Wishpot Mom Expert Chris Welcomes You to Pregnancy & Babyhood

This week’s guest blog post is written by Wishpot Mom Expert Chris from Mom’s Favorite Stuff. If you haven’t visited her site before you should, Chris offers great product reviews, announces some fantastic giveaways, and bottom line?  She’s one smart cookie! 

Need inspiration for your registry but not sure where to start?  Are you concerned about making sure you have all the necessities?  Chris has put together a great registry, Must Have Baby Gear, to make sure you have everything you need when your bundle of joy arrives.  Included in this comprehensive list are items such as the Evenflo SmartSteps Exersaucer, the Fisher-Price Papasan Cradle Swing, the Britax Marathon carseat: Baby, and Momager Calling Cards.

And now, without further ado, Wishpot Mom Expert Chris offers this week’s guest blog post…

Welcome to Pregnancy and Babyhood. You may have once been a Pee-On-A-Stick-aholic but now you’ll be discovering a whole new world….The world of Baby Registry Madness. Yes, you will become a Registry-aholic. Picking out the most perfect items for your new baby, those tools that will help you to care and nurture your new little one, can be hard work. Nothing is too good, but what exactly is right? Here are some helpful hints on choosing and discerning which items are the best for you and yours.

1.    Advice from other moms. It’s hard to take everyone’s advice but, really and truly, its other moms, dads, grandparents that will have the experience to help you choose between the myriad of strollers, cribs, swings, etc. Your best friend might have discovered that the cutest bouncy seat has the most annoying tune while your sister may recommend one that your little one won’t grow out of as quickly. Don’t be frightened to ask a stranger in the mall about their stroller, carrier, etc. Moms love to give advice or tips and most will be very willing to share their feedback.

2.    You can never have enough…diapers, wipes, burp cloths, wash cloths. It is an inherent truth. Babies can be messy. They spit up, pee, poop, and drool in incredible amounts. Register for the above items and don’t return any. Even if you think you have more than enough, there WILL come a time where you wished you had more on hand. Wash cloths will be a part of bath time for a long time to come. Burp cloths can be used for almost anything from cleaning up spit up to changing pads to blowing noses to wiping up after meal time. They will not go to waste. Trust me, you do not want to run out of diapers and wipes and it’s always easier to store them then to run out last minute to buy more.

3.    Expensive does not necessarily mean Better. Having a baby adds so much to your life but, it can also mean expenses. You really want the best for your baby but, that doesn’t mean bankruptcy. Check out UK Mum Expert’s blog post for advice on being frugal in creating your registry.

4.    Don’t make choices based solely on cost. So now that I’ve told you that a higher price item might not be better, I’m going to assert the opposite. Cost can mean better. Don’t go for the cheaper stroller for price alone. You may find that the least expensive stroller works well in the mall but can’t make it on your walks around the park or the cheaper car seat isn’t made for tall babies. Think smart. You may pay more for the stroller of your dreams but it could mean not purchasing 2 or 3 for different activities. (Ahem…don’t look in my garage! It’s like a stroller graveyard.)

5.    Don’t be afraid to return gifts. People give gifts to celebrate the new life not to burden you with 10 identical outfits with ducks, 3 high chair, or 5 diaper bags you won’t use. If you have 10 boxes of newborn diapers but only need 5, remember most stores including Target and BabiesRUs will allow you to return them without a receipt. You can exchange items for the ones you really and truly need…see #2.

6.    Be a mindful mom. A mindful mom is one that chooses items based on research. They speak to their friends, read books like “Baby Bargains,” visit Consumer Reports, and make choices that are best for their families. Take time to look through the registries created by my fellow Wishpot Mom Experts.

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Wishpot Mom Experts are Talking…

Are you listening?  With Wishpot Baby launching this week our Wishpot Mom Experts have a lot to say about it.

From the UK, our Mum Expert, Sally writes on her blog "Sally Walker":
I don’t endorse many baby websites, mainly because I think that most of
them are sickly sweet and don’t actually have a purpose, however, one
baby site I am totally behind is Wishpot Baby, so when I was asked to get involved I jumped at the chance…Read More

                                                                                                                                                         
Another Mom Expert, Jessica, writes on her blog "The Lemonade Stand":

Have you ever been in the middle of fixing up an Amazon wish list only
to come across an item that’s no
longer sold on their site? I know,
it’s pretty rare, but it’s so irritating
when it does happen. How about discovering a product that’s so new and
innovative that it’s only sold on the creator’s website. How are you
supposed to tell your pals that it’s the perfect birthday present? A
"check this out" email is sometimes a tad too obvious and obnoxious,
but what’s a girl to do?  Find out!

Christine, Mom Expert and publisher of "From Dates to Diapers" blogs:

Wishpot Baby is a place for parents to get great advice from mom
experts, create easy to use baby registries that let you add items from
anywhere, see what other moms are shopping for, and easily share all
your baby needs with friends and family…Read More

Blogger and Mom Expert TLC, of "Send Chocolate" writes:

Have you been to Wishpot,
yet? It is a great site. Imagine a place where you can add all the
things your little heart desires. That’s Wishpot. I know there are
other sites, but this one, you can shop anywhere and keep a running
list of what you want. There is even a toolbar that you download and
add to your browser. Pretty simple…. Read More

Mom Expert Jenna talks about being a Mom Expert on her blog, "Stop Drop and Blog":

I’m an Expert!   No, really. I’m a Baby Expert over at Wishpot! I’m the Cloth Diapering expert, of course. What’s Wishpot? Ever wanted to make a registry but liked too many things at too many different stores?  Read More

Mom Expert Tara writes on her blog "This Military Mama":

I could shop online all day! I don’t exactly have the money to buy
everything I want….but I did keep things in a favorite folder in my
Internet Explorer window. The problem with that though is no one else
knows what I want but me. Worse, my computer could crash and I could
lose all that info…Read More

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