There’s only a billion lists already in existence of things to put on your registry, so I figured the Internet could use one more. Much like the pregnancy resources post, I’ll edit this one as I think of more things, and your comments are welcome on what your baby has loved since mine is a diva and doesn’t care for most of the things we were told he would. Below is what, three months post-baby, we’re glad we ended up getting or have used way more than we expected.
- Boppy Lounger: Every parent I asked said to get the Boppy Lounger instead of the regular Boppy, and they were right. (Boppy Lounger is a place to put them vs. Boppy is a breastfeeding pillow thing that’s supposed to wrap around you.) I actually purchased this item very late into my pregnancy because I had a registry discount to use. I was very, “I’m a chill mom and don’t need things and can totally put my baby on the couch or floor, why would he need a special pillow?” Turns out babies don’t really love being put on the floor! You need a supportive place to put them. Even at three months, as he’s getting kinda long for it, we’re sucking every last day of life out of this Boppy. I almost wish we’d have gotten two so we weren’t carrying it up and down the stairs with us, depending on where the baby was lounger (champagne problems.)
- Nose Frida: We have a congested kid. Due to reflux + winter + genetics, this baby is not short on snot. I first used the Nose Frida about a week after he came home from the hospital, and we haven’t put it down since. You probably won’t use it 2-3 times a day, but we do & have started buying the replacement filters in bulk. If you have at least a two parent household, one of you will likely become the Frida parent (me) and one of you will be either grossed out by it or a very dainty sucker (husband.) Always use the spray saline first– it does help loosen nose gunk to make it easier to remove– and if you burn through that bottle as fast as we did, your pediatrician should have some free saline tubes to give you. Pro tip if you have to use it as much as we do: wait for baby to sneeze, then pounce on that as your golden Frida opportunity.
- Some type of swaddle. My kingdom for a simple swaddle solution out of the gate!! You can absolutely swaddle baby in a blanket– ask the nurses to show you before you leave the hospital– but it’s 2021, honey, and the world has better solutions (and you’ll be less likely to be awake in the middle of the night wondering if they’ve suffocated themselves in the blanket if you get a wearable one.) If you have friends who have babies- ask to borrow some swaddles to see what works for your kid. Our kid is the world’s youngest Cirque de Soleil performer and can get out of absolutely anything. We thought Velcro swaddles would be a solution, but he was absolutely irate to be so pinned down (but only at night! sometimes they worked during naps?) But then he came back around and they became a magic sleep solution for a couple weeks during his third month?? There is no one perfect solution for every baby, so be prepared for some trial & error.
- Musical mobile: I forget why I was on the fence about getting a mobile (as any expecting parent reading this already knows, there IS such a thing as too much research– I’m sure I fell down some dark web rabbit hole about Illuminati mobiles.) We ended up registering for this one from Target because I thought it’d look cute in his dino-themed room. It absolutely doesn’t help our kid go to sleep, but it does buy me 10-15 minutes of alone time when I can lay him in the crib and he’s fascinated by it. I would recommend getting a moving musical one for maximum distraction effect and not one of those twee Pinterest ones you overpay someone to make with branches from their backyard.
None of the above links are affiliate links because I’m too lazy to even figure out how to do that.
Things I Wish I Knew 