DNC Worldwide

Hello Readers,

I wanted to update you guys on our progress. We passed the 30-week mark yesterday and are now nine-weeks and six-days away from the arrival of our baby boy. Mom-to-be had her doctor’s visit yesterday and let’s just say our little masterpiece is growing a LOT in there.

According to Babycenter‘s estimate he should be over three pounds now and it feels like it. He’s kicking regularly and I’m starting to guess what bodyparts I’m feeling when he’s not deep down in her pelvis. I know hee’s going to be a strong little boy. I was listening on his mom’s stomach the other night and the kid was kicking me square in the jaw. Good job baby. You sir, are ahead of schedule! 🙂

Anyways, I wanted to write a quick note on the baby registry we recently put together.

For many couples, creating a baby registry seems to be one of the bigger stress points of preparing for the arrival of a new baby and rightfully so. As first-timers, we had no idea what to expect. From researching products online to what you see in the store, it can be a little daunting.

Fear not, I thought. Everyone told us we wouldn’t need so much. Just the essentials they said. We chose Babies-R-Us on the recommendation that they had a robust selection of everything we needed. We picked a Saturday afternoon with the mindset that we’d get it done quickly. No big deal right?

So can you guess what happened? We went into the store and without even noticing it, we spent over TWO HOURS on this thing. For those of you who have never done a baby registry before, let me tell you what it’s like….

They have this little section under a baby registry sign. Target, Babies-R-Us, even places like Burlington Coat Factory… all the stores have them. There’s a desk there, usually in front of some expensive cribs, where couples can sit and get ‘counseling’ on everything new parents might need. After filling out a form and getting recommendations, the store rep gives you a scanner, which looks like a weapon out of Star Wars and then….

…You run amok.

After all the advice, words of wisdom, and self-inflicted discipline we had influencing our mindset, mom-to-be and I just went insane in there. See, it’s hard to control yourself when you’ve got this little scanner in your hand and you’re just going up and down the aisles literally looking at every single item deciding on what you ‘think’ you’ll need. And since the purpose of the registry is scanning items meant to be gifted to you, when you’re undecided about something… you’ll err on the side of scanning it anyway. Personally, I don’t think we did so bad on our initial baby registry but we did spend two hours in there.

If I had to do it over again or had to advise others on the task of putting together a baby registry, I’d give them the following advice.

Dad-to-be’s Tips on Creating a Baby Registry

• Start early on (probably around the five-month marker) – the earlier you think about putting your list together, the more time you have to modify, edit, and really think about what you need.
• Do some research prior to making your registry – Especially for the big-ticket items like cribs and strollers, look around online and see which ones are easiest to put together/take apart, what is rated as most safe, etc. before walking in.
• Find a store that allows you to create and edit your baby registry online – In this day and age, it’s a huge timesaver to be able to create and review this stuff on the go.
• Leave clothing off the list or don’t focus on it – We did this because we figure that everyone that doesn’t buy gifts off the registry will end up buying clothing. It’s just too easy for people to do. Plus the fact that parents can neglect the fact that babies grow up quickly. I know they throw up, make messes, etc. but you don’t want to stockpile your closet, much less your registry, with clothes you may not need.
• Determine your motif for your nursery – We haven’t made our nursery yet but we know we want to focus on animals and the natural world. That helped a bunch when deciding between different things. Some stuff just went good together.
• Don’t forget the essentials– some things you can’t go without: infant carrier/car seat, portable crib, diapers (lots of them), infant tub, baby monitor, bassinet, crib, changing table, stroller.
• Use a check list – This does help you remember what you need. And most stores provide them for all the categories like bedding, furniture, bath, diaper needs, feeding, etc.
• And my number one tip– Don’t be afraid to ask for suggestions. Especially from new parents who share the same values as you. Ask them what to put on your baby registry and have them take a look at it after you put it together.

Fortunately for us, mom-to-be did that with our registry and our dear friend Liz, a fellow mom AND mom-to-be in December, our baby registry is now fully optimized after she gave it a thorough review.

Thanks Liz. We couldn’t have done this without you.

Note: If you like to review our finished list and/or help us welcome our little boy into the world, you can find our baby registry here.

This entry was posted on September 23, 2009 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Fatherhood. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: advice, babies, baby registry, dads, Fatherhood, pregnancy