Best Baby-Registry Ideas From Ashlea Halpern | The Strategist

2023-04-10 13:00:06 By : Mr. Wilson Wu

Every product is independently selected by (obsessive) editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.

7 items in this article 2 items on sale! Rainbow Silicone Beads

Best Baby-Registry Ideas From Ashlea Halpern | The Strategist

7 items in this article 2 items on sale!

Registries are often wasted on soon-to-be parents. In this series, cool new(ish) moms and dads tell us about the stuff that has actually worked for them in the time since they had a kid. In other words, if they could do their baby registry all over again, here are the items that would top the list.

If you’re like me and keep your pregnancy largely secret for 8.5 months, you can avoid all sorts of unsolicited advice from well-meaning friends and colleagues. The trade-off, of course, is that nobody showers you with registry gifts and you’ll devote a good chunk of your early parenting months operating in a trial-and-error vacuum.

As a former editor of the Strategist and someone who has put together gift guides and retail stories for decades, you’d think I’d know something about shopping for kid stuff. Nope. It’s always been a black hole in my repertoire — up there with computer gadgets and automotive gear. Plus my husband, Andrew, and I are only children, so we had no nieces or nephews to practice on, and most of our friends don’t have children, either.

But seeing as I now make my living as a travel writer and editor, I did have some extra motivation in finding actually useful (and fairly portable) products for baby Julian. Although the first year of his life has been marked by some regrettable purchases, for every overpriced organic infant lounger that only the dog used, there have been numerous revelations — like this weird UFO toy for babies prone to hair pulling, or the silky, avocado-infused baby bath gel from France that I often steal for myself.

If I could redo my registry, I’d start by creating one in the first place — and then I’d put the following items at the very top of the list.

Best Baby-Registry Ideas From Ashlea Halpern | The Strategist

Pacifier Clip Animals We call this Julian’s break-in-case-of-emergency toy. It’s a light-up wand, not dissimilar from the kind I begged my parents for at the Ringling Bros. and Ba