It may not come as surprise but I get a lot of questions about baby registries. From friends and strangers alike. I almost get too excited to share my thoughts and suggestions that sometimes I have to rein myself in. One of the fundamental reasons I started The Wise Baby was to help mama’s and papa’s to be with their registry. So I thought it may be helpful to round up some of the tips I share with my friends, family and all of you sweet readers that send me personal emails. Hopefully these eight tips make your baby registering process easier! Tell me, do you have any tips to share?
1. Do not be overwhelmed. I know, impossible but seriously take a few deep breaths, gather your thoughts and you’ll be fine. If you register for nothing else, put the “essentials” listed below on your registry. The “add later” can all be well, added later! To be clear, I am not saying you do no need the items listed as nice to have but they are not necessary for the first few weeks of parenthood. Many of these are often the hardest decisions to make so holding off putting these on your registry will definitely ease the process. Basically, you add the essentials, request gift cards as shower gifts and/or add additional items to your registry after you have had a chance to soak in this whole baby gear thing. I wish I would have taken my own advice here. I would have definitely chosen different items had I taken some time to soak it all in and waited until after Eloise was born to make some purchases (specifically, the infant seat and stroller(s)).
2. Think about your space and lifestyle and choose accordingly. If you are tight on space look for products that are space saving and serve more than one purpose. Our Suburban Baby Registry Guide and Urban Baby Registry Guide are great places to look to see the difference between the two types of products. All are Wise Baby approved for superior function but some fit their respective lifestyles more than others. This is an important to take into consideration when taking recommendations from people on what products to get. If you’re in a 1,000 SF city apartment taking advice from your 2,500 SF suborn living friend is not all that helpful!
3. Register neutral. Sure some patterns are fun but for the larger, longer lasting pieces of gear (think pack n play, stroller, car seat, etc) choose patterns that fit your style but are still neutral. This way you can use them for years to come and with additional children.
4. Don’t think the most expensive is always better. Not that you would… but I know I went through a phase when registering and when I didn’t know I would just gravitate towards the most expensive because it has to be the best, right? WRONG! Perfect example, the $40 Moby Wrap is one of my favorite products and it is most definitely not the most expensive carrier option.
5. If you aren’t sure what to register for choose a well respected brand. In more cases than not choosing a major brand like Graco, Chicco or 4moms or another are a good bet. These companies are known for the quality and well respected in the industry.
6. Take everyones recommendations with a grain of salt (including ours!). Baby gear selection and registering is not rocket science but everyone is sure to have the “oh-m-gosh-you-have-to-have-this” conversation with one or more of their friends and you know what, it is okay if you don’t agree! Be gracious about the advice but do not feel obligated to put anything on your registry. You know yourself and you are going to be parenting this little bambino and they will most definitely agree with your choices.
7. Make sure you know and understand the return policy of where you register. I won’t name any names here but make sure your place(s) of registry have friendly return policies. If they accept coupons make sure you have a window for price adjustment too. BuyBuyBaby is one of my favorite places to register because of their easy return policy. But take this as your warning that not all superstores are created equal when it comes to return policies!
8. Be sure to check out our Product Reviews page for reviews, buying guides and more for all things Registry related. Our reviews are unbiased, unpaid and we do not profit in anyway from the products we feature (no affiliate links, not paid for reviews, etc). Our Baby Registry guides are another great resource and contain sample guides with product recommendations.
So there you have it, our eight tips that hopefully make registering easier and ease your mind. Do you mama’s out there have any additional tips to share?
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We didn’t have a “real” registry, as we moved mid-pregnancy (literally at 20 wks from VA to UT). We created a Virtual Baby Shower, but that was nixed later as it ran into some snafus.
On that Virtual Baby Shower, we had two things that you don’t have: Baby Wash (we preferred Dr. Bronner’s baby soap) and books (we had a few favorites that we thought relatives might want to share). The books were far from essential, but the baby wash was, and we wound up purchasing it with a gift card we received.
Good points Wendy – I definitely agree on the Baby Wash and books are a definite must! Thanks so much for sharing these two suggestions they are much needed!
REALLY HELPFUL LIST! This may be a dumb question – but what’s the difference between a nursing pillow and a boppy? Don’t they serve the same purpose or no?
MJ, you are right they are supposed to do the something however, the Boppy did NOT work for me for a breastfeeding pillow like the My Brest Friend did but I loved the Boppy for Eloise for sitting on my lap, chilling and for putting behind her while learning to sit. And alternatively the My Brest Friend would not work for the things I just mentioned. Although Boppy did just come out with a new and improved nursing pillow which I am hoping to review soon!
Glad I asked! I’ll be anxious to hear what you think of this new and improved nursing pillow Boppy is out with…I have ZERO space, so if I can get something that works for both, that would be ideal.
Great Tips! Love this list of now and later items! And with BabyList you can all these items to your baby registry in one place
I recommend registering for some stuff just for mom and dad too, meal service, a Keurig.
Tiffany, good points – a Keurig or Starbucks gift card is definitely a must!
I found the book Baby Bargains extremely helpful in sorting out what baby gear to register for. The authors discuss all different types, brands and models of gear, as well as what to use each type for. Take the ratings with a grain of salt, but still check out the book for the descriptions of what is out there.
Thank you for this list and your awesome registry guides. As a first time mom, do you have any recommendations on the best places to register? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Hey Lindsay! I am so glad our registry guides have been helpful! Depending on where you live, I would suggest BuyBuyBaby, Target, Giggle or Amazon. Amazon is a great place to register because they usually have great prices (and access to almost every brand of everything). Personally, I registered at Babies R Us and did not have a great experience with their return policy but if there is one near you then its a decent place to register. Hope this helps, thanks for reading The Wise Baby! xo
Thank you! I have heard good things about Amazon and Buy Buy Baby. Unfortunately, we do not have a Buy Buy Baby close by. We may need to go babies r us for a physical retailer, although I have heard the same hesitation from others.
Maybe give babylist.com a try? It shows those buying for you where they can get what you have registered for so they have the option of buying online or in a store. I haven’t actually shared my registry with others yet but I love registering for things from literally anywhere.