My husband and I had our baby registry at two places; Amazon & Buy Buy Baby. I wanted one place that was very convenient (online) and one place that we could physically see items in person. To be straight forward – I never try to expect anyone to get us anything however, I also want to make sure that if someone was interested that I make it as easy for them as possible.
Both of these stores offered a 15% completion discount for parents to be approximately 30 days prior to the due date. We used Buy Buy Baby to physically see certain items but have used Amazon to order due to their amazing delivery and shipping options with Prime. The other nice thing about Amazon is they have a diaper discount once baby is born! We will be attempting reusable diapers so we will not be using this feature (at least that we know of ;)) but it’s still a great perk!
Thank goodness for rocking chairs and stuffed bears <3 
Thank goodness for rocking chairs and stuffed bears <3
Amazon has some additional benefits as well. If you need to return or exchange something – they make it easy for you to do that with returning the item and getting a gift card back onto your account to purchase something else on your list. They also allow you to see who has purchased these gifts for you and then you have the option of sending a thank you card straight from your account!
Ease & Struggles of Choosing Items
Like any registry it is extremely easy to just click ‘add to registry’ and boom you have everything you’ve ever wanted! That is exactly what we did with our wedding registry at Bed Bath and Beyond. Looking back however, we ask ourselves – ‘why did we put that on there?’ Thus, this time around I thought we should be a little more strategic when it comes to putting together a list of items for our first born. Not only for our family that wanted to contribute but also for us to see items that we will then need to purchase with our completion discount!
The internet is a very large space and yes there are plenty of mommy blogs that will give you a list of items that worked for her family. I’m no different in this venture to research these said items that are ‘must haves’ for a baby registry. As with everything in this world – you have to find what works best for you and your family because one bloggers opinion is just that – an opinion.
When it came to choosing items for our baby, I was a fish out of water. Everything I selected was – ‘well, I’m not sure but so and so said it was the item that saved their life’. It was a phrase that came out of my mouth rather easily. I mean, as first time parents – what else is one suppose to believe? No shame over here especially when all you want is the best for your newborn.
TIP: What I decided to do was select items that a variety of other parents sore by. This meant reaching out to friends/family as well as bloggers and websites. If they happened to be the same items then I felt that I could trust that the item was worth exploring. Then I went and researched the items reviews and different brands. I didn’t want to get something just because someone said it was ‘a must have’; I wanted it because they had proof that it worked.
So, below I have gathered the items we struggled with, the items we thought were no brainers and items that are more of an extra than a necessity.
These are the ONLY 2 places that had expectant mom parking – had to photograph them! 
These are the ONLY 2 places that had expectant mom parking – had to photograph them!
The ‘No Brainers’
The items shown below are items that I feel confident enough in that they are ‘must haves’ for parents-to-be. Through my research, these listed are great brands and successful products. A tip that I received that I really liked was when you think about what you need it should be for baby’s first 3 months.
Bottle Brush
Bottle Drying Rack
Aquaphor Baby Healing Ointment
NoseFrida Nasal Aspirator
Fisher-Price 4-in-1 Tub
Item’s To Research
The first three items are items that either we purchased or our very close family members assisted/purchased for us. So, gratefully, we were already aware that the item was going to be purchased off our registry!
Stroller Car Seat System
We did a lot of research on stroller systems because we wanted to make sure that whatever we got was as safe a possible in our car and for our little one. The struggle for us had to do with efficiency, ease, and mobility. We first went to Target with our parents to just get a feeler for different types of strollers and systems. We were a bit overwhelmed at first because there are so many different types, brands, and prices out there!
There are lots of professional articles that you can read that tell you about safety and their recommendations for what are viable options for your budget. Our stipulations were first and foremost we wanted it to have a safe car seat. We decided on a Travel System because that way the stroller and car seat all went together.
We bounced between a bassinet style system for a while but after doing tons of research and asking fellow moms – then decided against the bassinet style due to its limited usage timeframe. Also, it was just one too many pieces to haul around.
What we like about this system:
- Britax is a very well-known safe brand
- The wheels aren’t plastic and roll extremely well
- Ease of getting the car seat in and out of the stroller – no struggle
- This system came with the base for the car
- Good access to see baby through the fabric
- Good sized storage and accessible from the front
- My husband is 6’3 so we had to consider our heights. This system has an adjustable handle for different heights. Also, doesn’t have a bar by the back wheels that he is going to kick with his long strides.
