Below, I’m answering some FAQs around my registry and sharing a few items we’re most excited about – but if you’re interested in everything I put on there, you can view my entire registry here.
BABY HOWARD’S REGISTRY
|| FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ||Where did you register?
We registered at Babylist, Amazon, Target, and Buy Buy Baby. We only publicly shared our Babylist registry though. Here’s why we registered at each place:
- Babylist: In my opinion, Babylist is the easiest to use for both myself and the shopper. They have an “Add to Babylist” button that you can add to your browser on your laptop, so as I was looking around at items, I could just click that button and it would add the item to my registry. And they have an app that’s super easy to use as well. They also track all of the gifts that are purchased off of the registry and keep a detailed list of who purchased what, which made writing thank-yous extra easy. And then 60 days out from your due date, they give you a one time 15% off discount to complete your registry.
- Amazon: When you create a registry on Amazon and spend $10, they send you a nice little welcome box of goodies which was fun, but I created this secret registry solely for the completion discount: 60 days before your due date, you get 15% off of two orders that total $2,000. So, after both of my baby showers, there were still some expensive items that we needed to purchase, and 15% off of those items made a huge difference! They also have a diaper discount program that I haven’t figured out yet, but I’ve heard good things about it.
- Target: I created this one for the free welcome box and the completion discount as well 🙂 You get 15% off one in-store purchase and 15% off one online purchase. For Jay and I, we had a lot of things we were purchasing through Amazon, and we were a little nervous we’d go over their max allowance for the discount eligibility, so it was nice to have this Target discount as another option. We ended up buying a few things off of our registry in-store, but we did a large purchase online using the discount. Basically, anything that we were able to purchase off my Babylist registry from Target, we bought from there, and then we purchased everything else from Amazon. It was really helpful to split up the registry between these two retailers in my opinion!
- Buy Buy Baby: I originally created a secret registry here for the 15% off completion discount, but it ended up making more sense to purchase 1-2 of our more expensive items through their regular website because if you sign up for their emails, then you get 20% off of one item. We purchased our glider and crib mattress this way!
How did you decide what to register for?
We used this Baby Registry Checklist survey from Babylist to help us get an idea of all of the gear we’d need (since we’re going into this completely blindly!). From there, all of the lists on Babylist were my saving grace! Since I’m a lover of research and the (informed/helpful) opinions of others, I literally went through each and every one of these Product Lists to see which items were tested and approved by veteran parents!
|| OUR REGISTRY MUST-HAVES ||
When Jay and I initially started making our registry, we wanted to try to get an overall estimate of how much everything would cost so we could budget accordingly. So we put together this “must have” list of all of the items we knew we for sure wanted before her arrival, particularly focusing on which items were “splurge worthy”. Below are the items we prioritized and a little info on why we chose them.
- Uppababy Vista stroller – I know about 10 moms that have and love this stroller, so this was a no-brainer for us and something we knew we wanted to prioritize financially. Not to mention, it’s super good looking! After pushing it around our house a little bit, we can tell that it’s super great quality and really agile!
- Uppababy Mesa car seat
- Owlet Smart Sock & Camera – We bounced back and forth between this and the Nanit, but ultimately, I liked Owlet’s sock versus Nanit’s swaddle. We have the camera set up in her nursery and the app is all set up on our phones, and it’s so cool. We can see and hear everything in her room and even talk through the camera if we need to. I think this will really give us peace of mind as new parents 🙂
- Halo bassinet – A few things I liked about this bassinet were the simple design, how heavy the base is so it doesn’t tip, the fact that the base can slide under the bed, and how the side can be pushed down to easily grab her in the middle of the night for feedings.
- MamaRoo – I’ve heard that babies either love or hate the MamaRoo, but I figured we’d give it a try! It also has an app, so I love that I can control the speed, movement, and sound straight from my phone.
- Dock-a-tot – We’ll be using the Dock-a-tot for her to lounge in during the day (not to sleep in at nights or anything). I love that we’ll be able to set this around the house and know that she’s snug and safe.
