Building a registry? I’d love to help!

Building a baby registry can be incredibly overwhelming– at least it was for me. Not only is there a dizzying array of baby products on the market, but it can be really challenging for first-time parents to conceptualize their daily routine. It’s also hard to predict what preferences you or your baby might have.

While I can’t tell you exactly which products will be the best fit for your family, I’m happy to share which ones were most helpful for us. I also shared products I would rethink buying, and ones that I’ve heard were amazing from my friends and photo clients. It’s not an exhaustive list, but it might be a helpful addition to something like a Babylist Checklist. I tried to think of a few items that weren’t as obvious or glamorous, but that came in handy on a daily basis. 

And while I provided the links below, I highly recommend searching your local BuyNothing Facebook groups and/or perusing Facebook Marketplace to see if you can find them second-hand. I can’t tell you how many baby products I purchased/received from local parents, and sometimes they were completely unused! I love passing these items onto other parents in my area when I’m done with them, too.

At the end of the day, it’s also important to remember that all your baby really needs is milk, clothes, diapers, and your love/attention. You will figure it out with whatever products you have or don’t have! You got this.

[Photo from a recent newborn session I photographed with the most gorgeous nursery!]

Our Personal Essentials:

Nanit Baby Monitor
There are so many amazing and high-tech baby monitors on the market, but we have really appreciated having the Nanit. We’re able to watch the baby monitor through an app on our phone, and we use a Nanit sleep sack so we can use their innovative breathing motion and monitoring tool.

As an anxious new mom, I can’t tell you how much peace it brought me to know my daughter’s breathing being tracked without my having to check, and I still use that tool as a helpful measurement to understand how deeply she’s sleeping. It also offers many other helpful insights, especially as your little one learns to sleep independently.

Independent sleeping isn’t for everyone (co-sleeping is wonderful!) but the Nanit has been an incredible tool for me, and for many of my mom friends too. It’s so funny when we go out to dinner for a “mom’s night out,” and all pull up our Nanit app and marvel at our (hopefully) sleeping babies.

We used the monitor stand, but the wall mount monitor might work better for others! It really depends on your room and layout.

It’s also worth noting that we bought an additional monitor for hotel travel, since the Nanit can’t be used on public WiFi for security reasons.

Nuna Pipa Lite Car Seat + Nuna Mixx Next Stroller
I know it’s absolutely insane, but we took our daughter on 12 flights before she turned 10 months old. Our families live on the east coast, and we had a lot of weddings and family events the year she was born. When it came to deciding on our stroller and car seat, we knew that travel was going to play a large role in our decision.  

For me, the Nuna system was immensely helpful for travel and everyday life. We have the Nuna stroller (Nuna Mixx Next) which we’ve used on a regular basis for the past year and a half, and we also bought the Nuna TRVL Lightweight stroller for travel. While the Nuna Mixx Next is still relatively light and easy to fold, the TRVL is even lighter and more compact. However, it has a smaller storage basket and it doesn’t handle rough terrain as well. 

We loved that the Nuna infant car seat easily clicked into either stroller very easily. This means that you can easily transport your baby from the car to the stroller without having to take them in and out of the car seat, and potentially disturb a nap.  

Many of my friends chose the Nuna infant car seat even if they didn’t choose a Nuna stoller. It’s very light in comparison to other car seats, and that can make a huge difference when you’re lugging it around with your baby in it (every pound counts!). You can even use the Nuna car seat without a base which is SO helpful for travel. We brought it with us in many Ubers/Lyfts and it only took a minute to install.

Baby Brezza Formula Maker

My breastfeeding journey concluded when my daughter was 6 months old, and while I wanted it to last longer, the Baby Brezza made that transition infinitely easier. I got this while I was pregnant, but you can definitely wait to buy this one to see if you’d need it! 

I know it seems relatively easy to mix and warm a bottle of formula. However, when you’re deeply sleep deprived and you have a screaming, hungry baby, having a bottle ready instantly can make a world of difference. Not to mention, it can be difficult to pour the proper ratio of water to formula in the dark and in the middle of the night. For this reason, the Baby Brezza became our best friend. It’s often compared to a Keurig because it instantly mixes and warms the formula at the push of a button. Check your local groups or Facebook Marketplace for a second-hand machine!