What we don’t love about this system:
- Price is higher than we wanted to spend
- There are extra things you’ll want/need and they cost extra such as a beverage caddy and the toddler tray
Overall we are extremely happy with our choice and we will be able to use this system for several years with multiple kids. My tip is to go shopping and really get a feel for what you like and don’t settle on something you aren’t happy with. We felt that this was more of an investment so we were happy with our decision in the end!
Mattress
Oh – the mattress. Such a new item to shop for, for me. Not that any of these items in this post is a normal item but a baby mattress is not the same as an adult mattress. In my lifetime I’ve really only cared about one mattress and that was the one that we were gifted for our wedding and my requirement was – it must be soft. Unfortunately, baby mattresses need a bit more research than that!
Overall, there are a ton of great options out there and you should never feel pressured to get something just because someone claims its good. Do your research. Read the reviews. Get a ton of different feedback from all types of brands because in the end it is your decision.
The main thing about the mattress has to do with SIDs – if you aren’t familiar with this then you should start there with your research. The unfortunate thing I found out whilst doing my research is that companies are able to claim that they protect from something when in fact they don’t and it is just to get your attention to buy their item.
We landed on the dreamer because it is a firm, waterproof mattress. It also has two side firmness so when baby grows up he will get to flip it over to have a softer side. It also fit our already purchased crib which is something we weren’t thinking about when picking out the crib. We haven’t had the opportunity yet to see if baby likes this but with my research I am hopeful that when he transitions to his nursery all will go smoothly.
Bassinet
Who would have honestly thought that a bassinet would be such a hard thing to decide on? For the longest time I always pictured a bassinet as one of those cute old time rockers that was more cute than comfortable because they really only napped in it. Turns out – bassinets are a lot more in-depth than I expected.
How big of a baby can it hold? Is it breathable? Can it swivel? How close can it get to your bedside? Is it portable? So many questions. I first was pretty set on the Halo as this is a very well known brand and bassinet that everyone seems to be talking about these days. After doing research and realizing that this was more of a luxury bassinet than it is functional in my opinion of course. The only thing I really liked about it was that it swiveled.
We came to realize that we didn’t need the luxury feature of a swivel so the cost went tremendously down and we really focused on what was functional and necessary for our new baby boy. Also, the bassinet we chose comes with music, a light feature, storage, two different heights, has holes in the sides which makes it very breathable, and is on wheels!
Diapers
Naturally, this is going to be a topic for discussion which is why it is not a surprise that this is under the ‘items to research’ bucket. My husband and I decided to attempt to go down the reusable diaper route. Of course, we have read and heard several different things when it comes to reusable diapers so we hope that we are as prepared as we can be for this type of journey.
For our registry – we decided to not put any disposable diapers on it because we knew we wanted to try the reusable ones! So, we decided to put 2 different sets of 6 reusable ones on there to give us a good chunk to start with. Then, we separately went out and bought a small bag of disposable ones as backups. Recently – we also thought that it would be a good idea to use the disposable ones for the first week or so when baby is having the ‘tar-like’ substance. We believe it would be extremely difficult to remove from a reusable diaper.
Bath Time & Clothing Cleaning Products
I put these type of products under the ‘to research’ heading because it is such a sensitive area for you and your family. What I mean is that if you strictly work with organic products then what I got won’t help you. If you don’t have a preference of products than my item could help you but you also might not care to get something so specific.
For instance, we got Dreft because – it is the most common, most obvious choice based on research and fellow moms but when we started using it my husband and I could not handle the smell! So, we decided to seek out something different that is still baby friendly but odorless.
As far as bath products go – we feel like we haven’t ever had an issue with Aveeno decided to go with Aveeno Baby for our bath and lotion products!
Bottles
Bottles are yet again another product that is very researchable. We received a lot of bottles (most of which that were not on our registry). The majority of the bottles we received are glass which I’m a huge fan of. The difficulty about bottles comes when trying to feed them and they don’t want it. After doing a lot of research and our feeding classes this is directly related to the size of the nipple. Unfortunately, I cannot give advise on this one because I have not been able to test ours on baby yet! But – Luckily, we received several different types of bottles and several sizes of nipples so, I think we should be set for when baby gets here!
Item’s With Various Brands & Versions
Swaddles
Swaddles are a must, in my opinion, however – it is extremely easy to go overboard with how many you put on your registry! I mean they are all so cute! The nice thing about Buy Buy Baby is they tell you the amount of products that you should stick to (a mere suggestion of course). We ended up with 12 different swaddles because most packages come with multiple. Buy Buy Baby suggests 9 receiving blankets or swaddles so, we weren’t too far off from their suggestion!
