my entire baby registry: what I’m still using
Do you need help building your baby registry? It’s a daunting task. Truthfully — you don’t actually need that much stuff right at the beginning, but if you’re anything like me, it’s nice to have everything you think you’ll need from day one. Plus, some people will ask you to send your registry when they find out you’re expecting (whether or not they actually use it is an entirely different matter).
Whenever I see other first time moms building out their baby registries, my brain jumps back to what I had on mine, and what I’m still using from it.
I used several resources over many weeks to build my registry, and if you’ve stumbled across this post, you’ve likely seen those lists too. You’re probably aware of the general categories: baby gear, travel, nursery items, clothes, feeding, health / personal care products, postpartum essentials, toys, books. I didn’t have a shower, and bought most of the big ticket items myself. I have a lot of thoughts on what was worth it and what wasn’t!
I’m planning on updating this post over the next few months with more items I wish I had registered for, and why.
Here is my registry in total, with notes regarding whether it was gifted or I bought it myself (or went unpurchased entirely), whether I’d recommend it or something else, and any other relevant details:
General Baby Gear + Stuff
Gift Cards
Nobody got me one of these. Felt like low-hanging fruit to add to the registry, why not. I did end up getting some Target gift cards, which are way more useful — no offense, Babylist!
Overall, I really liked the Babylist registry experience, and would recommend it.
Bouncer
Babybjorn Balance Soft in Cotton Khaki/Beige
gifted
Recommend: Yes
In my time with an infant, there were just a few products out there that made me think to myself “my life would be worse at this moment without this thing”. This was one of those products.
Using this bouncer was the only way I was able to take a shower every day when I didn’t have backup help at home and baby would otherwise scream his head off while dad was in the middle of a meeting in the office twenty feet away. This bouncer is how I kept my reflux-y child somewhat upright after feeds. This bouncer how I kept him in one spot to clip his nails.
It’s really well-designed: no batteries, and folds flat for travel and storage. More often than not, we bounced it with a foot, but once baby is old enough, they learn to bounce it themselves.
Approaching two, he still sits in this seat for an occasional bounce-bounce. Are there cheaper bouncers out there? Yes, and I’m sure they’d work equally well. But if you have your eye on the Babybjorn and the price isn’t a deterrent, I would say buy it.
Babybjorn Toy for Bouncer - Googly eyes: Pastel
not purchased
Recommend: ?
I am still a little sad that I didn’t end up buying this for the Babybjorn bouncer, but I purchased this toy bar instead for about half the price.
Pacifiers
Recommend: Sort of
purchased myself
My baby was not big into pacifiers. Worthwhile for the exploration, though.
Travel
Stroller
purchased myself
Recommend: No
I’ll start with the good things about this stroller: it feels nice. The fabric used feels high quality, and it cleans up easily. The leather accents feel luxurious. The big-ass rear wheels make for a very smooth ride. The size is somewhere between a compact stroller but closer to a “full-size” stroller aka mall cruiser.
That said, I hate this stroller. It worked best with the carseat and adapter ring for quick errands, but the actual stroller seat is the worst. In bassinet/layflat mode (this setting is very important for taking a newborn on long walks, because they can’t hold their heads up yet, the sun shade wouldn’t stay lowered for more than five seconds — any time we hit a slight bump, the shade would pop back and the sun would blast my kid in the face. So I’d walk around the neighborhood holding the shade down with one hand, pushing the stroller with the other. For an $800 stroller, this is bad.
In the upright setting, the butt part of the seat is slightly tilted forward, so my baby was sliding into the crotch restraint in a way that seemed super uncomfortable. The leg support is a flimsy half-leg rest, which might be fine for a younger baby, but around a year old, my kid’s feet were dangling, which wasn’t comfortable either. Overall, I feel it’s a poorly designed stroller. It worked great with the carseat attached, but the stroller seat only seemed comfortable from about 6-11 months.
Universal Cup Holder for Stroller
purchased myself
If you’re going to get coffee or a spillable drink while you’re on walks with the stroller, you need this. It’s not worth it to try holding a cup while pushing a stroller…it sounds possible but it’s not…being a parent requires like five hands free at all times to begin with…
Travel Crib
Graco Pack N Play On the Go Playard
gifted
Recommend: Yes
I wanted the super basic pack & play, and that is what I got! I used it a ton and it served us well. The main reason I used the pack & play at home so much was because we had a dog at the time, and safe spaces for baby away from the dog were sacred to me.
