Hi friends, it’s Courtney here today! I recently shared my son Forrest’s nursery tour with you, and today as promised I’m back to share my baby registry inspiration and advice. I had so much fun creating our registry but also found it overwhelming. What all do you really need, and so many options!!! If you’re currently expecting I hope this post will help you simplify some decisions (or it also may inspire some gift ideas if you’re looking for what to gift a new mom!).

I’ll share specifically what items in each categories we chose later in this post, but first I have a few tips on setting up your registry.

Tips for Setting Up Your Baby Registry

I decided to create a registry on Babylist, as well as an Amazon registry and Target registry. I added items to my Babylist registry that were not sold at Amazon or Target (like Etsy!). Then, I linked up my Amazon and Target registries onto my Babylist. Then when people asked for my registry, I could send them one link that included everything.

You CAN make your registry entirely with Babylist and add items from any store including Target or Amazon (it shows the viewer the price options at each store so they can choose where to purchase!). But, I preferred creating separate Amazon and Target registries and linking those onto my Babylist registry, and I recommend doing it this way for a few reasons:

• Registry Perks – Each store gives you perks for creating a registry with them (like welcome boxes and completion discounts you can use even after your baby arrives, I’ll share more about that below).
• Ease, straightforwardness, and less duplicate gifts – I personally found Amazon and Target registries to be the most straightforward for the gift giver. I’ve seen issues arise when people use only Babylist–like getting duplicate gifts since it redirects you to another shop and you have to remember to come back to Babylist to mark the item as purchased.
• Thank you notes – The Target and Amazon registries made it really easy for me to see who purchased what and it gave me their address (if they chose to provide it) so it made sending thank you notes really simple.

Completion Discount Tips

Both Target and Amazon had ‘completion discounts’, and the Amazon Baby Registry completion discount was especially helpful and flexible. It’s a 15% off discount you can apply on lots of orders (up to a limit, see details here). You can use the discount 60 days prior to the arrival date you entered in your Baby Registry and expires 90 days after the arrival date. Not everything is eligible for the completion discount, but lots of baby and postpartum related items are.

Important note! To get the completion discount on an Amazon item, you have to first ADD IT TO YOUR REGISTRY, then add it to your cart directly from your registry page. So anytime I was making an Amazon purchase after baby arrived, I would first add the item to my registry to see if it was eligible for the discount (on your registry page it will say ‘completion discount available’ by the item. If it was eligible, then I would add it to my cart from my registry page and see the discount applied in my cart. We took advantage of this discount as much as possible before it expired!

You can see all my Amazon favorite baby registry favorites here, and I’ll also break down categories with specific notes below.

Target also had a 15% off completion discount, however you could only use it a few times, so you needed to be really intentional about making purchases that get the most bang for your buck. I made the mistake once of using my Target completion discount on a single inexpensive swaddle–oops! The next time, we made sure to really stock up on things to get the max discount.

General Thoughts and Encouragement on Making a Baby Registry:

My husband and I were really intentional with what we added to be conscious of budget, both for ourselves and for the friends and family so generously wanting to help us prepare for parenthood. We made our best effort to be selective and purposeful in what would really be most beneficial for us starting this new chapter as parents!

Having a baby is expensive–they need a lot of things! But it can be easy to get caught up in what are actually “must-haves” and what are just the current trendy/aesthetic mom “essentials”. And it’s a whole different realm if you are trying to be mindful of things like organic/toxin-free materials which are usually even more expensive!

We focused on getting the best bang for the buck without sacrificing cuteness or safety. Some things felt worth it to “splurge” more for higher quality, extra cute things, or items we felt would really improve our quality of life…and some things we went for a more ‘budget’ option or skipped entirely. Those decisions will look different for everyone and there’s really no one size fits all baby registry “essential” list. I hope that encourages you! You don’t necessarily need ALL the things people might make you think you need…and your baby will be just fine even if you don’t have the most luxurious / chic / crème de la crème of all diaper changing pads! 😉

Choosing How Much Clothing/Sleepers to Register for (and keeping track of what you have):

This topic was a stressful part of registry creation to me so I wanted to touch on it! Generally, we aimed to have 10 ish sleepers in every size so we didn’t have to do laundry quite as often. We focused on sleepers with two way zippers and that’s what our son lived in most the first few months being home so much! These organic cotton waffle knit sleepers are a great price and nice quality.

