The first 3 months fly by. This post has all of the necessities you will want to add to your baby registry for the first 3 months.
As soon as I found out I was pregnant (April 1st, 2020) I was online creating my very first baby registry for my baby. It was the most excited I had been in a really long time😅. I am talking kid in a candy shop type of excited🍭. I was going to town and researching the best brands and products, must have items, and really the why behind each baby item. I basically had my baby registry completed in one day. Of course I added and removed a few items here and there as my pregnancy progressed.
Every momma has their own preference on what items they feel they will truly need for their little love. The key is practicality🔑! What is a need vs a want? It is fun to buy things for your baby especially if it is your first, but I highly recommend waiting until your baby actually arrives to buy things. You will most likely have a couple baby showers or people buying your baby things because they know you are pregnant. Let people shower you with love and buy things for your baby🥰. You may not even need to buy anything because you are immensely blessed by friends, family, and coworkers – this was us! The only things we really needed to buy was stuff for the nursery because I specifically asked people in my immediate family not to buy anything for the nursery. This was the one thing I was looking forward to decorating and buying everything myself. I mainly asked because I had too many different ideas of what I wanted to do in the nursery and some that involved wallpaper. Josh said no to the wallpaper ideas. LOL. I am in love with the simplicity of her room. It isn’t quite finished yet, but when it’s finally finished I will be posting a nursery tour.
What did I use to create my Baby Registry?
I used both Babylist.com and Target.com for my Baby Registry. I used Babylist.com because you can add any baby item from any website and it will show the costs of that item anywhere it is sold, you can mark when an item has been purchased, and edit the item to show the wanted quantity, mark it as a “Must Have” and you can even add notes for your friends and family. See what I mean:
I also used Target because any item that you do not receive you can purchase it yourself at a 15% discount for months after baby is born. The discount can only be used two times – once in the store and the last time online with an email code. Babylist also has this option; however, it is for Babylist items only. I frequently checked our Baby Registries to see what items were being marked purchased and then I would just smile and happily wonder who bought our baby that item. It was so exciting!
Top Items you Must Have on Your Registry
TRANSPORTATION
- Carseat + Stroller I have the best friend in the world who insisted I must have nothing but the best for my baby and got us the Nuna USA Car seat and Stroller which we absolutely love. I will be sharing my thoughts and doing a detailed review very soon, so be on the lookout for that if you are interested in the Nuna USA Carseat and Strollers. A lot of Carseats come with a matching Stroller for an extra cost, and I recommend getting that set because then it looks nicer and you are ensured your car seat will be compatible with your stroller. It is also important to pay attention to what time of year it is if you are on a budget and did not receive the stroller from someone. If you are in a warmer environment you may want the stroller right away to go on walks with your baby. This is just something to think about!
- Our favorites: Carseat and Stroller
DIAPERING
- Diapers + Wipes You will need lots and lots and lots of these. I have diapers and wipes for days. I signed up for a Pampers program with my email and received free newborn diapers in the mail – they also have a bunch of discounts for you here. I highly recommend signing up for all of the freebies!! I especially recommend signing up for different brands if you aren’t set on a specific brand of diapers so you can see which one both you and baby love the most. We love Pampers Diapers and Wipes! Linked below are my favorite smelling diaper wipe scent. I never thought I would say that in my life, but here I am. LOL
Our favorites: Diapers and Wipes
HEALTH AND SAFETY
- Medicines I was thrilled to receive multiples of the following: Gas/Colic relief drops, Tylenol, snot suckers, Booger wipes, nail clippers and filers. These are all essential items for your baby’s health and safety.
- Lotion/Oil/Soap/Shampoo I am big on moisturizing skin and always have to have lotion on. Newborns also don’t need to have many baths. It depends on their skin and the nurse can tell you how often you should be bathing your baby. After her baths we put Johnson and Johnson baby oil on immediately after the bath to lock in moisture. Newborns skin can sometimes be very dry and cracky for the first couple weeks. Nevaeh’s skin was dry and cracky at first. I used Aquaphor on her feet because that’s where she had most of her dry skin and the Baby Aquaphor has more of a Vaseline type consistency which cleared her dry skin right up. She also had dry skin on her tummy and hands. I used Aveeno Baby lotion and Johnson lotion on those body parts.
Our favorites: Baby Lotion, Baby Shampoo, Baby Oil, Baby Aquaphor, Baby Aveeno
BLANKETS, WRAPS, AND BURP CLOTHS
- Muslin Receiving Blankets These are amazing!!! I use them every single day. Uses: swaddling/wrapping baby, keeps baby warm and snuggly, protects baby’s outfit when being held, makes cute backdrops when you set your baby down on them for pictures. They are completely versatile and you can wash them over and over again and they look fresh every time. These are an absolute necessity!
- Baby Wraps You only need one or two. If you are anything like me, you will probably want multiples because of all your different outfits and you want your wrap to match. I have a light green solid wrap and it goes with pretty much everything I wear. I wear a lot of neutral colors, so it matches many different outfits. These are good in crowded settings or just when your arms are tired and you still want your baby close to you. This also helps baby bond with you if you wrap them facing your chest because they can hear momma or daddy’s heartbeat. I love wearing my baby!
- Burp Cloths You can never have enough burp cloths. Baby’s drool and spit up a lot. You will use the burp cloths right away! I love having a multitude of burp cloths to choose from with different colors and designs for two reasons. 1) They spruce up Nevaeh’s outfit 2) I don’t have to do laundry all the time to make sure they are clean. We just started using bibs when she was 2 and a half months old because she has been drooling like crazy.
