If you’re expecting your first baby, deciding what to put on your baby registry may be a hard thing for you to accomplish. You see all the cute baby clothes and shoes or the sweet toys and think that you need or want all of it. But bogging down the registry with cute, fun things and no essentials can leave you needing to buy more for baby than you anticipated after the shower is over. When it comes to taking care of a baby and creating your baby registry, you need to focus on feeding, health, and basic clothing before anything else. Here are your top baby registry must haves
Basic Baby Registry Must Haves:
Health and Sanitation Must Haves
According to popular parenting site Babycenter.com, a baby will use more than 1,400 disposable diapers in their first year of life. This means that you will definitely need either eco-friendly disposable diapers or cloth baby diapers.
While cloth diapers will cost less in the long run, you need to consider if you will have the ability to use them. These diapers need to be washed, so if you live in an apartment and use a coin operated washing machine and dryer, this may not be feasible or financially responsible for you.
Unlike formula, diapers can be returned to most retailers, so put a variety of sizes and brands on the registry so that you can try them out and determine which ones work best for you.
Other sanitation products include basic bathing items, like baby body wash and lotion.
Baby Clothing Must Haves
Putting clothing on a baby doesn’t require frills and fluff to make them safe and comfortable. You need to consider the basics and what life is really like with a newborn baby while adding clothing items to a baby registry. Those little tutus and tiny tights are cute, but they are also hard to put on a tiny baby and the baby grows so fast they will be out of that size in no time.
Add practical items like packs of onesies, layettes, and cotton shorts and shirts to the list. Pajama items are also comfortable, low-cost, and cute.
You may also want to add a few items from Snug Bub USA because their baby clothes are made from 100% cotton fabric, with a CPSIA certified stain proof lining to prevent any messes. They wipe clean in seconds and have in built in bibs! As if that weren’t enough, they have a unique expandable design that allows them to fit your little one longer with great features like detachable booties. The adorable fox jumpsuit above is a Snub Bub best seller.
Baby Carrier
Babywearing is one of the oldest traditions of parenting around the world. Here are just a few of the many benefits of using a baby carrier:
- Carried babies cry less.
- Enhanced development because babies spend a greater amount of time in the “quiet alert” behavioral state, the optimal state for learning.
- Develops strong attachment to parents/ facilitates bonding.
- Lowers stress level of infant.
- Allows parent freedom of movement.
Baby Feeding Must Haves
When looking at feeding systems for a baby you may notice that there are two very distinct categories: breastfeeding and bottle feeding. No matter which you choose you will need to have some things to assist you.
If you choose breastfeeding, you may think you’ll need fewer items, but that may not be true. Consider if you want anyone else to be able to feed your baby. If you do, you may need a breast pump and glass baby bottles. Also think about nursing in public, where you may want a cover up to be comfortable.
For bottle feeding, you will obviously need bottles and bottle cleaners, but you may be tempted to add formula on the list. This is not a good idea, though, because you don’t know if your baby will be able to handle certain types of formula, and most retailers won’t allow you to return cans of formula.
Conclusion
Essential items for baby are what you should start with when making a baby registry. Then add in cute items, optional. One of the best tips for making this process easy is to add essentials online so you aren’t distracted by the fun things in the store. Then, make a trip to the store to add those little items you just must have for your green baby nursery.
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