Are you overwhelmed with what to put on your baby registry list? Don’t know what you need and what you don’t? It is all too much for you as an expecting mom? Good news, we are here to help! Today we are not only giving you tips on what you do and don’t need but we have FREE printables to take to the store with you!
Big Stuff
Register for all your big items, even the nursery furniture and fancy stroller. While we know many of your shower attendees aren’t going to spring for a new $200 play yard or $600 dresser, knowing which exact model, brand, and color you chose helps your guests buy coordinating sheets, stroller bags, and nursery decor.
Small Stuff
Don’t go overboard registering every single little thing you’ll need. This isn’t your grocery list; it’s a gift suggestions list for your friends and family. You can buy your own baby shampoo. Ditto for diaper cream and pacifiers.
Personal Stuff
Leave personal hygiene stuff off your registry, especially since your dad might look at it. The guys at your husband’s office don’t need to know which breast pads you prefer.
Product + Refills = Refills Only
Be careful about signing up for even one refill-type item, as you are bound to get more than you’ll ever use in your lifetime. Want a diaper pail? Just register for that, not that and the refills, or we guarantee which one you’ll receive… 15 of.
No Diapers
We know they’re expensive, but some babies are born too big for the first size. And no matter which size you register for, people love to buy the little ones. Giving away 144 of them to your next-door neighbor’s sister is a sad waste of a good shower gift.
Cut Your True Layette Wishes in Half
If you give guests an inch in layette, they’ll take a mile. Sure people love to buy the cute little baby clothes, but so will you! If you register what you really want, you’ll get it all-with extras. And your remaining shopping days will be spent buying boring burp cloths instead of frilly dresses.
Don’t Over-Stuff Your List
While it can’t hurt to list the big stuff (who knows? Grandma might actually spring for some of it!) don’t overwhelm people with every tiny little item that catches your eye, or all you’ll end up with is every little item. If you really wanted the nursing pillow, make sure people can find the nursing pillow without slogging through 20 pages of lap pad, fitted sheet, and washcloth combinations.
Timing of Shower
Take into account when your shower will be in relation to when your baby will be born. You won’t know the true usefulness (or not) of many items until your baby uses them. If that’s 5 months from now, you’ll have a harder time exchanging items. Retail stores are getting meaner and meaner about returns, and having a $45 bathtub that didn’t fit in your sink cluttering up your closet will drive you insane.
Have Fun with the Gun
Nothing is more fun than scanning things with the price checker gun. To make sure everyone is as perky as you the day you register, warn your partner that it’s going to be a long day, and feed him his favorite things before you go.
Here is a list, by category – because that’s how we shop – of what you should put on your registry, what you should wait for, and what you really don’t need. Remember to pick and choose wisely. Instead of just SKU-ing up everything, select the things you really want.
Here is a FREE PRINTABLE for you to take to the store with your or have by your side when you register for baby online. Click the graphics to download and print!
DOWNLOAD BABY REGISTRY LIST
There are many things that you don’t need to add to your baby registry even though you think you might need to. There are things to wait for, buy yourself and some that you never, ever will need. Here is another FREE PRINTABLE of those products that don’t need to be on your baby registry.
