In a bit of an overwhelmed panic, I turned to the PBF Facebook page and asked you to share your “must have” baby items. A bunch of you were kind enough to chime in and tell me all about what you used, what got ignored and what you couldn’t live without when it came to caring for your little ones. I am so incredibly appreciative of your advice and put together the vast majority of my registry by following your tips and guidance.
I also had a bunch of you ask me to share my master list of registry items with you once I was done putting everything together. It seems like more than a few of you are in a similar boat to me – aka pregnant and clueless – so I hope this list helps give you a starting point!
I followed the advice of blog readers and close girlfriends and also did some research myself to create our registry. I tried to keep item descriptions below very generic so you can do your own research and fill your registry with items that are best for you, but I also hyperlinked most items for those who might be curious for more specifics and want to know exactly what I chose to include in our baby registry. I also tried to organize our registry into categories to make it slightly less overwhelming. I hope this helps!
Also, if you happen to be a parent who has been through all of this before and notice something missing off the below registry list that you think I should have included, please let me know! I know it’s definitely not a comprehensive list and I’m absolutely open to recommendations!
Our Baby Registry
Bath
- Infant/Toddler Bathtub
- Washcloths
- Brush and Comb
- Baby Shampoo and Body Wash
- Hooded Towels
Bed and Sleep
- Swaddling Blankets
- Crib Sheet
- Mattress Pad (Waterproof)
- Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit
- SleepSack
Diapering
- Changing Pad Cover
- Diaper Caddy
- ButtPaste Ointment
- Portable Changing Station
- Diaper Trash Can
- Diapers
Feeding
- Burp Cloths
- Bibs (Cloth and Soft Rubber)
- Bottles
- Bottle Drying Rack
- Bottle Brush with Nipple Cleaner
- High Chair/Booster Seat
- Nursing Shawl
- Nipple Cream
- Breastmilk Storage Bags
- Disposable Nursing Pads
- Sterilizing Bags
- Boppy/Nursing Pillow
- Breast Pump (U.S. insurance companies offer this for free)
Gear
Baby Care
- Nail Clippers
- Thermometer
- Aspirator
- Vaseline
- Pacifiers
Safety and Transportation
- Baby Monitor
- Sunscreen
- Car Seat
- Stroller
- Stroller Blanket
- Baby Carrier(s)
- Back Seat Mirror
- Infant Life Jacket
Questions of the Day
- What were your “must have” items that you absolutely loved and used constantly after your baby was born?
The most recommended baby registry items from blog readers (outside of staples like a stroller or car seat) included the Rock ‘n Play, Boppy, swaddling blankets and burp cloths!
- What was one thing you thought you’d use a lot that didn’t work well for you/your baby?
- Is there anything missing from the above registry list that you think should be included?
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Oh and the Halo swaddle and sleep sacks. They were our fav once we migrated past stretchy swaddling blankets in the new newborn phase. I liked ones where they can move their hips but the arms are down.
things keep coming to me, we liked:
Baby ComfyNose Nasal Aspirator so much better than Nose Frida (no filters to replace!)
A good sound machine, and the Relax M. P. app on my phone
Julie, where did you decide to register at? Have you had a good experience so far (getting the packages etc.)?
we did amazon and target and had good experiences with both! easy exchanges/returns, fast shipping, etc.!
I’m so excited for you!
My ‘essentials’, given my experience with my four month old (side note, take as many pictures and videos as you can – it really does go SOOO fast!):
– swaddle blankets: someone above mentioned the larger version of aden and anais from nordies, definitely a must have, and they can be used for so much (stroller cover, burp cloth, light cover when nursing)
– swing: he is on/off with the swing, but it’s been worth the investment. we got the cheaper version from fisher price that vibrates, too. no need to spend a ton, time!
– zip up onesies are the best for middle of the night changes!
– a bassinet: given the feedback that rock n plays aren’t the safest sleeping environment, we opted for a bassinet (note, these are also not safety rated, but we did get one with mesh on the sides to possibly mitigate some of the risk). the transition to the crib was so easy – for the baby, not for me!
– nursing pillows: i have both, the breast friend and a boppy…and i used both exactly once. i found that a firm pillow and receiving blankets for head stability to be so much better! the lactation consultant showed me how to nurse in the hospital with pillows, and it was so much easier for me than the other aids.
– miracle blankets/easy zip swaddles: we have several, and my little guy hated them from day one. i couldn’t even get him in to the miracle blanket! we used the aden and anais swaddle for a few weeks and then opted for footie pjs in halo sleep sacks, and we never had a problem with the startle reflex waking him up.
end of the day, you will figure out what works for you and your baby, so my final recommendation would be don’t buy much up front – figure out what you need and as others have said, amazon prime is your new bff! best of luck!
thank you so much for taking the time to share all of this with me!! I really appreciate it!
