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You’ve got so much on your plate when you are an expecting mother. From scheduling all the doctor visits, making sure you’re eating healthy and drinking lots of water, constantly buying clothes that fit you, coming up with a name that you like, registering for your labor & delivery at the hospital, taking weekly bump pics, scheduling a maternity shoot, planning your baby shower, and most importantly: CREATING A BABY REGISTRY. Luckily, I have created this Baby Registry Necessities guide to make your life a little easier.
Before getting pregnant, I thought creating a baby registry would be one of the best parts of preparing for a baby. I mean, who doesn’t want to spend the day scanning cute baby stuff for your “wish list”.
I thought wrong.
Creating a baby registry was probably one of the most stressful moments of my pregnancy. The minute I walked into Buy Buy Baby I almost lost my shit. They had EVERYTHING. I didn’t know where to begin, so I began by scanning everything.
I don’t have much family around nor friends who’ve had kids, so I couldn’t really get any advice on what I actually needed and what I didn’t. Unfortunately, I had to learn what the necessities were the expensive way.
Here are some baby necessities that I used everyday for the first 3 months.
A BASSINET
Even if you have a nursery set up with a crib, I still highly recommend getting a bassinet for baby to sleep in your room. Getting up in the middle of the night for feedings and diaper changes are so much easier when baby is right next to you.
Starting off the Baby Registry Necessities Guide with a bassinet. The bassinet I got was the Halo Bassinet. When I was pregnant last year, I saw ads and bloggers advertising the Halo Bassinet. What sold me on it was the collapsible side for easy access to baby, the music and vibration settings, and overall the look of it. It’s a pretty cool looking bassinet- almost has a modern feel to it. Only downside was that it was $280.
It wasn’t until 2 months into motherhood that I realized there are so many other bassinets that are a lot cheaper, and are just as good as the Halo Bassinet, one of them being the Arm’s Reach Bassinet. I thought the music and vibration settings from the Halo made it worth it, but my son didn’t really like the vibrations and I found myself playing music and white noise from my elephant baby soother more than from the bassinet itself. The Arm’s Reach doesn’t have built in music and vibrations, but it did have a huge storage basket underneath, perfect for storing extra clothes, diapers, wipes and other baby things you might have taking over your night stand. And like the Halo Bassinet, the Arms Reach has a side opening making it easy to get baby in and out. Best part is that it’s almost $100 cheaper!
RECEIVING BLANKETS
When I was shopping around for receiving blankets, I came across the brand Aden by Aden + Anais. The quality of these blankets were great- large and made of muslin making it super gentle on baby’s skin. I ordered 2 packs of 4 because I thought 8 receiving blankets were more than enough for 1 baby.
I could count how many times I’ve used these blankets on one hand.
I loved these blankets, but once I discovered the SwaddleMe swaddle sacks, I had no desire to struggle to swaddle my child when I can easily slip him into a swaddle sack.
I purchased about 6 of theses swaddle sacks and used them until baby could roll onto his belly. They’re soft, easy to wash and super convenient- you just slip and Velcro baby in.
SWING
THIS WAS A LIFE SAVER. Honestly, I can’t imagine making it through my maternity leave without it.
That may sound a little dramatic but I spent majority of my maternity leave alone with my new baby. My boyfriend took a week off after I gave birth but after the first week I was on my own. This swing was great for me to get things done while knowing my child was safe and occupied. It was perfect to have in the kitchen while you’re cooking, in the bedroom while you’re folding laundry, and even in the bathroom when you need to take a quick shower. I would purchase this a million times over.
DOC-A-TOT
Don’t let the price intimidate you from making this purchase- it’s worth it.
When my baby was asleep, he would have these random spasms with his arms that were so aggressive that he would wake up from them. It wasn’t until I swaddled him and put him in the Doc-A-Tot that I saw he wasn’t getting the spasms anymore and was starting to sleep through the whole night. The Doc-A-Tot fit perfectly into out Halo Bassinet leaving no space in between the bassinet and the Doc-A-Tot, so I knew baby couldn’t get stuck in between the spaces or roll over to sleep on his stomach and potentially suffocate himself.
