Registering for a baby is almost unfair. You are sent into a store with the cutest options and no true idea of what any of them do. Sure, you need receiving blankets…but you don’t realize that they are so much more than a blanket.
I was fully aware of me and Easy E’s total lack of knowledge about raising a person. So we needed a plan. Our moms rock but they raised kids in a whole different time. So, it was time to call in the reserves.
I printed a generic copy of a registry checklist. One that had all of the items you need in pretty little categories. Then I emailed my mommy girlfriends and asked them to just write me a list of their must and must nots. I didn’t need their reasons since I wouldn’t understand them anyway. I took their emails and made notes on my checklist, crossed things out, wrote specific brands and was all set.
Easy E and I went to the store and while we had NO IDEA what or when we’d use half those things we had an amazing registering experience. Not one thing we registered for had to be returned and everything was used. My mommy friends saved my clueless mommy to be butt.
That said, I’ve created my own list for any mommys to be trying to make their lives easier. Or at least their registry experience.
* Changing table pad covers…We only registered for 2 but should have registered for 8. The baby the first few weeks pees and poops every time you take the diaper off and you are CONSTANTLY washing them. We bought more within a week.
* Chair/Glider/Rocking Chair: My rule is to pick a chair both you and your husband would be willing to sleep on for the night. If you don’t think you’d sleep on it, trust me you won’t use it on the nights that matter. You want a chair you can sleep in comfortably. We registered for one a little more expensive since Easy E is a bigger guy and it was well worth it.
* Don’t bother getting crib blanket. You aren’t allowed to use them with SIDS anyway. Mine sits on the back of Maggie’s chair all the time.
* Car Seats: MORE THEN ONE!!!: We registered a car seat for now but also registered for the one she’ll use when she is a big girl as well.
* Car Seat Bundle: This snuggly bundle is the best when you are a new mom and can’t decide how many layers the baby needs that first winter. The bundle keeps your baby snug as a bug.
* Be a Diaper Bag Big Shot: Go to a designer outlet store and get a diaper bag you still will feel good using. I got mine at the Kate Spade outlet and it was 425.00 originally and I paid 98.00 for it. I never feel like a mom when I wear this bag and it looks good with all my clothes. Treat yourself. This will be your purse for a very long time. You do not want a purse with purple elephants on it.
* Car seat cover to keep out sun: Maggie couldn’t wear sun screen that first summer since she was so little, but we wanted to be out…this made it much easier.
* Nursing Scarves: If you are going to nurse I’d say to register for one nursing scarf. You will quickly learn that receiving blankets do the same job with a lot less work but at the very beginning when the baby is a newborn it’s a very good way to get used to nursing in public.
* Do not waste money on bottle warmer. Water in a microwave does same job.
* If you get a bath kneeler you will never use it.
* The Glorious Underrated Receiving Blankets: These are the Swiss Army Knives of Mommying. I registered and thought, “Why do I need multiple light blankets?” You need them because they do it all. They are blankets, covers over the stroller, nursing scarves, burp cloths, blankets on the grass, a parachute, and sadly, I’ve used them as a tissue once or twice in a jam.
* Swaddle Sleep Sacks: How nurses can whip together a swaddle in 20 seconds flat will confuse me for all eternity. They were like swaddle ninjas with those thick, stiff hospital blankets. Maggie came home and we tried to make a little baby burrito and honestly, it looked how my regular burritos looked…loose, messy, and not at all secure. Then I remembered all the girls made me register for the swaddle sacks and it CHANGED EVERYTHING!!!
* Sound Machine that you find relaxing: Get two sound machines…one with batteries, one that plugs in. Then when you travel you can bring battery one and not have to worry about outlets and such. We definitely made sure to make sure we chose sounds that were comforting to us because you will have a monitor next to your head every night and you’ll be listening to that sound as well.
* Burp cloths and bath washcloths: Can’t have enough! Can’t have enough!!!
* Mittens are a waste!!!!
* Baby Nail Files: You will not want to clip the newborn’s nails. Easy E did it once…and it didn’t end well. We still only use nail files.
* Do not get wipes warmer. No one will warm up the baby’s butt the rest of their life. Don’t start now.
* Playmat with characters you want to look at for hours on end: I didn’t even know what tummy time was until I had a baby and boy did it become a huge bulk of my life. Make sure Mr. Turtle or Mr. Horse are really who you want to stare at for the next few months.
* Boppy pillow: It’s a must.
* Rock-n-play. Maggie could NOT sleep the first two weeks. She just hated laying flat. A friend of mine suggested the Rock-n-play and it changed our lives. We slept. For four whole hours. And it was worth every nickel of same day shipping we paid.
* Register for Dreft!! We didn’t realize how much baby laundry we’d do.
What are your survival registry tips?