For the older months, we added a few cute outfits in each size in addition to the sleepers since we’d be going out more.

I also found it really help to have a baby clothing inventory note in my phone to keep track of what I was registering for and what we sizes already had. We were gratefully gifted a lot of hand-me-downs and it was a bit mind boggling to have a gauge of what we had and still needed in each size, so having it all written out was helpful. I washed and separated out everything by size before baby arrived so it would be easy when we were ready for new sizes.

My Baby Registry Favorites:

Note: These are my personal opinions, items that fit in our budget, and things that have worked well for us! I’ll occasionally mention alternative options my sister got (who is expecting her first baby any day now!). It’s not a fully comprehensive list of everything you may need–we received a lot of hand me downs so some important items may not be on this list!

Baby Carriers:

Carriers – this all position carrier for newborn-toddler (my husband’s fave, had great reviews for back support, will be used for things like hikes etc), this cozy newborn carrier has been nice and easy for me to use even around the house, and I have adored this beautiful striped wrap (seen above…my most used!). Kylee got this lovely linen carrier, and this ring sling carrier.

I’d recommend looking up the tutorials for how to use these before baby arrives, practice them, and put YouTube links to the tutorials in a note in your phone for easy reference!

Baby Sleep:

This portable sound machine is what we use every night for sleep. There is a full size version with more features, too, but we have been happy with the size, simplicity, and versatility of the portable. It comes with a clip so you can attach it onto your stroller or wherever, too.

Bedside Bassinet – we chose this swivel sleeper (the 3.0 version, not the one with the vibration setting). We chose it because it was entirely mesh for breathability which gave us peace of mind, and also liked that it could easily swivel over our bed. The side bends down for easy access to baby which was very handy. We got two of these fitted bassinet sheets (I picked the grey color and nautical net) and two of these waterproof pads (you will be so glad to have two of each!). We used this bassinet for about 4 months until our baby outgrew it. My sister Kylee got this bedside bassinet which is slightly bigger than ours (same breathable brand as crib our mattress).

Swaddle – this organic cotton swaddle was the absolute easiest for us to use. It has velcro inside and then simply zips up, so no fancy swaddling techniques needed! It has the option to let the baby have arms out, which our baby preferred early on. It also has breathable mesh to reduce potential for overheating. This swaddle that Kylee got was our other top contender we considered!

This muslin swaddle blanket in the sailboat pattern (above) – we have used this most often as a lightweight baby blanket! There are so many adorable pattern options. We use swaddles like this for keeping baby warm during bath time too.

Sleepers – These waffle knit sleepers have been Forrest’s most worn pajamas and they’re a great value for the quality! They have two way zippers (SO helpful, just say no to snaps!). They’re made of organic cotton and super cozy. We registered for a few in each size.

Sleep Sacks – Our son sleeps in these Burt’s Bees sleep sacks every night over his sleepers. Get at least two!

Baby Monitor – We have this baby monitor and have been really happy with it so far. We specifically wanted a non Wi-Fi option. The video quality is good, it alerts us when the baby moves or makes noise, has 2 way audio, the camera can pan around the room, and it’s easy to use! We got this flexible clip that allows you to attach the monitor anywhere.

Audio Monitors

Crib – I got the Ikea Sniglar crib with these stripe/tree pattern crib sheets, you can see it in my nursery blog post here.

Crib Mattress – we chose this crib mattress because it was 100% breathable, 100% washable, and it’s also Greenguard Gold Certified. We got two of these waterproof mattress pads. You can often find coupon codes for this online, so be sure to look first! We added the mattress to our Babylist registry rather than Amazon because it was the best deal there with a coupon code.

Touch light – I found this little silicone night light VERY helpful especially in the first few months. It made it easy to quickly check on our baby in the nights with soft lighting. I packed it in my hospital bag and used it there, too!

This wood bird touch night light is also great for late night lighting, an online friend gifted us this and we love it in the nursery.

Baby Lounge:

We have this portable bouncer a friend kindly passed down to us (seen above) and it’s been so great. Our son has an absolute blast bouncing around in it and it’s very handy when we need a quick spot to contain him. There are multiple color options (ours is organic oat). Kylee got this similar popular bouncer!

