Don’t Register for This Stuff

 

Things I would NOT register for if I were to do it again:

It’s not really that none of this was useful – obviously we found that clothing did come in handy from time time 🙂 – it’s just that we didn’t really need to REGISTER for any of this.

• Clothes – Seriously, you don’t need to register for these unless there is a specific item that you must have. You will get TONS of clothes, whether you like it or not. People love to buy baby clothes, and other moms love to give you their hand-me-downs. A few things to know about clothes:
  • Newborn clothes and 0-3 month clothes are NOT THE SAME SIZE. It’s crazy, I know. Newborn is what you want for the first few weeks, even if you have an 8+ lb-er. We learned this the hard way.
  • Sizes on baby clothes are generally the oldest possible age at which your baby will be wearing the clothes (e.g. most babies outgrow 0-3 month clothes before or around the time they are 3 months old). The one exception to this is short-sleeved shirts, which tend to fit for much longer.
• Toys – Same deal as above. Little babies do not really need toys anyway. Ours started playing with toys around 5 months, and I will put some of his favorites on our Granola Baby Favorites lists if you really want to hear all about it 🙂
• Expensive bedding sets – these suckers run in the hundreds of dollars, and most of them were too cutesy for my tastes. Add to that the fact that you aren’t supposed to use comforters or crib bumpers for safety reasons, and I couldn’t think of a good reason to spend the money, even for a used set.  We got some comfy organic flannel crib sheets, but never wound up using the crib (!). See the “crafty mamas” tab for instructions on making your own crib sheets.
  

  You don’t need these.

• Snuggle Nest – this was one of those things that seemed like a great idea before I actually had a baby, and now seems kind of ridiculous. GB hated it and never slept on his back anyway (he could roll onto his side from day one), and in any case it’s only good for 3 months. Not to mention that the hard edges make it impossible to roll over and feed your baby in the middle of the night without it being a huge production. Live and learn…
• Diapers – We registered for some cloth diapers and few (if any?) people bought them. I guess it’s not a very fun gift. In retrospect, I would actually advise trying a little bit of everything before you buy a lot of any one type anyways. More on this in the “Diaper” section.
• Travel system (i.e. big stroller that holds your car seat) – As mentioned elsewhere, we carried our baby in the Baby Hawk or other carrier almost all the time, so we didn’t even start using a stroller until he could sit up around 5 months. Then we used a glorified umbrella stroller (an older version of thisone), although I kind of wish we had just gone with a used $5 umbrella stroller – I think we would have been just as happy with that.
• Crib, changing table, drawers, cradle, etc – Lots of people seem to feel that they need matching baby-specific furniture and I can’t quite figure it out. The stuff they sell at BrU and other places is super pricey and mostly made of particleboard. If nothing else, you can find all of it used for much less. In general, though we wanted stuff that wasn’t specific for baby. We bought a used low dresser at a thrift store to use for storing baby clothes and the top serves as a changing table. For extra storage, we put up a set of hooks on the wall for diaper bags & baby carriers, and then used a tall shelf from Ikea plus a cloth hanging storage system for the closet to store assorted items. We’re happy with it and in total I think it cost us $150 or so. We are borrowing a crib from friends, but we pretty much only use it for baby containment purposes since he refuses to sleep in there for more than 20 minutes.
• Diaper bag – We registered for two, and while I like mine (a Fleurville bag made from recycled plastic bottles) I think any large bag would do. I don’t think it needs to be a diaper bag specifically and sometimes I just use a backpack. Land’s End has a few great diaper bag backpacks in the $30-$40 range that would probably be a good bet. You can also find the fancy ones used pretty easily.  If you just get a gender neutral one, you definitely don’t need TWO. Oops.
• Glider/Rocker – A lot of folks said that a glider + footstool was a MUST HAVE. I think we used ours three times while holding the baby. It is a very comfy chair, mind you, and we will probably use it later in a family room or something, but it was not a MUST HAVE for us. Good thing we got ours for $20 from the thrift store. I definitely would not invest hundreds in one.
• Sleep sacks & swaddlers – These puppies are expensive and we never really used them. We mostly use wool covers over our diapers at night, and both babies slept in those. Plus they sleeps in our bed and therefore (gasp) use a blanket when it’s colder. Obviously that is against medical advice so try at your own risk. Sigh. You may want to consider these if you are planning to have your baby sleep in a crib right from the start.
• Bumbo Seat – I just didn’t see the need for this, and we somehow muddled through without one. Other parents love it, but the few times I put GB #1 in one he didn’t seem to like it (and by that I mean he started crying within 30 seconds). Definitely not worth almost $40. Get a used one if you must!
• Breast Pump/Bottles/other BF Accessories – I acquired all of this before baby came and then rarely used any of it. I would hold off on getting a breast pump until you know a) you’ll need it and b) what kind of supply you have. If you’ve got lots of milk, you may be able to pump all you’ll need with a $20 manual pump; if you have trouble pumping, you may wind up needing a fancy hospital-grade pump. Wait & see. Same with bottles, accessories, etc. You could always get a cheapo manual pump just in case and hold off on the pricier stuff.