Ultimate Guide to Baby Registry Must Haves – What to Register for and Why

Baby registry must haves – I remember the headache I had walking thru the aisles with my Target scanner trying to figure out what the hell I was suppose to need for a baby. Let’s face it. Registering for your baby registry quite possibly can induce a panic attack. It was that moment as I zapped condoms (as a joke) that I realized that I had NO idea what I was getting into. 

Baby Registry Must Haves

To help reduce some of the pre-baby stress, I’ve create the ultimate guide to baby registry must haves in hopes to help prevent that pregnancy panic attack when registering. My sister recently gave birth to my sweet nephew so in a way I feel like I am totally back in the baby game, getting to know all of the new products again. But as you will see from my baby registry must haves list – not everything is new! Somethings are tried and true.

Also to note, I so wish this existed when I was pregnant. AMAZON has a baby registry! Rather than having to drag your pregnant butt (I mean that endearingly, been there 4 times!) to the store to zap, zap, zap – you can just create an Amazon Baby Registry. Believe me, as someone who attended or mailed a LOT of baby gifts, an online baby registry at the store I shop most at would be a God send. 

First things first, make sure you have your Amazon Baby Registry created and now all you have to do is add in these suggested items to your registry! Let’s get started on your baby registry must haves list!

Arlo Baby Smart Monitor

Netgear has dove into the security camera market. We have a Arlo video surveillance system for our house, that we’ve used daily since setting it up over a year ago. So when Netgear asked if we would be interested in reviewing their new Arlo Baby Smart Monitor, we jumped at the chance knowing that many of our readers are parents. 

Here is what you need to know about the Arlo Baby Smart Monitor: 

• 1080p HD Quality – (GREAT quality video!) You can view live or recorded videos in awesome detail and color
• 2-Way Talk – You can talk to your baby from anywhere and hear them, too! 
• Advanced Night Vision – Because newborns require 24 hour surveillance, the Arlo Baby Smart Monitor gives you near-invisible infrared LEDs, that let you see your baby clearly, even in the dark
• Instant Smart Alerts – Set alerts when ever there is motion or sound – even set air quality notifications! They smart alert notifications are sent to your smartphone. 
• Instant Smart Alerts –  Get motion, sound, and air quality notifications sent to your smartphone
• Free 7-day Cloud Storage – You can be review, download and share recorded moments for an entire week
• Control remotely–  The multi-colored night light, music player, temperature, humidity & VOCs air sensors are all controlled from the Arlo app
• Built-in rechargeable battery – Go wireless with your baby monitor for up to 6 hours (or up to 3 hours with night vision.) This allows you to monitor your baby, wherever you go! This also allows your camera still work, in the event of a power outage. 
• Learn more about the camera

Diapers

Diapers because, people – you have NO idea how many diapers you will need with a baby. With our first child, we received a generous amount of diapers of various sizes at 2 different baby showers. We thought we had it made. Nope. Our daughter needed diapers the second week. Don’t even get me started on how many diapers are went thru with our boys. Each of our 3 boys had the ability to fountain (pee all over us anytime their penis felt air.) Each of our kids stayed in size 3 the longest amount of time. While you do want to make sure the diapers fit your kid – it’s a LOT easier to use a larger diaper on a baby than a smaller diapers. Also to note, if your baby’s diaper is leaking or exploding often – they may be in the wrong size diaper.

As far as name brand, that is up to you. As newborns, we always used Pamper Swaddlers. They are very cushy to the touch. We then used Luvs diapers size 2-5. Then when we were potty training (and we still have a bed wetter, so are still using at night) Huggies Pull-ups. 

Baby Wipes

While my youngest child is 5-years-old, wipes are still a staple in our house. Like diapers, you cannot have enough wipes. These things will wipe everything from butts to boogers and occasionally will bathe your child. Don’t judge, I can’t tell you how many times my babies were covered in goo and needed a good cleaning but we were no where near a sink. 

