Baby gear shopping advice when in Germany with the US Military?
My hubby and I found out that we are expecting but will be moving to Germany with the US military in two months. Will we be able to buy the same things like crib and bedding, or stroller and car seat in Germany?
I know target and walmart only ship light things like clothes and every time I look I can’t even ship a car seat or craddle! Aafes, I am not too sure about the availability of things in the store, I remember it to be little (but i know they have bunch of cloth). I am more concerned primarily about the gear and nursery.
What are your experiences? Do you suggest getting some things here in the US and add them to our shipment, or are we going to be able to get things there via Aafes online?
What posts are good and have a large collection of all the things we are going to need?
Thanks for the help.
Congrats on expecting! I’m currently in Germany and just had my little one. There’s lots of places top buy baby things!!! I bought my crib on the economy and you can buy stuff in the stars and stripes also the PX has alot of things for baby and AFFES online will ship things to you over here. We got almost everything over here, the only thing we had shipped were clothes from the baby shower my family had for us. It’s not too bad and you can email me for more info and let me know where you are going to be stationed and I’ll give you more info. Good Luck
yes you should we moved over to spain and trust me everything is better online and i wish i could of bought stuff in the states now iam pg with my third and dont have nothing i have been finding it hard to shop over here if you can get all the baby gear you can maybe germany may have a lill more selection than spain but price wise you are gonna save alot plus the shipping and handling is what kills us well good luck and better to have you stuff already than going to germany and then not finding what you want
Hi! I’m 7 months pregnant, and my husband is stationed here in Germany! The AAFES isn’t too bad. They have a nice catelog where you can have things shipped to the store nearest you. That is what we are doing for our crib. There choices are not to bad, you can go online and check out what they have to make sure you can get what you want. Depending on where you will be stationed, some stores have more ‘in store’ products than others. It is difficult to get some stores to ship heavy items to an APO shipping address. So, if there is something in particular that you are wanting and it is not on the AAFES website, then I would buy it and have it shipped from there.
Hope this helps!
Quite honestly the Bx/PX sucks. AAFES as a whole sucks… and you will come to learn that fast… their is no variety at all. I’m sure germany has much more than where I am at, but I could be wrong. Ebay has become my best friend.
the only thing i bought on a base was a double stroller. i’m sorry I can’t give you better information but living overseas and having to shop either off base or in an AAFES is a very trying way of life.
I had a baby overseas too. Be prepared to share a room once you give birth…. there are no private rooms, you also share a bather room between 4 people.
Can’t comment on the specific availability to military personnel, but the last I heard, Germany is a first-world country whose population actually use things like cribs and strollers and car seats, and wear clothes
The brands may be different, but the quality won’t be (and for things like car seats you can be sure that they will comply with local laws and fit the car you have there). If you want to buy things from English-language civilian online sites rather than locally, you might find it cheaper to buy from the UK than the US because the shipping will be less.
My friend liz and her huband live in germany…they are also in military!!!!! They live in stugart. She buys everything online. They have had one child born over there, and are now going to have another one. She says that the big stores on the millitary base sells alot of stuff at really cheap prices. Such as cribs and stuff. I think it best to wait till you get there to see. Also when they first went over they lived on 4th floor with No elavater!!! so that may play a factor in wich strollers you buy…a big heavy one or a light weight one. Hope it was a little help. ps if you see my friend liz tell her i said hello lol
The PX should have everything you need. And also if you shop outside the base you will find basically every baby item you would find in the US, too. Although I don’t know if it would be a wise choice to go off base for shopping considering the unfavorable Euro/$ exchange rate.
You will find a lot of the same items in Germany. They may be a little more expensive in some cases, but at least the movers will not ruin it when you purchase it over there.
Car seats are the same, too. Britax in Germany is called Roemer. Go to a Baby One store to find everything you need. You will love the clothing there. C&A is a clothing store that has a great selection. Or go to ToyrRUs in Germany – they sell a lot of the same stuff you see here: http://toysrus.de/
Be aware: some sizes will be different, such as crib mattresses, bedding, etc. I highly recommend getting a German travel bed/ play pen – the long version. It is a lot longer than the normal Graco version you get here in the US and will last longer, since the little one will not outgrow it as quickly. My three year old still uses it. The cribs may be a little different size, but just get some extra sheets before you return to the US. You will be in Germany for at least three years, so you may as well get the stuff there and sell it again once your little one outgrows it. I personally believe that the quality there is better. My daughter is a dual-citizen born in the US and I always give Grandma a list of items to bring. Oh, my favorite kid clothing store that offers high quality stuff for excellent prices is Ernstings Family – their site is currently being updated, so check it out in a few days, so you can get the addresses of the closest store to your post. http://www.ernstings-family.de/html/efIndex.html
I personally do not like the stuff AAFES sells, so you may want to get a few items here and there, but get the majority of the other items off post. And don’t be shy, try to communicate in English, use your hands and feet and maybe there is a German club on post and a German lady can go with you to help. Good luck!
I am actually currently pregnant and my husband and I are stationed in Germany. You can find some cribs in the stores if you go to places such as I know Ramstein has some but so far thats about all I have found. We have also had issues with finding maternity clothes in the bx/px’s so be prepared to look on the economy or order in for that. We haven’t found any cribs in the affordable range you can get through wal mart yet that suits what we want for the small living space we were given. AAFES online shopping didn’t provide us any more help from that either so now we are trying to keep an eye out on the bookoo sites and stars and stripes in hopes to find something to settle on that we can revamp ourselves. I know we personally have not been impressed with the selections we have been provided over here and not everybody can afford to buy on the economy since we have noticed how a lot of it is marked the same price as the states only in euro so its actually costing you more. Again though if you aren’t as set in your ways with a specific idea you might have more luck than we are.