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The first thing you can do for your newborn before he or she is even born is to make the right decisions regarding all of the necessities that come along with having a baby.
Besides preparing the nursery bag, you will have to take care for plenty of things before you get your little one in its new home, such as choosing the right pack n’ play/bassinet, getting the best baby monitor for constantly checking up on her/him, to getting the perfect crib, changing pad and blankets for the baby’s nursery, to all of the rest of baby essentials like breast pump, pampers swaddlers, nasal aspirator, shampoos, bottles, diaper rash creams, and the list goes on and on…
Choosing the best places to register for baby shower is crucial (if you want good baby gift selections), which is why these are the best places to register for baby shower, regardless of your baby’s gender and whether or not you’re a new parent or someone with three little ones currently screaming from every corner of your house.
And if that is the case, then you can appreciate more than anyone the value in registering for your baby shower at a place where you’ll be able to find everything you need for your baby, along with a few things you don’t necessarily need, but instead want.
You know, like a few of those “my dad is awesome” bibs or pacifiers that also look like mustaches. You did know that this baby is supposed to be your source of entertainment too, right?
Here are the five best places to register for a baby shower that covers everything you could possibly need for your new baby, and also give your baby shower guests the option of spending a ton or spending a reasonable amount on you and your little one. So, it’s totally a win-win situation.
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The Best Baby Shower Registry Options to Consider
BabyList
How It Works:
BabyList is one of the registry sites where you can pick and choose different baby registry items from any store you would have registered at and add each item to one condensed list that your baby shower guests can access. But you can also add gift requests for things you wouldn’t find in any stores, like home-cooked meals (which will sound pretty good when you’re at that nine-month mark), or handcrafted gifts that only your loved ones could make.
Special Features:
The great thing about BabyList, other than being able to basically register for everywhere at once, is that you can take it on the go. As in, you can download the official app which is available in both the Apple and Android markets. So not only can you access and edit your own list, but others who get the app can get to it too, any time they want.
The Downside:
The BabyList is totally digital, which might seem like a Godsend to some, but for the shower guests who live for these types of shindigs and are old enough to have been to a dozen or so of them, it can be pretty intimidating. The site and app are plenty easy to navigate, but for someone who isn’t experienced in technology, it can be too daunting to want to try out.
BuyBuy Baby
How It Works:
Although not as easily found as, say, Walmart or Target, BuyBuy Baby stores are popping up more and more around the country. And like the aforementioned, they feature a variety of baby and toddler supplies to see you through the ‘terrible twos’ all the way to the ‘f you fours’. To register for your baby shower at BuyBuy Baby, you can do it either online or in-store and choose each item you think you’ll need and want for the first year or so of your baby’s life.
Special Features:
Not only can you manage your registry by adding and deleting registry items whenever you want, but you can also offer friends and family the chance to help you work on it to make the perfect baby products list. No one really wants all of that unsolicited advice from their mother-in-law, but you could always make her feel included by utilizing the Ask a Friend and Copy a Friend’s registry tools, which will hopefully tide her over.
The Downside:
Honesty, some of the items at BuyBuy Baby can range on the pricier side. Of course, when it’s your loved ones purchasing the gifts and not you personally, it doesn’t affect you too much, but would you rather have lots of supplies without making your best friend go broke or a friend who got you that $600 stroller but then had to take out a second mortgage? Ok, ok, it’s not nearly that bad, but you get the point.
Notable Items To Register For
The Chicco NextFit Zip Convertible Car Seat is one that goes from rear-facing to forward-facing, enabling you to get years of use out of it without spending a heaping amount of money. It also comes equipped with handy zip and washable seat pad that makes milk spills and cheddar fish cracker crumb cleanups that much easier.
Amazon Baby
How It Works:
As any baby registries totally online, the Amazon baby registry is as convenient as they come for parents-to-be. You simply click the link to start a registry and from there, you get to get lost in the Amazon shopping world of all things baby. Since Amazon is linked to millions of different products and sellers, it’s unlikely that there’s going to be any baby must-have that you can’t find on the site, making it a one-stop-shop for your baby regist.
Special Features:
Before you start creating your registry, you have the option of clicking a few boxes of extras to include on your registry, like adding an Amazon Prime membership to the registry or Amazon gift cards.
This way, your guests aren’t subject to only purchasing gifts, which can sometimes be overwhelming when shopping for someone’s shower. Instead, you can potentially get all kinds of gift cards to be able to purchase what you have your heart set on for your baby. Amazon definitely has no shortage baby regiestries gift ideas.
