Newborn Baby Favorites & Registry Tips
When you’re expecting a baby, it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement and register for everything under the sun. To make matters worse, there are approximately one million baby products on the market which makes discerning what is a “need” versus a “nice to have” quite overwhelming.
After 2 months with my little one, I’m here to share which newborn baby products are used most in our house to help guide your baby registry and shopping pursuits!
Registry Tips
Less is more — Babies don’t need too much in the newborn phase — they’re immobile and do a lot of sleeping. Outside of the essentials like diapers, wipes, food, etc. the most essential items are safe places for them to sleep.
Borrow or buy second hand — Because baby things have such a limited useful life, borrow essentials if that’s an option for you! Marketplace is another great option for items you don’t mind buying second hand.
Look for dual purpose items — Rather than registering for both a play gym and a Pack ‘n Play, for example, we registered for a Pack ‘n Play with an arch that acts as a play gym. (If you want a play gym and have the storage space, go for it! Just sharing that there are other options.)
Skip blankets — You will inevitably be given many blankets. I don’t know how it happens, but there’s really no need to register for one unless you’re overly particular.
You can’t go wrong with diapers and wipes — If your baby is trending to be average — anywhere from 5-8 pounds — they will fit into newborn diapers, and I recommend one large box to get you started. If they’re trending bigger, just go for size 1. (I unnecessarily stressed about this!)
Limit newborn sized clothing — Size 0-3 will be a little big on your baby at first, but since newborn sized clothes have such a limited life, 1-2 sleepers in that size is totally sufficient. I also recommend pajamas instead of fancy outfits. Easy on and off is the name of the game when you’re changing 10 diapers a day.
Add clothing size 3 months+ — People, reasonably, like to gift you clothes that baby can wear immediately. It’s nice to have clothing in bigger sizes, though, so you’re ready when they hit the inevitable growth spurt.
Babies are picky — Bottles, swings, carriers, and pacifiers are just a few items that babies have hot sports opinions about. For that reason, I don’t recommend buying 10 bottles from one brand or 3 different carriers until you understand your baby’s preferences. They make variety bottle and paci packs for this very reason, and it’s safe to start with just 1 carrier or swing to see how they like it.
On the Go
You aren’t allowed to leave the hospital without a carseat, so prioritize this purchase before baby arrives! We have the Nuna Pipa Lite Rx — it’s lightweight (7 lbs), has a built in sunshade, clicks in and out of our Nuna Mixx Next stroller, and will be usable until our daughter is 32 pounds or 32 inches tall, whichever comes first. Another popular option is the Doona.
Stroller
We originally wanted the Nuna Triv Next due to it’s incredibly easy fold and compact size, but we stumbled upon the Nuna Mixx Next at a great price ($200 vs. $800) and couldn’t pass it up. It has an extra roomy basket that I’ve even used as my grocery cart when Brooks was in tow. The foot area of the seat folds up to hold short baby legs, and the seat can face toward you, away from you, and lie completely flat in either direction. The adjustable handle makes it great for all heights, too! I also highly recommend this cheap universal cup/phone holder.
I opted for a backpack that could grow with Brooks or that we could repurpose for travel once a diaper bag was no longer necessary. This bag is roomy, has great internal organization (including insulated bottle pockets), a matching nylon changing pad, two water bottle holders on the sides, a luggage sleeve, and clips on the straps that easily attach to the stroller handle so it doesn’t take up valuable basket space. We LOVE this thing.
Note: Could you use any bag as a diaper bag? 100%. The insulated pockets and included changing mat were appealing to us with this bag, but this was definitely a nice-to-have and absolutely not a must-have…but we love it and have zero regrets.
What’s in our diaper bag?
Muslin swaddle blanket for cold restaurants and stores
Burp cloth for any and all messes
OXO Diaper/Wipe pouch great for limiting what you have to bring along for diaper changes. It holds 5 diapers and a small pack of wipes.
Pacifier holder + extra pacifiers
1 extra outfit
Wet bag for soiled clothes, just in case that extra outfit is necessary.
Travel sized diaper rash cream and mini silicone applicator
Sleeping
A word on bassinets: We love our bassinet (borrowed the Snoo from a friend), but I don’t think it’s a must-have for all families. We found that Brooks prefers to sleep in it without the rocking features, so any traditional bassinet would have worked for her. For other children, it may be a game changer! There’s no real way to know until your child arrives, unfortunately. I have friends who repurposed their stroller’s bassinet as the primary sleeping spot and found success if you’re seeking out something more dual purpose.
