The Great Registry Thread

willrunforcookies

Add your registry insight and questions here!

Where are you registered/registering?  Or, if you aren't with this kiddo but did in the past, where did you register and how was your experience?

What are you struggling to register for?

What has been most helpful in creating your registry?

What perks are offered with where you're registered?

What questions on registries do you have? 

cc_clark

I just got back from the first great hunt 😅 since I’m a ftm, I took an aunt of my husbands with me to help advise things that are needs, wants and not worth it. Super helpful to have experienced mommas around if you’re also ftm! Also found that if you’re clearly trying to build a registry, every mom out shopping stops to give her personal advice. Love love love moms helping moms like that (like these threads irl!)

I found that going in person to compare is helpful for me, and Babylist has a feature to either link or fully import registries from other stores. I did one at Target today to get the welcome gift, and I might check out a few things on Amazon for the same reason. But then I port it all to Babylist so guests only have to check one link.

We are doing a baby shower / diaper party, so I need to figure out how to say “diapers and wipes welcome, please include (gift)receipt” in a polite and not entitled way. Anything at all helps and we’re so grateful, but I don’t know yet any brands that we will favor, or how long he’ll be in any small sizes (babies run big on both sides of our families).

charleesangel9

@cc_clark For anyone who doesn’t give you a gift receipt, I saw on tiktok that you can scan the bar codes for diapers you don’t need to see where they came from and return it to that store for store credit. Here’s the link https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRya3W4Q/

charleesangel9

I registered with Babylist. I didn’t link any other registries but added several items from other stores, I love that feature about them.

Perks include completion discount and a welcome box. From what I’ve read, to get the box you have to jump through a few more hoops than most other registries. 

As a FTM, the Babylist questionnaire was a huge help in getting me started. I let it add items to my registry so I had an idea of what I needed and then replaced with items of my choice as I learned more. 

Most of the items in my registry are pretty expensive! I feel weird saying this but I did a lot of research so I feel they’re justified… I’m thinking about doing some group items to allow for more budget flexibility for my guests while also ensuring we can get those items in the end. 

I’m hoping to do cloth and disposable diapers so I registered for cloth but not disposable. Should I ask for disposables? I just don’t wanna get stuck with so many diapers to return if my goal is to do mostly cloth. Suggestions on this?

anniez85

I registered with Amazon as a lot of our friends and family don’t live near us so this allows them to send things directly to our house if they can’t attend the shower and want to be included. It also has a completion discount which I appreciate. I found that stuff on Amazon is the same as sale prices at larger baby stores like buy buy baby etc. I’m in Canada and some things I want are only available in the US so planning a trip next month to grab some items on my own. 

Amazon registry is great as it shows you things you need in main categories and then you can search reviews and add what you want. I mainly have smaller items as furniture etc is being gifted by our families and my sister is giving me her hand me downs like a car seat, bottles etc. 

our house isn’t large and we don’t want a lot of clutter so hoping people stick to the registry  

willrunforcookies

@cc_clark could you register for just a couple boxes of sizes 1-3 and no newborn if baby is measuring in the upper percentiles at your anatomy scan? You can probably find invite wording by googling diaper shower invite.  

@r_kenn99 sometimes the more expensive items are what will get used the most like strollers, car seats, and high chairs and if they're not purchased watch black Friday deals and prime day for better prices. I'd put just what you think you might use for disposable diapers on the registry, probably can't hurt?

willrunforcookies

We registered on Amazon last time, and will this time as well even if just for ourselves and the completion discount which might be better than a few years ago. 
The Amazon and babylist checklists were really helpful at least for the various categories.  I'm definitely upgrading things from last time that I didn't love, like getting a Tripp Trapp, new carrier, trying different swaddles, and getting more side snap onesies. Other things I'm straight up duplicating like the sound machine and camera. 

zamoraspin

I like Amazon for the completion discount and because if you have people buying from your registry it’s accessible all over. I loved my shower for my son but I’m not planning on having anything this time around or sharing my registry. I am just putting it together for the discount. We will need furniture for this baby’s room, diapers of course, and I will need to find a good double stroller. But I still have DS’s infant car seat and generally what I need. Plus my family is going to load me down with baby clothes especially hand me downs (I’ve given out a lot of hand-me-downs myself so I don’t have a ton myself).