As far as name brands go, you will need to find what works best for you and your baby. Our favorite baby wipes were Huggies One and Done refreshing baby wipes. They smell amazing and when you have a child that stinks – you want something that smells amazing. 

Swaddle Blankets

I know there is a lot going around about not swaddling your child, but if we hadn’t swaddled our babies, I am not sure how we would have survived. Seriously, swaddling was a God send to help mellow them out and put them in a quiet zone. 

We purchased a good swaddle wrap blanket to use at home. Then we also bought several large muslin swaddle blankets to use wherever. 

Feeding Baby

Continuing on as we go thru the baby registry must haves – let’s talk feeding baby. Oh yes, the baby will need to be fed so might as well add a few items for feeding the baby to the baby registry. 

Bottles

Every baby will have their preference in regards to bottles – our babies all used Dr. Brown bottles.  

Pacifiers

These Philips AventBPA Free Soothie Pacifier were our favorite pacifiers. No matter which ones we tried with any of the 4 kids, the soothie pacifier won them over.

These pacifiers are also like the pacifiers the hospital gave us. 

Baby Feeding Utensils

You can never have enough baby spoons! These are affordable add-ons to your shower registry as well. 

Baby Fresh Food Feeders

These little things are a pain in the butt to clean, but I will say that the kids loved them. Here’s what you do. You can put fruit or other foods into the fresh food feeder.

This nifty gadget features a net that prevents large chunks of food that the baby can’t quite eat yet, helping reduce the risk of choking. 

Breast Pump

If you have health insurance, thanks to Obamacare – you should be eligible for a free breast pump. Make sure to check as this will save you hundreds! Here is the breast pump I recommend purchasing. The Sonata Medela Breast Pump is small, quiet and it’s technology allows you to track your pumping sessions. That’s right – breastfeeding has gone high tech.  

Grass Drying Rack

The grass drying rack is not only cute, it’s completely functional!

After washing bottles, spoons, nipples, pacifiers and what have you – just throw them on this adorable drying rack that sits on your counter. With our last child, we had one of these for his bathroom since most of the bottles were washed in there. 

Burp Rags

Burp rags come in all shapes and sizes. While I did make sure to register for a few cute burp rags, because nothing makes spit-up better to clean-up than a cute burp rag – make sure to register for some plain ones too! 

Bibs

My favorite bibs were nothing fancy. At each of my baby showers, the attendees decorated bibs and those are always ones I used.

Now I DO adore the bib bandanas! 

Baby Bouncer

Parents, you are going to need a break from holding that baby. But where do you put baby? In a bouncer! I can’t even with how many hours my infants spent in the bouncer. While of course, that baby will be snuggled in your arms the majority of the time – you will love the bouncer and so will baby. 

My favorite new bouncer is the Fisher-Price Moonlight Meadow Deluxe Bouncer. I bought this one for my little nephew. It was easy to put together and offers a plush seat for baby. Don’t worry, all pads are removable for easy washing (and you will have to wash it, oh lawdy!)

Infant Car Seat

Another on of our baby registry must haves recommendations is an infant car seat. 

Did you know the hospital won’t release you from the hospital if you do not have an infant car seat? I am not sure if this is true in every state, but it is in Texas. Make sure you have your infant car seat!

If you have more than one vehicle, you will want to make sure to purchase an extra infant carrier base for your car. Add this to your baby registry list! 

Snap and Go Stroller

I want this to be the ULTIMATE GUIDE to baby registry must haves – so, I am going to keep it real with my thoughts on these things. While we did purchase a infant car seat and stroller combination the first time around, I am not sure I would do that again if we had a baby. Why? Let’s chat. If you find a KILLER deal, buy it but in all honesty the stroller that comes with the stroller combos usually are bulky and suck.

