One of the most exciting times is sitting down to register items as you await your little one. I’m hoping, by using our registry and following advice from experienced moms, I can come up with a really helpful list of baby registry favorites. As I was writing this post, I kept in mind what I would have wanted to know when making our registry. I hope it can be a great resource for expecting mamas or those who have a special mama-to-be in their life. Below, I have shared my most frequently used items and must haves! All of this is personal preference since there are so many great products out there and every baby is different. These are the things that worked for us. I am adding the link to our Amazon storefront baby items list here.
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Stroller- We have the 2019 UPPAbaby Vista stroller and at the time I purchased an older model from an online baby boutique called The Baby Cubby to save on it. This was our biggest investment because we knew we wanted a stroller that could convert to a double later on. Now that we have two kids, I’m so glad we did and I would purchase this stroller all over again.
Pros: I love the large basket at the bottom that can hold groceries and the high quality features like the leather handles. It comes with the sweetest bassinet that is my favorite for newborn walks that allow your baby can sleep and be swaddled. I also use it as a diaper changer when we are out and love not having to find a bathroom. Between the seat, bassinet, and car seat you can three options for your baby.
Cons: When the time comes to covert it to a double, you will need to buy all the separate parts, which adds up. The upper adapters ($29.99), lower adapters ($29.99) and the Rumble seat ($220) are all attachments that do not come with the stroller. I thought the seat it came with would fit the adapters, but it doesn’t which is a bummer.
• Sound Machine – We have the Hatch sound machine. We started out with one and now have two; one for each child. I got the most basic one and skipped the upgrade on this. The Hatch has a built-in night light for middle of the night nursing, too! And when we are out and about one a stroller walk, I used this portable sound machine by Rohm.
• Baby carrier- I personally have multiple of these because I love baby carrying season and having options. For when baby is 7-25lbs I love the Ergobaby embrace newborn carrier which is so easy to put on by yourself and distributes the weight evenly. As they get older, the original ergobaby carrier is helpful, but harder to put on by yourself with the strap uptop. My husband loves using this on walks too. I use this to put our babies on my back while making dinner when they are older.
For a beautiful print, I also use wraps from Sollybaby often. After watching their tutorial reels and practicing before baby arrived, I felt so comfortable using them and our babies loved being held in them.
• Ikea high chair– You can’t beat the price at $29.99 and I love using Yeah baby goods for the accessories. Yeah baby goods has a footrest that helps support the core and prevent chocking. They also have a cushion for back support with cute covers and a silicone mat for easy clean up.
• Monitor – This one was a hard one for us. There are so many options to choose from for baby monitors – you can either get one connected to WiFi on your phone or one that has a screen you can carry from room to room. This is personal preference. I have and use one of each. Right now I use a monitor that you just plug in without needing my phone.
We registered for the owlet baby monitor and after two years it began having problems. Whenever the power goes out or the wifi is down, you have to troubleshoot it and set it back up which I don’t love. When we travel I don’t love needing to connect and rely on someone else’s wifi and when I am at home I don’t always like to look at my phone.
If a wifi monitor is something you are looking into, I am personally switching to the lollipop because it had settings that avoid any hacking and have great privacy settings.
• Boppy Pillow – I really wasn’t able to breastfeed well without this. It helps with feeding and baby support. I brought it to the hospital with me. Along with buying the Boppy pillow, I also bought the waterproof cover to put under my pretty cover for spit up.
• Diaper Bag – Lots of options on diaper bags – this is again, personal preference. I loved a brown leather one for the look and high quality to last a long time. I had a Fawn Design for two years which worked great and the zipper ripped from general wear and tear. Now, we have the Mina Baie and love it even more than the Fawn Design for the wide opening at the top and functional pockets.
• Bath Seat – I love this one from Amazon & it has 5 stars! For newborn baths, wrap them in a swaddle in the water! When registering for bath toys, it’s great to get ones without holes in the bottom to avoid mold.
• Changing pad and cover- We used this changing pad that I placed on top of the dresser and have covers from a company called Mushie. Mushie has my favorite crib sheets, bibs, pacifier clips, and teethers!
• Nose Frida– If you have asked people for their favorite baby registry items, this is probably mentioned first. It is so helpful when your babies are sick and need to get snot out!
Wet bag– This is a lifesaver. I keep this in our diaper bag for water bottles/bottles so there are no spills or leaks. It also works for blowouts. There is nothing worse than being out and having nowhere to put a stinky outfit. I just empty this wet bag and put it all in the washing machine, including the bag.
