I have a million questions! The hubby will finally be home from his job in Iowa in a week and one of the top things on our to-do list is create a registry.
HELP!
I’ve looked at baby buying guide books– Baby Gizmo Guide and Consumer Reports Best Baby Products. While helpful, they were also extremely overwhelming! We need a wipe warmer?! and a bottle drying rack?? What are breast pads for?! (don’t worry, I now know what they’re for.. just didn’t know I’d need them!).
What I’m asking you… what are the essentials? What do we not really need? What were your favorites and your worsts?
And I’m talking everything here. Cribs, strollers, car seats, carriers, baby bottles, breast pumps, swings… good/bad brands? good/bad styles? best traits?
Is Babies-R-Us the best (most comprehensive and convenient) place to register?? Is it helpful to register at more than one store?
Do you see how clueless we are? 
I also walked into a Babies-R-Us for the first time last week and thought– omg, I’m going to need a week in here!
ANY suggestions, ideas, opinions or comments are VERY appreciated!!
Thank you!
I have a lot of disjointed thoughts so here goes:
1. We registered at Target and on a website that sold cloth diapers/other products we were interested in. We didn’t register at Babies R Us because there was TOO much stuff there!
2. If I were to do it again, I probably would NOT register for any clothes other than plain white onesies/tees because people bought us a ton of clothing.
3. When you register for a stroller, think about weight. There are some out there that weigh like 50 pounds with the car seat. We bought a car seat separate from a stroller (not a travel system) and the stroller is only about 20 pounds.
4. Breast pads are good good things. Get a lot of them. I like the cotton reusable ones better than the disposable ones on my very tender nipples.
5. I’d look elsewhere for carriers. I didn’t think that any store (Babies R Us or Target) had a great selection on carriers.
6. I wouldn’t get a wipe warmer. They are pretty much wasted space on your changing table.
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I registered at Babies R Us and loved it. I took a girlfriend who had a baby a year before so she knew all the good things to get. I dont suggest you register for any clothes, its too hard for the buyer to locate them. Register for multiples of sheets, changing table cover, blankets, burp cloths, and bibs. Since all those things have accidents, you dont to be washing not stop to replace them. I’m with the other person on the stroller, careful on the weight. I didnt buy the travel set either. I did buy the Peg Perego stroller and love it! The new space saver high chair is great, saves from having to store a large regular high chair.
Best of luck!!
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hey i did a comprehensive advice post on this topic a year or so ago. can you go there and search baby registry? good luck! i love registering. so fun
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erdickey Reply:
August 16th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Wonderful! That was great advice.. for anyone else interested, here is the link to JJ’s post: Veteran Baby Registry Advice
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I have no idea, but will be watching the responses!!!
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Great advice so far, thanks so much!! It’s all very helpful!!
Here’s something I can’t decide on: a crib with stationary sides, drop down, or fold down?? I’ve read that most recalled cribs have the fold or drop down sides so I wanted to steer away from those… but I AM short. And that in terms of recalls, drop down is at least better than fold down. Yay or nay??????
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I would NOT recommend wipe warmers. Alot of veteran moms I know suggest buying one of those contoured changing pads you can put on a dresser instead of getting a changing table. They’re usually collecting dust before your baby is a year, and no matter how hard you try, they just aren’t practical for toy storage!
I would not recommend a stroller just for the travel system option. My son was so big he was out of the carrier before he was 4 months. You should test drive the strollers in the store, I never thought that the handles would be to low for me, but they were uncomfortable on long walks. The more expensive models seem to wear well over multiple children, and have optional height adjustments. Get the bases for the car seats for each car. It’s worth it…
Breast pumps are tricky. If you are breast feeding (I did) and need to pump often (I didn’t), you may want to invest in a nicer pump. I got a cheapie, hated it, and only used it a few times the first pregnancy. Don’t invest in ALL one type of bottle to start, sometimes babies are fussy and don’t like a certain style.
I would also NOT register for any clothes besides the basic onsies. You will still get plenty. Don’t wash them all in advance (just a few) and save receipts… My son came home in 3 month sized clothes. All the newborn and 0 – 3 month sizes that I pre-washed in dreft got passed on to friends!
Hope this helps! R
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You do not need:
– wipe warmer
– bottle drying rack
– changing table
– contoured changing pad
– lots of toys
– a bassinet
You possibly do not need:
– a crib
You DEFINITELY need:
– breast pads! I went through hundreds in the first three months before my boobs stopped leaking all the time.