There are also cheaper alternatives to the Doc-A-Tot like this one from amazon. I personally haven’t tried it but someone I work with has and she said it was very much like the Doc-A-Tot, only difference is that its $200 cheaper…
BABY CARRIER
This is probably the most important item on the Baby Registry Necessities Guide. Along with the swing, this carrier was also a life saver. It’s super easy to put on and it fits baby from birth until they are about 30 pounds! For times that my son was extra clingy and wanted to be near me, this is great to have. I would strap him on and clean, do laundry and even go for walks outside.
BOBBY
When I first started shopping for my son, I searched for the baby necessities I must get. On almost every post/article, I found this Boppy. This is advertised as a nursing pillow, but I never figured out how to comfortably use it while I nurse baby. I did use it to lounge baby on when I’m on the couch watching TV or laying in bed. This was one thing I used EVERY DAY. Like I said earlier, my son loves being snug and he fit perfectly in between this pillow. Even though I never used it to help baby nurse, I know many people have and say that it is a game changer.
DIAPER CADDY
Since we shared a room with our baby the first 3 months, a diaper caddy was essential. This OXO Diaper caddy was perfect because it fit so many diapers and had a drawer to store diaper cream and other small things you may use regularly. Having a diaper caddy was great because it didn’t feel like my whole nightstand was being taken over by diapers and wipes. It’s also perfect to have around the house if you live in a bigger home. For instance, having a diaper caddy in the living room is great because when baby has a blow out (and trust me it’s like they plan for the times you least expect it), you don’t need to rush into another room- you can just change and clean them up right on the spot.
WHITE NOISE SOOTHER
My son loved this. The one we got projects stars onto the ceiling and plays lullabies and different white noises. He’s about to be 8 months and still uses this every night.
I mentioned earlier that the Halo bassinet had a music player built in, but I actually used this one more because of the stars. Along with having a variety of music/noises, it was also cute and went perfectly with our safari themed nursery.
We also got a second white noise soother but this one is portable. This was amazing to have in the car and for when I went for walks with my son. Both of these soothers have saved us quite a few headaches.
NEWBORN HEAD SUPPORT
Before giving birth, I saw a lot of articles on how babies can get a flat head from sleeping too much on their back. But then I saw articles on how babies need to sleep on their back because they may suffocate while on their stomach. Way to leave a first time mom clueless.
When I was looking for the baby necessities I needed to get, I surprisingly did’t see this item very much. I was recommended this item by a sales associate at Buy Buy Baby who said that this was their most underrated product.
This pillow made me so much more at ease with my son sleeping on this back and not getting a flat head. The hole in the middle of the pillow prevents baby from getting a flat head and its super thin, so baby is still sleeping straight on his back. It also is small enough to fit in the bassinet, car seat and even the Doc-A-Tot. Although my son was born with a cone head (normal during vaginal birth), this pillow helped shaped my son’s head back to its normal shape.
ONESIES & ZIPPER PJS
They weren’t kidding when they said you might go through multiple onesies a day.
Obviously, this was the most needed out of all the baby necessities.
There was one time where I had to change my sons diaper because he leaked through his onesie, then he spit up on the 2nd onesie while I changed him, then peed on me when I put on the 3rd one. A week after giving birth, I had to run to the store and purchase a few more just because I didn’t want to have to do laundry every other day.
When I picked up onesies, I also got some PJs with the zippers because I realized I mostly had ones that were button ups. I don’t know who invented the button up PJ’s, but they must not have changed a crying baby at 3am. It took me soooo much longer to change my son in the middle of the night because of the buttons. As soon as I switched over to the zipper ones, I was able to change and feed my son in minutes and was back in bed before my boyfriend even realized baby was up.
This is a no-brainer; you obviously need a diaper bag. Can we please talk about how they’re so expensive at Buy Buy Baby though?? I WAS NOT going to drop $100 on a diaper bag when I could have used that money on a larger purse and just carried diapers and wipes in my bag.
