20 Baby Registry Essentials: unpaid opinions from a real mom

I remember when I was pregnant with Amelia, and all the influx of advertising seemed to be dumped on me the second the test strip showed positive. Seriously, it’s overwhelming. Instagram and Facebook ads, recommended youtube videos, family recommendations, and yes, blog posts. Maybe adding my opinion to the mix won’t help much with the overwhelming influx of information being dumped on you, but here’s what I considered to be the most useful baby items so far (for context Amelia is turning one this month). Oh, and by the way, none of these recommendations are paid ads.

1. Ask for multiple sized diapers on your registry, and multiple brands too! Babies grow out of newborn size in like 2 weeks, and then you have packs of diapers you can never use. People gifted us many brands, and after going through a few different boxes, we realized Huggies Little Movers worked best for Amelia, but I know some babies get diaper rash from Huggies and prefer Pampers or Honest.

2. Ask for different brands of bottles and pacifiers. Babies are surprisingly picky (don’t get me started on Amelia not being able to take a bottle till she was almost 10 months). Sometimes a baby won’t take a bottle just because they don’t prefer the nipple on it. Try asking for one of each: Nuk, Dr. Brown, Tommee Tippee, MAM, etc.

3. I believe Muslin swaddles are useless, and every baby can wriggle their way out: no-matter how expertly wrapped up they were. Instead, ask for different sleep sacks. Amelia lived in the Love to Dream sleep sacks the first 6ish months of her life, and then we transitioned to Nested Bean sleep sacks (which she’s still using today). Love to Dream was perfect for making her feel secure with her arms near her face all night, and once she learned to roll over the Nested Bean sacks provided freedom for her arms while giving her some weight and pressure around her chest for security.

4. Any old play-mat with dangling toys is necessary when you need to plop your (immobile) baby down near you while you need to do some dishes or use the restroom.

5. Try finding expensive (but worth it) items secondhand on Facebook marketplace, or ask your mom friends who have older kids who no longer use their baby gear. Always put pricy items on your registry; even if nobody gets it, you often get a discount at the very end after your shower.

6. The Baby Bjorn Bouncer was probably the single most used item Amelia has had in her infancy. As suggested above, I would recommend asking for it on your registry, and if you don’t get it, buy it second hand for a cheaper price!

7. Ask for a Car Mirror. Since your new baby will be in a backwards facing carseat for the first 2 years of their life, setting up a car mirror that attaches to the head of the seat they are in will help you easily check on them without breaking your back and neck during red lights to make sure they are ok!

8. Get a Infant Car Seat that attaches to a Stroller. This makes getting baby in and out of the car quick and painless, and if they fall asleep you can effortlessly pop their seat into a stroller while you go to your doctor’s appointment or grocery shop without transitioning them from one thing to the next… ultimately upsetting them which isn’t fun.

9. Get sunshades for the back two windows of the car. I should have done this one sooner. The sun would always get directly into my baby’s eyes while we were driving around, and I couldn’t shield her eyes from it because, well, I was busy driving!

10. A Hatch Sound Machine is worth it, but make sure to ask for any kind of sound machine on your registry. White noise really helps a baby fall/stay asleep.

11. The Medela Breast Pump is a good investment for pumping and nursing moms. The breast pump I got through insurance was terrible, and it broke within a few weeks… free doesn’t always mean “good quality”

12. Anything from the brand Frida Mom or Frida Baby is quality and useful.

13. “Skip hop all in one kneeler and elbow saver” it is what it says it is… when you’re on the hard bathroom floor giving your baby a bath it saves ya.

14. Ask for more bibs than you can imagine. Even before a baby starts solids there is so much drool and spit up.

15. I recommend using an ubbi diaper pail versus a diaper genie (it’s cheaper and uses real trash bags/holds more diapers).

16. Ask for wipes, but don’t fall into the marketing trap of wipe warmers or bottle sterilizers. You can use dawn dish soap and even the dishwasher for most baby things, and wipe warmers dry the wipes out.

17. I use a lot of baskets for organizing diapers, lotions, toys, pacis, etc.

18. A BOPPY IS A MUST: wether you’re breastfeeding or bottle feeding.

19. Amelia lived in her ergo baby carrier. I had arms to do things when she napped on me! I tried those wrap carriers, but they’re too confusing, and she gets mad at me trying to put her in it.

20. Newborns can’t take any medicine, but they get colds a lot, so nurses will tell you to get a humidifier (not the kind that sprays out Vick’s vapor…), baby saline spray, a snot sucker, and a rectal thermometer. Don’t forget those tiny nail clippers either!

Of course, there are plenty of other things you can add to your list, but these are the brands and products that I’ve used the most Amelia’s first year of life.

Three bonus apps I’d recommend getting as a pregnant/new mom would be:

1. The Bump: tracks each week you are pregnant with insightful info and cute veggie representations of how big your baby is

2. Nara Baby: I have used this app every single day since Amelia’s birth. One of the hospital nurses showed it to me when I was having trouble keeping track of how long my daughter was feeding for. It can track breastfeeding times (how long on each side), bottle feeding (amount and wether it’s pumped milk or formula), wet/dirty diaper counts, has a timer for how long naps and night sleeping is, it can keep record of shots, height, weight, and head circumference, and you can also log what kind of solid foods your baby has tried and ”routines” (like bath time or tummy time)

3. FamilyAlbum: is an easy way to share photos between you and your partner or you and select family members. Plus, it’s an extra place to store all your cute baby photos and videos incase you run out of storage on your photos app (hey, it might happen… you will be obsessed with your new squishy baby)!