Loungers
Loungers I feel like tip between being a luxury item and necessary. Once baby comes and I’m with him for a long period of time I’ll be able to return to this post and tell you if which side I leaned more on. We, of course, went with the boppy lounger but also put on our registry the SnuggleMe lounger. The SnuggleMe lounger is upwards of $150 so, I’m not surprised that I did not receive this rather pricey item.
What I will be curious about is whether the boppy lasts for a long time with our baby. It seems like it is rather small – so, I’m thinking he will use it for the first couple months and be too big for it. Only time will tell. This is not to get confused with the boppy for nursing however. We received this as well and I look forward to using it!
Playard & Travel Playard
These items are another area that I’m not really sure the necessity of them – however, every blogger and registry suggestions to get them so it was hard for me to not listen to those suggestions. The other aspect that convinced me to get them was because my husband and I’s families all live rather far way and we also travel to my husbands family’s cabin at least once a year. Because of this, we thought it was necessary to have these items so we can use them at our family’s houses.
There are so many different brands of these two items so it is really up to you as far as your taste and space. The 4-Moms branded Playard (and bassinet) is a brand and product that I’ve seen all over and I’ve heard a lot of great things about it. I decided to try this one and I hope to do a review after I’ve used it for a while to see if it held up this high praise. As far as the travel playard, I honestly choose this one because I was okay with how it looked and he was relatively inexpensive. I wasn’t too picky with that one.
Swing/Rocker
This one for us was a no brainer because when we went to Buy Buy Baby I spotted a fox motorized swing and I was SOLD! I thought this was the cutest thing for our baby. It moves multiple ways/speeds and it provides music. It also can but used by battery so you don’t have to worry about the cord. The only thing I’m not in love with so far is that the size bit cumbersome for our apartment. Though, I think a majority of swings and rockers are on the larger side.
Changing Pads & Covers
I went back and forth on this one because I was very focused on the visual of the nursery verses what baby actually needs. At first I wanted to have a basket style changing pad but after searching for what is available on Amazon and Buy Buy Baby I came to realize that it would just be more cost affective and practical to do a standard pad and cover. Plus, when you get so specific with the pad it makes it very difficult to find covers to go with that pad inside the basket. We got a few different covers to match our theme and some liners to help the cover last a little longer.
What is nice about this changing pad is that it secures to the wall so that it is prevented from slipping off your changing table. Though, for extra security we decided to put a no slip grip sheet (the material usually used in silverware drawers) to have even more ability for no slipping!
Mattress Pad & Covers
I’m all for protecting our items as much as we are able. Thus, a mattress pad was a must! We all know that children wet the bed so – to have a mattress pad to project as much as possible was a no brainer for us! These are pretty standard so we just got one that matched the size of our mattress however, I did make sure that it said waterproof. We also requested for a few mattress covers to match our theme!
Dishwasher Bag
This item was a suggestion by a few family members and friends. I’m actually quite happy with this suggestion because it is something I would never think about but something that would be so useful! Which is why I’ve added to my post here! We got 2 of these because you can clip them together and put more items sandwiched between them!
Baby Carrier
Baby carriers are very dependent on what you’re comfortable with. I mean, you’re going to be wearing it and your baby will be sitting in it. I have a feeling that once I test the one out that I got off our registry that I might need something else. It is most likely a trial and error item because there are so many different fits, fabrics and options out there! As of right now, I chose not to put one of the ‘large piece of fabric’ ones on there because I am afraid that it will be too cumbersome for me. I will keep you updated on that ;). We also might get another one because my husband and I are so different in body height/shape that it will be a hassle to change the straps when you have a crying newborn!
Extras, Luxuries & Postpartum
Baby Shusher
I’m not going to lie this item I put on the registry because a lot of bloggers and new moms on my social accounts said it was a ‘must have’. It’s is literally a machine that makes the sound of ‘shushing’ so that the parent doesn’t have to do it. Honestly, I’m very interested to see how this works and perhaps a little bit worried that baby boy is going to get too used to this machine. We will see!
Stuffed Animals/Toys
Fellow bloggers and sites have mentioned that you shouldn’t have to put these on the registry because you are going to get them no matter what. I mean, who doesn’t want to get a toy for a baby shower? I definitely did not put a ton of toys on the registry but I put ones that I felt like were pretty nostalgic to us. For instance, there were a number of items on there that had to do with bears, foxes and Winnie The Pooh because I just couldn’t resist ;). But most of our family and friends went off our registry for toys.
