So I'm at that age now when all of my friends are popping out kids, and a number of them have asked me for registry advice. I've had to warn them all that I'm of the "less is better" school (perhaps a function of living in a cramped NY apartment). Overwhelmed by the plethora of baby crap out there, we ended up registering for approximately three million items -- of which we ended up using around 5. Since then, I've come up with the list I wish I had had back when I could have used it. Of course, I welcome any feedback! It's been a while since I've had to deal with this, so I'm sure my memory has failed me in some places, but I think it's a good start.
Must haves:
- Car seat (the kind that doubles as a stroller with the snap-on base, like the Graco SnugRide)
- Stroller (for urban moms, the lighter the better)
- Crib and crib accessories (like sheets and breathable bumpers, etc. Don’t need blankets just yet, since they’re suffocation hazards. Instead of blankets, you may initially want to try SleepSacks.)
- Lots and lots of onesies -- lots and lots of them!
- Little mittens (to keep kids from scratching themselves while sleeping)
- Baby socks and caps (lots of air conditioning everywhere, so want to keep feet and head warm)
- Pack-n-Play (important when travelling or when you want infants napping in the same room you’re working in)
- Swaddling cloths/receiving blankets (usually given out by hospitals when leaving, though maybe it was just my hospital)
- Baby monitor
- Night lights
- Breast pump (if breastfeeding, obviously)
- Bottles (Dr. Brown’s are great, but since you'll most likely be experimenting with different types, wouldn't go crazy and get hundreds of them)
- Bottle brush and drying rack
- Baby bath tub
- Would get lots of bottles of Burt’s Bees Shampoo on Body Wash (awesome product and makes fun bubbles!)
- Hooded towels (actually, probably not a must have for most people, just for P and me)
- Bumbo (little soft chairs that the kids will sit on when they can keep their heads up)
- Activity mats
- Exersaucer (lots of debate on this, as well as walkers, but we thought they were AWESOME, and they certainly didn’t hurt C)
- Jumper (again, lots of debate on this, but hours of entertainment and relief for you)
- Swingle cradle (we only used ours for a couple of months, but they did have the benefit of calming C down a number of times)
- Rocking chair (which makes for a nice way to bond with the new kid while relaxing you as well)
- Diapers (though I'm of the impression that you're going to be experimenting with diapers as well, so no need to go crazy just yet on these. If you're going to go the cloth diaper route, I'd highly recommend gDiapers!!!!)
- Diaper bag
- Portable diaper changing pads (for when you’re out and about and don’t want to put your kid on some nasty surface. Diaper bags may include this already, but check.)
- Diaper changing table/pad (though, actually, P and I just plopped C on a towel on our bed and changed diapers that way, so wasn't really a necessity for us)
- Bibs
- Little utensils and bowls/plates
- High chairs (or booster seats that you can strap on to chairs)
- Ergo (or the equivalent — hated the Moby wrap)
- Baby nail clipper (though a regular nail clipper worked just fine for C, even when she was a tiny infant)
- Health/medical kit (thermometer, nose bulb, baby aspirin, etc.)
- Teethers (like Sophie the Giraffe)
- Soft books
- Soft toys
- Developmental toys
- Diaper pail/liners (though P and I just put pee diapers in the regular trash and poopy diapers in a separate plastic bag that we would just tie and untie and eventually throw out)
No comments:
Post a Comment