This configuration has a removable bassinet, which is basically just a raised mesh platform for the ‘mattress’ held up by clips, so you don’t have to bend down to the ground before baby is mobile.
Would I buy it all over again? Yes. It’s a bit bulky and cumbersome to travel with, it’s a little finicky to set up, the mattress is basically cardboard with some foam on it covered in polyester which is whatever except for the fact that it doesn’t ever lie completely flat on the bottom, which drove me nuts when baby was a newborn and I was fixated on very granular details of the safe sleep guidelines (in my mind, “flat surface” means completely flat with no wrinkles, but I’m aware this is probably a little overboard).
But still! This thing is built like a tank. And at around $50, it’s hard to go wrong.
We retired this pack & play for the Guava Lotus Travel Crib, once we started needing to fly with a travel crib. If you are debating between the two, the Guava Lotus is amazing for travel, and overall feels much higher quality, but is also significantly more expensive.
Car Seat
Nuna Pipa Lite RX + Relx base in Frost (discontinued, updated product in review)
purchased myself
Recommend: Yes
I wanted the lightest possible car seat at the time, so that’s what I got. Every ounce counts as that baby packs on the pounds in the early days! However, this car seat has been replaced by the even lighter Nuna Pipa aire RX (6.9 lbs vs 6.2 lbs, without inserts or canopy which apparently adds about 2 lbs. You’re probably never going to use it without the canopy, in fact, I was today years old when I remembered that it’s removable).
We used this car seat for the first 13 months, and he could have gone another few months before he maxed out the height limit of 32 inches (approaching two he’s still nowhere near the weight limit of 35 lbs). Babies grow quickly in length for the first few months (think a few inches at a time), and then slow way down with intermittent growth spurts after the first 5 months or so. For reference, my baby was right in the middle of the growth chart for both height and weight while we used this car seat — if you have a bigger or smaller kid, you’ll either get more or less use out of an infant car seat.
My favorite feature of this car seat is the sky drape. It’s magnetized, so it silently locks into place and covers from canopy to the foot of the seat, to provide near complete (and breathable!) coverage, for privacy and for sun protection. It doubles as a fun toy when baby gets a little older. It helped a ton with nap times on the go!
The main transition we hit with this car seat was when we stopped using the car seat with the stroller as a travel system. This varies not only based on your baby’s weight and your individual tolerance of loading them into the car seat in the house vs directly into the car but it also depends on the layout of your house — we have stairs leading to our front door, and a teeny garage, which meant we switched to loading baby directly into the car a lot sooner than some families probably do (around 6 months?).
The reason I’m rambling on and on about all of this is to give a little context to whether or not it’s worth it to splurge on the infant car seat + travel system, or to opt to use a convertible car seat early on. In the early days as a first-time mom, I was really glad to have the travel system — it made getting to all of those appointments so much easier than it could have been, when loading baby in and out of a car seat in a parking lot is tedious and anxiety-inducing.
However, I don’t know anyone who uses the travel system much beyond the newborn stage. The bulk of the value for you will be in those first two months or so — and that’s the factor I’d use to decide how much to spend on the travel system itself vs individual components that might make more sense in the months beyond.
After all that, would I buy this car seat again (or its current equivalent)? Yes. It’s a little pricey, but given the fact that I used it for the whole first year, it held up incredibly well, and when baby was small enough to use it in combination with the stroller adapter, it made things easy in a time when very few things felt easy, I feel it was a good purchase.
BUT — if you’re looking for ways to save, you could start with a convertible car seat suitable for newborns through toddler age, and only buy one car seat. Just know that you’re going to have to transfer your newborn from the car to either a baby carrier or stroller, and oftentimes they’ll be sleeping while you’re trying to do that.
Car Mirror
Onco Baby Car Mirror - Rear Facing
purchased myself
Recommend: Yes
Yes, I use this thing, and I would buy it again! It’s sort of annoying, but I definitely didn’t want a camera monitor as I am Bip City adjacent and it would likely cost me a window, instantly.
You’re either the kind of person who needs to be able to see your kid at a glance while you’re in the car, or you’re not. If you’re one of the latter, I am jealous.
Nursery & Sleep
Glider
Nurture& Manual Recliner Glider
purchased myself
Recommend: Yes
This glider is probably the most comfortable piece of furniture we own (aesthetically…it looks like a recliner…I don’t think a sexy-looking adjustable recliner exists, unfortunately). I will say it’s built for someone taller than myself (I’m 5’2, or 157 cm for the rest of the world), but I tested a bunch of gliders for shorter people and they were all out of stock or on backorder when I was in my mid third trimester, so I got this one! My partner uses it nearly as much as I do, so the size is a good compromise between us. Back during my breastfeeding days, 99% of our feeds were in this glider — I used a pillow behind me and the My Brest Friend nursing stool or sat cross-legged, and it was perfectly comfortable.
