Registry

I wrote this for a friend a couple years ago, and I've made a couple tweaks in recent years, and a few more today.  This is for a singleton, but I would think it would be useful in duplicate, too!  Also, I didn't address strollers, let me know if you want me to go there.

Useful:

1. Dozens of cloth diapers for burp cloths (can't stress this one enough - gerber ones are cheap and good)

2. this seat for travel and restaurants.  or something like it. there have been some recalls, so make sure you get the most recent version.

3. A bunch of infant ibuprofen, it's the kind of thing that you don't want to be without when you need it.  and the infant tylenol was recently linked to increased risk of asthma.  so stick with the ibuprofen.  also get those mylicon gas drops.  you never know when a screaming newborn is just gassy.


4. This is delivery-related, not baby related, but: giant overnight maxi-pads for during and after labor.  If your water breaks early, you just keep leaking for hours, and it's good to have these around so you can go for walks and stuff.  And then after delivery, still very useful.  I kept one in my purse just in case my water broke when I was out and about.  

5. Baby gym.  We have this one. It actually kept both girls entertained for a few months and was great for tummy time.

6. A couple kinds of bottles.  If the baby won't take a bottle, it might just be the wrong bottle.  

7. Lap pads to put under the baby.   There are a million different kinds.  I found the carter's ones to be a bit small.  But they're extremely useful for diaper explosions.  I would put them on top of the changing pad before changing a super poop explosion because then you can just throw the lap pad and the dirty clothes in the laundry, and put the clean baby down on a clean changing pad instead of a poopy one.  They're also good to put under your boobs at night if you're leaking.  

8. This "diaper wallet". It's really useful for short trips because it's small and light.  It just holds diapers and wipes and turns into a changing pad.  It doesn't have room for bottles and clothes and toys and stuff, though, so it's good to also have a full size diaper bag for longer trips.

9. Books with photos of baby faces.  Babies love to look at baby faces.

10. tons of white carter's onesies.  they're cheap and comfortable and you need a lot.  we would sometimes go through 4 in one day.  i also used them layered under whatever other clothing she was wearing, so her belly wouldn't hang out.  

11. after a few months: a jumperoo.  penny LOVED hers.  i think we introduced it around 5 months.  

12.  This one really depends on your personality, but I was addicted to the Total Baby app.  It helps you keep track of how often you fed the baby, how many poops, and how long they slept, which is not easy to remember when you're sleep deprived and it's important information that you have to tell the doctor.  

13. Lansinoh breast pads.  Buy like 3 boxes now.  I burned through them.

14. Lansinoh nipple cream.  Really helpful in the first couple weeks.

15.  Video monitor. This one is ours and we love it. Another good thing about this one is it can link to 2 (or 3 or 4) cameras, and switch between them every 30 seconds, so if the kids are in different rooms you can hear both all night without having to push any buttons.

16.  Ear thermometer.  I got a forehead one and a rectal one, they each take like 10 seconds to read and penny wouldn't stay still for either one.  The ear one takes 1 second.  

17.  The woombie. Both kids got out of every type of swaddling except this one.

18.  Hooded towels.  They're cute and the hood actually helps.  

19.  Lovies.  these are super soft and penny fell in love with hers.  it became a real source of comfort for her, which is helpful when you want the baby to comfort herself.  whichever one you choose, i recommend you get at least 3 of the exact same one (so that you can wash dirty ones without the baby noticing).  

20. Aquaphor for skin problems and desitin for butt rashes.  we were using A&D for butt cream and it couldn't handle a really bad rash.  desitin did the trick.  

21. Sleep sacks!  For the cold months.  

22. Trumpette socks.  They stay on.

23. Bath seat.  Very useful once the kid can sit assisted.   Before that, a bath sling. For holding a slippery, slippery baby.

24. Noise machine.  Holy cow we looked for this one forever.  Don't get the ones that make whale noises and cricket noises.  They play on a loop of about 3 seconds and drive everyone crazy.  This one is more expensive, but it's worth it.  It just makes a loud whirring/fan noise.  

25. This one is kind of wierd, but I swear i spray this over Penny's face and she calms down.  

26. Soft crib sheets.  These actually made a difference in how Penny was sleeping.  The regular sheets were too rough for her. But she's a really sensitive kid.  It made no difference for Mabel.

27.  This is just a tip.  When you get anything that comes in those vinyl bags with zippers, keep those bags.  I've found them very useful for storing baby clothes that they grow out of.  

28.  The Avent pacifier:  The ones that have the bulb shape just gagged Mabel.  Penny wouldn't take any pacifier because I didn't try early enough.  Definitely let the hospital use one, I honestly don't believe that pacifiers can cause nipple confusion, because there's no milk coming out.  Babies can't possibly prefer pacifiers to boobs.