Using Amazon for Your Baby Registry

Setting up a baby registry has seriously never been easier than it is right now. No more up-and-down the aisles at the local baby depot, barcode scanner gun in hand, and then leaving your friends and family to pore over pages of items, hoping to find them in stock.

Ok, so the barcode scanner was kinda fun and pretty much all stores offer online purchasing to make it easy. But -- we now have the magic of Amazon baby registry! Amazon has become the gold standard of online shopping, so it's no surprise that they also offer a baby registry service that makes getting exactly what you want and convenient shopping options for your guests a cinch. (This post is not sponsored or affiliated with Amazon.)

For starters, creating a baby registry on Amazon allows you to add any item from any site on the internet. Rare handmade heirloom llama hair blanket from Etsy? No problem. Gift card from your favorite local restaurant? Done. Postpartum doula package? Check. And then, of course, there are the gazillions of items sold on Amazon directly, which means free shipping and free returns on most purchases as a baby registry user (no Prime membership needed).

One of the best perks of creating a baby registry on Amazon is the ability to check reviews and ratings as you add items. I don't know about you, but I'm obsessively consistent when it comes to checking reviews before I make a purchase. No reviews, no purchase -- it's just too risky! I kid (kind of), but it is really helpful to get feedback from verified users/purchasers -- you know what you're getting, if it's worth the hype, and the price.

Beyond checking reviews, the Amazon baby registry function also provides you with a registry checklist and allows you to search through other registries for ideas and inspiration. And of course, there's the targeted search functions on Amazon, which allow you to search for top rated baby items.

Friends and family who use your Amazon baby registry can ship items directly to your house or opt to have it shipped to theirs and bring the items along to your baby shower. Either way, Amazon tracks each item purchased and auto-populates a thank you list with the name of the purchaser and the item so you can easily send thank you notes.

The Amazon baby registry also offers a "completion discount" that gives you 10-15% off of select items on your registry if not everything was purchased and you want to complete your registry.

Creating a baby registry can be so much fun, and with the guided help and convenience of the tools on Amazon, you can enjoy products that are useful and worthwhile as you survive care for your little one in the first few months.

Have you used Amazon for your baby registry? We'd love to know about your experience -- what worked, what didn't?