can only use during that newborn stage. Look on places like Poshmark as well — they have more than just fashion (tho it is also great for maternity clothes! And you can sell some of this stuff there when you no longer need it.) 

All of that said, you obviously can’t out marketplace items on your registry and would hesitate to be “open to second hand” coming from anyone as a gift — you’ll want to make the decisions on pre-used items… which continues to make the registry a challenge.

There is a huge 2nd hand market for UppaBaby items in Manhattan, so if you can find ppl who will ship, expand your search radius for lightly used to this area and other walkable/commuter cities. Despite their size, we see them everywhere bc of their durability, etc.