– some way to wear your baby — sling, mei tai, baby bjorn, whatever. this is a LIFE SAVER when you want to calm baby or go somewhere that steering a stroller around will be a pain in (which is pretty much anywhere with aisles narrower than a grocery store)
– a pack n play. If I’d realized how awesome this thing would be, I would never have bought a bassinet (which our baby outgrew around 12 weeks old). Since then she’s slept in the pack n play next to our bed. when we visit family or whatnot, we take it with us and she’s perfectly happy sleeping in it. It adjusts to be shallow (18″) to use more easily when your baby isn’t able to stand/pull herself over the edge, and then you can set her down at the bottom when she can move more freely.
– a baby monitor. Ours is audio only, but there were times I would have loved a video one.
– a Bumbo seat! This thing was amazing. Once my baby learned how to escape it I felt very sad. But I could put her in there and she’d just watch me cook or whatnot, while “sitting up” like a big girl.
I say you might not need a crib or nursery because we have hardly used ours and could have done without them. Our crib does not have sides that rise and drop, we just have to adjust the mattress to sit lower as she grows. It’ll convert into a toddler bed, which to be honest might be the first real use we get out of it. Right now she sleeps and naps in the pack n play in our bedroom
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I think the ‘need-to-have’ list is going to vary a lot from one mom to the next, just because we all have different parenting styles.
For example, I co-sleep with my children until they’re a year or so old (partly for convenience because I breastfeed, but the science solidly supports the health benefits of co-sleeping as well), so I don’t get any kind of basinet…I have a crib with a drop-down side, and I actually just remove that side and put the crib up against my bed as a sidecar bed. It’s easy to set the baby into it, but still reach him easily without my having to really get up. Later as he learns to sleep in that bed rather than snuggled to me I put the side back on and move it across the room.
So I think a crib is a nice thing to have, but I don’t use it in quite the ‘normal’ way LOL!!
Some women don’t leak milk, but some of us leak a lot – particularly when the baby is nursing on one side, it causes the letdown reaction on the other side, and that means milk everywhere unless you’ve got good breastpads. I prefer cloth ones because just a dozen of them is enough – more green, more cost-effective, and you can throw them in the wash with anything else cuz all they have is a little milk in them.
Babywearing options – I personally have a pouch AND two wraps AND three ring-slings…I probably don’t need quite so many, but I did find that the tail on the ring sling makes a good emergency snot/spit wiper, so I actually tended to throw those in the wash a lot so it was nice to have several
I find the soft carriers (slings/wraps) more comfortable than the solid ones (like snuggli or baby bjorn) and they are MUCH more comfortable. ergo makes a good structured carrier if you like that, but it is pricy…I hear it’s worth it, but I’m frugal and happy enough with my slings and wraps. I DO think it’s well worth having a couple different kinds because they can be used in different ways, and sometimes one is so much more appropriate than another (visit the ‘babywearing’ tag on my blog for lots of pictures and more on that topic!)
Obviously you need a good carseat. I personally do NOT care for the baby-carrier types, as I wear my baby rather than leaving them in the ‘baby bucket’ all the time, so I prefer to go with a convertable carseat that will fit them from birth until they are ready for a booster…only buying one carseat rather than having to buy two is nice imo.
I think it’s well worth it to have a lot of blankets – but even for a winter baby I’d rather have multiple thinner blankets rather than bulky ones. It’s easy to layer, but I always get nervous about a bulky blanket getting in the baby’s face, and it’s kinda hard to manipulate a tiny kid inside a massive blanket… (another thing I love about wearing babies rather than leaving them in teh seat is that they stay toasty against your body with minimal blanketing).
I’m a huge proponent of cloth diapers – partly for the comfort of the baby, and partly because they hold everything in SO much better than disposables. Look at it this way – you will be washing poopy stuff regardless – you can choose to wash diapers, or you can end up washing poopy clothes and blankets and bedding when their disposables leak all over the place. I prefer to have teh clothing remain unstained and just wash the dipes. Plus cloth dipes are SO cute.
If you want a breast pump (and I mostly only used mine because I was donating milk to another mom) I recommend Medela brand. They are pricy, but much better quality. The review I heard of evenflo for example was that it “felt like it was pulling my nipple off” so I didn’t even touch that one!! I just have the little single hand-pump one because I don’t use it a lot…if you’re working and pumping a lot though you might consider the double-sided electric one as I hear it is both efficient and comfortable.
I didn’t have a baby monitor with my last baby cuz we had a tiny apartment…now we live in a bigger place so I’ve gotten one for this baby. I think it really depends on the size of your house whether you’ll need/want one, but they can be nice. (I too have audio-only)
There are some things that work well for some babies and not for others, so imo it’s smarter to wait until you meet your baby before investing in them. A nursing necklace is one example (I had one, he never touched it).
