Baby Registry (Laura-style!)

Early on in my pregnancy I began asking tons of questions of friends - first about labor/delivery/birth then about STUFF!

In case you've never visited us (which you should - Dallas is fun - we eat - ALOT!), we live in a two-bedroom apartment. One of our bedrooms has served as the study/office for the last three years of school.

We just don't have TONS of space. So, after our first visit to Babies R' Us, I looked at Danny and said, "If we need one of everything in here then we're in BIG trouble."

So, I started asking friends, "What do I really need to have a baby?"

I got varying responses, but I also got numerous overlapping responses! In case you're in the process of "getting ready for baby" here are the results.

Shortest Ever Version (These were by far the most popular six items recommended by multiple people):

1. Miracle Blanket
2. Diaper Champ (because you can use your own trash bags)
3. Medala Pump In Style (this got more votes/thumbs up than any other item)
4. Boppy
5. sling/Moby Wrap 
6. bathing sponge (instead of a big plastic tub) 

Long Version (This is the minimalist list of baby stuff I compiled after reading numerous blogs, articles and responses from friends.)

• Laura's Baby Registry List

This is the spreadsheet I took with me to register so I wouldn't get carried away with registering for ONE OF EVERTHING.

We decided to register at two places to keep it simple:

• BuyBuyBaby - I liked the selection and layout better than Babies R Us
• MyRegistry.com - I wanted a way to register for cloth diapers (and yes, there's another blog post coming about diapers)

Q&A - because I've already received several quizzical looks and random questions about our registries:

• "You're not registered at Target?"
  We contemplated registering at Target because that is such a popular choice, but I found that everything that was available at Target was already available at BuyBuyBaby - I love simplicity - so I avoided the duplicity.
  
• "You didn't register for any clothes!"
  I barely registered for clothing. It overwhelms me. It seems so expensive for such little pieces of fabric, and I've heard you get lots of booties, hats, onsies, outfits, etc. at showers. So, I registered for the basics to get us through the first few days/weeks and if we don't get a single article of clothing as a gift, then I'll have time to run out to Once Upon a Child and buy a few things.
  
• "I didn't see a Boppy on your registry."
  I didn't register for a Boppy simply because I heard from several people that My Brest Friend was simply better - so I registered for that.
  
• "Why didn't you register for an exercauser or a Bumbo? You're going to need those."
  This could probably be another post for another day, but the short version is: I read a book on child development that said it's not developmentally not good to overstimulating babies with too many toys or prop them up in the "sitting" position before they can hold themselves up on their own. Based on that book and several of minimalist blogs I read, we just decided that the exercausers, bouncers, swings, and jumparoos were not "necessities" for us. And now ya'll have probably officially labeled me as that "crunchy, granola mom," but that's okay. Hopefully my child will survive without all the gizmos and gadgets. ;-)

Links I found helpful while compiling preparing to register:

• Pursuing Titus 2: If I Could Shop for My First Baby All Over Again
• Mommy Poppins: 5 Baby Gear Essentials for Living With Baby in a Small One Bedroom Apt
• Mamapedia: Indispensable Items for Our Newborn
• Blissfully Domestic: Useless Baby Stuff (And Some Good Stuff Too!)
• Blissfully Domestic: What Does Baby Really Need?
• Washington Post: Baby Products We Can Live Without
• The Natural Mommy: Reducing the Cost of Birth and Babies