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Break the rules; these are remnants from a time when people lived in close communities and the new parents had to prep almost nothing. We don’t live in those communities anymore and don’t have that safety net of a neighbor/ cousin/ aunt bringing along stuff. It’s absolutely overwhelming when the new baby is here - on top of everything else, you don’t want to wait on Amazon deliveries. However if you still prefer to wait then I would advise at least to make a shopping cart on Amazon or a big chain like Target/ Walmart so you can just hit click.
Break the "rules" of you really don't want to put everything in your amazon cart and hit buy as you head to the hospital but you will need help getting them and setting up
My baby was born almost a month early and we had nothing. Once the baby arrived and was healthy, my husband and friends ordered a ton of stuff on Amazon: a pack n play was her crib initially (the crib we wanted was back ordered anyway), bottles, diapers, preemie clothes, boppy, wipes, etc. it arrived before we got home so he and my friends had time to set up the crib and rearrange our room to accommodate.
We were totally fine. As it turns out, once you have a few essentials, you have PLENTY of time to make online orders for the stuff you need while baby is feeding or sleeping. I placed many orders during the nighttime feedings. The delivery truck came about every day for 2 months.
The upside was that I avoided buying stuff I didn’t need. When I was pregnant, I put a bunch of stuff on a wishlist that ended up being gimmicky or not right for my baby. Less crap, more genuinely useful products.
Coach
I was just about to say this! My baby was born at 25 weeks so I had nothing either. Granted she had a long NiCU stay so we had time to buy stuff, but I second just buying the very basics and figure the rest out later.
My family is also superstitious, so they don’t throw a baby shower. However, I did get the essentials and set up before the baby was born. You have to be prepared. Less stress for you.
I can’t imagine waiting. I had my first 6 months ago and had everything set up and ready to go. He was 3 weeks early. The first 3-4 weeks were such a blur. He wanted to be feed about every 1.5-2 hrs and I was nursing so there was no time or energy to focus on anything but him. I had to have a c-section so that compounded everything. My husband even thanked me for having everything so well organized so he could easily step in for me. Of course not everyone’s experience or parenting style is the same so it is possible to not have anything ready but that wouldn’t fly for this momma.
Mentor
We bought the essentials and put them in our building’s storage. I was more superstitious of bringing things into my home. When I was in the hospital my husband and my dad went home and built the crib and put the stroller together, etc. I just kept telling myself you can prime almost anything.
Mentor
Or a cardboard box like they do in Scandinavia.
I would have the following on hand: a package of diapers, wipes, a crib or bassinet, and maybe two outfits. If you are thinking about formula feeding I would buy a tub of formula and two bottles at least. Actually I planned on breastfeeding and I got bottles and formula just in case I had issues and I’m glad I did. My son would not latch and my milk supply was so low for the first 3 weeks.
You can order everything else you need on Amazon and just put it in a wishlist and have your partner buy it all the day if delivery and you can get it in the next day or day after delivered to you.
I’m in the camp of only buying the essentials. Diapers, sleeper pjs, bassinet (we used a pack n play), car seat. We hit submit on an on-line order from the hospital. I think we may not have had the car seat yet since baby was two weeks early. We received gifts ahead of time since only I was from one of those types of cultures. You can’t ever be prepared enough anyway.
I broke the rules. I really don’t subscribe to “luck” when it comes to babies or parenting. I also belong to a culture that considers it bad luck to shop ahead of time, and I’ll be honest - my family didn’t like it. But they got over it!
Exactly this! There are so many unknowns and things beyond our control when it comes to babies, it's silly not to do the few things that are within our control.
Coach
Load everything into your Amazon cart
So "buying" things in advance is bad luck, but shopping on Amazon and putting things on Wish List is OK (as long as you don't hit "purchase" button before the baby is born)?
I don't understand how this "cultural" thing really works.
Can somebody explain?
It’s emotional not logical.
We shopped whatever was necessary for baby before birth, and yes I belong to a culture where buying stuff before birth is considered bad omen. Once the baby is born your sole focus is going to be on managing the baby, if its just the two of you managing without any family or external help then its even difficult with all the cooking, food, chores etc. I would suggest atleast getting things that you would need within 2 weeks from the time baby is born.
Enthusiast
Same / similar cultural background here. I'll be putting things into my Amazon cart starting the 7th month but won't be purchasing till like 9.5
I’m Jewish and we don’t like to celebrate the baby before she comes because it’s considered sort of bad luck. But I was pregnant alllll pandemic and we really didn’t have much of a choice about getting stuff before she came because there’s no way that we could have gotten everything in time after. So we got the necessary essentials and we created a registry for the “fun stuff” and all our family and friends sent the fun stuff after the baby was born. Some close family/friends did get us some of the essentials so we didn’t have the entire financial burden of it, but we didn’t do any kind of shower or anything. So we looked at it as though we were preparing for her, but not celebrating her (at least until after she came).