I HIGHLY recommend the BOB stroller if you plan to do lots of running or even for walking its great. It’s like pushing nothing 🙂 I know it’s a rather large investment but it’s worth the money if you’re going to be active! Also NEWBORN pictures, something to think about!
I second both recommendations! My baby is 7 months old now and I have been loving walking her in the BOB. We got one as a hand-me-down (2008 model) and they are such great quality it seems like new.
Also I cherish the nb pictures. Our photographer was the one from our wedding and she told us to wait until baby was 2 weeks old for the photo shoot. Their skin isn’t as wrinkly/peeling and they’ll still sleep through the pictures 🙂
I third both recommendations! 🙂 I have a single and a double Bob Revolution, and they have both been all over the country with me and are still going strong after 6 years and 4 kids. Great for running, walking, airports, and anything else. They are SO easy to push!
And I am so thankful we invested in quality newborn pics. They only look like that for such a short period of time, and no pictures I took myself looked nearly as good as a professional.
One other thing I love is our PeaPod tent. It’s great for traveling instead of lugging the whole pack and play.
For us, the most useful things were not things. They were:
-Frozen homemade meals. If people asked what we needed, we always asked for frozen meals. We had zero time to cook for the first few weeks, and being able to pop a home cooked meal in the oven and eat a healthy nutritious meal was really, really wonderful.
-Housekeeping. My father in law paid for a professional cleaner to come and clean our place every week for SIX MONTHS. It was incredibly generous, and a real livesaver. When you have 20 free minutes, you really really really – really – won’t want to spend it cleaning the bathroom. I know six months of house cleaning is way outside of most budgets, but even one or two sessions are worth asking for.
-Extra hands / extra time: people to walk your dog, weed your garden, and other household things. My sister came to visit for a week, and she’d come into the room every morning at 7, take the baby for a long carrier walk, and let my husband and I sleep for two hours. We asked her to just circle the block so that if the baby got hungry they could come back in a jiffy, but those early morning naps were sanity-savers in the early days.
…and, if I had thought of it before, I would have registered for a postnatal massage. After the workout of my life, it would have felt amaaaazing.
Obviously you can’t register for those things at Target (ha!), but if anyone asks you where you are registered, make sure to also mention the non-things, things. You really won’t need any more onesies :).
Good luck!
The frozen meals and housekeeper idea = So thoughtful! I love that idea as a gift for my expectant mom friends, too!
I have the boppy and my breast friend. My breast friend is my favorite for nursing but the boppy is great when they get older to prop them up and for sitting. You will spend a whole lot of time nursing and I loved having two pillows, one for nursery and one for living room.
I just had my second baby and have become obsessed with my new nursing cover from CoveredGoods. It is so awesome and makes nursing in public a breeze bc it covers you completely. With my first son I hardly ever nursed out in public, instead I would nurse in the car or find somewhat really private which ended up taking me away from any social setting we were in. With my second I knew I wanted to change that and saw the CoveredGoods cover on instagram one day, immediately ordered it, and couldn’t love it more! I nurse my son everywhere now, and it also can be used for a carseat cover, shopping cart cover, and an infinity scarf!
Free breast pump? SMART … formula can costs thousands of dollars in the end.
I loved the nursing pads from Motherhood Maternity (link below). They were the BEST! We also loved our Bob jogging stroller. We used it from when baby was a newborn and still use it. It’s so great!
http://www.motherhood.com/Product.asp?Product_Id=949900363&MasterCategory_Id=MC29
I bought nipple butter and soothies ahead of time, but my hospital sent me home with so many little tubes of lanolin, a couple pairs of “soothies” and 2 of those bulbs to suck snot/spit up. My hospital also sent me home with a manual breast pump, which is nice to have in addition to the double electric I got through my insurance for free. You may want to try different breast pads before committing to a large number of one kind — some are lumpier than others and will show through more fitted clothing.
I don’t see nursing bras/sleep bras on your list. Anything that is without underwire and that will give you easy access to your boob will work- because you will be doing it 10-12x/day. You may want a baby carrier or wrap so you can hold baby and still have use of your hands. Diaper bag (or regular tote with a couple inner pockets). Refills for your diaper trash can if they require special bags.
We registered for a Rock N Play, Pack n Play, and a friend let us borrow their bouncer. There seemed to be a lot of overlap between those especially since our Pack n Play has a bassinet feature, so we returned the Rock n Play. We have the crib and the pack n play for naps and overnight and use the bouncer as something to set the baby down in when needed. We borrowed a swing from a friend but she’s not too keen on it. You’ll find your baby will like some gadgets and not others.
Register for stuff you’ll use later down the line like a portable high chair (we have the inglesina brand) and the Summer Infant Tiny Diner Portable Placemat. We’ve been using ours from 6months on and they’re great!!
Definitely this post will help me to choose the best baby registry for my newborn.