Creative and Unique Baby Registry Ideas
When we think baby shower registry, we more often think onesies, bottles, crib, swings, nursery items, diapers, wipes, the list goes on. There’s not much left when considering what the mom or entire family might need when it comes to the birth and parenting of your new little love. We’re beginning to see more unique things show up on bridal registries like donate to our future home, honeymoon fund, or unique hobby (insert really awesome thing you do) fund. Why can’t we apply the same rule to our baby registry!?
What else is there that you need though besides baby items you ask? There are tons of things you
could majorly benefit from that parent’s, grandparents, extended family, you mom’s rich friends, the neighbor, a group of your friends could fund for you. Let me lay out all the awesome services, experiences, and truly gracious items that would benefit mom, baby, and even the whole family that could easily be gifted to you from your registry.
Prenatal Massage: As you grow so do the growing pains of pregnancy. The relaxin hormone is in full swing by second trimester as is that bump and can cause major lower back pains along with other discomforts. You deserve a prenatal massage, really multiple massages, but they can be pricey. Let family and friends purchase a few of these for you to enjoy and relieve yourself of some of the growing pains of
pregnancy.
Prenatal Yoga Classes: It’s good to keep some sort of activity throughout pregnancy, but we don’t need to be CrossFit athletes. Prenatal yoga is perfect for pregnancy; it encourages lots of stretching, strengthens some of those muscles we’ll be using a lot in labor, and helps teach you to relax which you want for labor and
delivery. These classes can be pricey as well, but definitely worth the value. Let family and friends buy you class packages that you can use throughout your pregnancy.
Doulas (birth and postpartum): More and more families are using doula services and realizing the incredible value and impact they have on their birth, delivery, and postpartum. The saying always goes “it takes a village,” but in our modern-day society we don’t have these villages anymore and it shows with our increasing anxiety and baby blues. You deserve to be supported as does your birth companion. No one has ever walked away from hiring a doula and said, “that wasn’t worth the money.” Let people contribute to a doula fund and start interviewing doulas immediately. You’ll be so happy you did and your experience, either through birth and labor or postpartum, will be such a more positive and enjoyable one.
Birth Education Classes: If you’re birthing at a hospital you will likely be given their resources for classes they offer, but do their classes have your best interest at heart? What I mean by that is will they teach you with an unbiased approach and give you the full range of expectations along with invaluable techniques to help you get through your labor? In our experience and feed back from other families, the answer is no. There are tons of independent birth education classes out there that offer you an unbiased approach, full expectations of what’s to come in labor and delivery as well as hospital processes, include your partner in the experience, and give you wonderful techniques that will aide you through your labor and delivery. One class in particular that does just that are Hypnobirthing classes. These classes do cost money out of pocket, but why not put it on your registry and allow others to fund or help fund it for you!? You won’t regret feeling prepared and empowered by the education and resources you get from these classes.
Lactation Consultants and Education: This is HUGE. If you know you want to breastfeed your child you absolutely need the right support and education to be successful. There is so much misinformation out there around breastfeeding as well negative stigma. It’s important to get the right information ahead of time and during, and know you have the right support system to get through some of those early tough times. You might look at these services and think “that’s expensive.” Well formula is much more expensive and no one is going to be able to fund formula for you long term from a registry. You can get these types of services funded from your registry, only need them once or twice early on, and then be all set for a very successful breastfeeding relationship. Plus you’ll always know who to reach back out to when issues or questions arise.
Placenta Encapsulation: This service is also gaining more traction as more evidenced based research is coming out about the benefits of placenta encapsulation and consumption. This may feel weird adding to your registry, but you never know who might be willing to get it for you. That crunchy Aunt Meredith you have from Colorado might super be geeked to purchase this service for you. We offer this service in our company but also have tons of great referrals for other specialists in areas we can’t reach. You’d be surprised how many people are moving towards this service and the great results they’re experiencing from consuming their placenta.
Meal Delivery Services: This may seem like an unnecessary service but hold up, let me explain. You’re
just getting home from the hospital, your labor may have been anywhere from 10-24 hours long, you’re exhausted, sore, with a new baby that you’re learning to care for. You have absolutely zero time to care for yourself, especially make yourself a healthy, nutritious meal. Yes, people may drop off some food for you,
but it’s likely repeats of pasta, carbs, pasta. You need nutrition; iron, calcium, vitamin A, B, C, D, folate acid. These carb filled meals aren’t going to cut it. There are amazing meal delivery services out there that will create nutritious, dense, and delicious meals, then delivery them right to your door. You and your partner will be amazed and relived to eat such incredible meals while navigating new parenthood. Let your registry guests buy you some meals for those first few weeks and eliminate some of the stress of having to find quick fix meals.
Now you might be saying, “I don’t know any creditable sources for these types of services to add to my registry.” That’s cool, we got you. We are passionate about meeting and creating relationships with other business owners who offer these types of services so we can confidently refer our students to them. We have created a list on our website of people and companies we trust that you won’t be disappointed in. If you’re unsure about any of these services or companies, ask us! We’re happy to discuss the value and importance of each and to help you navigate these resources.
Baby items are expensive and needed, but new moms and dads need attention and help too. Start by
adding some of these unique services to your registry so you can begin your journey into new parenthood more prepared, refreshed, and supported. You will be so happy you did and you don’t even have to thank us!(but you totally can if you want to) :)