Hot Take: The Most Expensive Baby Item Isn’t the Stroller — It’s Your Mental Energy

Why the pressure to “get it right” is costing you more than any baby gear ever will.

When my friend called me stressed about her registry, we didn’t start by comparing brands.

We started with this: “What’s actually stressing you out the most?”

It wasn’t safety.
It wasn’t budget.
It wasn’t even the baby.

It was the pressure to get everything right.

Car seat.
Stroller.
Bassinet.
Crib mattress (why are there 47 kinds?).
Monitor.
Bottles.

Every decision felt loaded.

And here’s my hot take:

The baby industry doesn’t sell products.
It sells relief from anxiety.

And we buy it.

(I’ll have to do another post on my postpartum anxiety…the struggle is REALLLLL.)

Because we love our babies.

Because we want to be prepared.

Because we don’t want to mess this up.

But somewhere along the way, preparation quietly becomes performance.

You Don’t Need the “Best.” You Need the One That Fits Your Life.

In our conversation, the stroller question turned into something bigger.

Not: “What’s the best stroller?”

But: “How do you actually live?”

Do you walk daily?
Is your driveway pavement or gravel?
Do you live in the city of Houston where the sidewalks are absolute crap? (Sorry, I might be venting now…)
Do you travel?
Do you want one-handed fold because you’re always holding coffee and keys?

Your lifestyle should determine your gear.

Not Instagram.

Not Amazon reviews.

Not the mom who lives in a high-rise when you live on acreage…or vice versa.

Side note…I registered for one of those Solly wraps because all the cute Instagram mom influencers had them, and ended up being gifted with two. I was so excited, tried using them three times, and after breaking a sweat and wanting to throw it out the window, I bought a carrier that I didn’t have to have the patience of Mother Theresa to use…(my blood pressure literally went up just typing that sentence because I hated the Solly wrap that much, ha!), because I’m not your cute mom Solly wrap girl…I’m your practical, fast-paced, multitasking mom that just wants to go for the freaking walk without 20 minutes of wrapping a thing around my body hoping my baby doesn’t fall out.

Okay, moving on…

The Lie: If You Choose Wrong, You’ll Regret It Forever

You won’t.

You’ll adjust.

You’ll sell it.
You’ll borrow something else.
You’ll laugh about it later.

Motherhood is not a single high-stakes purchasing decision.

It’s a series of small pivots.

Here’s the Inspiring Part

You are allowed to build a registry (and anything for that matter) that supports your version of motherhood.

Not the aesthetic one.
Not the minimalist one.
Not the hyper-optimized one.

The one that reduces friction in your real life.

That might mean:

• A jogging stroller for walks and a travel stroller that stays in the car.

• A pack-and-play bridge instead of a designer bassinet.

• Skipping the bottle sanitizer.

• Registering for comfy postpartum pajamas in a size bigger than you think (I realllllly wish I’d done that because the pjs I brought to the hospital were way too small).

It might mean asking for help making decisions because you don’t have the energy.

That’s not weakness.

That’s wisdom.

Get Mom Ready Means This

It doesn’t mean “get everything perfect.”

It means:
Get ready to adapt.
Get ready to learn.
Get ready to change your mind.

And most importantly?

Get ready to protect your mental energy.

Because that’s the resource you’ll use more than any stroller.

If you’ve already had a baby, I’d love to know:

What registry item did you overthink… and what ended up not mattering nearly as much as you thought? Let us know in the comments below.

Let’s make this easier for the next mom reading.