Save space for essential baby items by learning what not to put on a baby registry. Cutting through the clutter on your baby registry ensures that friends and family will purchase items that will truly save the day every day in your new life with your baby. So take a look at what you need to prune for safety and sanity! This is the checklist for what not to put on a baby registry.
What is a Baby Registry?
Before we dive into the things you should not put on a baby registry let’s recall what actually it is a baby registry and what is its main purpose.
A baby registry is a “wish list” of essential items that expectant parents create as they prepare to welcome their baby home! Offering a chance for friends and loved ones to shower you with baby gear, your baby registry is a very personal thing. It reflects your plans, hopes, and desires when it comes to bonding with your baby during those precious first months! While a baby registry can certainly have room for a mix of “cute” and must-have items, parents should take time to audit every item to ensure that it truly adds value for both babies and parents. The truth is that “baby brands” market tons of products that aren’t essential simply because they’re betting on the fact that parents will assume they need everything they see in the baby aisle. In reality, many items that are commonly found on baby registries are unnecessary, unsafe, or a combination of both.
Here’s What Not To Put On A Baby Registry
Parents can feel confident about making their baby-shower wish lists once they know what not to put on a baby registry. Draw a red line through any of these 25 items if they’re on your registry. While some simply take up space unnecessarily, others can cause harm.Β
Β 1. Newborn-Sized Clothes
While itsy-bitsy outfits are adorable, new moms don’t get many miles out of newborn outfits. In fact, your baby will practically be outgrowing newborn sizes by the time you leave the hospital. Pepper your baby registry with clothes that will fit your baby at the three-month to six-month marks.
Β 2. Baby Blankets
Expect people to tuck baby blankets into your gift boxes alongside other items without being asked. You’ll probably even get a few homemade blankets!
Β 3. A Wipe Warmer
Most new parents determine that this is a hyped-up item that doesn’t really make the baby any happier. What’s more, adding heat to warm wipes may encourage bacteria growth.
Β 4. Booties
While you might want one pair of cute booties for a photoshoot, the reality is that babies have no need for shoes. Few babies will keep them on! So you’re also likely to get a few cute pairs of booties even if you have a bootie-free registry.
Β 5. Tiny Bibs
While baby bibs are cute, the truth is that your newborn won’t be eating anything that requires a bib for several months. Size up when choosing bibs!
Β 6. Perfumed Baby Products
While those scented lotions and creams may smell great at the store, they will only cover up that baby smell that you can’t get enough of in real life!
Β 7. Travel-Sized Diaper-Bag Items
While you may be looking forward to being on the go with your baby, stocking a diaper bag with travel-sized items isn’t the best idea. First, travel-sized baby items don’t offer a great value because they often cost the same as full-sized products. Second, you’ll also be stuck constantly replenishing your diaper bag.
Β 8. Stuffed Animals
While you love the idea of filling the nursery with stuffed toys, putting them on your registry can be a mistake because people will buy them for your baby even if they don’t see them on the registry.Β
Β 9. Crib Bumpers
While some baby stores still sell crib bumpers, the professional consensus for years has been that they are both dangerousΒ and unnecessary. Keep this suffocation risk off your registry.
Β 10. A Breast Pump
While a pump may be an essential item, you might not need to add it to your registry. Most insurance companies today will actually give you a high-quality breast pump for free! Make sure you inquire about your eligibility before you add this high-ticket item to your registry.
Β 11. Nursery Items
Putting nursery items on your registry puts you in the position of not being able to begin decorating your nursery until after your baby shower. This can make some expectant parents feel crunched for time.Β
Β 12. Sleep Positioners
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urges parents not to use sleep positionersΒ that are sometimes marketed as anti-roll or nesting products because they pose suffocation risks.
Β 13. Bottle Warmer
Think twice about a bottle warmer because some warmers can make milk too hot for babies. There’s even the possibility of reducing the nutrient content of breast milk through overheating.
Β 14. Thick Bedding Like Quilts, Pillows, and Blankets
Plush sleeping environments are dangerous for infants. TheΒ CDC advises parentsΒ to keep blankets and pillows out of sleeping areas because this helps lower risks for infant death syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation.
