My Registry Must Haves (as a first time mom)
September 10, 2025
The internet does a good job of scaring you into believing that you need to have everything you are going to need for baby before they arrive, as if you are not going to be able to leave or have things delivered or have friends or family bring things over to you. Maybe I am being a little too chill, but I genuinely feel like newborns don’t need as much as you think they do. this is also coming from someone who has worked in and around childcare for most of my life and has over 15 nieces and nephews. But here is my list of actual must haves:
someplace for baby to sleep safely - I don’t think this needs to be a crazy expensive bassinet, but if that helps you sleep better at night, by all means, purchase the bassinet that feels best for you. As long as baby is able to sleep safely, you can check this off of your list. I personally have a little bedside bassinet that has wheels on the bottom so I can move Baby around and have her near me always.
something for baby to sleep in safely - babys are not supposed to sleep with loose things in their crib for quite a while, which also means blankets, so a swaddle or sleep sack of some kind would be very handy. I have a couple warmer options from halo on my registry as well as some cooler options for as she gets older and the seasons change ( or if we just have a weird warm spurt in the middle of winter - who knows, this is Iowa )
a sound machine - on my registry, we are asking for two Hatch Rest Go sound machines that will follow us as we move about and that will stay in the house. there is also a sound machine feature on iPhones if you have apple products that I have heard is just as fabulous
a carrier of some kind - on my registry, I have a more structured carrier for when Baby is a little bigger, and then a wrap carrier for when she is a newborn because the wrap option is a little safer. I know myself and I know that I will probably be wearing my baby most of the time, so a good supportive wrap is a huge necessity for me
a way to feed your baby - depending on how you plan on feeding; breast feeding only, combination, just formula….whatever you want to do, a fed baby is a good baby, have something that you are able to feed them with. our plan is breast fed, but things do not always go to plan, so I do have a few bottles and formula containers on my list, just in case we struggle. in addition to this, kind of a sub-need, is a pump of some kind ( and milk storage if need be ) to alleviate over production or to catch extra as baby eats. my goal is to be using the haakaa
diapers - whether you want to cloth diaper or disposable diaper or a combination, you will need something to catch all of babies…movements… and keep them clean
car seat - this is something you will probably want to splurge on a little bit,
If you want to see all of my list with the fun things and the extra things, you can go to this list, but there is a lot on there that I do not feel like I need for Baby before she gets here, but that would be nice to have in her first year of life. I have been spoiled by the amount of people who have had girls just before me and have all these cute outfits for her to wear, I think there is just one outfit (a name announcement outfit) that I want to purchase before she is here, but other than that we are pretty set for clothing. Plus, I know people love buying cute little outfits for shower gifts and our shower is at the end of the month, so we are bound to get more for her still.
