Tips to Building a Baby Registry

Y'all...can I just be honest for a second? I felt SO overwhelmed when we started building Baby Girl's registry. Seriously! I didn't know where to start. There are clothes, furniture, bottles, car seats...everything you can imagine. And how the hell was I supposed to know what was good stuff versus subpar? Cause like any normal mama, you want the best for your baby. Then there was the struggle of "well, some of these things are really expensive...maybe I shouldn't put them on the registry." Heaven forbid someone pass judgement on me because I put a $300 stroller on our baby registry. I quickly got over that one. 

So here are some of my no-nonsense tips on building a baby registry:

1. Make a game plan. What do you want and need? Make sure you put those things on first. The meat and potatoes...worry about the fluff and fun stuff later. Just focus on the essentials and you'll stress much less, trust me. 
2. Do your research. I can't tell you how many hours Dennis and I spent reading and watching reviews on car seats, strollers, cribs, etc. Just on the big ticket items and the items that ensure the baby's safety. This gave us both peace of mind that we were choosing the best products for Baby Girl (and us). 
3. Pick a store that is easily accessible for everyone and has a wide variety of things to put on your registry. I LOVE Pottery Barn Kids, but instead of having multiple places to register, I just stuck with Babies R Us and Amazon...I'll buy the things I want from PB Kids on my own. 
4. Don't feel guilted into not putting (or putting) items on your registry. It was odd at first to put a box of pampers on the registry next to a $200 pack-n-play. But you know what? That's the beauty of it...people want to buy you things and I look at it this way...you're giving a range of options to choose from at different price points. So, some can buy the $5 pack of wipes and others can go for (and group up) to buy the more expensive items. Win/win...again...don't stress over it. 
5. Take the checklists that say you must have X amount of onesies, bottles, gadgets, etc. with a grain of salt. While they're great for ideas and making sure you're covering the basics, do you really need 25 bottles? That seems excessive. I get it, it might be a convenience to not have to wash and rewash the same 5 bottles, but let's see if I eat my words. Besides, where the hell would I keep 25 bottles? 
6. Get your partner involved. I feel this is super important. Dennis doesn't get to experience the daily bonding with Baby Girl that I get to (and the pain that goes along with it...sometimes I do wish I could put some of that off on him). So, I made sure he was part of the process and took his opinions and wants into consideration as well. Funny enough, we actually agreed on a lot of things...shocking...I know. 

At the end of the day, just have fun with it and don't stress out. You'll eventually get everything you need anyway...whether someone else buys it or you do. And I'm sure you'll end up with tons of shit you don't want or need, as well. #firstworldproblems ;)