Humidifier
We put this item on our registry but ended up needing to purchase this later with our 15% discount. It’s not something that is super exciting to get for a baby shower so completely understandable to be an item not purchased. Since baby boy is coming in the winter it is something that we definitely felt like we needed for our apartment! Surprisingly, it uses up A LOT of water!
Diaper Genie
So, this is definitely an item that is more of a luxury item. You do not need to get a special trash can just for diapers (in my opinion). However, the nice thing about this is that it contains smell which can be extremely nice and something we definitely wanted! We also know that because we are doing reusable diapers that we won’t fill this up as quickly as we would with disposables but we will still use it for wipes and other garbage!
Hatch Baby Sound Machine
Super excited about this one! I’ve heard such positive things about this sound machine. It was also considered a ‘must have’ however, also more of an extra and most likely not a necessity. These days you an probably use youtube, your computer, google/alexa or really just a cd (if you still have a cd player). However, it is really nice that this item can be controlled from an app on your phone and it has several soothing noise options! I’m so excited to use it!
Nursery Decor
Are all mom-to-bes like me, where the nursery is a huge step that you look forward to after you find out you’re pregnant? For me, this was a huge part of the excitement. I couldn’t wait to start decorating and building this room for our new baby. I went as far as potentially moving out of our apartment because I didn’t think the second room we had currently was right for a nursery. It’s like when a little girl dreams about her fairytale wedding – it’s me and a beautiful nursery.
That being said, I decided to put several items for decor on our baby registry. Even if we didn’t receive any of the items I put on the registry, it would at least give me a place to organize my thoughts! We decided to have a modern woodland nursery so I tried to put certain storage items or wall decor that matched my vision on our registry! We were thrilled to see that some of our friends and family gifted us these items!
Clothes, Wash Cloths, Blankets, Towels
I put these items in this ‘extras, luxuries’ category because most likely we all have things that we use in our daily lives that will work perfectly fine with a newborn. The only thing on this list would be clothes but – the thing about clothes is that every guest, family member or friend is going to get you baby clothes. It is the most common baby shower gifted item and the funnest!
The reason I put a ton of clothes on our registry is because I wanted to give our friends and family and idea of what colors or types of items we were looking for. Again, not that we are expecting anything at all but perhaps it would be helpful? I was very excited about having baby boy with neutrals and woodland inspired items so I put those on there! We didn’t get a ton of clothes from our registry (as expected) but we did get wash cloths, blankets and towels that were on there. We also received several beautiful clothes that even matched our theme! <3
Nursing Covers
A luxury item indeed! Did you know that swaddles can but used as nursing covers? Or really anything? I put nursing covers on here because they also double as covers for the car seat. Also, if you haven’t noticed a trend – I like things to go with my theme so I got put some on there that would match! But definitely would not consider this a necessity!
Haakaa Breast Pump
The Haakaa Breast Pump is something you most likely have heard of as this is a very popular pump. I’m excited to try this out as I hear it can help levitate the breast you aren’t using while feeding baby. So – It can help catch extra milk. The part that sounds interesting with this is that it sounds like if you regularly use this pump you will naturally begin to produce more milk which can then cause you to have too much? I’m not planning on using it right away but I want to have it available in case I want to try it out. Perhaps if at first I am low on simply having this option will help me produce more milk for baby. We will see. Also – I had this item on there but we ended up needing to purchase it with our 15% completion discount.
Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads
These are definitely a must if you plan on breastfeeding! I put them on our registry and did end up getting a couple boxes of these! Very grateful because I have a feeling I am going to go through these very quickly! I’m sure it is an item that you can never have too many!
Nipple Cream
Another item that I’ve been told that is a huge must have for breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is one of the pieces I am most nervous about so – I’m happy to get anything that is going to make it smoother and easier. There are two brands that I have received so – I’m interested to see which one I will like better!
In Conclusion
There are several items that we were gifted that we did not put on our registry however, I plan to discuss them when I complete my Nursery post! I am hoping that what I listed above may help you when you are trying to figure out what to put on your registry. Otherwise, if it’s not so much helpful I hope it may have been a good read, at the very least.
If you have any thoughts, suggestions or opinions regarding these products because you’ve used them or you know someone who has please leave a comment below! Picking, purchasing and using these items has been such a new journey for my husband and I so it would be nice to hear from those that are experienced!
Thank you so much for reading!
Interested in checking out our Baby Shower where we received the majority of these items? –> The Best Chic Woodland Baby Shower
[…] Interested in more to read? Check out my post Our Top Baby Registry Items […]
[…] a post talking all about the products top products that I put on our registry that you can find here. In this particular post I’m going back to that list and pulling out my husband and I’s […]