One thing to note: some parents warn against using a Baby Brezza Formula Mixer because it can inadvertently dilute the formula when it gets clogged. To prevent this issue, we cleaned out the spout and funnels 2-3 times per week.

MAM Pacifiers

I tried a lot of different kinds of infant pacifiers, and these ones were the real winners in our household. I’ve heard from many other people that these had the best “sticking” rate for them too. Don’t say your little one doesn’t take a pacifier until you try this brand! I know some people are against using a pacifier but it’s a game-changer for us. 

Haaka Ladybug Milk Catchers

For those who are nursing, these “ladybugs” can be incredibly helpful in the early days! They’re small but mighty little “milk catchers” that help with leaking while feeding. You might be surprised by how much you can catch and use towards a future bottle, and it saves you from the frustration of feeling sticky and wet. If you know, you know.

I’m not kidding that I send this to every new mom friend if I find out that they’re breastfeeding. I had no idea what they were before I started breastfeeding, and then my sister sent them to me when my daughter was born and it changed my life. It feels like an underrated essential!

The NozeBot by Dr. Noze Best
I know this might sound like an unconventional necessity, but babies get colds all the time and sadly, there’s so little you can do to help them through it. I didn’t realize until becoming a parent that baby decongestants aren’t a thing!

While there are manual “snot suckers” out there, we find this one to be significantly more effective because it’s a hospital-grade device. It saves us when our daughter has a cold and really helps her breathe out of her nose more easily. Just be cautious not to overuse it as you may dry out their nose.

Fisher-Price Baby Playmat Kick & Play Piano Gym
If you only purchase one toy for the first 6 months of your child’s life, I recommend this one! We used this nearly every day for like 6 months straight. It’s an eyesore and the songs get stuck in your head but it grows and transforms with your baby and they find it very entertaining!

If you purchase two toys, I recommend the Skip Hop Activity Center or something similar like a bouncer. We used this toy every day for months, too. There are tons available on Facebook Marketplace at all times! My friends and I would jokingly call it their “baby office.”

Munchkin UV Diaper Pail

I know this is quite expensive for a diaper pail, but I actually bought an unopened older version of one from a local parent on Facebook Marketplace. The reason I recommend this pail is because I find it does the best job of keeping the odor out. I’ve used the Ubbi one when visiting family, and every time I’d open it during a diaper change, I would get hit with a horrible wave of stink.

You’ll need these specific garbage bags that go inside the pail, but they’re very easy to install. Some people like to use diaper pails that don’t require specific garbage bags because it can get costly. But for me, I’m really sensitive to smell and I really appreciate that I never smell anything from my daughter’s diaper pail! It’s been worth it.

Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair

When I first had my daughter, I felt like it would be years before we needed a high chair. I heard so many people talk about the Stokke Tripp Trapp, but it seemed overpriced and unnecessary when you could just buy any old high chair online or on Facebook Marketplace. I didn’t think that much about the one we registered for because it felt like something we would use in the very distant future, and it felt like whatever we picked would be fine.

But before we knew it, our daughter was a few months old and we pulled our high chair out of storage. Within 2-3 uses, we realized how difficult it was to clean and started rethinking our choice. Our daughter is MESSY, and she was basically eating 3 meals a day by 6-months-old. Our high chair needed to be as easy to clean as humanly possible because there was little to no time in between meals to clean it.

Luckily our original high chair transformed into a toddler table, and she still uses it for snacks and play. But I quickly understood why everyone is obsessed with their Stokke Tripp Trapp. It takes up so little space at the table (it can be pushed right up to our table so there’s no need for a tray), it’s well-made, and it is SUPER easy to clean and get her in and out of.

I was excited to find one on Facebook marketplace that was never used because the seller received two. I can’t explain how relieved we felt when we made the switch. Meal time cleanup is significantly easier and faster, and we aren’t tripping over the high chair legs by the table. 

