Baby Registry Checklist – The Ultimate Guide

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This is the ULTIMATE Baby Registry Checklist! Keep scrolling for your FREE downloadable list!

Finding out you’re having a baby can be an exciting yet overwhelming experience. The baby market is saturated with items you need on your baby registry checklist.

Scroll down to sign up to get your free ultimate baby registry checklist! This will come in handy when you’re trying to check things off and make decisions for your baby.

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Must Have Items On Your Baby Registry

• Newborn Sleeping Place
• Stroller | Infant Car Seat Combo

A sleeping place for your newborn is really important and should be one of the first things you look into when you’re starting your registry.  With all of the research out there for safe sleeping, the safest place for baby is in a bassinet on his or her back. A Pack N Play with Bassinet insert is another great multi-use item for your baby registry. I recommend this one, and not the more expensive one with the changing table and “Napper.” You’ll never use those.

You may end up using your crib and firm mattress right away instead of a newborn sleeper. If this is the case, make sure you are just using a fitted sheet in your crib and the mattress is firm. No toys. No pretty blankets that were handmade or pillows and definitely not that fancy comforter you spent hours picking out.

A stroller and infant car seat combo is another great item for your registry. We used the infant car seat for a long time! It was great to travel with and we were able to take our son everywhere and not worry about where he was going to sit when he couldn’t sit up. We still use our stroller that came with it, though we have graduated our car seat to a convertible one.

Nice To Have But Will End Up Storing For A Bit

• Bedding
• High Chair
• Feeding forks and spoons
• Straw or sippy cups

Bedding can be beautiful, but it’s really unnecessary when you bring baby home. Going back to safe sleeping, nothing can be in the crib with your child until at least one year!

High chairs can be a high ticket item on your baby registry, but if you go with the big one you’re going to end up storing that box until you start solids which isn’t until the recommended age of 4-6 months. I’d recommend a space saving high chair like this one. We have a big high chair, but we just use the booster seat part on our dining room chair.

Feeding utensils, straw cups and sippy cups tend to not get used until a bit later. Your child will probably use his or her hands for awhile before using utensils.  You can start as early as 6 months with a straw or sippy cup, but we started closer to a year and he really took to drinking out of the new cups. We loved this straw cup for our son! He’s able to drink from the cup from any angle due to its weighted straw and the water flow is nice and slow.

You’ll Regret Not Registering For These Items

• Sound Machine
• Humidifier
• Light Soother like this one for the crib
• Baby Proofing Items, like baby gates and outlet covers

We would not have survived without our sound machine. It’s not cute and it doesn’t come in pretty packaging, but this was a big a game changer when you need to sleep. It was not on our registry and we quick made a decision one day at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Best. Purchase. Ever.

A humidifier is perfect for little stuffy noses.  It’s another not-cute-no-pretty-packaging item, but this item is so worth it. A must have on your baby registry and in your home.

We dropped the ball on a light soother, but our sound machine came with a projector. It projects a light and a disc of colorful animals on the ceiling. Two birds with one stone.

Baby proofing comes a lot quicker than you’d think! We received a great starter kit as a gift and it’s been such a big help. We had to run out and buy a few things we needed after our son started crawling and walking. It’s good to be ahead of the game on this one, especially because you could have an early walker like I did.

Feeding Must Haves

• Bottles – BUT WAIT! Read below.
• Preemie | First Flow, Slow & Medium Flow Nipples – BUT WAIT! Read below.
• Support Pillow
• Bibs
• Burping Cloths

Bottles are a must have! We went with these, but I’d recommend buying a few different ones and not registering for it.

That’s right. I said don’t register for it.

Your baby may not like the bottles you chose. Your baby may turn his or her little nose up at the bottle you thought was the best bottle out there. Once your child settles on a bottle, use those gift cards you may have received and buy a few more.

Once you settle on your bottle, if you’re bottle feeding from the start and it’s not going so well for whatever reason – spit up, gas, formula or breast milk going too fast – buy the Preemie or First Flow Nipple. Yes, even if your child is not a preemie. We learned this the hard way and my husband picked up the preemie flow nipples while I was supplementing and it was a game changer. The slow flow was too fast and too much for our son and caused a few issues.

A feeding support pillow like this one is a great option for all moms, whether you’re formula feeding or breastfeeding. Register for an extra case for your feeding support pillow too!

Bibs and burp cloths are a great registry item. We got a ton of bibs and they saved so many outfits.  We used these as burp cloths and they worked great for us.