Β 15. Bottle Sterilizer
While it may seem convenient, a bottle sterilizer might be actually unnecessary. The American Academy of Pediatrics shares that hot, soapy water should be enough to kill germs.Β
Β 16. Formula
If you plan to formula feed, don’t load up on one specific type of formula before the baby gets here! It’s better to wait to see which formula brand your baby tolerates. Some babies have unique digestive and dietary needs that send parents on the hunt for specific formulas. As a result, you could end up with containers of expensive formula you can’t use.
Β 17. Big-Ticket Items Like a Crib
This category requires a judgment call. When you register for big-ticket items, you’re relying on the notion that other people will purchase these items. If big-ticket items remain untouched on your registry, you may be left scrambling to get them ordered at the last minute. This could put you in a position to find out that some of the essentials you need are out of stock.
Β 18. Complicated Kits for Making Baby Food
These kits can contain tons of little parts that will end up scattered around your kitchen. The reality is that most healthy homemade baby foods can be made by “smooshing” fruits and vegetables without complex equipment! Your own bullet-shaped blender or food processer will probably be enough.
Β 19. A Bounty of Bottles
Finding the bottle that’s the perfect fit for your baby can take time. While it’s great to have at least one good bottle waiting for the baby, you might want to hold off on stocking up on one design until you can confirm what works with your baby.
Β 20. Swaddling Blankets
There’s no guarantee that your baby will like one type of swaddling blanket. Don’t stock up on one style until you can try out different options with your baby.
Β 21. Books
While adding baby books to registries has become trendy in recent years, the truth is that people will give you baby books even if you don’t register for them. You will have plenty of time to accumulate books along the parenthood journey! Save the space on your registry for things baby really needs during those first few months instead.
Β 22. Monogrammed Items
While you may want to personalize baby items for your little bundle, parents have to take the long view when it comes to reusing items for siblings down the road!
Β 23. Diaper Stackers
While the concept of having a diaper stacker attached to your changing table may seem convenient, the reality is that no parent has used these past the first week of parenthood. It’s challenging to reach in to grab a diaper during a chaotic diaper change! Diapers are best kept in a drawer or open-topped container for quick grabs!
Β 24. Bundles of Bath Toys
While a rubber duck is cute, newborns don’t really benefit from bath toys. They often do little more than collect moisture in your bathroom.
Β 25. Baby Walkers
While you may think that a baby walker is the best way to give your baby a leg up on development, the American Academy of Pediatrics actually warns against baby walkersΒ because they can lead to trips, falls, and injuries. What’s more, baby walkers may actually delay walking!
Friends and family may kindly offer used items for the baby. Unfortunately, things like product recalls and changing safety guidelines make taking hand-me-down baby items tricky. For example, car seats should always be new because they have expiration dates. While most car seats are considered suitable for six to 10 years, each manufacturer has its own guidelines. In addition, a car seat that has been in any type of accident is considered unusable.Β
What Are The Essential Items For Your Baby Registry?
It’s clear what not to put on a baby registry once you know what’s behind the hype and misinformation. However, there are plenty of tried-and-true baby essentials that new parents should add to their registries. Here’s a look at what you really need on your baby registry:
- A new, unused infant car seat
- A stroller
- A high chair
- Baby-safe shampoo
- Soft towels
- Pacifiers
- A baby monitor
- A faucet cover for your tub
- Washcloths
- A baby tub
- A changing table
- A “pack and play”
- Diaper pail
- Nursing pillow
- A bottle-drying rack
- Bottle brushes
- Bassinet
- Baby nail trimmers
- Activity mat
- Swing/bouncer
What Not To Put On A Baby Registry: To Sum It Up
Removing the 25 items for what not to put on a baby registry will free up plenty of space for the new-parent essentials. That means you’ll spend less time and money “filling in the gaps” of your registry after your shower! Of course, nobody can blame parents for padding their registries with some cute outfits and rattles that will get “oohs and ahhs” when the wrapping paper comes off at the baby shower!
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Great list! I completely agree that these are better left outside the baby registry.
It's amazing how many parallels there are between wedding registries and baby registries! I only went for the big ticket items I knew I needed and wanted new. Everything else I sourced from friends or after baby arrived when I knew what we would actually use!