After shopping around, I found super cheap ones on amazon and decided to give them a try.
They’re the BEST bags ever. Both have so many compartments and are big enough to carry multiple bottles, extra clothes, diapers, wipes, snacks, you name it. I got a red bag and a grey bag and use both regularly.
Mommy Tip: keep a bag stocked and ready to go at all times. There’s been times where I had to run out of the house last minute and I either 1-forgot to grab the diaper bag or 2-forgot to pack wipes because I was in such a rush packing the bag. Thank me later.
NOSE FRIDA
In the hospital, you are given a bulb syringe to help clean baby’s nose. Sometimes you’re able to get the snot out in one squeeze, sometimes you’re there for 20 minutes trying to get that booger out.
The Nose Frida makes cleaning baby’s nose the easiest thing ever. It sounds disgusting because you’re literally sucking your baby’s snot out with your mouth, but there’s a filter so the snot will never actually get to your mouth. Within seconds you can clean your baby’s nose, and its super easy to clean unlike the bulb syringe you get from the hospital.
PACIFIER THERMOMETER or FOREHEAD THERMOMETER
Ok first of all I had no idea you take a baby’s temperature by his butt until I got pregnant.
Taking my son’s temperature was such a hassle before I got a new thermometer. We had to undress him, take his temperature, clean off the thermometer and then dress him again. Both these thermometers were great alternatives to the classic one. The pacifier is great especially if your baby likes pacifiers. My son used pacifiers the first few weeks but eventually stopped using them. I purchased the forehead thermometer when he outgrew his pacifier and it works just as good. Both thermometers are completely accurate and have been tested by his doctors.
BOTTLE DRYING RACK
I wash bottles every. single. day.
Originally I was going to get the Boon grass looking drying rack because I thought it looked cute and figured because it has so many little stems ill be able to fit a bunch of bottles and bottle parts on it. My coworker mentioned she was gifted on of them but didn’t like it because it was hard to clean and it wasn’t very convenient to use.
I found the Dr. Brown’s drying rack and fell in love with it.
First of all it’s super easy to clean- you can easily pull it apart into 5 different parts and clean them individually and you can remove the try and drain the water after every wash. The different sizes of pegs make it extremely easy to dry bottles of all sizes and the different bottle parts. Another drying rack I also liked was the OXO one that has similar features to the Dr. Brown’s drying rack.
ELECTRONIC NAIL FILER
Another important item out of all the baby necessities. A nail filer.
Cutting a baby’s nails is one of the most terrifying things you have to do- the stress of accidentally cutting your baby is so high. I found this electronic nail filer and it made things so much easier. It did such a great job and baby doesn’t feel anything.
BATH TUB
I was extremely nervous to give baby his first bath all by myself. It was important to me that I got a bathtub that was safe and didn’t make it difficult to give baby a bath. This bathtub is perfect- lightweight and it converts into a regular bathtub for when baby is old enough to sit up on his own.
It comes with a sling for newborns that’s super durable and easy to remove and clean. It also has a seat that keeps babies from falling over for when they can sit up. What I love about this tub is that it comes with a hook making it easy to hang in the shower to dry.
SROLLER & CAR SEAT
Ending our Baby Registry Necessities Guide with the last item, a stroller.
Buy Buy Baby can easily have a separate store for just strollers. They must have at least a thousand different ones.
I knew absolutely nothing about strollers, but I knew I needed one that was lightweight (because I lived on a 3rd floor walk up), and one that was easy to collapse and open up.
We ended up going with the Uppa Baby.
Despite the price, this stroller is amazing. Being how light it is, I can easily collapse and open it with one hand. This stroller came with the original stroller seat, a bassinet and a cover. The bassinet was perfect for when you are out and baby wants to take a nap- I used it all the time when I went for my walks at the park during my maternity leave.
The car seat and the stroller go hand in hand. You can remove the car seat from its base with the press of one button and it locks onto the stroller frame easily.
Hope this Baby Registry Necessities Guide gives you more of an idea of what you really need for the first 3 months of baby’s arrival!