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Let’s be honest here, baby registries are stressful for two reasons: (1) you have not met your little one yet so you are unaware of their preferences and (2) your loved ones stress you out with all things you must have. Of course it all comes from a good loving place but the truth of the matter is every baby is different, including siblings.
For example, I was told I needed a rocking chair, a shusher and a swing. Although I love how comfy the rocking chair is, it gets used when guests are over and they are holding her and want some bonding time or when we read a nightly book to her. Daniel sits in the chair and I sit holding Madison on the foot rest. We have used the shusher once and that was on a day she was unusually cranky and nothing was soothing her. The swing, I’ll have to admit, comes in handy really one day a week when I am working from home with no help so I teeter totter on its ‘necessity.’
The point of my telling you this, is its okay to have your own opinions and preferences even before your transition into motherhood completely. As a mother you have to accept your intentions are pure but we are not perfect and we may be wrong a time or two. EVERY parent is wrong many times lol.
Let’s start with choosing where you will create your baby registry. You need to ask yourself one question, “where do you shop primarily?” Are you an amazon addict? A target girl? Do you shop anywhere? I say this because it makes exchanging items easier for you! Remember, this is about you and your growing family and not what your loved ones think. I originally created a registry on babylist for one reason only – being able to add from any store. Guess what?! That is old news. I realized the majority of the items I wanted were at Target (naturally lol). I did some research and learned I could add any items to the Target registry using their universal registry option as well & they have an interactive checklist to help guide you! You will also receive a free welcome kit and two coupons for 15% off an instore purchase and 15% an online purchase.
Side note: I also created an amazon registry but I found two problems: (1) received a few duplicates because both registries were not getting updated which I was okay with but (2) I am still trying to receive credit on my one return item due to receiving a duplicate and she is two months old. On the plus side Amazon does offer the checklist option as well.
Now for the fun part – choosing your items you want to go on your registry!
Using Target’s interactive checklist makes it less stressful, however, you can still feel overwhelmed & that is okay, it’s totally normal! I thought I was picking the bare minimum items needed for our sweet girl. After meeting her, boy was I wrong. Lol. I went way overboard!
In all reality you only need the following items:
- Diapers
- Wipes
- Buttpaste/ointments (maybe)
- 5 onesies
- 5 sleepers
- Formula (if that is your choice)
- 1 bath towel
- 2 bath cloths
- Car Seat & Stroller
- A blanket
Now that I have laid out the few items we really need, I will say this, shopping for your little is so exciting! After meeting our little and learning her preferences and sensitivities I returned a lot of it and got things she likes or doesn’t irritate her. This is why I say choose a registry to a place you love or shop at frequently where this will be an easy process for you. At first I felt bad, however, other moms get it. The purpose of showering your little one is to get the things they will use and truth is we do not know what that is until they make their big debut.
HERE ARE SOME OF MY MUST HAVE ITEMS
I HAVE BROKEN THEM DOWN BY CATEGORY
Enjoy creating your registry, stay tuned for my post on how we organized our nursery as first time parents!