Here is what we did with the last few kids that was awesome. We bought the infant car seat and then a Snap and Go infant seat stroller. Why? I cannot tell you what a pain in the butt the large strollers that typically come with infant stroller combos are! The last thing you need as a new mom is to have to haul around a big stroller, lug it out of the car and set it up. The Snap and Go infant stroller is so easy and light-weight. Sure its not fancy, but guys fancy isn’t what you need to be worried about as a new parent. Don’t stress about shiny and pretty – focus on function. (As someone who loves fashion over function that hurts me to write, but I am getting real here! Somethings are worth function over fashion – SOME!) 

Believe me, if you have used a bulky stroller – you will adore the Snap and Go. It totally lives up to it’s name. 

Clothing

Let’s talk clothes. Here’s the deal – especially if you have a girl – PEOPLE LOVE TO BUY BABY CLOTHES. I too fall into this trap. I mean, when you find a baby shirt that says #1 AUNT – I have to buy that for my nephew, right? But let’s get real about what you REALLY need in regards to day-to-day for baby. 

So as we are talking about baby registry must haves, make sure you register for things that you like as most people do use the registry when buying gifts!

White Kimono Shirts

I absolutely love the simple white Kimono shirts. My fourth child wore my first child’s kimono shirts because they are non-gender specific and last. They are cute and easy to get on and off.

Sleepers / Pajamas

Sleepers are magical, especially as your littles grow! 

Onesies

I have a love/hate relationship with onesies. On one hand, they are ugly unitards. On the other hand, they are handy and convenient. 

Baby Mittens

We had to use baby mittens with our first child as she would constantly scratch at her face! No matter how short we cut her nails, they grew quick. 

Baby Socks

Register for a few pairs of baby socks, but from one parent to another, we rarely wore socks because when we did THEY ALWAYS FELL OFF our babies’ feet!

Baby Carrier

Baby wearing was a must as a work at home mama. The first 2 kids, I sported a Baby Bjorn. With the last 2 kids, I wore a baby wrap carrier. Whichever works best for you – use it! These are great to find on Facebook sales groups. They are easy to wash and baby wearing is a great way to bond with baby. 

Bedside Sleeper

I recently gave my sister several crib sheets. I told her they were old but when you are needing clean sheets in the middle of the night, it doesn’t matter what the crib sheets look like! She laughed and said my nephew hadn’t slept in his crib yet. OH HOW I FORGET! He is only 3 months, so he is sleeping next to mama and daddy in the bedside sleeper. 

While we are so excited to get a crib for the baby’s nursery, chances are he won’t be using that crib much – at least not in the first 6 months. 

Find a good bedside sleeper so that you can comfortably co-sleep. We had 16 months between the last 2 kids, so we had a kid in-between us and then a baby in the bedside sleeper. 

We used the Fisher Price Portable Bassinet (was called something else when our littlest was a baby.) It looked similar to this. This is also what my sister uses. It’s light-weight, so she brings this to the office. 

Baby Bathing Essentials

The last thing I am going to recommend for this baby registry must haves list is baby bath stuff. Here are the baby bath items I suggest registering for:Duck Baby Bath – all 4 of our kids used the duck baby bath! As soon as the baby can sit up your child can use this. We used this until they were around 18 months old and it’s super affordable. 
Baby Magic – I love their bath products, call me old school but that smell just says NEWBORN! 

Johnson’s Baby Head-to-Toe Disposable Washcloths – These are too pricey for me to use everyday, plus they do create waste – BUT – buy a pack and keep these in your purse. I can’t tell you how great these are for when your child craps all over himself (it WILL happen) OR when traveling. These disposable washcloths definitely fall into our baby registry must haves list

Munchkin White Hot Safety Bath Ducky – This adorable rubber ducky doesn’t just work as a bath toy – it also alerts you when the water is too hot by revealing the word HOT on the bottom of the duck.

Make sure to register for your Amazon Baby Gift Registry!

Well, there you have it. Your ultimate guide to baby registry must haves. I hope this guide gives you some good ideas when you are registering for your baby shower or baby gifts. Congrats on your new baby!

Digital Mom Blog