Snuggle Me Lounger – we used this every single day for the first 4 months. It’s the perfect supervised lounge spot. We usually had it on our couch. The whole thing is machine washable but you can also buy covers for it like these on Etsy.

Diaper Bag & Baby Changing Stuff:

Portable Changing Pad in the rainbow pattern – we keep this in our diaper bag and it’s been great.

Changing Pad – this wipeable foam changing pad has been wonderful for our diaper changing station! It’s super easy to wipe down to clean. I much prefer this to one that would require you to wash a fabric cover. Our son likes looking at the hanging toy bar it comes with too (or that can be tucked away). There’s also a pretty off white color option here.

Diaper Bag – a simple lightweight backpack with lots of compartments. It’s not super fancy, but it’s done the trick! There are several color options. Also available here if out of stock at Amazon!

Diaper Pail – we chose this one specifically because you can use any regular size trash bag instead of specific (expensive) diaper pail trash bags. It has worked well for us in keeping smells contained!

Diaper Cream Applicator – one of those things we were gifted that we probably would have thought wasn’t necessary to buy ourselves, but has been nice to have when we needed it. 🙂 We have this natural diaper rash ointment.

Wet Bag – I have it in the sun pattern. Lots of uses for bags like this…I’d grab one to keep in your diaper bag to be prepared for messy situations! This is another wet bag brand I considered that comes with 2 and has lots of colors/patterns.

Toys and books:

This wooden piano is an absolute favorite for our son Forrest, we set him up on a Boppy pillow on his tummy and he LOVES playing it. Ours was a hand-me-down…if you buy it new it comes with music sheets that fit into a little slot, but we just set a board book up there as pretend music sheets, ha!

This Kick and Play Piano – everyone raved about these but I probably would have passed on it until I found this one in softer more muted colors. It has been a hit!

This cute hanging cloud/star/rainbow jingle toy was one of the first toys our son smiled at! We hang it on his bouncer.

Favorite Children’s Books

Knit Bunny Rattle (linked the gray color) – the first toy Forrest “chose” himself…it makes the softest little rattle sound and he can’t help but smile at it!

Forrest loves this soft learning cube with high contrast, especially the crinkle paper and the mirror.

This tiny piano is beloved too. A great one to take on the go!

These stacking cups (several color options) have been fun, and will be so versatile. They’re cute displayed on shelves when not in use, too!

Lovevery Play Gym.- Kylee got this popular play gym–I have heard it has wonderful options for development.

Baby Feeding:

Glass Bottles – we felt better about glass bottles rather than plastic. You can also get these silicone sleeves (but we haven’t felt the need to use them yet).

Muslin Bibs – we had this pack of 10 and another set that was a hand-me-down…we were glad to have ample! There are lots of colors–we have the Earth Vitality color set which I quite enjoyed coordinating to his outfits. 🙂

Bottle Warmer

Sterilizer and Dryer – this was a post baby purchase that has absolutely saved our sanity! You still have to wash the bottles and pump parts first, but it sterilizes and best of all DRIES things so you don’t have to dry all the tiny crevices by hand or wait for them to dry. A splurge item that has been very much worth it…we love this thing so much that we started to travel with it anytime we’re gone more than one night.

Dish Basin – this is where we put any of our dirty bottles/pump parts so they stay separate from the rest of our sink.

Bottle Brush and Straw Cleaning Set with Stand (we use this only for washing bottles and pump parts).

This natural dish soap

Burp Cloths – We have a ton of these large cotton burp cloths. They come in lots of colors–white was the best deal. They’re nice and soft and absorbent! We have the washcloth size as well. We also have a set of these cute patterned burp cloths which are really nice as well and a favorite among parents.

Booster Seat with Tray / Floor Seat – we chose this rather than a full high chair for now. We liked that it can sit on a regular dining chair. He’s not quite old enough to use it yet, so I’ll have to report back how we like it once we have tried it! Kylee got this adorable high chair in the coconut color.

Silicone Bib – I got it in Cambridge Blue and Kylee got it in Lilac Flowers!

Bathing:

Baby Bath – we originally had gotten this one that a lot of people like, but ended up liking this one better.

Silicone Baby Bath Brush – this is good for cradle cap or eczema.

Lamb Baby Bath Towel – so soft and cute!

