Cannot lie, selecting the gear and cute clothes on your registry is super fun with day dreaming and anticipating your birth and little nugget. However, it is possible that you will end up with a lot of stuff that you don’t need or quickly outgrow. Consider a strategy of collecting what you can second-hand, so you can focus your registry on education to prepare you for the big shift of parenthood and service to bring ease into your home while you heal and take care of a newborn. Read on to get some considerations while building your baby registry.
Essential Baby Registry Services
The most important things for this time in your life are education and support, and I truly recommend these items being at the top of your registry:
- Breastfeeding class
- Body work (massage, chiropractor, acupuncture)
- Childbirth education
- Books
- First 40 Days
- Any breast feeding book (if this is your plan)
- Transformed by Birth (to be read prenatally)
- Meal service
- Birth doula
- Postpartum doula and/or Newborn Care Specialist
Baby Registry Items that are Great Second Hand
Check out local parent groups, Craigs List and “Buy Nothing” groups for the big ticket items. Once these are fulfilled, this leaves more opportunity for your friends and family to offer the above listed items. Things to get second hand are:
- Stroller
- Crib
- Bassinet
- Car Seats (check expiration date!)
- Additional breast pump for work (You are able to get a free breast pump from health insurance, per Obama Care. So do not put one on your registry!)
Skip these Common Registry Items
These items are usually gifted or easy to get second hand from a friend.
- Newborn clothes. See if you can get a few onesies second hand. They fit for about two to three weeks. Remember they sleep swaddled at this stage and don’t leave the house, so they practically live in onesies.
- Muslin blankets. Everybody gifts them and they are so light, that they are ineffective at swaddling. You will have a million of them by the time baby is 6 months, and most of them will sit folded on a shelf.
- Onesies. People will be throwing these at you, unsolicited.
- Bottles – you won’t know what bottle/nipple your baby will do well with, until you try a few out. So don’t put a whole set on your registry before you really know.
- Hooded towels. Your normal adult towels work! And, they are thicker and cozier for bebe.
- Diaper bag. You can use a backpack, which is so clutch when you want both hands, i.e. at all times! The diaper bags do have lots of compartments, but you might find that you already have something that works well.
Essential Baby Gear
- Baby carriers – I recommend both a soft wrap and a structured carrier. I also recommend trying different carriers before selecting them because some are pricey. Check out http://www.babywearing.la/ for meetups where they do this.
- Structured swaddles, 2 per size. I loved the miracle blanket because it didn’t require zipping or latching, but other favorites are the halo and woombie. This is a good list.
- White noise sound machine. I really like Hatch Rest as you can control it on your phone, and the time-to-rise feature is handy during the toddler years.
- Clothing – Mostly basics and comfy pieces, but pick the dresses and/or outfits that you might want to style them in. There is nothing more fun and frivolous than dressing your little human like an adult and taking them to brunch. Enjoy it!
- Diapering stuff: the bin, the diapers, cloth diaper services, wipes, organizational cubes etc.
- Baby monitor
- High chair
- Feeding stuff – with the caveat of you might want to wait to see what you end up doing with breast feeding before you buy a hug stock of bottles, nipples, nursing supplies, breast milk bags, etc.
- Medical bag with good thermometer, saline drops, nose frida and infant Tylenol. You’ll want all the things for baby’s first fever.
There will likely be more items that will peak your interest. Follow your heart! My message to you is that your friends and family want to support you, and truly, the most supportive things are not things! Your Baby Registry can absolutely include massage and housekeeping services. Make sure you talk about the services and education that will make the transition into parenthood blissful and beautiful.