Baby Registries: Need It, Skip It, Splurge & Save

I have a ton of friends who are currently expecting babes and after getting lots of requests from them as well as many of yall, I figured I should probably share this info for everyone in one place! Building your baby registry can be completely overwhelming and exhausting. It took me months into my pregnancy to even think about registering haha.

I’ve shared with yall before, but I registered on Babylist and would 100% recommend this to anyone who is the midst of this process. You literally don’t have to register anywhere else because you can add items from any other website/retailer to your Babylist and have it all in one place. SO EASY!

Now that we’ve been parents for almost six months, we’ve started to develop opinions on certain things and I can honestly say I have a much better understanding of what you truly need, what to skip, where to splurge and where to save. So that’s exactly what I want to share today!

NEED IT

Haakaa Breastpump – If you’re planning to breastfeed, this is a must!

My Brest Friend nursing pillow – Better than the boppy. Definitely need this if nursing!

Good swaddle blankets – A few sets would be perfect. Our most used are Little Unicorn.

Sound machine(s) – Creating a tunnel of sound for babies is super important to help them sleep well. After all, they’ve been hearing constantly swooshing sounds while inside mom’s tummy, so being in complete silence is a foreign concept to them. We use the Hatch Baby Rest in Kennedy’s room and have two of these for on-the-go.

Zutano Baby Booties – These are the only thing Kennedy wore on her feet for like the first four months of her life haha. Wayyyy better than socks and very warm, too, so especially perfect for fall/winter babes.

Bathtub support – This has been a lifesaver for bath time. Whether or not it’s this exact one you go with, I’d at least aim for a similar style that allows your baby to lay back comfortably like this, while still being in the water so they don’t freeze!

Keekaroo Changing Pad – This may be a little more expensive than a fabric changing pad, but it really is a must have. Think about how messy the process of changing diapers is… you’re going to want this for your changing table. No extra covers or pads necessary!

[POSSIBLY] SKIP IT

Car seat protectors – Sounded like a great idea but in actuality, when I took our car seat to be installed, the woman helping me said a lot of carseat companies don’t recommend using them. *I have since learned that any accessories not sold by your carseat company are likely NOT okay to use. Do your homework on this one (@safeintheseat has become my resource for all things carseats).

Tons of baby food containers, utensils, plates, cups, etc – It’s going to be a long time until you’re using these things, so unless you have a great place for storage in your house and don’t mind to holding onto all of it for months, I’d skip registering for a bunch and just purchase what you want when the time comes.

Water thermometer for tub – I registered for one thinking it was a great idea, which it is, but I honestly haven’t used it one single time. Just one of those things that probably isn’t worth it.

Rosie Pope diaper bag – I fell in love with this bag the moment I first saw it and raved about it in one of my first monthly updates with Kennedy. Unfortunately, about two months in, the thing just completely fell apart. Big bummer. Do yourself a favor and just get a Freshly Picked from the start!

Bottle warmer and wipe warmer – Our bottle warmer is still in the box, so that goes to show how much it’s been used. Granted, Kennedy doesn’t take bottles on a super regular basis, but whenever she does, hot water does the trick for us. Same idea but for wipes… a few of yall told me you’d skip that if you had a do over. We actually like our wipe warmer, but I get that for some it might be one of those things that isn’t necessary.

SPLURGE

Crib mattress – This is something I would recommend spending time doing research on and not skimping when it comes to cost. There are a zillion options out there (it can be SO overwhelming) but this is one of those things that really could make a difference in keeping your baby healthy and safe. Our mattress was a splurge, and luckily, we had some generous friends and family members who helped us purchase this but I am so confident in the choice we made going with Newton! It has a unique Breathe-Thru Technology that allows for air to move through and the mattress itself can be breathed through. Pretty cool!

Car seat – I don’t really think this needs much explanation. Do your research and pick a top notch car seat. This is not worth going cheap on! We went with the Nuna Pipa because it is one of the highest rated on the market right now, perfectly pairs with the stroller we chose, and is a lot lighter than most others (bonus points)! *About to use again for baby #2 and we are still SO pleased with this purchase.

Rock ‘N Play OR Baby Swing OR DockATot – These are all amazing products but I’m sort of in the camp that you don’t need all of them unless people gift them to you and you have the space for all. I definitely don’t think a swing and a Rock ‘N Play are necessary because they’re basically the same thing. We have both a Rock ‘N Play and a Dock and Kennedy would occasionally nap in both, but never at night, as neither are approved for safe sleep, which I’m a stickler about haha. In addition, all three of these products are pretty large, especially the Rock ‘N Play and a baby swing. All that to say, if you had to choose just one of these, I would personally go with the Rock ‘N Play. There are a lot of other (more affordable) loungers like this one if the Dock is just simply out of budget!

***The Rock ‘N Play has been recalled since I had Kennedy and wrote this post initially. I can no longer safely recommend that product, although we did love it while we used it. For baby #2 we are going to try out the MamaRoo. We will also still be using our Boppy Lounger and DockATot.

Ollie Swaddle – This is hands down the best swaddle for a newborn baby. Nothing else we tried could keep Kennedy snug enough and diminish that startle reflex babies have. We loved this so much!

Glider/Rocking chair – This is a must for the nursery. Both Michael and I have spent nights sleeping with our girl in this chair and early on I spent many, many hours nursing there. Whatever style you choose, just make sure it’s comfy!

Baby monitor – We went with the Infant Optics after tons of people recommended it to me, but honestly, I haven’t been thrilled with it. If I had to do it all over again, I think I would go with Nanit. It’s a splurge for sure, but the quality of the video and the ease with which it works makes it the top of the line for sure. *We ended up purchasing the Nanit after I wrote this post initially and are still using with Kennedy (2 years later). We purchased another for baby boy’s room because we love it THAT much. We’ve used others, traveled with others, and I promise you, nothing compares to Nanit.

SAVE

Baby monitor – Wait, wasn’t that just under the splurge category? Let me explain. There are a lot of really good, affordable monitors on the market that work perfectly fine. Maybe you have a small area you need monitoring. Maybe you don’t need the video component. Maybe WiFi or two-way audio doesn’t make a difference to you. If that’s the case, you can most definitely save here. I’ve heard great things about this one. And if you just want audio, check this one out. *I’m still team splurge on a good monitor that could potentially last you multiple years and multiple kiddos, but to each their own!

Crib – As long as it meets all safety requirements, there really is no need to spend $400 on a crib (which you can easily do) unless it’s that important to you! We found ours for under $200 and I absolutely LOVE it.

Bottles – We have tried probably five different bottles for Kennedy and I am SO glad that I didn’t register for a whole set of one brand. There really is no way to know what bottles (or pacifiers for that matter) may or may not work for your baby. Instead, what we did, was register for one or two bottles of three different brands. That way we had a couple options to try out and boy am I glad we had options haha.

Pack N Play – There are some fancy schmancy playyards out there but I think the good ole Graco Pack N Play is as good as any of them. We also don’t use this sort of item often enough to justify spending money on a higher end version. Both our parents have the same model at their house, too, which makes for easy back up.

I’ll finish by saying the same thing I do every time I write a post about baby products… EVERY BABY IS DIFFERENT! What works for us and for Kennedy is not a definitive win for you and your baby. Personally, I absolutely love to read other people’s thoughts and experiences with baby stuff, so I hope you enjoy these kinds of posts. Please let me know if I forgot anything major that you have thoughts or opinions on, so I can add it for everyone!