Haven’t had issues with any stains after nearly a year, though keeping a receiving blanket on the seat cushion most of the time has probably helped a bit with that. But — the fabric is supposed to be stain resistant, and baby was definitely a continuous spitter well after starting solids…we have no stains so far!
One gripe about this glider is that it developed a squeak when baby was around four months old. We flipped it over trying to find the source and never could quite figure it out. It seems to have gone away since then, but we also don’t rock nearly as aggressively anymore, so who knows, maybe it’s still there! Not sure I would directly attribute this to the construction of this glider, and it seems like it should be an easy fix if you can figure out where the squeak is originating from, I just didn’t have the energy to deal with it at the time.
Bassinet
Halo Bassinest Swivel Sleeper 3.0 + newborn insert, two extra sheets
purchased myself
Recommend: I wouldn’t buy it again for our situation
We used the bassinet for barely a month and could have easily used our pack and play with bassinet insert for that month instead.
Make sure your bedframe is at least as tall as the minimum height for this bassinet (manufacturer states at least 4.5’).
The swivel base and push-down side was nice in theory, but our bed is lower than the height of this bassinet which was a pretty big oversight on my part — I ended up having to stand to get him out of there every time, which defeats the entire point of this thing. However, that was my fault, and I assume for people sleeping in higher beds than mine, this bassinet makes a whole lot more sense.
I honestly thought I was being thrifty by buying this bassinet, because I wasn’t buying a Snoo. I could have spent far less and skipped it altogether. BUT — I do see the draw of a dedicated bassinet with a newborn. It’s easy to gloss over how arduous those first few weeks are, and how many safe sleep spaces you need for baby during that time.
Overall, I’d say pass on this, but if you’re planning to share a room long term and it works with your set up, it’s a good buy.
Ask around, a friend might have one you can use — ours has been passed around enough to welcome three other newborns at this point!
Crib
Ikea Sniglar with Krummelur Foam Mattress
purchased myself
Recommend: Yes
I’m so glad we didn’t splurge on an expensive crib. We’re still using this one. It’s been perfect for us, no notes.
Noise Machine
purchased myself
Recommend: Yes
Works great at home, and the white noise has been necessary for our house (we had a loud dog, single story house, creaky hardwood floors…when you’re angling for that 90 minute nap, nothing is more infuriating than baby waking to the sound of the dog pacing around in the hallway).
However, this sound machine can be a pain to travel with, due to its reliance on wifi — make sure you have the touch ring presets set up if you don’t want to connect to a network while you’re traveling. Despite that minor annoyance, if it broke, I would replace it immediately. Also — I do not subscribe to the membership.
Approaching two, we’re still using the Hatch, and it’s a big part of our bedtime routine, even without the subscription.
gifted
Recommendation: Worth a try
Many people swear by this thing, but it did not work for us.
Monitor
Eufy Baby SpaceView Pro 720p Video Baby Monitor
gifted
Recommend: Mostly
I love this baby monitor. No worries about wifi networks, security vulnerabilities/some creep hacking into it and saying weird things through the microphone (I have no idea if those stories are real), just plug it in and it’s good to go. I use it with this stand, which disassembles easily for travel.
And yes, I love packing up the monitor for overnights, because babies sleep weirdly in strange places. For round one of baby proofing, I shortened the aforementioned stand and now have it on top of the dresser vs standing on the floor. Still works great!
Update on this product: at some point after baby’s first birthday, the battery on the monitor stopped holding a charge. We followed some dodgy third party instructions to disconnect and reconnect the battery, and it went back to working as normal.
There are theories floating around that this is part of some planned obsolescence scheme by the manufacturer. With that in mind, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this monitor, though we still use it and like it.
Changing Pad
purchased myself
Recommend: Yes, with a caveat for those who might suffer from postpartum anxiety
Overall, this was a great buy, and we still use it (at 21 months, he’s way too big for it, and his legs are halfway off — I just like to change the poop diapers in one easily cleaned spot). The scale requires its own app, and getting a weight reading can be fiddly depending on how wiggly your baby is, but overall it works quite well. I was planning on buying the Keekaroo Peanut Changer, but this was the same price, so for the added scale functionality, I consider it a good deal.
