5 Must-Haves for Your Baby Registry

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When I was expecting our now toddler age daughter, my wonderful older sister sent me a very detailed, and extremely helpful list of must have items for my baby registry. I have shared this list since then many times over with expecting friends and coworkers.

If you would like your own copy of this list, drop me a message in the comments and I will hook you up.

Over time, “The List” has been edited to include more items, and some have been removed with the changing times (looking at you, Rock-n-Play, which yes, we did use).

Here are five items from the list that I still use every day, long after the infant phase.

1. Baby Care Playmat

If you are looking for the perfect playmat, this is it. I cannot stress this enough. The Baby Care Playmat is sturdy, easy-to-clean, and gives the perfect cushion for even the most unsteady little explorers, from tummy time days to crazy toddlerhood and beyond

Plus, there’s no more hassle with interlocking pieces. Those puzzle style playmats never stay together, and are complete dirt magnets anyways.

Let’s see, what else can I say to convince you on this one? Baby Care Playmats are constructed out of nontoxic materials, have a free 2 year warranty, and are even reversible! One side has a fun, kid-friendly print on it, such as animals or the ABCs, and the other side has a more stylish print, such as stripes or subtle zig zags.

In the more than two years we have used the same Baby Care Playmat, I have never once noticed any permanent blemishes, holes, tears, or any other damage. It wipes clean with a Clorox wipe, or even just plain old soap and water.

One downside: Baby Care Playmats are a little pricey, especially if you opt for the larger size. But, given their durability, and the other factors explained above, it is well worth the price. I was extremely lucky when I went to purchase this from Amazon, as they were on some kind of flash sale at the time.

You can also find many Baby Care Playmat options at Buy Buy Baby, and use a coupon to bring the price down.

Our daughter is now two, and our playmat is still the focal point of the play room. It’s perfect for building block towers or cuddling up to read books.

We still have the playful animal themed print face-up, but if she eventually wants something more “grown-up”, we can flip it over to the more sophisticated beige Moroccan pattern on the other side.

That or I am officially stealing this mat for my future workout room.

2. Boon Lawn Drying Rack

This drying rack is something I wish I had discovered long before I had a kid. It holds oddly shaped items securely in place, while allowing them to thoroughly dry up and away from the surface below.

This provides the perfect spot for air drying baby bottles and other kid paraphernalia. You probably don’t want your newborn’s sterilized bottles to share a drying rack with your raw meat cutting board, no matter how well you scrubbed it.

Baby bottles are a thing of the past for us, but the Boon Lawn Drying Rack is still a fixture in our kitchen. We use it for the odds and ends that are toddler cutlery and sippy cups. And maybe for the occasional wine glass or pilsner glass.

It is also very easy to clean. I usually just give both parts a good rinse with some dish soap and hot water about every other week, and then let the grass and the white tray part sit out to dry overnight on a clean dish towel.

3. Sleep Sacks Without Velcro

Many do swear by the Halo Sleep Sack. It must work for some families, and our hospital even gives one to each newborn before the family goes home.

We gave this style sleep sack a try, but quickly found out that its Velcro swaddle was no match for our very determined (and strong) newborn. No matter how closely we followed the directions or how tightly we wrapped her, she managed to break free within minutes.

This left loose fabric dangerously close to our daughter’s face, which is worrisome and even dangerous.

Not to mention, the whole purpose of swaddling a baby is to safely prevent the startle reflex, encouraging your baby to sleep longer stretches of time.

After about a month of struggling with the Halo Swaddle (and not sleeping), we found the Love To Dream Swaddle UP. This was life changing.

Once our daughter started wearing these to bed, she slept for 10 to 12 hours straight. Every. Single. Night. (Please don’t hate me).

Coincidence? Maybe. But prior to this, we were lucky if she slept for a four hour stretch.

Just what’s so great about the Love To Dream Swaddle Up?

In a nutshell:

• It mimics the natural arms-up sleep position of most infants
• It lets baby self-soothe with hands by their face
• It has a dual zipper for easy diaper changes
• Its ergonomic shape and special stretch fabric helps reduce the risk of swaddling too tight, while making your baby feel secure and settled

The Love To Dream Swaddle UP also comes in multiple styles and sizes. Our daughter was a bigger baby. By one month, she already fit the Love to Dream Swaddle UP Transition Bag. This has zip-off wings so you can easily train your baby out of using a swaddle. The zip-off wings allowed us to use these as sleep sacks long after she no longer needed a swaddle.

Now that our daughter is older, she’s too big for the Love To Dream brand, but she still prefers wearing a sleep sack every night with her PJs.

Finding sleep bags for a toddler her height was not easy, but Kyte Baby offers a sleep bag for children up to 36 months old. I have a feeling we will be transitioning out of the sleep bag soon, but for now, she’s still loving how cozy it makes her feel.

4. A Sound Machine for White Noise

You have probably heard that white noise can help your baby sleep better. There are dozens of sound machine products on the market, and it can be tough to pick the right one.

It turns out, not all white noise is created equal. Some devices include an actual fan mechanism to create a soothing “shoosh” noise naturally. Other devices play a digital recording on a loop – and often include other fun ambient sounds like the ocean or the rainforest.

We tried both types with our daughter, and the winner was: The HoMedics® SoundSpa® Sound Machine.

This one is great. It is inexpensive, and you have the option to plug it into an outlet, or run it off of 4 AA batteries, making it portable. You can run it all night, or set it to turn off after 15, 30, or 60 minutes.

Bonus feature: It plays other soothing sounds too. Now that she’s in the curious toddler phase, Bianca just loves to try out the different sounds for fun. But we always choose White Noise for sleep.

5. Hooded Bath Towels

You can never have too many of these, and if you end up with nice ones, you will have them a long time.

Which is why I recommend adding a few Pottery Barn hooded towels to your baby registry. Also called bath wraps, they are more expensive than what you might find on Amazon, but they last.

I would also advise that you choose the kid size instead of the smaller baby-sized towels. A little extra fabric never hurts when it comes to wrapping your baby up after a bath. Bianca outgrew the smaller hooded towels quickly, but we still use the larger ones every day.

Even hundreds of washes later, her Pottery Barn Hooded towels are still fluffy and absorbent.

What baby and kid products are your registry must-adds? Share your favorites in the comments section below!