We’ve all been there. We’re invited to a friend or family member’s baby shower, watching as they open package after package of binkies, bottle washers, wipe warmers, newborn onesies, and baby tchotchkes. While these gifts have become standard fare for any baby shower, one may question if they are meeting the needs of today’s parent.
Statistics show that new mothers lack sleep, are changing upwards of 11 diapers each day, and spend anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500 on formula in the first year of a baby’s life. Being a new parent is tough, and ultimately, the rattles and clothing that a baby receives at the shower are not what new parents truly value.
Today’s new parents need better support from their village — help with the day-to-day needs and services to lean on after the baby has arrived and for each stage of family life to follow. This is where The Dopple Registry comes in. A new kind of registry for a new generation of parents, The Dopple offers the gear any mom requires and, crucially, the ability to add helpful services and recurring deliveries to support the new family.
Leveling the playing field
Not every mom begins their parenting journey with livable wages or access to high-quality healthcare and help. This is a gap that The Dopple’s CEO, Lisa Marino, is hoping to help bridge. It’s also a story with which she is intimately familiar.
“I was a student when I started my family,” Marino shares. “We lost access to our college-provided healthcare when I graduated, and I had no job. This was right after the dot-com bubble burst, and we found ourselves in this position unexpectedly, so we had to turn to the State of California for help.”
Marino’s year on state aid after having her child gave her an insider’s look at how vital the “village” can be. For many, help comes in the form of grandparents, friends, coworkers, other new mothers, and paid service providers. These services are typically paid out of pocket for those who can afford it.
The Dopple makes it easy for moms to register for this help and they enable her village to step in and gift the items and services requested. “We are leveling the playing field around critical services, such as night doulas and lactation consultants, as well as with regular delivery items such as diapers or clothing that meet the needs of growing children,” explains Marino.
Items, services, and clothing as a child grows
The Dopple’s mission is to bring baby shower gifting into the modern age, meeting the evolving needs of mothers. Through The Dopple, moms can add items to their registry as they have in the past, but now their options are expanded past the layette sets and baby toys of the past —- much of which go unused or end up in a landfill within a year.
Today’s mothers are not interested in collecting a bunch of plastic toys and trinkets. Instead, they seek gifts to carry them through milestones as their new baby grows. “Today’s baby shower gifts have not kept pace with the needs of modern parents,” says Marino.
In addition to items often found on standard registries, such as car seats and bassinettes, recurring deliveries of necessary items such as formula and diapers are included, as well as “drops” from The Dopple’s clothing subscription service, which serves ages 0-12. These gifts, which can be a great option for group gifting, can continue to serve moms long after the birth of their little one.
Services can also be gifted through The Dopple Registry, which makes the registry exceedingly unique in the baby shower gift space. Service providers such as doulas, lactation consultants, or housekeepers can be a saving grace to tired, overwhelmed new parents.
Unlike impersonal registry cash funds, The Dopple Registry breaks these larger gift items of services or recurring deliveries down into discrete gifts that can fit the budgets of any friends or family. Group or single gift-givers have the choice of “going in on” a part of a gift — for example, one evening visit from a night doula — or gifting a recurring gift, such as three months of diaper deliveries.
The Dopple is a service for our new age of parenting, where the support one has around them matters more than ever. New parents often need a lifeline in the challenging but beautiful journey of parenthood.
With the unique offerings of The Dopple, gifting and support for new parents is redefined, recognizing the irreplaceable importance of “the village” and striving to bridge gaps for those who may need it the most. As moms (and dads!) embark on this incredible adventure, The Dopple is ready to be a trusted partner in creating a nurturing environment for the new bundle from day one — and every day after.
Published By: Aize Perez
