Haley -- It's hard to know what to register for, for me, and I have a 16 month old!
I think babies vary so much.
For example, for Maisie, a wipe warmer is ESSENTIAL. Even now, if I wipe her bum with a cold wipe (even one I've warmed between my hands), she screams "COLD!!!" and thrashes everywhere.
From day one, she has screamed bloody murder about cold wipes.
But, as for something like a bottle warmer, I had absolutely zero use for one (luckily, since I didn't get one!). We mixed Maisie's formula on demand with room temp water and she never complained. For refrigerated breast milk in a bottle, we just heated it up quickly under hot running water from a faucet. I know babies who absolutely REFUSED to eat unless their milk was at just the "right" temperature.
So bottle warmers were pretty essential for their moms.
So, I'd say you
want to have:
*
crib, mattress, and
3 crib sheets
*
changing pad and
2+ covers (if you're going to have a changing pad. I don't find them
essential but they're handy, IMO)
*
wipes warmer
*several
onesies and
sleep & plays in both newborn and 0-3 month sizes to start (I left socks off on purpose here); baby/kids hangers if you're going to hang her clothes.
*a couple of
small blankets to go over the carseat or stroller when it's chilly out; Maisie wouldn't be swaddled so all receiving blankets and swaddling blankets were useless to me. For babies who like to be swaddled, the swaddling blankets with velcro have gotten rave reviews, from what I understand. I'll probably have one of those for this baby in case she likes to be swaddled.
*
wearable blankets; essential for us during the winter because last year Maisie was too young to safely have a blanket. I'm actually looking for them in her size with feet holes for this winter because she wiggles in her sleep and won't keep a blanket on.
*at least a couple of
bottles & a couple types of
nipples. Maisie refused silicone nipples. She had to have latex or she seriously wouldn't eat. Even as a small baby.
Also, I know it's a lot of waste, but man, Playtex drop-in bottles and liners are LIFESAVERS. It is AMAZING not to have to wash bottles every day. We were able to reuse the liners (1/day) once she was a couple months old and we didn't have to be so concerned with sanitation and just rinsed them out with super hot water after each use.
*if you plan to breastfeed,
sleep nursing bras and cotton
nursing pads. I couldn't go without a bra the entire time I was lactating unless I wanted puddles of milk everywhere.
The pressure of the bra stops a lot of milk leaks.
Lanolin for your nips. I
hated the Boppy for nursing.
My lactation consultant had a "My Brest Friend' pillow that was much better to use but I never got one (pretty sure I'll get one this time). I had 2 Boppy pillows but mostly used bed pillows.
Boppy pillows were really only ever used to sit baby up or for tummy time.
Breast pump (manual or electric or hospital, depending on your needs; because of my previous experience with chronic low supply, I'm selling my Pump In Style adn buying a manual pump and renting a hospital pump before deciding on which type of electric pump to get this time, if any). Breast milk storage bags or containers (only if you plan to freeze any, otherwise you can just use a regular baby bottle to keep expressed milk in the fridge for up to 48 hours).
*a
baby bathtub of sorts. I recommend one that fits in your sink so you don't have to bend over.
*a few
baby wash cloths,
baby wash, baby oil (I never used baby powder or baby lotion. I have a ton of baby lotion I've started using myself just to try to not waste it), a couple of hooded baby towels (these aren't essential, just super cute).
*
Bouncy seat, bouncy seat, bouncy seat!!!
*
Carseat, stroller, if that fits your needs
*
Pack N Play for later on (4-5 months). We used the bouncy seat all of the time until about 4 months when she started rolling over.
*
Glowing musical seahorse (fisherprice), a couple of
rattles, a couple of
lovies or stuffed animals, a couple of sensory/tactile type toys. Really don't need much in the way of toys in the beinning. Just stuff to stimulate baby's senses.
*
diapers
*
gas drops and/or gripe water
*
vitamin D drops
*
cool mist humidifier ONLY if your house gets dry (we have a gas furnace so ours gets very dry in the winter). I have a neat one with a built in star-projection nightlight, which we have found helpful from the beginning to now.
*
baby spoons (for food later on) and
bowls with lids (because they don't like to finish their food!).
*
sippy cups for later, but you don't have to worry so much about that until 9m+ at least. Maisie finds the ones with the soft straws the easiest and as soon as she figured out how to drink from the straw, we were able to wean her off all bottles with no fuss at all (prior to 13 months).
Edit:
Jumperoo or Johnny Jump-up or some other kind of standing activity thing. Won't need it for at least 4-5 months but Maisie LOVED both. People like to buy those kinds of things - fun stuff.
So, that really seems like a lot when I'm looking at it but I feel like it's less than most people think they need in terms of stuff. If I think of anything else I really feel like I need, I'll add it.
and I'm not very girly but I like it all x x
Two of those cycles resulted in pregnancy. One of those cycles, our bding was off.
x x
