Free What to Expect the First Year by Heidi Murkoff Page B

better know your needs and your little one’s. (Though, consider registering for big ticket items anyway, even if you won’t need them right away—especially if you’re hoping friends and family will step up to the plate … and the high chair.) Decided to play the baby gender guessing game? Some stores will allow you to order your layette and not pick it up or have it delivered until after the baby is born—at which time you can specify the colors and patterns to make a more gender-specific statement, if you’re not a fan of neutral shades. But also remember, there’s no layette law that says girls can’t wear blue overalls and boys pink polos—or that a girl’s nursery can’t reach for the stars (and planets) and a boy’s can’t feature bunnies.
    â€¢ Be a baby-stuff borrower. You’re bringing home your own baby, of course, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring home some of your friend’s baby stuff. Or your cousin’s. Or your sister’s. Since babies need so much stuff (or really, parents need so much stuff to care for their babies), it makes sense—and saves dollars—to borrow what you can. All of the gear that really gets used will soon have a lived-in (or grown-out) look anyway, whether you borrow or buy new (that’s definitely true of clothes). Just keep in mind that safety regulations change and that you should check out any product for recalls or features that don’t meet current standards. A car seat is one item that’s definitely safest bought brand new.
A Buyer’s Guide
    Ready to lay out a bundle for your little bundle’s layette and nursery? It’s true that your tiny baby—who will arrive in the world equipped with nothing but a birthday suit—will be a whole lot more high-maintenance in the next 12 months than he or she was in the past 9. But before you get overwhelmed by the lists of clothes, supplies, gear, and furniture that follow, remember they’re just meant to guide you. Don’t feel compelled to buy (or borrow) everything on these lists, or everything on any registry or layette list—certainly not all at once. Your baby’s needs (and yours) will be unique and ever evolving (just like you and your baby).
    Wardrobe Wise
    The best thing about shopping for baby clothes: They’re so cute. The worst thing about shopping for baby clothes: They’re so cute. Before you know it, you’ve bought out the store (and then another store, and another store), and the nursery closet is jam-packed and the dresser drawers won’t close. And your baby has outgrown half of those oh-so-precious purchases before you even had a chance to unfold them for the first time. To avoid buy, buy, buying too much for baby, keep these practical pointers in mind as you finalize your layette list and head to the store or enter that portal:
    â€¢ Babies don’t mind wearing hand-me-downs. Fast-forward 7 or 8 years, and hand-me-down clothes may be a much tougher sell—but fashion ignorance is bliss for babies. Even if you’re a stickler for style, you’ll appreciate having even less-than-styling onesies and rompers standing by for those days when spit-up reigns, diapers leak … and the washer’s on the blink. Those hand-me-downs are a little worse for wear? That’s okay—the same will be true of the new clothes you’re shelling out those big bucks for by the second time baby wears them. So before you shoot down all those offers you may be lucky enough to get, consider just saying yes instead. And don’t forget to check off items borrowed or handed down before finalizing your list.
    â€¢ Laundry has a way of piling up. When calculating your needs, consider how many times a week you’ll be doing laundry. If you’ll be doing loads just about every day, you can buy the smallest suggested number of items on the list—and that goes for cloth