Wood Hairbrush and Comb – I’m also in love with hand painted brushes like this floral one, or personalized name brushes like these (so many sweet options on Etsy!).

This natural baby soap/shampoo

Storage:

These handy and very affordable drawer organizers

Baby Hangers – these were a great value, I got them in gray.

Wire Basket with Handle – I carry a basket like this all around the house with my pump parts in it.

Car Seat and Stroller

Stroller and Car Seat – The stroller and car seat decision was one of the most overwhelming, but we ended up choosing this stroller that came with an infant car seat and a bassinet. It’s not the fanciest stroller in all the land, but it has been great. It’s lightweight and easy for me to fold up and get in and out of the car, the infant car seat easily clicks in and out of it (I had debated if I really needed that feature, but can confirm it has been VERY useful!), the bassinet has been nice for on-the-go naps, and there is a large storage compartment underneath. Some brands the infant car seat alone costs more than this entire set, so this was a great value. We may decide to upgrade someday when we no longer need an infant seat, but so far so good!

Car Seat Mirror

Baby Care:

This set of silicone pacifiers in pretty muted colors is all we’ve ever used (seen on Forrest above!). We wanted pacifiers that were all one piece (easy to clean) and liked that these were recommended by orthodontists.

We have this clear pacifier holder with checkered snap clipped onto our diaper bag, and a pacifier clip like this one.

This silicone nasal aspirator – we chose it because of it being completely transparent to see what’s inside, and liked that it was easy to disassemble for cleaning.

Nose, Nail and Ear Picker – before baby we questioned if we would actually need this but have used it COUNTLESS times.

The Snot Sucker – we held off on buying this for awhile, but after hearing so many rave reviews from parents we caved and it has come in handy.

Baby Nail Clippers – a lot of parents swear by these electric nail files but we’ve been good with the clippers so far.

Stain Treater Spray – I didn’t register for this but just ordered it after hearing how magical it is!

Gift Ideas:

Keepsake Baby Memory Book – my grandma got us this adorable baby book (above) for the first five years. It has the prettiest watercolor illustrations throughout and lots of sweet prompts. I love that it has pockets to put special memories in, too!

This baby journal (above)

Instant Camera – we use this many times a day to capture all the sweet little moments.

This soft activity crinkle book

Favorite Children’s Books

This baby quilt – (above) so soft and lots of sweet pattern options, we have it in the taupe cross

Slipper Socks / Baby Booties – these actually stay on babies’ little feet! I have the grey stripes and Kylee got the ivory.

More gift ideas in our Babies & Kids folder of our Amazon shop

Postpartum:

Frida Mom Postpartum Boy Shorts

Peri Bottle – much better than the hospital one, cheaper than the name brand version

Tucks Pads (or this Target generic brand version is a lot cheaper and worked just as well)

Donut Pillow – a friend gave me one of these as a hand-me-down. She needed it after her birth and had to send her husband out to the store to get one, so it was great for me to just have ready in case I needed it after birth (which I did and it was a life saver).

Perineal Ice Packs

Silver Nursing Cups – less expensive than the name brand and worked great, I got the 100% silver

Reusable Nursing Pads (they come in a pretty little zipper bag)

This Haakaa with a base

Cozy Pajama Sets – I have loved this waffle short set, and this other waffle short set…both from Amazon. I got these while I was pregnant and went back for them in more colors postpartum. They’re so cozy, they have POCKETS (very handy for mom life) and having a matching set makes me feel more put together even when I’m lounging around.

SNACKS! 🙂 not necessarily a registry item but…just get yourself all the snacks. I love these granola bars, these oat bites, these nut butter bars…just a few faves.

So much more I could put on that postpartum list, but those were a few particularly helpful items!

Last advice:

As much as it was nice to feel like we prepared as much as possible in advance with our registry, I had to remind myself that Amazon would STILL EXIST once the baby arrived! I would indeed still be able to order something once we assessed what we needed or if we forgot something, and we would be able to run to Target to get things in person. Do what you can to prepare, but don’t worry too much! We definitely had some late night panic orders once baby arrived and all was well. 🙂

I hope this post was helpful–feel free to pass along to anyone you know who might find it useful!

• Follow me on Instagram here, I love to share bits of my life and home in stories!
• You can see more of my blog posts I’ve shared on The Inspired Room (including apartment and house tours, my wedding and more) here.