We have the off-white color and after nearly two years of poopy diapers, and it has held up great — I obviously wipe this thing down after anything gets on it, but generally don’t use harsh cleaners on it:
Way less stained than I thought it would be at this point!
This won’t apply to most people, but the scale aspect wasn’t great when I was dealing with PPA. Long story short, I was fixated on whether or not my baby was gaining enough weight and having a scale built into the changing table probably didn’t help my cause.
gifted
Recommend: Yes
It’s really nice to have a weighted wipe dispenser. This will even fit the huge Costco Kirkland wipe pack, if you take the weight out for the first few changes (when full, that pack is heavy enough to not need the weighted plate at that point anyway).
Swaddles
Aden + Anais Silky Soft Swaddles 3-pack - Indigo Shibori
gifted
Recommend: Not as swaddles, too slippery. Good as lightweight blankets though!
I love these, but I didn’t really use them as swaddles — I mostly used them as carseat or stroller blankets. I bought several more 3-packs myself!
As we’re approaching year three, they’ve held up well, though we use them far less these days.
Love to Dream Swaddle Up 1.0 TOG
purchased myself
Recommend: Yes
I bought a ton of these, they were the best swaddle for us in the pre-rolling phase.
not purchased
Never ended up trying these.
What I wish I registered for:
We’ve used the same Woolino sleep sack since baby was about 3 months old. In fact, I’m finally thinking about sizing up into the 3-4 year old size!
Feeding Items
High Chair
Tripp Trapp High Chair w/accessories (newborn set, baby set, extra cushion)
purchased myself
Recommend: Yes
The whole Tripp Trapp setup, if you’re going all in (including the newborn set), is close to $700. I see a lot of people hating on the Tripp Trapp for its price and the difficult-to-clean design — valid, but it’s still our favorite high chair, and we’ve tried a few. I’ve never tripped on the Tripp Trapp. This is the main reason I love this high chair. Every other high chair I’ve used is like a magnet for my foot.
The design of the Tripp Trapp features a base that rests on the ground, versus wide-splayed legs. For stability, if a high chair uses the splayed leg design, they need to be annoyingly wide to create a stable base for a wiggly baby. Wide leg spread = tripping hazard. My parents have the Ikea Antilop high chair at their house, and while that’s my second favorite high chair (so cheap and so easy to clean!), I trip on it every time we’re over there, and so does everyone else. Tripping on a high chair while your kid is in it isn’t just annoying, it’s unsafe.
Anyway, back to the Tripp Trapp, and let’s start from the beginning — the newborn set is genius, and a great way to get back to some form of normalcy in those early days when it feels like nothing will ever feel normal again. A few other high chairs also sell a similar newborn seat, so this isn’t exclusive to the Tripp Trapp, but is still something I really liked and used a lot.
Once we started solids, the high chair stayed in the kitchen for about a year. Our house is on the small-ish side, and the kitchen is generally a high traffic area, but the Tripp Trapp worked really well in our space. However, the Stokke tray doesn’t allow suction plates and bowls to suction to its surface. This drove me crazy, so I bought a third party tray. I’d recommend skipping the Stokke tray if you’re planning to use suction plates.
These days, we use the chair pushed up to our dining table without the tray. Overall, love the Tripp Trapp, though cleaning it is still a pain in the ass.
Nursing Pillow
My Brest Friend Deluxe Nursing Pillow
gifted
Recommend: Yes
This was the nursing pillow my lactation consultant had me use in her office, and the only one I liked.
FridaMom Adjustable Nursing Pillow
purchased myself
Recommend: No
I use and love lots of Frida products, but this thing pissed me off. Even with the tall insert removed, the shape was all wrong for me. But everybody’s different! It might work for you!
Bottles
Comotomo 5 oz Baby Bottle, 2 count
purchased myself
Recommend: Depends
We used these for the first few months, but if you’re planning on breastfeeding and using these bottles, be prepared to try something else, should problems arise. They don’t seem to encourage a deep latch. That aside — I liked the construction of these bottles a lot. We ended up using Lasinoh bottles, because of the nipple shape and flow.
purchased myself
Recommend: Yes
It’s nice to have a sample of different bottles in the beginning. It seems like most new parents end up rotating through quite a few bottle types before figuring out which ones will work best, us included.
Babylist seems to switch out the bottles included in this sample box, so I won’t comment on the specific bottles since they’re likely to be different from the ones I received.