Olie Swaddle

Swaddling a baby is surprisingly hard, and this is coming from a newborn photographer. The Olie swaddle was one of the only brands I could figure out how to use properly in my sleep-deprived state. Babies are incredible at escaping their swaddles and this is the only one I could get tight enough to stay. 

A few other essentials that aren’t brand-specific:

A Lightweight Nursing Robe like this one

I’m not kidding when I say that I lived in a nursing robe for the first several months of my daughter’s life. Postpartum sweat is very real, and if you’re nursing, it might feel like you’re constantly half-naked. All of it can feel unsettling, and a pretty, lightweight robe will make life easier. I have one similar to this one and I love that it made me feel somewhat put-together while being in pajamas. 

All of the burp clothes

It doesn’t matter which brand you buy, just buy more than you think you’ll need. We went through like 2-3+ a day. We never had enough. Our girl was messy. She still is. I like these ones because they’re thick but we have many different kinds. 

Electric Nail Buffer

I know you can easily use a manual nail clipper, or even try to bite your child’s nails off if your heart desires! For us, the electric nail buffer makes trimming our daughter’s nails easier and faster, and we don’t worry about accidentally nicking her. You’d be shocked at how often you have to trim your little one’s nails. Their nails grow SO quickly and it’s so sad how much they scratch up their little faces with their nails.

Blackout Window Covers

I bought “blackout curtains” for our nursery, but light still crept in around the sides and top. Instead of trying to reconfigure our curtains and curtain rods, we used these black out window covers with suction cups. This made a world of difference in keeping the light out and getting our daughter to sleep in later in the mornings.

You could use any brand, but these ones did the trick for us.

Sound Machine

Having a sound machine in our daughter’s room has also been incredibly helpful in getting her to sleep long stretches without disruption. There are so many sound machines on the market, but we were given the Hatch Rest which has many helpful features. We love it, but I also think most sound traditional machines would get the job done. If you have a loud dog like we do, you’ll be very glad to have one.

You may also want a portable one for the car and for travel! This one has a great battery life.

Changing Pad

I found an unused/unopened Keekaroo Peanut Changing Pad on Facebook Marketplace, but I find it very easy to clean. However, there are many other non-fabric changing pads that would get the job done too. Some people prefer a fabric changing pad, but I hate laundry so this takes one thing off the list that I’d have to machine wash.

Nice-to-haves:

A Momaroo Swing

We had a very colicky baby, and the Momaroo swing was one of the only places she seemed to be calm outside of our arms. We bought this one used and heavily discounted on Facebook Marketplace, and we let our neighbors borrow it when we were done. We also received a Graco baby swing as a gift which came in handy too. 

Baeba Steamer + Blender
If you’re someone who prefers “set it and forget it” kitchen tools, I highly recommend this food steamer and blender! I used it a lot when introducing my daughter to solid foods, and I still use it for my daughter to quickly make some of her favorite veggies (though the list is getting smaller, sadly!). You just put some veggies in the container, and they’ll be steamed and ready minutes later. You can also blend the foods in the container too, which makes it great for purees/mashes.

The Slumberpod
If you plan on traveling a lot with your baby or toddler, this is an extremely helpful tool. It’s a blackout tent that fits perfectly over a pack-and-play. If you’ve ever been in a hotel room with a baby, you know that it’s helpful to have the Slumberpod so you don’t have to walk around a pitch black room every time they nap or sleep!

Lovevery Subscription
I thought this would be overrated but it’s not. Our daughter was obsessed with everything they sent; they’re always her favorite toys and I can literally tell that they help her development. We only used it for the first year though. After that, we felt like we could figure out the toys she liked.

The Getaway Bag by No Reception Club
If you’re going to be traveling a lot with your baby, I would consider investing in this incredible bag. It has compartments for absolutely everything, and it’s very thoughtfully designed. There’s also an accompanying Facebook group you can join to help you with baby travel!

Items I would rethink:

A Nursing Pillow

Personally, I tried a few different kinds of nursing pillows and none of them were helpful for me. I think this completely depends on your body and your baby’s ideal positioning for feeding. I honestly think you can just use pillows around your house to find the best position, and if you still feel like you need one, you’ll have a better understanding of which kind after you get started. 

