Should you buy baby stuff before being pregnant?

[DoubleK]

personally, im not sure if i would or not - we had a surprise pregnancy, so i never went through the emotions of TTC...

if you were to buy things, i would probably stick to neutral clothing (singlets/bodysuits/long sleeve jumpsuits etc in white, yellow, green..) or maybe some blankets, toys, bathroom stuff (baby bath, baby shampoo, sorbolene etc)
i probably wouldnt but anything like playgyms, furniture, car seats, prams etc...

i would keep in mind what you might do with these things if you were to never actually use them.. (please dont take that in a bad way and its not directed at you personally, as i wish you all the best with TTC! but i would worry how it might feel having baby stuff everywhere,if there were any complications etc)

but in the end, its your choice, you may find it helps you!!

good luck with everything!

[Arimeh]

Personally, I wouldn't buy anything at all - I hate buying things even when I am pregnant - just in case!!!!!
I know my sister brought heaps and heaps and heaps of boxes of breast pads before the birth of her third child, who was unfortunately a stillborn. I know that it hurt her greatly to come home and see all those, without a baby. Thats probably why I am hesitant to buy anything!!
Having said that, we have a friend who brought absolutely EVERYTHING - furniture, rockers, clothes, EVERYTHING.. and wasn't yet pregnant. I think it took her about 6 months pregnant and I think her beautiful little girl is now 9 months old....
Each to their own - if you want to buy, buy away!!!!
Good luck with your TTC journey. I hope its a short one for you.

[rainbow_girl_1]

Personally i wouldnt........as much as i want to i still wouldnt. We have plenty of time whilst we are actually pregnant to buy things. Like you said, its like buying wedding stuff before your even engaged.......but if you want to go for it, each to their own. Goodluck on your journey with TTC

[briggsy's girl]

i'd be a bit like the other ladies - very reluctant to buy before i'm pg - and i guess being a long-termer, i can related to how much harder it has been - and having baby stuff around would make it so much worse. My brother and SIL actually gave us heaps of baby things (basinet, bath, change mats etc) - and after over two years of trying, when a young friend was pregnant, i handed them to her to get them out of the house. she asked recently if we'd like to go and pick them up again as her baby had outgrown them - i told her to give them to charity as i just can't handle them being here at the moment! it will mean added expense one we're pregnant - but a few extra dollars is a whole lot easier to cope with than pain everytime i go into the spare room....

if finances are what your partner is concerned about, maybe have a think about setting up a "baby account" - work out what you'd be spending on baby stuff each week or fortnight if you were to layby or purchase them, and put it into a seperate bank account - then when you are pg, you can go and get everything - or leave it in the bank, spend that same amount each fortnight, and you have an emergency "kitty" for when bubs arrives - i'm sure there will be lots of unexpected little expenses when bubs gets here! the other thing in doing this is that it makes sure you don't purchase stuff you think is "cute" now, but realise in a year when your baby arrives that something else is much cuter, or more suited to what you want! you don't want to be sick of something before bubs even has a chance to use it!

[Lulu]

I don't either, but don't forget you end up with so much stuff from friends and family anyway...

[Sophia73]

I wouldn't recommend buying stuff. Remember you do get given a lot of things and it's worth waiting to see what you really need to buy - there is a lot of wastage when it comes to baby things that you never really use. I would also be aware of what others here have said re: painfulness of looking at a lot of baby gear if you are having trouble conceiving or (as in my case) have miscarriages or a stillborn.

That said we had a pair of bootees given to us which were sort of like our "good luck charm" through our early pregnancy. I had them on my bedside table throughout the pregnancy. I also bought one little suit when I was in early pregnancy as a kind of affirmation that this little one would be with us soon.

[BekZ]

Before we conceived DD1 I actually bought a cot and change table from my friend who was going overseas to live. I felt really silly buying baby stuff but I knew that we were going to ttc in the following months and my friend needed to get rid of her baby stuff. Thankfully we conceived DD1 very easily and I had a perfect pregnancy. I then suffered 2 miscarriages when ttc DD2.

Now personally after going through 2 m/c's I would not buy anything!!! I guess I just could not stand having baby stuff around and no baby to put in it.