Safety Is My Middle Name
Hey there. I'm Jamie Grayson. Almost 18 years ago I was hired to work at the busiest baby store in the world, where three days a week I would demonstrate the Bugaboo Frog stroller. Obviously that's not enough to keep me entertained. So I learned every stroller and car seat and eventually every baby must-have in the store on my own. This led to being a personal shopper at the store and I would be booked months in advance with registry appointments because I started developing a very devoted following of parents in New York City. When I left buybuyBABY, I began working at a birth education center in Manhattan. After a year, I put in my notice - and the day after I quit, I was in New York Magazine as the “Best Baby Gear Guru” in New York City. Shortly thereafter, I became trained as a Child Passenger Safety Technician or CPST. Throughout all these years, safety has always been such a priority, so I work heavily in car seat safety and use my social media platforms and speaking engagements to spread information to expecting and new parents.
I have been the baby gear expert for Bump Club and Beyond, MommyCon, Fit Pregnancy, Parenting and Baby Talk magazines, Stroller Traffic, and I am currently on the board of ABC, which is our baby industry trade show here in America. I’ve also been the keynote at hundreds of speaking events all over the world on baby gear. When the pandemic hit, all of my speaking engagements were canceled so we had to turn 100% virtual, helping parents learn about baby registry must-haves from the comfort of their own home. We developed the Baby Registry Lab and this is our third year bringing this event to caregivers and we are very excited to be working with MyRegistry this year and to show you how this platform works.
When To Start
When I work with clients on their baby registries, from that very first positive pregnancy test, they are usually very nervous and overwhelmed but they are also excited because this is obviously a very big deal. Being able to help expectant parents at this very important stage of their life is a pretty wonderful thing and it feels great knowing that you're able to help give information and a little peace of mind to people when they are just completely overwhelmed with the amount of products and information that are out there. There are so many baby products on the market, and you honestly can't be sure of what you read on the internet due to the onslaught of paid endorsements and fake reviews on many sites.
People never know when to start a baby registry. Typically, I recommend getting things set up in your second trimester or as late as the beginning of your third trimester. That being said, you can obviously start doing research and taking notes as early as your first positive pregnancy test.. Just remember that your registry is for your growing family and not for anyone else. You can put whatever you want on it, which is one of the great things about using a service like MyRegistry. This platform allows you to not only aggregate your registry from everywhere on the internet, but it allows you to do things like cash gift funds or group gifting. You can also sync your registries from a multitude of other sites on the internet if you already have them.
Your Core Baby Checklist
When it comes to your registry, usually when you go to a big box store they give you two or three sheets of paper with a very overwhelming list of products that they tell you are “essentials”. These lists are incredibly long and don’t really work for every family. I always like to break things down into categories – as a first time parent, the only core checklist you have to worry about is this:
- You will need a car seat
- You might need a stroller
- You might need a baby carrier
- You need a place for the baby to sleep
- You need a way to get food into the baby
- You need a place for the baby to hang out
- And you need a place for the baby to do its, um, business (If you're not practicing elimination communication, but that's a whole other post and I'm not getting into that at this moment lol)
So when you're looking at products, you can actually be pretty minimalist. I know this is shocking because I work in the baby gear space and I love baby products, but there's a way to prioritize what you buy and how much you spend on it to make sure that you're getting quality products that are safe and that will last you a long time. For example, if you don't think you are going to be putting your infant car seat on your stroller all the time, or traveling a lot, you can often start with a convertible car seat and that enables you to save all of the money that you would have spent on your infant car seat and invest in a really good convertible that will last for a long time.
You’re Not Going To Want To Miss This
I am sure you have a multitude of questions regarding baby gear and what you should register for. But don’t worry—that’s where I come in. Our Baby Registry Lab FREE VIRTUAL EVENT is here to help you. It is live on my Facebook Page on July 24th! Join us at 8 PM EST for car seat safety, stroller demonstrations, and education on baby wearing, feeding (including great high chair options), sleep products, and other must have baby items for 2022. There’s also time for an open Q&A with me….and THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN GIVEAWAYS!!!! RSVP at the link below and make sure to enter the giveaway at the link in the event!!!
See you soon!!!!!
Want to See More Baby Registry Essentials?
Check out our Newborn Essentials Inspiration Board.
Having a Baby?
You can add any of these items to your MyRegistry.com baby registry. Don’t have one yet? It’s easy! Create a Universal Baby Registry today, then add baby gifts from all your favorite stores.
Looking for More Baby Registry Ideas?
Find baby gifts and baby registry essentials on our Baby Registry Inspiration Boards.
We are a Universal Gift Registry website where people can create a registry and add gifts from any store in the world. If you buy any of the products listed here, we may be compensated. Thanks for reading—we love you!