Back in my first trimester I began reading reviews about baby registries. All the baby gear that one is supposed to consist of seemed pretty overwhelming for a first time mom, but I thought I could handle going to a store and picking things from a list. I know that it's a bit uncommon for a pregnant woman to begin this process so early on, but we had just bought the new house and I knew we would be very busy with projects come third trimester. Add in everything else going on in the last couple months of pregnancy and my registry was something I just didn't want to be concerned with at that point. So as I was trying to decide which store/s would be the best fit for us, I kept coming across ads and posts for this website called BabyList Baby Registry. I finally checked into it and was surprised that I actually found it to be a great match for someone like me.
The concept is pretty simple, you create a web-based registry by adding anything and everything you want that has a web link. This includes all of those Etsy shops and other small companies that the big baby stores do not carry. As a big supporter of shopping small, this alone was a huge pro for me. I also really liked that Baby List provides a general check-list of items you should include on your registry but also gives you a more personalized version once you sign up. Adding items to your registry is literally as easy as clicking a button that you very simply install on the tool bar of your internet browser plus there are apps for iPhone and Android. You can even categorize the items with preset listings or create your own. When it comes time for shower invitations all your hosts have to include is the custom link to your registry, which you can see as the administrator of your account, and your guests are free to start purchasing. Now that my first round of shower invites has gone out, I can confidently share that those on the gift buying end are also finding the registry to be very easy to navigate. Top sites to purchase gifts from as well as the current price are listed underneath items with clickable links but each person is also free to purchase the gift from any other website or store. Gifts can be reserved for purchase and then confirmed after the purchase is made.
Although all the pros might make this registry choice seem like an obvious one, it's definitely not for everyone. The fact that every style and brand of baby gear is an option as opposed to picking from just the ones a store offers can be very intimidating to some. You aren't on your own completely since Baby List has review links and features certain products, but when you have everything out there at your disposal, it's easy to get lost. I began my registry in my 2nd trimester by asking my mommy friends to name their top 5 favorite baby items and tell me why. Then I went down my personalized check-list and just started researching reviews online on baby websites, mommy websites, blogs and unbiased sources like Consumer Reports. Yes, it was a lot of work and yes it was quite time consuming. But ultimately I felt very sure of all my choices and loved that I wasn't limited to only certain brands. I am by no means an expert, but I feel like after this experience I am qualified to answer questions some of you expecting mamas might have about registering via Baby List. And I also want to say that I am definitely not being compensated for this post, I simply I am sharing my personal review and opinion hoping some of you will find it helpful.
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