Disclosure: I partnered with buybuy BABY to create this post. Thank you for supporting the brands that enable me to bring you fresh inspiration daily! Well, we’re here! Officially one week from our due date! These past few months getting ready for baby have been a whirlwind. Even though everyone says you’re never truly ready for a newborn, we’ve done our best to prepare as much we can—including filling our registry with stylish baby registry essentials that will ease the transition into parenthood as much as possible.
Because we live in a small house, we’ve worked hard to limit the overflow of “stuff” that I know can sometimes accompany a new family member. And with no room for error, we needed every single item on our registry to check all the boxes for quality and safety, function and form. So it only made sense to register with buybuy BABY! Their roster of top baby brands, combined with some truly impressive registry perks, made the choice a no-brainer.
I began building my registry online using the buybuy BABY app. The brand’s online tools make getting started easy, with everything from an interactive registry checklist to a registry analyzer that helps you balance your picks with diverse price points, so everyone can find you the perfect gift. But as I know from sourcing for design projects, sometimes nothing can replace that in-person experience. So I scheduled a registry appointment at my nearest buybuy BABY store. It turned out to be more helpful than I could have imagined, even for a seasoned shopper like me!
When I arrived, my dedicated registry expert Amber met with me to flesh out the benefits of registering with buybuy BABY. For example, not only do they promise price-matching and hassle-free returns (even on used registry items!), they offer exclusive completion discounts so you can save on leftover registry items after baby is born. Plus, for every friend who also registers, you can snag a $25 referral reward towards a $100 in-store purchase! (Upon learning about this perk, I pictured myself lurking outside prenatal yoga classes and signing up strangers for a buybuy BABY registry…ha!)
We then did a grand tour of the store. I was blown away by how knowledgeable Amber was about every item on my checklist! She patiently answered all my questions and made thoughtful suggestions for items and ideas I might want to consider. Her approach was one of arming me with information to make my own decisions about which items were right for our family’s needs and preferences—and I was so grateful for how thoroughly she demystified the product categories that stumped me. After all, it’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed when standing in front of a zillion different breast pump options. But Amber took the stress right out of the decision-making process.
No surprise, my favorite part of the store visit was running around and adding things to my registry. I was like a kid in a candy shop! I got to see in person the labels I already knew I loved from browsing online—lines like Burt’s Bees Baby and aden + anais—and also discover new ones that also aligned with my desire for simple, stylish baby registry essentials. As we shopped, Amber also pointed out clever finds that might not otherwise have caught my notice but that are sure to come in handy. For example, something tells me I soon won’t be able to live without this jumbo stroller hook!
When I returned home, I honed our final registry list until I felt totally confident about every piece on it. It was then so exciting to wait with anticipation as all the purchases started arriving at our front door! But best of all was the feeling of washing our daughter’s new clothes and putting them away in her drawer, and familiarizing ourselves with all the gear so that when it comes time to use it, we’re already pros.
The only thing left to do now, as we wait for baby to make her debut, is write our thank-you notes! Not surprisingly, buybuy BABY makes that a straightforward task as well, by tracking registry gifts and their senders’ addresses. I’m feeling all the feelings in these last days before I become a mom—excited! impatient! joyful! apprehensive!—but most of all I’m feeling confident that I’ve done everything I can to prepare myself for this next amazing phase in my life’s journey!
Wondering what was on my list of stylish baby registry essentials? Below are some favorite highlights, all of which met my high standards for being well-made, well-priced, and top-rated by other parents. You can see my complete registry here, too! And of course stay tuned for pics of my mini me wearing those adorable striped overalls, which are identical to a pair I had when I was little. I can’t wait to meet her, and to introduce her to the world!
Shopping Guide: 1. OshKosh B’gosh Striped Overalls 2. Carter’s 2-Pack Kimono Bodysuits 3. NYGB 2-Pack Knit Hats 4. Touched by Nature 8-Pack Organic Socks 5. Freshly Picked Moccasins 6. Little Me 2-Piece Footie + Bandana Set 6. Naturepedic Organic Waterproof Fitted Crib Pad Cover 7. aden + anais 4-Pack Cotton Muslin Swaddles 8. Burt’s Bees Organic Cotton Muslin Swaddles 9. Just Born 2-Pack Hooded Towel 10. Boon Soak 3-Stage Baby Bathtub 11. Keekaroo Peanut Changer 12. Kyte 3-Piece Brush and Comb Set 13. Pipette 6-Piece Baby Essentials Set 14. Skip Hop Wipes Case 15. Skip Hop Backpack Diaper Bag 16. Elvie Double Electric Breast Pump 17. Dr. Brown’s Glass Bottles 18. Ergobaby Natural Curve Nursing Pillow 19. Just Born Plus Deer Security Blanket 20. The Mommy Hook Stroller Assistant 21. O2COOL Stroller Clip Fan 22. Lambs & Ivy Plush Koala Mama and Baby 23. Diono Rear Facing Mirror 24. Maxi-Cosi Adorra Stroller