I remember when I was pregnant, I spent hours upon hours searching the world wide web, asking Google and other friends “what do I need?!” To be honest, it’s extremely overwhelming when you are about to be a new mom and have no idea what you need, what you can do without, and what you don’t necessarily “need” but what will make your life easier. And to be honest, every family has a different lifestyle, so everyone’s needs will be totally different. However, I do think there are some essential things that should go on every registry. In this guide, I am going to share my thoughts on all things baby registry items. I hope you find this helpful! Please leave a comment below with any questions and I would be happy to help further!
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Items that Belong on Every Registry!
A Bottle Sample Pack
One mistake I see a lot of new moms making is adding a large amount of a specific type of bottle to their registry. This is a mistake because every baby is so different, and you or your baby might hate certain bottles and love others. You truly don’t know what is best for your baby until you do some trial and error. It would be unfortunate if you got a large supply of botttles in one specific brand that your baby doesnt respond well to, and then the bottles are wasted. For this reason, I recommend adding a sample pack of bottles like this one to your registry.
A High Chair
At some point, your little one will need a high chair, and they aren’t necessarily “cheap”. A high chair is one of those staple items that you can’t go wrong with adding to your registry. The high chair below is a great option to add to your registry!
A Baby Bathtub
This is one of the registry items I wish I would have chosen differently! I just picked a standard bathtub, but I wish I would have gotten a swaddle bathtub like this one . Our poor buddy HATED bath time for the first few months because he was super cold, and he hated the hard plastic material of the tub we had. I think bath time would have been much less stressful with something like this.
Bottle Washing Supplies
There’s no way to get around washing bottles with a little one on the way. Even if you plan on nursing, there will inevitably be times that your little one has to have a bottle. Adding things like a bottle brush, drying rack, and wash basin will take one more thing off of your plate when it comes to shopping for baby.
A Stroller and Car-Seat Combo
If you haven’t checked prices on strollers and car seats recently, I can assure you that they are NOT cheap. I am so thankful that we had this on our registry and had some wonderful friends come together to purchase this item for us. It truly was a weight off of us when it came to purchasing so many baby items while preparing for our little one. When it comes to adding a stroller and car seat to your registry, I would recommend doing some online research to narrow down your choices, and then going in person to try out some of the features before making a decision. My personal choice would be the Doona.
A Baby Monitor
This is a must have item especially for an anxious first time mom like myself! This Cubo monitor was the only way I stayed sane for the first few weeks of having our boy in his own room 🙂 I LOVE this monitor because it has so many features that you can turn on and off (like roll-over detection, etc) you can add your family to the app anytime they’re on babysitting duty, you can play sounds through the monitor, and so much more! The Cubo is an item that 100% gets used every single day still, even though our son is over a year old.
4 in 1 bassinet, play-yard, changing table.
This 4 in 1 set is a great way to get a lot of value for your money. Especially if you don’t have a ton of space at home, this can be used in a variety of different ways without taking up extra space.
Crib Sheets
You might be surprised by how many times you are changing the crib sheets, haha! The last thing you want to do in the middle of the night is go looking for a new sheet only to find out that they are all dirty. Definitely make sure you are well stocked on these essential items! These sheets are a great option!
A Crib Mattress
Sheets aren’t much good without a mattress to put them on, right?! You definitely want to make sure you invest in a high quality crib mattress like this one to ensure that your little one gets as much sleep as possible, so you can get as much sleep as possible!
Baby Bath Items
We talked about the baby bathtub, but you’ll also need wash cloths, soap, and towels to keep your little one nice and clean.
A Baby Grooming Kit
A Baby Groom Kit like this one is a great way to get all of the essentials for baby without making several different purchases. This kit includes things like nail clippers, a thermometer, brush, etc. All of which will be very useful!
A Diaper Bag
This is another one of those items I would recommend going to a store to try out! I also think that this item might take some trial and error. Some moms prefer a backpack style while others prefer a shoulder strap. While I didnt personally own an Itzy Ritzy, I have heard nothing but great things about them from tons of moms. You can check out the Itzy Ritzy bag, as well as all of the reviews HERE
A Diaper Pail
This is a hill I will die on. This is on so many “non-essential” lists, but I can promise you right now. You do not want to smell dirty diapers every time you go in the nursery. This pail has been incredible for dirty diapers. We never have a lingering smell in the nursery when using this.
Items I wouldn’t recommend putting on your registry
A wipe warmer
I know many moms think that the wipe warmer is an essential item, but I truly think you’re almost setting yourself up for failure here. Whenever you don’t have the wipe warmer available for whatever reason, your little one will be EXTRA angry about the cold wipes. In my opinion it is better to just get them used to wipes and diaper changes from the beginning
A ton of Diapers, UNLESS you can exchange them
I know it feels great to have a huge stock pile of diapers, but I would personally rather have gift cards to go toward diapers, and here’s why. It is similar to the bottle situation. You never know what your little one will react well to. If you register for 30 packages of Huggies diapers and your little one breaks out in a rash every-time you use them, that is going to be a ton of wasted money if you can’t exchange them. In addition, huge diaper boxes take up lots of space. I personally find it better to buy diapers a box or two at a time. This also ensures that you don’t have tons of diapers leftover in random sizes.
Lots of Newborn Clothes
Some babies don’t wear newborn clothes for very long, if at all. Avoid putting a ton of newborn clothes on the registry. Instead, shoot for bigger sizes like 3-6 months or bigger.
A Changing Table
Honestly, you are most likely not going to feel like marching back to the nursery every time the baby needs to be changed. In my opinion, it’s better to grab a nice diaper caddy and a Moses basket and change the baby wherever is most convenient
That’s all I have for you guys for now! I plan on coming back to this post to update whenever I think of other things I use all the time, or WISH I had for Carter during the early days. Congratulations on this new stage of your life and welcome to motherhood!
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