Our baby list, told step by step

Our list, chapter by chapter

1. 1

   Which date for a baby list?

   When I created our list, I picked the baby type, then straight away “Follow reservations”: before the baby arrived, we wanted to know what was still missing. That left the date. The list closes to family and friends the day after that date, and the date can't be changed afterwards. So I didn't put the due date: I chose the day we'd introduce the baby to the family, two months later. Gifts brought to the maternity ward or during the first visits still count.

   Find out more: Dates & Events·Public lists

   
2. 2

   The link rather than the search

   A public list can be found through the site's search, with its date, its type and a name or a town. For Lea's wedding, that was perfect: everyone knew the date and the couple's names. For us, the search would have been no use. Our family didn't know the date I had chosen, since it wasn't the due date, and we were keeping the baby's name to ourselves until the birth. So I unticked “Visible in public search”: our list would travel by its link, sent directly.

   Find out more: Public lists

   
3. 3

   Malik at the controls with me

   I handed Malik the management of the list just by entering his email address. He adds his ideas, tweaks mine, and since the list follows reservations, he sees them too as soon as they come in. With two of us, we always know who is giving what, and what is still left to find.

   Find out more: Public lists·Sharing & Invitations

4. 4

   Saturday at the baby shop

   On Saturday, at the baby shop, Malik scanned the barcode of the car seat we had just tried: it landed in our list with its name. As for the crib, a neighbour was selling hers second-hand, with no box and no barcode: I took a photo of it, and the idea practically filled itself in. In the evening, on my laptop, the browser extension did the rest from the shops' websites.

   Find out more: Mobile app·Automatic product extraction·Browser extension

5. 5

   Pushchair and car seat on top

   Three ideas mattered more than the others: the pushchair, the car seat and the baby carrier. I pinned them so they stay at the top of the list for everyone, and used hearts to show the rest of our preferences. For the 0–3 month bodysuits, I asked for six. And two ideas had no link at all: “Home-cooked meals for the first week” and “An evening of babysitting”.

   Find out more: Public lists

   
6. 6

   The link in the family WhatsApp group

   No invitation card, no search: our list travelled through people's chats. In the app, I opened the list, tapped “Share” and picked WhatsApp — any other messaging app would have done. The message was already written, with the link: I sent it to the “Family” group.

   My mum, Danielle, forwarded it straight away to her friends and the great-aunts, and Karim, Malik's brother, to the chat on their side of the family. People who have the app open the list in it; the others open it in their browser, without creating an account. And from the list, “Copy public link” lets anyone pass it on in turn.

   Find out more: Sharing & Invitations·Public lists·Mobile app

   
7. 7

   Reserving without an account, fully informed

   Aunt Josie got the link from my mum. No account, and no wish to create one: her name, her email address, a few words for us, then one click on the link she received by email to confirm. If she changes her mind, the same email lets her cancel. Before she confirmed, the form told her that we can see the reservations on this list: she reserved fully informed.

   Find out more: Public lists·Reservations & Group contributions

   
8. 8

   Six bodysuits, three people

   Priya, my colleague, took two bodysuits, and Aunt Josie two more. Whoever opened the list next could see that two were left, never who had taken the others: Malik and I see the names, our family and friends don't. The last two went a little later, and nobody turned up with a bag of twelve bodysuits.

   Find out more: Reservations & Group contributions

9. 9

   My phone tells me about every reservation

   Since the list follows reservations, each one is announced to both of us, Malik and me: in the app, by email or on the phone, depending on what each of us chose in our settings. When my mum reserved the car seat, then Karim the pushchair, we knew within a minute. A month before the due date, the list page showed at a glance what was still left to give: the night light and the play mat, which I bought myself.

   Find out more: Notifications·Public lists

   
10. 10

    Lea finds her reservation

    Lea has had an account since her wedding last year. She reserved the last two bodysuits in one click, with no email to confirm, and her reservation is waiting for her in “My reservations”, in the public lists section. If she changes her mind, that's where she can cancel it.

    Find out more: Reservations & Group contributions·Our wedding list, told step by step

    
11. 11

    The introduction, then the thank-yous

    The day after we introduced the baby to the family, the list closed to everyone else. We kept everything: every name, every address, every message. The thank-you cards practically wrote themselves.

    Find out more: Dates & Events

12. 12

    And for his first birthday

    For his first birthday, we're moving on to private lists. I added our son as someone I look after, and created a list for him in the family group. Since he's the one being spoilt and not me, I can see what the family reserves there, and I can reserve too. What comes next will probably look a lot like a family Christmas.

    Find out more: Family & loved ones management·Private lists·A family Christmas, told step by step