Munchkin High Capacity Dishwasher Basket
purchased myself
Recommend: No
We handwashed bottles the whole time, not sure why I had three of these. I tried to give them away on Buy Nothing and no one even wanted them.
OXO Tot Space Saving Drying Rack
gifted
Recommend: Yes
I still use this daily for cups!
Pumping + Breastfeeding Supplies
(I had an insurance supplied breast pump, so it’s not included on this list — I used the Medela Pump In Style, and the Medela Symphony for the first few weeks, on loan also through insurance)
Lasinoh Milk Storage Bags - 200 pack
not purchased
Recommend: Yes if pumping
Buy some sort of milk storage bag, if you’re planning on pumping at all. I ended up using the Medela ones, just because I had Medela everything else (not that it matters which brand you use? I think I got them in a product bundle).
Earth Mama Organic Nipple Butter
gifted
Recommend: Yes
My nipples really went through it, and I ended up using all kinds of things for relief (most effective was Medihoney from my lactation consultant). It’s wise to have something on hand to start, and this was a good option.
Burp Cloths
gifted
Recommend: Yes
When building my registry, I wondered how many of these I’d need. I ended up buying four more packs. Maybe if your baby doesn’t have reflux you won’t need so many? Once we transitioned to solids completely, I figured I would send them down the road, but I still use them all the time for wiping up spills and messy toddler face.
What I wish I registered for:
My Brest Friend Adjustable Nursing Stool
I saw a lactation consultant for the first eight weeks of our breastfeeding journey, and when I sat down to nurse in her office, I realized this stool made positioning myself so much easier. I immediately ordered one for home — works great as a low step stool, too.
Health & Hygiene
Diapering
purchased myself
Recommend: They’re fine
We switched to Kirkland Fragrance Free Baby Wipes because they’re way cheaper, but Water Wipes are slightly better ingredient-wise, as determined by Consumer Reports. However, Water Wipes are also a little on the small side, per wipe.
Disposable Changing Pads - Pack of 100
purchased myself
Recommend: They’re nice to have on hand, but not essential
In theory, these are good to have in the car and while traveling or out running errands. I use the reusable changing pad built into my diaper bag all the time, but I never use these.
Huggies Little Snugglers Diapers Huge Pack - Size 1 - 168 count
purchased myself
Recommend: Maybe
I registered for Huggies, and they ended up being the brand that fit our kid the best. The other brands we tried that didn’t work were Coterie and Pampers.
I wish I could remember how long we used size 1 diapers for! I know we ended up giving away extras.
gifted
Recommend: Yes
I like this diaper pail because it’s compatible with regular trash bags. It also has a turning lock on it, which is essential if you’re keeping it in the nursery.
We’re still using it — but we keep it in the garage now, for odor reasons.
Bath
OXO Tot Splash & Store Bathtub
gifted
Recommend: Yes
Loved this tub and used it beyond the recommended age limit of 18 months (he’s definitely sized out of it at this point, though he loves it). Even if you have a tub at home, it’s nice to have a smaller tub for baths to save water — not to mention, you need some sort of reclined seat in the early days.
purchased
Recommend: Yes
The specific towels we bought are discontinued, but we still use them. Adult towels are huge and it’s nice to use baby-sized towels instead, plus their little heads get cold quickly!
Postpartum Supplies
Frida Mom Postpartum Recovery Essentials Kit
gifted
Recommend: Depends on your hospital
I received most of this stuff from the hospital in large amounts, but it was nice to have on hand anyway. A lot of the items in this kit were way nicer than what the hospital provided me with — especially the peri bottle.
Toys & Books
gifted
Recommend: Yes
This play gym was great for tummy time. More often than not, we used the mat by itself — the crinkly parts and the ruffles were a big hit. The soft ball from this set is still a favorite for throwing around the house!
Melissa & Doug Soft Pineapple Stacker
gifted
Recommend: Yes
It’s just really cute!
Melissa & Doug Flip Fish Baby Toy
gifted
Recommend: Yes
gifted
Recommend: Yes
Mirror toys are great for tummy time, and later for keeping baby engaged at the dinner table.
Estella Organic Cotton Handmade Baby Rattle - Hot Sauce
not purchased
Not gonna lie, still sad I didn’t get this one.
My First Shapes with Frank Lloyd Wright
gifted
Recommend: Yes
I love a design-centric children’s book. Another great board book in the same vein is Baby’s First Eames by Julie Merberg.
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
gifted
Recommend: Yes
This was more nostalgic than anything else, I remember this book from the 90s when my sister was a baby.