@cc_clark I would give some guidance on diaper sizes you want on the diaper party invite. I’ve never had one so not sure if there’s an easy system for that, maybe someone can weigh in. But agree with the other poster that it’s very easy to exchange/get store credit for unopened diapers. I took a couple packages to Target without any kind of receipt and got a credit to use, just make sure the store sells that brand/size. DS was a 10 lb baby and didn’t fit in newborn diapers or clothes at all, he started in 0-3. I gave away all my infant stuff to a family who adopted a newborn the week after DS was born. It’s hard to tell how big babies will be in advance because ultrasounds can be off, but the hospital will have diapers on hands and you can take some home with you. I will say newborns go through a CRAZY amount of diapers. We’re talking 10 changes a day on average. DS was very sensitive to being wet after his circumcision so I was changing him constantly.

willrunforcookies

What are you registered for or have that is a replacement for the rock and play? Is the BabyBjorn bouncer worth it?

thankfullyamama

@cc_clark we didn’t do a diaper party (and I’m glad because DS could ONLY wear Huggies special delivery lol BUT we did ask for a book instead of a card type thing so on our invite we wrote “please skip the card and instead write your well wishes for baby on the inside of a book” or something like that which was a great idea because we got lots of books AND got to keep those well wishes which I usually throw out cards lol 

thankfullyamama

Where are you registered/registering?  Or, if you aren't with this kiddo but did in the past, where did you register and how was your experience? I use MyRegistry.com and love it! People can send gifts right to your house and you can add from anywhere  

What are you struggling to register for? Because this is a second baby I’m only making a very small registry for the things I really need/ want and sending to my very close family as I DO NOT want more junk and they all know that lmao 

What has been most helpful in creating your registry? My sister in laws who had babies just before  me! 

What perks are offered with where you're registered? You get what you want lol? 

The total for the things I’ve registered is about $500 and everything is under $100 (most are $40) so I am confident close family will be kind to enough to help get the essentials (like I registered for the nanit sleep sack to go with the monitor i bought and my son hated sleep sacks so I have none!) and even if no one bought this baby a thing we can cover the costs no issue which is a nice place to be in. I’ll be sending all of DS’s clothes to our local once upon a child and buying this baby girl what she needs with my store credit!

beccaneu

When I was pregnant with my son,  I registered with Amazon, Target and Buy Buy Baby to get the completion discounts and welcome boxes/gift bags. Then I used Babylist as my final official registry to give to anyone who asked. The perks for Babylist weren’t as good as the other stores, but a big plus for me was that you could also use it for smaller indie brands that weren’t available in the big box stores.

The method I used when registering was to start by basically put anything I liked or thought I might want on my registry. Then I went back, thought about our lifestyle and what things we would really get good use out of, and edited it way down. I also recommend trying to see bigger budget items like strollers and car seats in person if you can. Recommendations from other moms can be really  helpful too.  I didn’t have very many mom friends at first so I also watched a lot of YouTube review videos.  

Keep in mind you don’t necessarily need to buy everything before the baby gets here.  You may want to hold off until baby gets here for some items, as different babies like different things. For example, I didn’t bother buying bottles until after baby was here.  I had enough free bottles from registry welcome gifts to start with. After trying them out, we bought more of the one that worked best for us.  Another thing we waited on for example was the high chair.  We waited until our son was old enough to start needing one then took him with us to sit in a bunch and see which one was most comfortable for him.  The one we originally were going to get, he seemed super uncomfortable in so we were glad we had waited.

As for this time,  I still have almost everything I used with my son, so I’m not registering for nearly as much,  mostly just doubles of things my son still uses.  I also want a nursing chair this time. I didn’t have one with my son and really regretted it so I’m going to see if I can pick up one second hand.  I also made the mistake of getting a single stroller last time, so I’m debating whether or not to get a double stroller.  I’ll probably wait and see how it goes with the one we have and see if my son still even wants to ride in a stroller.