A New Mom's Guide To Setting Up A Baby Registry
Congratulations--you're having a baby! Now what? Once you get past the first 12 weeks and get the all-clear from your OBGYN or midwife that you and the baby are doing well, the only thing left to do is register, right? RIGHT!! Well, registering can be a bit overwhelming, so here's a "New Mom's Guide to Setting Up a Baby Registry" to help you navigate your way to a stress-free baby registry.
Big Box Stores
Babies R Us
(check the store locator to find the closest BabiesRUs to you)
www.babiesrus.com
Most moms find themselves registering at this baby mega-store sooner or later. It can be a bit overwhelming when you first walk in, but take some deep breaths and head to the customer service desk. They'll get you all set up with your scanner "gun" and a list of "essentials" you might want to consider adding to your registry (plus you get some free merch and coupons). Word to the wise, don't panic if you add weird things to your registry or your hubby is "gun" happy - you can always go online and add/remove items as soon as you get home.
Buy Buy Baby
1590 Kings Highway North
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
www.buybuybaby.com
This relative newcomer to the baby megastore market offers great selection on big-ticket items (like strollers and carseats). They tend to have slightly more variety (often a bit more of the upscale brands) of the pricier items on your registry list. And of course, they have other daily baby essentials as well. Carrying different brands of bedding than its competitor, it's a good bet if you're looking for something specific not carried in the other megastore.
Target
1 Mifflin Street
Philadelphia, PA 19148
215-463-7311
www.target.com
Many a mom registers at Target for the sheer convenience of having your registry be at the place everyone shops anyway. Target carries all your baby gear essentials and affordable furniture for the budget nursery. The Dwell Studio baby line is also stylish and a fresh alternative to some of the more traditional bedding found at the bigger baby store chains.
Online Stores
Diapers.com
www.diapers.com
Diapers.com will delivery all your baby essentials right to your door, with free shipping on orders over $49 and fast and easy returns, this is a great online registry not just for your baby essentials but nursery decor and big ticket items as well.
Amazon.com
www.amazon.com
If you're a big Amazon.com user, you might as well register for their online baby registry, too. Amazon has great selection and everyone uses it anyway. Plus, they recently launched a new program called "Amazon Mom" which gives you 30% off diapers (wow!) and free 2-day shipping.
Philadelphia Family-Owned Baby Stores
Karls
724 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-627-2514
www.karlsbaby.com
Karls is a Philadelphia tradition (when I went crib shopping here with my mother, she told me how my grandparents had gotten her crib here when she was a baby) in the heart of downtown Philadelphia. In business since the '20s, Karl's 4 level showroom has beautiful handcrafted baby furniture and fine nursery bedding items.
Norman's Juvenile Furniture
1714-20 so. 2nd Street
Phila.,Pa. 19148
215-334-0632
www.normansjuvenilefurniture.com
Another Philadelphia family tradition, Norman's has been in business for over almost 60 years serving Philadelphia expectant moms and families for all their baby needs. With their showroom in South Philadelphia you can go see the large selection of high-end furniture and nursery items in a friendly welcoming environment.
Specialty Children's Boutiques
Of course you can register at specialty boutiques near you that you love which offer truly unique and stylish items (though often with bigger price tags than the chains). Keep in mind that if you have many folks sending gifts from out of town, this could get tricky. Grandmas and aunts usually prefer to see what they're buying, and they can't if they're out of town and can't get to your preferred boutique. But if most of your gift-givers are local and/or internet savvy, or if you register at a boutique AND a more traditional megastore, then you're golden. Here are a few great ones in the area:
Born Yesterday
1901 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-568-6556
www.bornyesterdayphila.com
Lolli Lolli
713 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-625-2655
www.lollilolli.net
Nurture from Baby to Toddler
19 West Lancaster Avenue
Ardmore, PA 19003
www.shopnurture.com
Jennifer Oxenford is the founder of phillyfun4kids (www.phillyfun4kids.com), your place to find free and mostly free things to do with your kids in and around this great city of motherly love.