For day time sleep or just a safe place to place baby down throughout the day, I highly recommend a lounger. Brooks seems to love her Snuggle Me, and I suggest getting two covers for it so you can wash one cover and immediately replace it with a fresh one, rather than having to wash the whole lounger. The Podster and Dock A Tot are other popular versions of this same product.
Since babies are used to a lot of noise in the womb, incorporating white noise into your infant’s sleep routine is proven to be helpful. We love the Hatch Rest 2nd Gen sound machine. You can select your favorite settings via an app, and they become accessible with just one tap on top of the machine. It also has an incorporated light that’s great for midnight wakeups and can serve as a toddler’s night light later on. It features numerous soothing sounds beyond just white noise, and there’s a paid subscription available that offers night time stories, too.
I’ve been putting our daughter in her crib for one nap a day to help her transition from her bassinet in our room to the crib in her room. Rather than move the big sound machine back and forth (which requires plugging and unplugging under her crib), we’ve been using this portable sound machine for her daily naps. (Also great for running errands during nap time or for traveling!)
It has 10 different sounds, great sound quality, a ring to hook on the carseat, stroller, or bag, is supposed to withstand drops and baby drool, and holds a charge for a shocking amount of time — we’ve charged ours once in two months and use it for at least an hour daily. They sell these sound machine duos now, too, where you can get both sound machines mentioned for a bit cheaper!
Babies sleep on their backs, swaddled for the first 3-4 months of life or until they’re able to roll over on their own. There are approximately 900 swaddles on the market, but we love the Ollie. It’s idiot proof, which is the quality you should probably look for most since you use this product in the dark 99% of the time.
It comes in one size and is easy to get snug and tight. The one con is that the velcro is insanely loud! If you’re looking for another option that is warmer than the Ollie, we also found success with the Halo. Unlike clothing, the Newborn size actually fits babies 0-3 months where the Small fits babies 3-6 months (when they likely won’t even need a swaddle — hot tip.)
Baby monitors have a massive range of features. They can be ultra high tech, connect to your phone, tell you if your child is breathing, and update you on their heart rate, or they can be simple and display a live video feed of your child sleeping via an external screen.
We opted for the latter. We wanted a monitor that didn’t connect to wifi for security reasons, had great image quality, a clear microphone, and could accommodate an add-on camera for future children. This Vava monitor fit the bill and came highly recommended by a good friend! It was super simple to set up and has served its purpose beautifully.
Feeding
A word on bottles: Babies are incredibly opinionated when it comes to bottles. The flow rate of bottle nipples varies by brand, they come in all shapes and sizes, and you’ll likely try several before you land on the one that works best for your baby. For that reason, I’m not going to feature a specific bottle since it’s so unique to every child; however, they are a definite necessity!
Whether you’re exclusively formula feeding or supplementing your baby’s meals with formula, I cannot say enough good things about the Baby Brezza. It’s essentially a Keurig machine for baby formula. During set up, you scan a QR code, select your formula from a drop down list, and it tells you the proper setting. After set up, all you do is select the number of ounces to brew and click “start.” That’s it! With the click a button, you have a full, warm bottle about 5 seconds later. In our opinion, this is SO nice to have that we consider it a necessity.
We were religious about sterilizing bottles after every wash when we first brought Brooks home, but now we sterilize occasionally and primarily use this machine to quickly dry bottles. Our daughter is partial to Dr. Brown’s bottles which have a lot of parts that take forever to dry. I would classify this as a nice-to-have, but we do use it daily.
Right around the time Brooks was born Baby Brezza released a bottle washer/sterilizer/dryer that we would recommend over this. It sold out in minutes and wasn’t accessible to us at the time, but if you can splurge for the washer combo, do it. It’s a total nice-to-have, because your dishwasher can just as easily wash your bottles and air and time can dry them, but you will need to run your dishwasher daily, unless you own an insane number of bottles.
While having everything for your child’s nursery isn’t necessary for the first few months, a comfortable chair that rocks or glides has been proven useful. We find it more comfortable to feed her on furniture with arms in a room that can be kept dark in the middle of the night. Pair this with an ottoman, and you have a pretty cozy set up!