Another is swings/bouncers. I mostly wear my baby so I don’t need to put them down that much… my last baby hated the swing (putting him in it always woke him up and made him scream) but he did like the gentle vibration of the bouncer – I think it was more similar to the heartbeat/breathing he got in utero and when I wore him. I would put him in the bouncer when I was sewing or cooking – cuz I didn’t want to poke/burn him – but otherwise I just wore him.
Pack n plays can be very handy if you often travel/camp/visit family, have a pet that you want to keep away from sleeping baby, etc. (I find it a lifesaver for camping, but otherwise rarely use it.) Some people use them as the bed for the baby (sortof like I use my crib). Some people never touch them…so there again, consider your lifestyle when deciding whether or not to get one.
I did NOT get a special baby laundry detergent (eg dreft) I use a ‘free and clear’ detergent for all our laundry anyway. I try to avoid as may chemicals as I can, and it is simpler for the tired mama to be able to just wash everything together. Plus the prices on things like dreft are just highway robbery!!
I did NOT get special shampoos or soaps or anything else. I wash my baby with a washcloth and plain clean water – soap dries them out. Baby shampoo actually has MORE chemicals than regular (because it has a numbing agent to make it not hurt if it gets in their eyes), so I avoid that too – again, just water, and I actually used a clean toothbrush on his head when he got cradle cap. I never lotioned or oiled my baby because he didnt’ need it because I hadn’t dried him out with soaps.
I do NOT use a breastfeeding pillow/boppy. I just grab a throw pillow from the couch if I need anything – which I often didn’t.
I was loaned a bumbo seat and hated it as did my baby (it also troubled me that it held him up, rather than letting him learn to use his own muscles…I have a problem with forcing a kid to sit up before they are ready/able to do it on their own)
I DON’T think the big fancy strollers are worth the money. I got a $11 umbrella stroller and I use it occasionally – more now that he’s a toddler (and too heavy to wear) but mostly I just wore him. It’s easy to always have a spare sling in the diaper bag. The one exception would be if you’re a jogger or something and want a jogging stroller.
AND as a cloth-diapering mama, I also used cloth wipes, and I would just wet them with warm water straight from the sink when I was ready to use them. So I actually think most of the fancy diapering accessories are pretty unnecessary (wipes warmers, peepee teepees, diaper genies, changing pads, etc etc)
And, since I’ve basically now written an entire post in response to your post, i’ll stop now. LOL!!
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You’ve gotten such good advice. As a first time momma to be, I’m benefiting from it too. They (the man) tries to sell so much junk. How are we supposed to sort it all out?
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Building a baby registry can be completely overwhelming. With literally thousands of baby products out there it’s hard to know which items you need, and which you can do without. A baby registry gives family and friends an easy way to buy you the perfect baby gift. But first you have to know how to build the perfect baby registry.
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No need for a wipe warmer, but you will need lots of wipes! Here is a short list of what I couldn’t live without my first 3 months
1. l/s onesies w/ mitten cuffs (so they don’t scratch themselves). My little guy lived in these…and still does (minus the mitten cuffs, he’s 7 months now).
2. Baby legs. Because I live near the coast in SoCal it’s cold in the a.m. but warm in the early afternoon so baby legs are the perfect must have for our climate. Easy to put on, and peel right off.
3. Sleep sacks! I wasn’t great at swaddling and these saved me and saved time!
https://www.halosleep.com/
4. Baby bouncer. There are so many out there, but we used this one and my little guy loved it from day one. It was a life saver, and it was perfect to put him in when I took a shower and needed to keep an eye on him.
http://www.buzzillions.com/dz_274428_fisher_price_rainforest_bouncer_reviews
5. Baby sling. Once I figured out how to use it, I loved it and so did the little one. We had a Bjorn and it was ok, but it really hurt my back, and as baby got older (3 – 4 months) he didn’t seem to comfortable in it. I tried the sling, with hesitation (seemed a little “hippie” to me), and so glad I did. It’s versatile, calming and comfortable to the little one and I can nurse in it! The sling was also much better on my back.
That’s my top 5 list. I hope it’s helpful!
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Thanks everyone, so much!!! This has helped a TON!!! I’m very grateful
To add, if anyone is interested… I found this blog post asking basically the same questions and it also got some good responses.
My favorite gift suggestions??? Gift certificates for food delivery, a session with a photographer and… wine
Find it here: http://www.boston.com/community/moms/blogs/child_caring/2009/08/what_does_a_new_baby_really_need.html
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I just found out I am pregnant (with my first!) and am so grateful for this post!
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I’m so glad to have found your post. I am expecting my first baby in December and I had no idea where to start with a baby registry. This information is very helpful.
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