- Fawn Design diaper bag – I have multiple friends that have this bag, so I’ve gotten to see it in use firsthand. I love the pretty design and how many pockets there are for all of the baby things!
- Glider – Every nursery needs a good glider 🙂 This one looked plush and comfy without completely breaking the bank, and it has not disappointed yet.
- Boppy – I chose the Boppy over My Brest Friend because I liked that it can be used through multiple stages (breastfeeding pillow, tummy time pillow, lounger). I know some moms absolutely love My Brest Friend because it has a strap that allows you to strap it to yourself and be a little more mobile as you breastfeed, so if that’s a priority for you, then that may be a better option for you than the Boppy.
- Changing table – Did anyone else not realize how expensive dressers are?! Holy cow. We decided to purchase this Ikea dresser because it was affordable and I don’t mind assembling their items (it’s like a giant puzzle!). We replaced the handles and used these instead, but I’m really happy that I saved here so that I could splurge on other items.
- Crib – Again, there are so many options out there and a lot of them can be super expensive. We chose this crib because it has a simple design, had great reviews, and can convert to a toddler bed when she’s ready.
- Crib mattress – My top choice for a mattress was actually a Newton mattress, but I found this mattress that was also very highly reviewed and safe, so we decided to save a little here to put that extra $100 elsewhere.
- Diaper Genie – My priority for a diaper pale was that it could be opened hands-free, and the Diaper Genie was one of the only highly-reviewed pales that had a foot pedal. It also has a built-in carbon filter to help absorb the smelly odors, so I’m hoping that works!
- Breast pump – This one will be dependent upon the insurance you have, but it’s worth placing on here. We’re actually going to get a hospital-grade pump through our insurance at the hospital once we have her, but I know some people like to purchase their own electric pump in order to get exactly what they want. If I were purchasing my own electric pump, I would’ve purchased this Spectra.
|| RANDOM, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ITEMS ||
- FridaBaby NoseFrida – This is super random but is by far the most recommended product for baby from my veteran mom friends!
- Hatch Rest sound machine
- FridaMom Postpartum Recovery Kit
- Nursing cover with wire
- Solly wrap
- Newton crib mattress – We didn’t end up going with this mattress, but it was very highly recommended!
- Hatch changing pad & scale – I went back and forth on getting this changing pad for so long, but I ultimately decided to go with a normal changing pad to use the money elsewhere. But to be honest, I’m kind of regretting not purchasing this because it seems like the scale would be really helpful in her early weeks to know how she’s growing!
|| MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS I’D RECOMMEND ||
- Jesus Storybook Bible – We already have this Bible set out in her nursery so that it’s the first things we read with her when she arrives. We’re looking forward to going through the stories of the Bible with her and watching her little heart grow in affection for Jesus 🙂
- Pretty robe and swaddle for the hospital – We’re going to snap a few iPhone photos at the hospital, so I got this robe for myself and the swaddle for baby girl so that we’re both lookin’ cute haha
- Baby book – There are tons of baby books out there, but I particularly loved this one because of it’s design and the perfect mix of prompts and blank pages for pictures!
- Listing out gift cards you’d like – Placing gift cards on my Babylist registry (or listing them out on your shower invite) was really great because there will always be people that don’t have the time to sort through your registry or that wait until the last minute to purchase something for you, so having them listed out was great. I also really enjoyed receiving gift cards because it allowed me to prioritize the items I wanted first.
- Additional car seat base
- Drawer organizers for the dresser – So, turns out, baby clothes are really tiny… especially those little socks! So having these organizers will be really helpful in order to keep everything in it’s place.
|| ITEMS WE’RE HOLDING OFF ON ||
If you’re like us and doing your best to budget and spread out the cost over several months, here’s the list of items we specifically didn’t register for that we’ll just order as the need arises:
- High chair
- Pack ‘n Play
- Food bowls and utensils
- Books, toys, and activity gyms
Hopefully this post was helpful to any expectant mamas out there! I seriously had a blast researching all of this stuff and putting together our registry with baby girl in mind. I can’t wait until she arrives and I get to use all of these things with her 🙂