Unconventional Must Haves For Your Baby Registry | Denver, Colorado Lifestyle Newborn Session | Sunshine Lady Photography

Four (Unconventional) Baby Registry Items featuring

Why do we do what we do? Usually, because we think we are supposed to. This herd mentality helps in some ways, but I find it often stops us from making choices that are right for ourselves. One thing I’ve learned in my life is that listening to my own intuition has RARELY led me astray, whereas following what society says I should do often just doesn’t work out for me the way it’s supposed to. For instance, I thought I had to work for someone else to be able to provide for my family and live- turns out, I earn more money and have MUCH GREAT SATISFACTION in my life running my own business.

That being said, I want to talk about something that is on par with wedding preparation when it comes to having a baby- creating your baby registry. Now, there are definitely some vital, traditional items that should absolutely go on your list (unless you want to buy them yourself), and I will be publishing a blog post about them shortly.

But, so often, we THINK we need all these things that end up sitting and collecting dust or sitting in giveaway bags in our trunks for months (I know you know exactly what I’m talking about). So here are a few unconventional ideas to add to your baby registry because NO! You do not need a wipe warmer!

Takeout/grocery gift cards
Anything that allows you to feed yourself and your family without the pain, frustration, and chaos of going to the grocery store with a newborn baby is worth its weight in gold! Either adding Doordash, Grubhub, or local gift cards (I recommend this over a meal so people don’t bring food you don’t like or can’t eat due to dietary restrictions) to your registry will ensure you can nestle in and enjoy the first few days (weeks???) of bonding with your baby without the frustration of figuring out what to make for dinner. I also HIGHLY recommend using a delivery service, like Instacart (here’s $20 off your first purchase by using my personal code KWILLIAMS1D61A71A9) for groceries, diapers, even drug store prescriptions (pretty sure you can also get wine delivered in some states- just saying).
Cleaning service
I don’t know about you, but a clean house makes me feel like I have my shit together (even though I rarely do). If someone can come in for a few hours while I’m out running errands and turn my chaos into calm, I’m all for it. There are a number of cleaning services that allow you to buy one (or multiple) sessions for your friends and family with new babies.
Postpartum doula
After having my first baby and living across the country from my family, I realized I had no clue what I was doing. Cue my postpartum doula! She helped show me some ways to calm my baby, and helped give her her first bath (I experienced numbness in my fingers that made it nearly impossible to do anything that required dexterity the latter half of my pregnancy and first few months postpartum. She folded my piles of laundry, cleaned my kitchen, and gave me tea. This was just one visit too! It seriously helped me in so many ways. I recommend looking via hashtags on Instagram for local photographers (in Northern Colorado, there are a number of great doula services, including Peaceful Mama Birthing).
Maternity + newborn photography fund
Your maternity and newborn photos! If you want really good images, you are going to want to book a really good photographer (hello!). This investment will LONG outlast a wipe warmer or cute newborn onesie. So many couples ask their guests to contribute to their honeymoon funds, so why not ask your friends and family to contribute to your maternity and newborn photography fund? Even better, when you work with me, you can apply this amount towards professional, archival prints and products that can be passed down for generations in your family. If there’s anything that’s precious to me, it’s the photos of my grandparents, nearly a hundred years old at this point, that I can proudly display in my home to celebrate them and share their stories with their descendants, aka my kids.
You can actually create a cash fund in Babylist that you can rename your Photography Fund by clicking here.