Our favorites: Baby Wrap, Muslin Receiving Blankets , and Burp Cloths
BABY GEAR
- Swings + Boppy’s + Bouncers These are so wonderful when you and your baby are the only ones home and you need to get things done! You can set your baby down and know they are safe because they are buckled in and in a comfy seat. I love both of our swings and bouncers. I would be lost without them and never really be able to get things done. When I want to take a shower or get ready for the day Nevaeh is in the bouncer looking at me in the bathroom. When I want to make dinner she is in the bouncer looking at me. When I want to sit down on the couch and not hold her, she is in the swing looking at me. As long as mom is in her visual or she can hear me speak to her every now and then when she is not sleeping, she is good! At first Nevaeh was afraid of the 4moms Mamaroo Swing, but that could be because her dad had it on the fastest setting while she was just 4 days old… LOL. She has adapted and loves the 4moms Mamaroo Swing now! Her Ingenuity Bunny Bouncer has been the best baby gear item we could have received as she sits in it everyday. Thanks to my long time friend Morgan – love you girl!
- Bassinet We received two of these. We have one in our master bedroom and one in the living room. Again, these are great to just set your baby in them while you are busy doing things around the house! At first we started to have her sleep in the bassinet next to our bed, and then we switched to Co-Sleeping because then Nevaeh actually sleeps. She does sleep in the bassinet some nights, but she mainly sleeps with mom and dad in bed and does just fine. I have started a blog post on Co-Sleeping which will be posted sometime in the future!
Our favorites: Swing, Lounger Princess Boppy, Boppy, Boppy Aesthetic Cover, and Bouncer.
ACCESSORIES
- Pacifiers & Pacifier Clips These are life savers for when your little one needs something to self soothe especially if they go through a period of time where they are cluster feeding. The pacifier was a life saver for me.
Our favorites: Pacifier, Pacifier Clip, and Pacifier Sterilizer
Items you don’t need on your registry
*These are my thoughts and opinions on items that we own, but don’t really use or we feel are a waste of money. Remember you are the mom to your own baby and you decide what’s best for him or her. I am trying to help you take the guessing game out of your items that you are putting on your registry, but to each their own.
- Anything you are super excited about buying yourself for your baby I was so excited about buying things for the Nursery that I did not have anything on the registry pertaining to decor items and I was so indecisive with the overall design as you read in the introduction of this post. Nevaeh has a gorgeous nursery. I am still in progress with the finished look and design (She won’t even be in her Nursery for another few months, so I have time and I am not in any rush). I was also so excited about buying the Monthly Milestone Hexagons. We got ours from Etsy. I am obsessed with them. Something else I really wanted to buy was her first Christmas outfit. Since she was born right after Thanksgiving, Christmas was her first holiday. Mom obviously had to be in charge of that one! We really did not have to buy anything because we were so blessed to have received everything we needed for her and we thank God for people to love us so well.
- Baby Bathtub Even if it’s a “grow with baby” you can hold them in the sink or take baths with them. Taking baths with your baby is so easy and creates a bonding experience for both you, your baby, and daddy if dad decides to join in on the bubbles. This has been one of my favorite things about motherhood! Bath time is such a special time for Nevaeh and I. We also have a baby bath tub that we do use when we are feeling too lazy to turn on the actual bath tub and take a relaxing bath or we are upstairs for the night and don’t feel like going downstairs to the kitchen.
- Sound Machines Your baby will most likely be sleeping in your bedroom with you for the first few months, so a sound machine is not necessary as you can use your own sound machine or phone. We have used our phone and have a channel titled “White Noise Baby Sleep” on Pandora saved – yes I still use Pandora. This station is Heavenly and I swear it even helps me sleep! When we don’t use Pandora we are on YouTube and there is a White Noise Baby video that goes for 10 Hours straight titled “Colicky Baby Sleeps to this Magic Sound.” These two options are great alternatives as opposed to buying a Sound Machine.
- Breast Pumps If you are planning on pumping because you want your baby to only have breast milk for the first few months/years of life, and you are going back to work or you just want to leave your baby with someone else for more than 2 hours I recommend getting a breast pump! If you have insurance, you should contact your insurance company first and see what your options are because you may qualify for a free breast pump. Who doesn’t want a free $200+ dollar machine that’s going to provide a storage supply of goods for your baby? I know I am 1000% into free! I went through Aeroflow Breast Pumps and was really pleased with their service. Check out my blog on my Medela Breast Pump here.
- A lot of Clothes You are going to get a massive amount of baby clothes. Simply because people love to buy whatever they want when it comes to baby clothes. I did receive some clothes items from our baby registry which I was happy about, but you do not need to put these on your registry as this is a top item that people enjoy buying for your baby. Something to keep in mind: you have a newborn baby and your baby will look cute in anything. Keep the clothes to a minimum on your registry and buy that super cute sparkly onesie for your baby yourself.
- Postpartum Items There is a private setting on Babylist.com that I really enjoyed when it came to items that I did not want people to see. I was able to add items to the registry and make them private, so only I could see them. This way I could log into my registry and purchase the items that I wanted to for myself that way. Items I am talking about: maternity bras, maternity tank tops, peri bottle, or any items you wanted kept a secret or to buy yourself. Check out my blog on my Postpartum Experience here.
My Custom Baby Registry Checklist
Use this Checklist when online shopping and creating your baby registry. This will ensure you do not forget items from each specific necessary baby items category. I find checklists to be so helpful!🗒