These are actual magic for our gassy baby. During the day we administer them as needed, and after night feedings we typically give her the recommended dose after her bottle so gas doesn’t keep her up during the sleep stretch to follow.
We prefer gas drops over gripe water, because the gripe water dosage is pretty significant and she kept spitting it out. Different strokes for different folks, though!
Diapering
After experiencing many unexpected bowel movements mid-diaper change, I’ve never loved our changing pad more. This impermeable, easy-to-clean changing pad is expensive, but worth it.
When our daughter was super little she didn’t love how cold this felt, so we put puppy pads on top for a while to eliminate the shock factor and soak up messes. Around 6 weeks she stopped caring about the cold and, for whatever reason, she now loves getting her diaper changed.
Yes, you can use a trash can to throw away diapers; however, you will also need several forms of air freshener and a million trash bags if you plan to empty it daily. Babies are insanely cute, but it is astounding how stinky they can be! This diaper pail seals in all the bad smells and is designed so that you can use any trash bags, unlike its competitors. The top also has a lock that’s great to keep curious dogs or toddlers out of the trash.
When you’re tired, changing your third diaper in the middle of the night, and fumbling with the disposable pack that inevitably pulls out 5 wipes at once, you’ll wish you’d spent the $10 on this.
Even though we appreciate it, I still classify it as a nice-to-have rather than a necessity. FYI - Ubbi’s wipe dispenser is half the price of the popular OXO one and works just as well.
Playing
We keep this set up in the living room for playing during her wake windows. The arch with the stars serves is a “play gym,” and she adores it. This can also be used as baby’s bed when we travel. (Pssst…We use a cotton muslin blanket as a pseudo “sheet,” and it works great!)
I still can’t figure out how companies can charge what they do for these bouncers, but this is used multiple times a day at our house. Finding safe places to put an infant can be tricky, and this bouncer is reclined in such a way that even the tiniest of babies can rest easy in it. We’re grateful we were able to borrow this from a friend, and because it’s just a piece of wire with cloth around it, you can feel confident purchasing this second hand.
Before we had Brooks, everyone recommended these developmentally tailored play kits. After using the Weeks 0-12 week box for the last two months, I understand the hype. These are pretty expensive, though.
We had pretty much zero experience with infants, so knowing what to do to entertain them was tricky! These kits provide developmentally appropriate toys and a guide on when to introduce them. The toys are high quality and will definitely be stored away for a potential Baby #2 some day. This referral link gets you $20 off your first box, if you’re interested.
Had we not been gifted a subscription from Bryan’s friends, I probably would have purchased some high contrast cards and some type of rattle instead, since those are the items we used most from the first box.
Health & Baby Care
Babies, not surprisingly, have the tiniest nostrils and sinus passages. A boogie that wouldn’t bother you or me can make them sound like little warthogs in their bassinet next to your bed. This is the perfect little tool to clear out those nostril openings!
Decongestants are a no-no for infants, but they will inevitably get congested. This saline mist is super easy to use and doesn’t bother our little one too much. It can be used to moisten the inside of the nose or completely irrigate the nasal passages, depending on your baby’s needs. This spray used in conjunction with the nose sucker (see next) is a winning combo.
Spray a little saline mist into each nostril and then use the Nose Frida to remove the mucus from your baby’s nose. They likely won’t love it, but as soon as you’re done they will sound and feel instantly better (if they’re anything like our baby.) If the thought grosses you out, you’re not alone. I’ve used this so many times, and it still makes me ill if I think too hard about it. The little blue dots are filters that prevent anything from coming through the suction tube, thankfully.
Unnecessary Items for Infants
Obviously, this is just my opinion. There may have been things I mentioned above that you consider totally useless, and that’s okay! If something you love is on the list below, I think that’s fantastic and am glad you love it. Consider this a list of things we didn’t register for or feel the need to buy after we brought baby girl home:
Baby specific dish soap
Baby specific laundry detergent
Bumbo seat
Floating bath water thermometer
Wipe warmer
Bottle warmer
Baby-specific changing table (Use a dresser or piece of furniture that can be repurposed or grow with your child.)
Baby shoes
Pacifier wipes
Baby mittens (Get sleepers with fold over sleeves, instead.)
On-the-go diaper trash bags and dispenser (Unless you’re camping, there will likely be a trash can wherever the diaper change happens.)
Small baby bottles (We bought 4oz bottles, and she’s quickly outgrowing them. Stick with all big bottles for longevity’s sake!)