As soon as I got pregnant, obviously I was excited to share the news with friends and family, but I was most excited to start working on my registry. I must have started working on it when I was about 3 months pregnant, and let me tell you, the amount of research I did, was probably that of a crazy person, but I am such a particular person in general, that there was no way I was just going to add things on the fly without doing my due diligence.
As a first-time mom, putting together a baby registry can feel overwhelming. With so many products and brands to choose from, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of options. However, with a little bit of planning and research, creating a baby registry can be a fun and exciting experience.
Here are some tips on putting together a baby registry:
- Start early: It’s never too early to start planning your baby registry. Ideally, you should start at least a few months before your due date. This will give you enough time to research products, read reviews, and compare prices.
- Do your research: With so many baby products on the market, it’s important to do your research. Ask friends and family members for recommendations, read reviews online, and check out parenting blogs and forums. This will help you make informed decisions about which products to add to your registry.
- Consider your lifestyle: When selecting products for your registry, think about your lifestyle and daily routine. For example, if you plan on breastfeeding, you’ll want to add items like a breast pump and nursing pads to your list. If you plan on using a stroller frequently, you’ll want to choose one that is lightweight and easy to maneuver.
- Stick to the essentials: While it may be tempting to add every cute baby item to your registry, it’s important to stick to the essentials. Some must-have items include a crib, car seat, diapers, wipes, and clothing. You can always add fun extras like toys and books, but focus on the necessities first.
- Think long-term: While your baby will grow quickly, it’s important to think long-term when selecting items for your registry. For example, a convertible car seat can be used for several years, whereas an infant car seat will only last a few months. Consider investing in items that will grow with your baby.
Putting together a baby registry can be a fun and exciting experience. With a little bit of planning and research, you can create a list of essential items that will help you care for your baby during those first few months and beyond.
I, personally, used Babylist for my baby registry because I could put everything in one place and the website did the work of gathering all the sites where that specific item was available and the cost associated with each item, allowing your guests to select where they would like to purchase it from. It also made it very easy for me to track who bought me what for Thank You note purposes!
I’ve shared my registry with many friends who were pregnant and starting to create their registries, and now, I’m going to share it with you too! Click on the link below to view my registry.
I know it is a lot of items, and can be overwhelming, and by no means do you need everything on that list, but sometimes it is helpful to have a starting point of things to consider when creating your registry, and that’s what I’m hoping to do by sharing this with all of you!
I thought my registry was pretty comprehensive, however, there were a few key items that were not on my list because I ended up buying them myself, but I will still share links to all those items below!
Key Items Not on My Registry:
- Bassinet – I ended up getting the Halo Bassinest Luxe Vibrating bassinet. Initially, I had wanted the Snoo because of all the great things I read/heard about it, but I also knew that the bassinet wasn’t going to be used for that long, so I wasn’t sure if I could justify spending that much. Not only that, but the motions that the Snoo does to help your baby go back to sleep was something the baby might get used to, so what happens when your baby is no longer in the Snoo and is in a crib? How would they get those motions then? All these were questions I had to ask myself when deciding what to select. Eventually, I decided it wasn’t worth it for me, but that this bassinet could still provide the same vibrations, sounds, light, etc., on a toned down scale, that might be just as helpful to soothe the baby. I’m glad we did decide to do this because Ari is a tall baby and he ended up outgrowing the bassinet at 3 months, so I was forced to move him to the crib because he was just too tall. The one thing I didn’t like about this bassinet is that the legs are very wide and take up a good amount of space, so just be careful of tripping if you’re walking around it at night or not paying attention.
- Crib – We got the Nestig Candy Cloud Crib in Black Licorice. I knew I wanted a crib that was safe, practical, and aesthetically pleasing. We knew we wanted Ari’s nursery theme to be music, so I wanted a crib that resembled a piano. This crib did exactly that for us, but that’s not the only reason why we went with this! Each crib is tested and certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturing Association because safety is top priority. This crib is also a convertible crib, it includes a mini crib (which can be used in place of a bassinet), which then can turn into a full size crib, and later converted to a toddler bed, so that covered practicality since I know we will be using this for years to come. We’re almost 11 months in now and we absolutely love it!
- Baby Shusher – This tiny little contraption was LITERALLY A LIFE SAVER when Ari was a newborn. So much so, that I even paid the $5 to get the app on my phone. If he was crying, this would calm him down in seconds and eventually put him to sleep. Every night when we put him to bed, we would let this play on the 30 minute timer. Any time we had to do a nap on the go, I would play it on my phone until he fell asleep. It was literally magical. Do not sleep on this!
- Splat Mat – If you plan to do Baby Lead Weaning, this is a must have item, because as I’m sure you can imagine, it gets MESSY. When babies are learning to eat, you kind of just have to let them get into the weeds of the food and do their thing. It’s all fun and cute, until they drop food on your beautiful floors. These were game changer for us! They cover majority of the area that Ari would throw or drop food, and if not, just use 2 at a time! And they are machine washable, so it’s very easy to reuse.
- Blackout Curtains – I know we all say we’re going to teach our babies to sleep in bright daylight so they learn the difference between day and night, and that’s all great while they are newborns and sleep majority of the time, but when you start implementing a schedule with set nap times and bedtimes, it’s in your best interest to have the nursery be as dark as possible to prolong your babies sleep for as long as possible. Now, you probably already have blinds in your room, or don’t want to spend the extra money on getting blackout blinds installed because they can be expensive. We were in the same situation, and although we were building our house, we didn’t want to spend the extra money on blackout blinds in Ari’s room. Instead, we got black colored room darkening blinds because we thought that would be enough, but sure enough, it wasn’t. So then I stumbled across this nifty and cost effective solution on Amazon. They are basically black out curtains that suction to your windows and give the same blackout effect as regular black out blinds. The best part is that they are portable! Great for travel, or bringing to the grandparents homes as needed!
- Bottle Warmer – I know you can simply warm a bottle by putting it in a pot of hot water and testing it on your hand, and yes, I’ve done that when needed too, but that’s outdated and not sustainable. We also had the Philips bottle warmer, which worked fine when we were using the small 4oz bottles, but still took forever sometimes. We are a family of convenience, and we like things that makes life easier. The Baby Brezza bottle warmer definitely did exactly that. You fill it with water, put the bottle in, push a button for how many minutes you need it to warm for (usually match the minutes to the number of oz), push a button on whether the bottle is cold from the fridge or at room temperature, hit start, and let it go until it beeps. You don’t have to wait around constantly testing the milk, wondering when it’ll be done. It’s also smart, so you can set the timer from your phone! This is obviously not necessary, but it made our lives so much easier.
- Tommy Tippee Portable Bottle Warmer – We were always on the go, especially when Ari was younger, because we were building our house and just had to be out and about doing things. It was hard to find a way to warm his bottle on the go, and the electric bottle warmers never really worked properly. The Tommy Tippee Portable Bottle Warmer was literally one of our best purchases, that we STILL use, because it was so easy to heat up his bottles wherever we were. Yes, I know, this is basically heating his bottle in a pot of hot water, but when you’re on the go, where are you going to find that? And just in case you’re wondering why we warm our bottles, our pediatrician told us that giving cold milk can cause a lot of gas, so we’ve always warmed our bottles.
Ok, I know that was a lot, and might seem overwhelming to a new mom trying to put together a registry, but I promise you, it’s actually a really fun process! There’s so much to look forward to and you can take your time with this, as long as you start early enough! And again, by no means do you need any or all of these items, these are just the things that worked for me! But I hope this can serve as a helpful guide for all you new mama’s to be!