The Downside:
Like most website baby registries, opting for something like Amazon means potentially excluding older, more technologically inexperienced members of your family from participating in buying you items from your baby shower registry. Plus, in order for guests to be able to buy you items from your list, they need to have Amazon accounts too and signing up for one might deter them right away.
Notable Items To Register For:
By far, the best and most creative gift you could hope to register for from Amazon would be a Prime membership. Not only for the free two-day shipping on tons of items but also because of all of the other features that come with it, like the TV and movies in the Prime library that could get you through those late night feedings.
Babies R Us
How It Works:
By registering either online or in-store, you get the perks of being registered at a store with locations pretty much everywhere, giving your guests little excuse to be able to stray away from your registry for your baby registries. You can also log into your account at any given time, from home, and add or remove items as you see fit, as opposed to needing to go into a store each time.
Special Features:
The biggest feature that the Babies R Us registry features is the fact that parents will receive 10% back on the total number of purchases made off their universal baby registry list. 12 weeks after your baby’s estimated due date, you can check your account and see the credited balance to be on an e-gift card thanks to all of the purchases made based off your registry.
The Downside:
With Babies R Us being one of those stores that are largely specific to one category, as opposed to an entire department store, your guests are less likely to come here than somewhere like Target, where they can knock out the gift and also grab a pair of moccasin slippers for themselves while they’re at it.
Notable Items To Register For:
They might not use it right away, but the Skip Hop Explore & More Baby’s View 3-Stage Activity Center is a bargain at $120 because once they do start to use it, it will be a source of learning and entertainment for months. And it will also be the thing to allow you to relax your arms for once from cradling a baby.
Target
How It Works:
Like most department stores, the universal baby registry for Target is one that can be signed up for either online or physically in-store. Either way, prospective parents are free to register for whatever they think their babies will need in the year ahead. And, like some of the other places mentioned, parents can also utilize their account from their computers at home to edit their baby registries.
Special Features:
Once you sign up for your Target baby registry, you are entitled to a gift pack of coupons worth $50, along with some free samples. And who doesn’t love free samples? You also get 15% off any item left in your registry once your event is over and you’ll have up to a year afterward to return or exchange anything someone purchased for you from your registry.
The Downside:
Sometimes, things go out of stock or simply disappear from your registry as a result of being no longer available. And while they won’t necessarily effect your guests’ experience of finding items on your registry, you could be losing important gift ideas without even knowing it.
Notable Items To Register For:
The Fisher-Price SpaceSaver High Chair isn’t exactly a high ticket item or particularly hard to find, but Target has them for $50, and with safety straps, one of these will last you and your baby quite a while. Likely, until they need an actual booster seat. And the price is also something to always consider when registering for gifts that you won’t be paying for.
Click Here to Create Registry for Target
FAQ
How useful is a baby registry for a baby shower?
“Pretty useful when we had our first. We got exactly some of the items we really wanted, as well as the cute outfits and things that our non-registry shopping guests wanted to give us. Plus, the site we used for the registry gave us a 10% discount on any items that were still left unpurchased after the shower!
As a shower guest I find it useful to shop from a registry, especially if I do not know the person closely. I appreciate people who register for items in a mix of price points to be sensitive to the various means of the guests, not everyone wants to buy the big ticket baby gear. Also less chance of returns and duplicate items.” – Svava Bragason on Quora
What should I put on my baby registry as a first-time mother who owns zero baby items?
“I will recommend creating registry at at least Amazon, BuyBuyBaby and Target.
Reason I recommend creating registries at multiple places is because it will give you multiple options to buy item from (which ever is selling for cheap) and on top of that every store have its on benefit. Like Amazon will give you upto 100$ in free diapers *no matter which diaper brand you use”, BabiesRus gives 5% or 10% discount and 1 year return window, etc.” Xazwa Ram on Quora
The Verdict
While any of these stores or websites are legit places to register for your baby shower, the best by far has got to be Target. Not only does it offer a ton of options for your guests to choose from and for you to register for, but the prices are in no way outrageous. Plus, you get what you pay for. You might find yourself registering for a $300 glider for the baby’s nursery, but you will also be gifted with a rocking chair glider that lasts well beyond the years of your baby’s need to be rocked to sleep.
And for some, websites just don’t cut it. For every baby shower guest that is down with technology, you have at least two elderly aunts or otherwise family members who are still trying to figure out how to text. So to keep it simple, while still being able to register for everything you both need and want, Target is going to be your best bet.
Look at it this way – at the very least, you’ll have a physical store where you can return gifts if need be, instead of dealing with shipping and all of that. Look at you, mastering this parenting thing already.
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