Meet Pure Barre Dallas Mommy, Claire Christensen!

The Art of Registering for Baby

Two months ago, I became a first-time mommy to a precious baby boy, Knox Mitchell Christensen. Knox is mommy’s “Pure Barre Baby”, as I took classes all throughout my pregnancy. Pure Barre was Knox’s naptime. The movement and loud music soothed him right to sleep and since being born, this has not changed one bit! There is no doubt; Pure Barre was one of the reasons that I had a wonderful pregnancy and easy delivery.  I was also able to return quickly to wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes and couldn’t wait to get back to the barre! 

I was incredibly excited when asked by Caroline to write an entry for the Pure Barre Dallas Baby Blog. I’m a fairly open and honest person and love to give advice from my good and not so good experiences. There are countless experiences that I could blog about on pregnancy and being a first-time mommy, but one thing that I found to be the most helpful from my mom friends was tips on registering. I vividly remember the first time I walked through the countless aisles of Buy Buy Baby thinking, “Do I really need ALL this stuff?! How do I actually know where to start?!”  Walking into a baby store can be overwhelming for anyone, much less a hormonal, first-time mother. This is where past mommy expertise sure came in handy! Below are a few tips that I hope will help you, as much as they helped me and allow you to enjoy your registering experience. 

1. Lucie’s List – Baby Registry Basics Section - www.lucieslist.com  Before registering this is a MUST READ. It might be a tad lengthy, but goes into great detail of basics to what you should register for, including what brands were ideal.  Don’t forget to take note of the 6 Months+ section and register for those items too.
2. Planning on having more than one child? Think gender neutral!  Instead of registering for all pink or blue items, register for gender neutral colors. Also, you may want to consider a double-stroller, depending on how close you want to have your kids, in age.
3. Don’t be afraid to return/exchange - You will find that a lot of people will NOT buy off of your registry (you’ll have a new appreciation for this, when buying for other people from now on). After your showers are complete, you may find yourself with 10 car seat toys, 20 blankets, and no car seat! I became an expert at the ‘return and exchange’… and all of the related ins and outs. Did you know, they even have an iPhone app to scan the barcode and find out where it came from?  EXCITING!  Because I was smart about the items I kept and returned, I was able to collect enough gift cards, along the way, to complete my registry with the items I really needed and had $$ left over!
4. Clothing sizes…don’t trust them - Depending on the brand of clothing, all sizes are different. For instance, a 3 month old in Carter’s might be the same size as a Newborn at Old Navy. I ended up organizing Knox’s clothes by how they looked rather than the tag read. After doing this you might find that you have many long sleeved clothes that won’t fit your child, until it is summer…obviously that won’t work in Texas.  Long story short:  keep the tags on each piece of clothing, just in case you need to exchange for a different size and don’t wash all their clothes before they’re born. Who knows, you may have a bigger baby that will never be small enough to wear a newborn size!
5. Last, but not least, have a “mommy friend” review your registry once it’s completed. They are your best resources! 

Good luck and happy registering!