A Dock-a-tot

My daughter did not like to be put down. Ever. The Dock-a-tot can be helpful for some people, but it’s not as necessary as I thought it would be. We definitely used ours, but I think we also could have gone without it. 

Amma Cacoon Breastfeeding Cover

I’m torn about this one because it was a beautiful and well-made cover that looks like a nice sweater shawl, but I wish it had more coverage. I felt exposed when using it sometimes because I wished it was longer. However, it was significantly nicer than the cheap one I initially bought on Amazon, and I liked that it was more breathable for baby.

I do recommend buying a nursing cover if you plan on breastfeeding a lot in public and you feel timid about it, but you also don’t need one. Sometimes I would just drape a muslin blanket over my daughter and it would essentially accomplish the same thing. I also had friends who didn’t feel shy about feeding in public and didn’t think twice about feeling exposed. I wish I could feel that way, but I didn’t. Everyone is different.

Ultimately, this was a beautiful and breathable nursing cover, but I didn’t feel it gave me enough coverage to justify the price.

Frida Baby 4-in-1 Grow-with-Me Bath Tub
I wish I had purchased a different baby bath because this one was kind of hard to clean and maintain because of the liner. I think I would have liked this Skiphop one slightly better.

Nestig Crib
This one is a big, fat NOPE for us. I thought it was so cute and clever, but we regularly regretted not getting a true bassinet because the other ones on the market have way better features. For example, it would have been nice to have a more lightweight bassinet that had a storage basket, or one that manually rocked while the baby moved.

Worst of all, you have to rebuild the crib when you transition from the bassinet to the crib. It was a horrible DIY project for a deeply sleep deprived family, and you also have to store all of the massive transitional parts.

Also, for what it’s worth, the railings are so cold and hard. My daughter used to wake up all the time because she’d bump her head on them. I would have preferred a crib with flat, wooden slats.

Dagne Dover Diaper Bag
Why on earth is this bag so popular? It’s a bottomless pit with no inner organization at all. The magnet compartments come apart so easily so every time you try to organize it, every section just spills into the other. I find it’s impossible to stay organized unless you use packing cubes inside.

I wish I had gotten a backpack that opens flat-top like this one (or something similar) so you can see everything in it.

Elvie Hands-free pump
For me, a hands-free pump was a MUST but the Elvies were SO finicky and unreliable. They would only work if they were in the perfect position and it was hard to tell if they were working, and one of mine completely broke altogether. I was ready to throw them out the window, and it’s honestly hard to describe how much grief and frustration this caused me.

I wish I would have tried the Madela Freestyle instead!

The BabyShusher
We had two and they both broke within a month. Just use a shushing sound on Spotify.

Tushbaby Hip Carrier
I feel torn on this one. I loved using this product, but it’s bulky and anytime I used it, it was only for a few minutes. They now have an add-on strap you can buy which I think would have been more helpful.

Items I wish I registered for:

Factor Meal Subscription (or something similar!)
This would have been invaluable in the beginning. We signed up on our own a few months into parenthood and used it for several months when I couldn’t possibly find time to cook regularly. They’re chef-made meals that are microwavable (but never frozen). It’s incredibly helpful. You could manually add a gift card to a Babylist Registry.

At least 2-3 Little Sleepies Zippy Pajamas in every size
They are the best pajamas and they last so long because they’re so stretchy! I would recommend registering for a few in each size.

If I could have splurged on something… it would be the ArtiPoppe Baby Carrier

I know, it’s a luxury item and it’s stupidly expensive. We had an Ergobaby carrier and it’s great; we’ve used it hundreds of times! However, I always found it a bit hard to put on by myself and I didn’t find it very comfortable. But I once borrowed my friend’s ArtiPoppe carrier, I thought “damn it, I wish I had this one.” It just feels so much nicer and looks so much cuter too! It’s so pricey but if you use a baby carrier constantly, it would be great to have one you adore.

Momcozy makes a similar one and I’m curious how it compares! Maybe it’s just as great for a fraction of the price.