This might sound silly, but I'm wondering if I should 'match' the things I'm purchasing such as swing/carseat/stroller/play-yard, with the same pattern? Since I'm a new mom, we are buying everything from scratch and I have that option, I'm confused.
I think it's what ever you prefer. I went with a pattern that would match my living room/kitchen for the highchair, pack-n-play, & swing. Since that's where we have the stuff. I didn't want it to scream "baby" so I went with something that blended well. I loved the pattern so much I got the travel system in the same pattern which also matches my cars interior!
My living room/kitchen has a lot of red, so here's the pattern we chose.
In 2004, I matched all my items and I kind of regretted it once I had the baby and began actually noticing what other moms were using.
If I were to do it all over again, I would buy based on which piece of baby gear had the features I would like.
By the time your baby turns into a toddler, you might be overloaded with a bunch of things that don't match anything (except primary colors!), so consider quality over matching. Like a high chair that is easy to clean or isn't bulky in a small kitchen or a play yard with or without a diaper stacker and full bassinet. I will say though, all my matching stuff was from Graco, and it's pretty good quality. What I don't like is that depending on the pattern, one pack n play might have more bells and whistles than the one that matches the stroller you like best, you know?
I found those online reviews on babiesrus.com pretty helpful, I think Target.com has a few reviews too.
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