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It’s official. We have a one year old. Well, she’s actually 13 months! I’ve been procrastinating on this post because I wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about it. After some thought I decided to do my favorite baby registry picks. A year and a half ago when I was finishing up my registry I remember how overwhelmed I felt. I was so confused and hoping I didn’t miss anything. Or that I didn’t have too much on the darn thing.
This is not a full registry list. Most stores do a good job of covering all of the most basic stuff you will need. Mineis a list of the different things I like and why I used them. If you really do want a full registry list, contact me. If I have enough readers that want it I will do another post for that.
A Good Stroller – I will say, this is a very subjective thing. But I encourage you to go to a baby store and try them out. See what you think and register for it. Don’t skimp on something cheap because you will use this a lot. It’s not just what you find comfortable to use but look at the seat and think about how your baby will feel in it. Also, think about what your future plans are. Will this be your only child? Will you have more? Our future hopes are the reason why I got this stroller. We can add another seat, change the configurations and add a rider board on the back. If you think about what you want and choose one that fits it, you won’t need to buy another one in the future. One of the biggest complaints I hear from friends is that they wished they would have registered for a stroller that was a double or could become a double in the future because then they had to buy multiple strollers.
Baby Carrier – I carried Calli a lot when she was younger. It was so easy to take her out to the barn in it or carry her around the grocery store. If you like the idea of baby carrying I think investing in a good one is key. There are some really amazing carriers out there, but to get a decent one be ready to spend some money. My carrier was the Ergo 360. I loved it because it has so many wearing options. It had a lot of wearing options like a wrap but without the learning curve that a wrap requires. It also works for a range of sizes.
Large Diaper Bag – I registered for a beautiful diaper bag. Now that I have a 1 year old who doesn’t require a ton of stuff, I love that diaper bag. After having it for over a year it still looks brand new. It is in perfect shape and I always get compliments on it. When she was younger I hated it though. The bag was never big enough for everything that comes with traveling with an infant. If I could do it again, I would register for a larger one and buy the one I have later. After doing lots of research this is the larger bag I would register for now. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than having to pack 3 bags to go grocery shopping. Since my diaper bag wasn’t big enough for my wallet I had to take my purse, my pump and it’s bag and then the diaper bag. It was extreme and I have no idea how I did it for that long.
Wet Dry Bag – Even if you aren’t using cloth diapers, I would get a wet dry bag. Calli was a spit up queen and a diaper blowout expert. Oh wait, that’s a baby thing. Most babies do that. That means you go through lots of clothes and often you are in public with wet/dirty clothes. A lot of my friends carried plastic store bags. I got a wet dry bag and it was great. When I emptied it, I could just throw it in the washer with the dirty clothes and dry it and it was ready to go. My personal preference is to recycle the store bags rather than put them in the garbage.
Swaddle Blankets – I nursed Calli for the first 6 months. I did my duty and bought a nursing cover because lots of my friends said they were great. I’ll be honest, I hated the stupid thing. It was big and bulky and another thing I had to pack. Also, I found it to be hot and Calli would always be sweating when she got done eating. I found that I loved the Muslin swaddle blankets the best. They were light and airy so no one got too hot. They served multiple purposes and they rolled up really tiny in the diaper bag. You will find I’m all about things for multiple purposes.
Sleep sacks – Calli was born in the winter and our house isn’t overly warm, especially upstairs. Since she was a preemie the hospital really preached keeping her warm. Which if you understand physics babies are always colder than us and they loose heat a lot faster than we do. So dress your kids warm! Sorry for the soapbox, I hate it when I see kids under dressed. In order to keep her warm and cozy, she wore Halo Sleep Sacks all the time. When she was little we had the ones with the swaddling panels and then when she got older the ones without. It was amazing not having to worry about whether she was warm or the blanket got pulled up over her face. These do go on great sales on Amazon and Zulily. Once you know how fast your little one is growing it’s easy to snatch them up cheaply. Also, mom to mom sales are amazing. A lot of moms have them barely used for great prices!
Sophie La Girafe – There has been a lot of controversy over Sophie lately. I am still a Sophie believer. Calli was given a cow that had the same purpose as Sophie. It is cute and squeaked too. But what makes Sophie so perfect, is that she is skinny enough to fit in tiny hands that want to hold her. Calli just never fell in love with the cow like she did Sophie and I think it was the size thing. I would have bout 50 of her if that’s what I needed to make it through her first few teethings. Now that Calli is older she loves squeezing the cow and playing with him. But in those early months nothing could have replaced Sophie.
A Good Breast Pump – If you plan to nurse I would highly recommend a good breast pump for many reasons. I was extremely prone to mastitis and the pump was my savior because that meant I could pump between nursing sessions to help move things through. It also meant I was able to save extra milk I made since I was a little bit of an over producer. The pump also gave me the chance to go out and do things but continue giving Calli my milk. They also make some great hand pumps if you don’t want to pump much. If you want to pump a lot, you will need a high quality pump that is made to pump that much. Don’t skimp on this.
White Noise Machine – A white noise machine is a real life saver. I recommend this to any new parent. A white noise machine is something that is recommended to adults all the time, so of course they are great for babies. Our machine from Ski Hop has customization on the length it runs, several noise options, ceiling projection and a nightlight. For about $40 you can’t go wrong on trying one out.
Crib Soother – When I first registered for this, I thought it was the same thing as a white noise machine and I thought I was nuts. But, I decided to keep it and see if I changed my mind. I always figured I could return it up to a year after Calli was born. One day I decided to throw it in her crib when we were trying to get her to take a nap. She was not an easy baby to get to nap. I was hoping it would help. This has become one of our favorite things and Calli still plays with it daily. When she wakes up in the middle of the night she will push the button and watch it and put herself back to sleep. If she’s fighting a nap she will eventually put herself to sleep. If I don’t get upstairs right away to get her she will bet sitting there playing with it. It also has a remote that you can press from outside the room. My sister in law used the remote all the time.
Medicine Kit – I did not think to register for this. One of my best and longest friends got this for my at our baby shower. The best part of it is, she doesn’t have kids! I have no idea how she rocked the gift but she did. I loved this gift because you never know when your baby will need something. You never know when that first cold will come. You never know when that first tooth is going to start moving around. It is a life saver to have all of these things you just might need. And mine came with this nice little bag that makes it handy to pack anything health related that we might need on an overnight trip.
Changing Pad – There is a lot of debate about this item. Let me tell you why I think you should add this to your registry. I don’t think you will know if you like using this unless you try it out. For me, I got tired of crawling around on the ground with a baby. Also, Calli got too long to be changed on the couch quickly. You don’t need to buy a changing table, you can throw it on top of a dresser and see if you like it. If you don’t like it, it’s not overly expensive and it’s a great item to regift to a friend. I will say I love my changing tables. We have a double floor house with a lot of stairs so I have a changing station upstairs in Calli’s nursery on a dresser. I have a changing station in the living room too. It was actually my mom’s changing table from when we were kids so it has special meaning and has a special place in our living room.
Drying Rack – Even if you don’t bottle feed your baby, eventually this will come in handy. Kids mean a ton of little things to wash and dry. I highly recommend a drying rack. The thing I like about the grass is that it’s not geared toward just bottles and sippy cups so it can be used even once we get past that stage for straws and bowls. Having this organization center for all of those things saves space on your counter top. The grass is so easy to clean and keep bacteria from growing.
Like I said before, this is my list of top baby registry picks. For those of you who are moms, what are your top baby registry picks?
