Advantages of a Baby Planner
Congratulations, you’re expecting a baby! This is one of the most thrilling, rewarding, and terrifying experiences of your life, all wrapped into one cooing, adorable bundle. Once you find out you’re expecting you have approximately 9 months to prepare everything from the nursery to your hospital bag. This sounds like plenty of time, right? For some, yes, but for many, not even close!
Today, most couples who are expecting a baby are working long hours, volunteering, going to school and are otherwise just plain old busy. Families today are spread more thinly than they traditionally have been, and they might need more support to get all of the best information on how to prepare for their new arrival. Because of an ever-growing baby and juvenile product industry, there are many more choices for you to make today than there were even a decade ago. There are now an enormous number of options to choose from when dealing with strollers, environmentally friendly products, bottles, child care options, cribs, or layette, to name a few.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the number of choices for your baby and do not know how to begin to navigate the baby product and services world, you can now call in some help…hire a baby planner. There is a new, burgeoning industry of baby planners who are skilled in making educated decisions for you and your new baby. But what exactly is a baby planner you ask? Similarly to how a newly engaged couple would hire a wedding planner to help them plan their wedding, expecting families hire a baby planner to help them prepare for their baby. The ways in which a baby planner can assist an expecting couple are numerous and some examples of services include: building a baby registry, maternity shopping, nursery consultation and design, specific product advice, baby proofing, child care search, baby shower planning and so much more.
Some people may ask themselves “why do I need a baby planner when I can just ask my mom or friends for advice?” Our response is that a baby planner offers an unbiased opinion, a wealth of baby product and services expertise, and insider industry partnerships. We know that moms and friends, with the best of intentions, willingly and lovingly dole out advice on what they have discovered worked best for them. However, sometimes this advice just does not work for you. The products that worked well for your mom 25 or 30 years ago have most likely evolved and improved tremendously. And let’s be honest – when was the last time your mom stepped foot in your local chain of baby stores? And while you and your best friend may share a similar taste in shoes, what worked for her with her first born may not necessarily be the best choices for you. Unfortunately, most people discover these style and functionality differences when it’s too late and the baby products or services have already been purchased and used; then it is off to the store to buy a second item…the one you should have bought in the first place. Here’s an example: many, many urban mothers are faced with the question of which stroller to buy. Because they live in the city, their stroller is more than a vehicle to transport their baby – it’s their car, their shopping cart, and their stroller all wrapped in one. There is a high- end market for just this need. However, many of the higher priced strollers are HEAVY. Do you have stairs to climb? We can eliminate a few strollers right there. Do you know of the lightweight and less expensive alternatives that drive just as nicely? We do. Do you prefer a large basket underneath for packages? Some have it, but some do not. These are the details we can think of in less than two minutes to help you narrow down the search.
As baby planners, we immerse ourselves in the juvenile product industry. It is our goal to push, pull, touch, taste, wear, carry, and rigorously test every product and service out there to save you the time and the headache of having to do it yourself. We know the ins and outs of different brands, local services, childcare providers, and more. We are partnered with local retailers and can often get you special client discounts to local stores and services. It is our goal to get you almost anything you might need related to your upcoming arrival.
Need to build a registry without walking through stores for 4 weekends in a row? We can have it done in a week. Need someone to walk your dog while you are at the hospital? Done. Debating which bottles to get? Do not worry, we know the perfect ones for you to try first, and we even know which ones are just about to hit the market that you might not have heard of yet (did you know that there are new silicone bottles that feel like a breast? Perfect for transitioning baby to bottle!). Need a nanny share, but don’t know where to find a complimentary family? We will do the searching and set it all up for you.
We have seen clients who run the gamut in terms of what they are willing to spend for a baby planner. We have had clients who simply want us to set their baby up with a nanny share, and we have had others who want us to plan everything with them! It is not necessarily a high-ticket service. Baby planners might even save you some money by advising you against the high-priced selections you have made and introducing you to an even better and lower-priced alternative. We love nothing more than to make your life easier by helping you to make the best choices for you.
A baby planner’s expertise will allow you more time and energy to focus on the things you really want to focus on, like resting, reading parenting books, exercising, having fun with your partner and all the small joys of expecting a baby. If you are expecting your second baby, are having twins, or are on bed rest, there are more specific needs that we can meet for you. There is great peace of mind when you know that you have the best information you can have, especially when making such important decisions for your growing family.