• Burp Cloths- You can go through these like crazy in the first few months. These are some of my favorites and we use these as washcloths for bath time too.
• Haakaa – If you are breastfeeding, this is a must. It catches the let down on the other side while you nurse. I saved hundreds of ounces in the freezer using this. It’s a chord-free and assembly-free breast pump. I would add the Medela Breast Milk Storage Bags to the registry too.
• Pacifiers – Bibs pacifiers have been both of our babies favorites! Both our babies used these and having a clip helps them not drop them.
• Bottles – There are so many brands/shapes/sizes out there, but these glass ones worked for us. I loved the feeling and easy cleaning of the glass and both of our babies took them well.
• Snuggle Me Organic- I don’t have any experience with a Dock-a-Tot, but I loved the snuggle me organic for supervised naps on the couch. I put a waterproof pad underneath and then a cover over it. It’s a Portable & lightweight baby lounger that is great for supervised play or relaxing.
• Zipper Sleepers – Zippers are the way to go! A little more functional than dealing with all of those little buttons in the middle of the night. Our favorites are from Quincy Mae because they are the softest and have the cutest prints.
• Bassinet – We have used two; the Design dua for a beautiful heirloom basket look and the 4Moms mamaroo sleep bassinet that is modern with all the bells and whistles. You can adjust the motions and white noise sounds all from your phone. We love and have kept both!
• Pack n’ play- We have and love the 4moms breeze plus playard. It can be installed in about 30 seconds and comes with the softest sheets. It also has a bassinet attachment. A Graco one would work great
• Car Seat – We actually added two car seats to our registry. We have both the Uppababy messa car seat and the Graco 4ever car seat to transition into around one year. It’s personal preference if you want to add two expensive items, but for us it was so helpful to not have that expense after a year. We also purchased a car mirror so we can see our babies while driving.
• Extra car seat base: I learned this tip from a friend, if you have more than one car, add another carseat base to your registry to make it easier rather than uninstalling and reinstalling from car to car.
• Diapers – Can you ever have enough? Parasol Diaper Co. is the way to go. We have used them for three years and it comes right to our door each month. Add different sizes to your registry to be sure to get a variety. They are in a similar price point to Honest diapers. Here is a size 3 diaper price comparison: Parasol (192 diapers + 240 wipes = $84) vs. Honest (210 diapers + 288 wipes = $84)
In our car, we kept a diaper caddy that had extra diapers, wipes, and an outfit in case we ever forgot.
• Baby Bath Soap / Lotion – Adding things like this to your registry will make for one less thing to buy at the store! I love Parasol because we can add it to our diaper delivery.
• Swaddles – I used the Snuggleme Velcro swaddles for newborn days and switched to the Love to Dream swaddles as they got bigger and both worked like a dream. The love to dream is a zipper swaddle that allows baby’s arms to be over their head and calm their startle reflex. You can zip off the arm pieces so it can become a sleep sac. Swaddles are a perfect example that every baby is different. I know so many babies who thrived from weighted sleep sacks and both our babies didn’t like them. You will just have to test them out and see!
• Bouncer / Rocker – Another safe place to put your little before they start moving around on their own! This is personal preference but I chose to spend more here because I loved the look of the Charlier Crane LEVO baby rocker. It washes clean in a normal wash cycle and snaps back on. You can definitely find one cheaper but it really is so beautiful. Our toddler now uses it as her seat when watching movies too.
• Owlet Smart Sock – A baby heart rate and oxygen monitor. It’s a bit of an investment but may be worth it for some peace of mind if it would help you.
Postpartum & practical items
I personally didn’t add many postpartum items to my registry because if you ask, the hospital will give you so many items to take home with you like dermoplast spray, a spray bottle and pads. I did add the Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads and Lansinoh HPA Lanolin cream which I used for both babies.
• Healthcare Kit / Thermometer – Not the things that gets you overly excited, but practical! Better to have these on hand when needed instead of scrambling with a sick little one.
• If you are breastfeeding, vitamin D Drops. Use as directed by a doctor, but most pediatricians will tell you to give your baby vitamin d because it’s the only vitamin they don’t get from your milk.
• Bink outlet covers- it will sneak up on you how quickly these are needed!
• Dapple baby bottle soap- the best of the best for cleaning milk out of bottles
• Honest diaper cream
• Infant Tylenol; As directed by a doctor, as they were older I sometimes gave our babies Tylenol 30 minutes before an appointment if I knew they were getting multiple shots.
This is the link to our registry in 2019 if it is helpful to see; https://www.babylist.com/monica-kegley