If You Are Breastfeeding, Here Are Some Items You’ll Need

• Nursing Pads
• Milk Storage Bags
• A Cover (COMPLETELY OPTIONAL AND UP TO YOU)

Put nursing pads on your registry! You’ll need these because the leaking is real, ladies. I had no idea I could leak so much. I never had an accident and never left home without extra nursing pads in my bag.

Milk storage bags are a must have baby registry item especially if you’re going back to work or plan on a night out at some point. Your baby will be able to drink your milk while you’re away. I preferred these storage bags by Lansinoh because they would lay flat in the freezer and take up less room.

A cover is completely optional. I registered for one that had a hoop in the top so you could look down and see what you were doing and ended up only using it a handful of times. It was quite cumbersome for me and Ri sweat like a beast under it. We were better without it.

Toys & Gear To Consider

• Infant Swing
• Early Development Toys
• Play Mat
• Baby Carrier or Wrap

We registered and received a Mamaroo, but any infant swing will be a good idea. For our next child, we’re going with an infant swing like this one.

Early development toys like this colorful block and this colorful rattle are such a great way to interact with your baby. Mirrors are also a great thing for tummy time. This particular mirror was a big hit in our house!

A play mat is so fun when your child can finally start to see the world around them. We went with this one and we still play with that piano! It was super cute and the music doesn’t annoy us like some of those other toys.

I truly don’t know where I’d be without my Ergo carrier. Seriously. I felt confined to my glider rocking chair during those first few months and felt like I couldn’t get anything done around the house let alone eat. Once I started wearing my son, life changed and got better for us. I highly recommend finding the right carrier for you, but recommend checking out Ergo first. They have great prices and the 360 design looks awesome!

If You’re Strapped For Cash Or Space, Consider Leaving These Items OFF Your Registry

• Monitor
• Changing Table
• Bottle Drying Rack
• Baby Food Maker

A monitor is a questionable item. We went with a super expensive camera monitor and live in a two bedroom apartment. Completely unnecessary as we can hear everything. We ended up using it as a nanny cam.  Do your research and get something that fits your needs. A monitor was something we could have left off the registry and purchased when we needed it. If you’re co-sleeping (this means sharing the same room as your child) for the first six months, it’s just unnecessary at first and you can put it off until later.

A changing table is another questionable item. It’s great for storage, but becomes quite scary once your child can roll. And once he becomes a toddler? Forget about it. We use a pad on our floor now to avoid any scary mishaps.

A bottle drying rack is pretty superfluous. Your regular ol’ dish drying rack will dry the bottles.  If you have the extra space, go for it. We kept our son’s bottles separate from everything else and the bottle drying rack worked for us. I can see why it’s unnecessary to have though.

A baby food maker is the last one on the questionable list. Some swear by it, and we did like ours, but we never used it. We have other machines that can do the same thing and now this one just takes up so much space.

Stop Putting These Items On Your Registry

• Crib Bumper
• Just Newborn Clothes
• Wipe Warmer
• Breast Pumps

Crib bumpers go against every piece of research out there on SIDS. Leave this off the registry and definitely not in your crib.

Make sure your register for more than just newborn clothes. Register for basics in sizes up to 12 months.

I talked about the wipe warmer previously here. My husband wanted the wipe warmer and you can imagine my face knowing this was a stupid purchase. We didn’t register for it, but we definitely own one because my husband swore we couldn’t live without it. Pick and choose your battles. This was one I wasn’t willing to fight. We used it for awhile and then life gets in the way and someone forgets to fill the dang thing and you’re in the middle of changing a poopy diaper and… Just leave this one off the registry.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, you can get a breast pump through your insurance. Contact them early! We contacted early and had a specific time frame to order one during my pregnancy. I used the Medela Pump In Style breast pump and it was great!

Check Out These Posts For Additional Info!

• Six Things You Need On Your Registry
• Baby Gear You DON’T Need
• 7 Breastfeeding Necessities For A New Mom

Get Your Baby Registry Checklist Below!

Sign up for your FREE ULTIMATE baby registry checklist below.  Keep this baby registry checklist with you in stores or when you’re adding to your online registries. I love checklists for almost anything to keep everything in order and to stay on track.

In this baby registry checklist I’ve created two sections – Must Haves and Nice To Haves. You can make it work with just the Must Have items and the Nice To Have items can make a difference. Every baby is different but it’s good to go in with the items from the Must Have side.

What items were must haves on your list? What items could you do without?