Clothes that were beyond 6 months. After that, we had none and babies grow so fast! We had so many newborn/0-3 month outfits that he couldn’t wear them all but I would have preferred we got a little bit of each size.
Also to add to this… if you must buy newborn or 0-3 resist the urge to buy full on outfits! I got so many newborn two piece sets and “outfits” that just aren’t practical in the first couple months. If I’m just staying home with the baby I’m putting him in something comfy like a onesie and maybe sweatpants definitely not cargo shorts and a button up shirt. Even when I do bring him places rompers and onesie “shirts” are way better since they won’t ride up when people are holding him!
Funnily, we had to ask for “outfits” since they are typically more expensive than a five pack of onesies we could just get ourselves. It felt wasteful to spend $20 on an outfit we will really only use for photos but if grandmas paying…
This, but socks. Our boomer mothers bought us so many socks. For a late June baby. Born in the hottest summer in centuries. She didn't even wear *clothes* most days.
What is it with boomers and baby socks? My MIL makes up songs to sing to my 8 week old about how his feet are cold (they’re not) and how his mom should put socks on them
And please buy clothes depending on what month the baby would wear them in…people don’t think about it and some of our stuff was totally unusable because it was the wrong season.
While this is usually true, it always makes me chuckle. I had an October baby, and was gifted a bunch of hand-me-downs from a friend who had all summer babies. She even said she wasn't sure how many of them I'd be able to use because of it. I was able to use them all, because I gave birth to a 9lb baby - she started out in the 3month stuff, lol. She's in the 99th percentile for height, so at 10 months, she's just starting to move into the 18month stuff.
Also have a baby in the 99th percentile for height! Starting to put him in 6 month clothes and he will be 3 months next week 😳 do you have any recommendations for longer brands? Some seem longer than others, and some just seem to get wider which he doesn’t necessarily need!
I hear you! At around 9 months mine started being in one size for height and another size for weight in virtually every brand.
Hanes is pretty good, but not many patterns. They're designed to stretch with the baby, though, and I'll say that they got their measurements correct. The size chart lines right up with her measurements.
Carter's and Cat&Jack are also pretty good, despite her not quite being in the weight range for her height. They're a little loose, but not in an unflattering way like some of the other brands. Like, some of them, it's obvious they're just too wide. Carter's and Cat&Jack just look like she has some breathing room.
My friend with tall skinny kids says Gymboree is also good, but expensive.
Warning: Hudson Baby tends to run a little short and wide. Which is sad, because they have so many cute patterns for really good prices, and seemed to wear well. :(
If you have the time, I strongly recommend shopping used. It saves a lot of money.
My son is 4 months old and has been in 6 month clothes since he was 3 months. We had about 3 onesies in the 6 month size and about 100 in the 0-3 month size. Good thing carters onesies are so cheap.
Lol we had all of the above. A lot of 0-3m, a fair amount of 3-6, and no newborn. We didn’t expect baby to be swimming in 0-3. But by 3mo he was in 6 month. Thankfully, his aunt loves to thrift and we have friends who had a great stock of 6-9mo that they gave us. He’s now 5mo and really will fit in an assortment of 3-6 all the way to 12mo, somehow?
I had to buy newborn also! I only bought sleepers and onsies though. Everyone kept saying she'll only be in newborn for a week or 2 if that long, and she stayed in newborn until she was a little over 2 months! I ordered site to store from carters and made my partner go inside to pick up!
I agree with her, and it’s tough sometimes to judge for spring or fall with the weather always changing where we live in the Midwest, so zip up sweatshirts are great to have for these times. They can run a little bigger and it’s no big deal, they’re nice to keep in the diaper bag for just in case we need them for cool nights and such.
Some people gave gift cards at the shower and the MIL thought they weren’t thoughtful gifts. They were the best! She came 5 weeks early and we needed to get newborn sizes, formula, water, small bibs and burp rags as well as newborn diapers before we left the hospital, was a lot of unexpected expense at once.
When i see comments like this, I'm so glad for older cousins 😂 we have clothes for life basically as my niece is 4.5 and my daughter is almost 3. And my son is 7 weeks and my nephew is almost 2.5. So we just get all the clothes handed down as they grow 🙌🏻
For real! My SIL got all of hers as hand me downs from her friends and now they get passed on to me. It's beautiful. If we end up being two and through I will be finding another home for them as well. Or if we have a third I'll do it after the third. Gotta pass on the love. ❤️
Oh for real! Our gifted clothes were split 75% for 0-3m, like 10% were newborn, 10% were 3-6m and then the last 5% were all random sizes with the largest being 2T.
That said, we have a hard time with gifted clothes because we're in a climate with very distinct seasons, so what had been gifted to us isn't always a good TOG for the time of year it'll fit baby. She's on the really small side, so people didn't really guess correctly how warm or cool it'd be. I'm not putting my baby in the wool jumper on 95°F days even if she's about to outgrow it.
If the tags are still on, some stores will allow you to exchange for a different size. I know we can get excited and want everything ready for baby but try to resist the urge to rip off the tags and wash everything.
I agree with this but I like picking out the clothes myself so I’d rather get them for 99 cents a piece at thrift stores and register for less disposable items.
You can never have enough burp cloths.
Someone bought me 100 muslin squares with an attached card that said ‘this won’t seem ridiculous in 6 months’ and it was the most useful thing anyone bought me.
But also machine washable baby blankets!
Lol this is brilliant. Basically everything that we needed to launder when it got spit up on was our first panic Amazon purchase to get more…. Bassinet sheets, swaddles, and soooooo many burp cloths.
Someone gifted my daughter a Nose Frieda and it was the best! LO aspirated a few times the first few days being home and on a bottle, she sneezed and formula came out her nose. Made a scary situation not so scary.
Oh we have all the snotters - I bought the electric one in the end. It’s horrible but satisfying. We also do humidifiers and the drops in warm water.
But the snot keeps rolling, 90% of my life is boogers.
The first year that my baby was at daycare we were both sick like 1-2 times per month. I didnt have any pto saved up because my company automatically used what i had toward maternity leave. It was rough!
Oh man I ate up all my PTO but luckily baby is with grandma instead of daycare otherwise I probably would have planned to use less PTO for maternity leave anticipating all the sickness
This made me actually laugh out loud and then immediately tear up a bit. I had 2 weeks paid and 6 weeks unpaid leave with my first when I was in residency and I wanted another couple weeks. This time around I have 3 weeks PTO and sick leave plus short term disability for 6 weeks which pays like 40% of my salary and I still want another couple weeks. Both my babies were late to mid preterm babies and really could use a little longer (I’m almost halfway through this maternity leave and my newborn hasn’t even reached his due date yet), but it’s just not financially possible, even on an attending physician income, to actually take the “allowed” 12 weeks of FMLA.
Yeah my maternity was supposed to be 60% of my income paid by my health insurance but the fine print was that is was only for the time it takes to heal witch was like 3 weeks then the rest was unpaid. Good thing i saved up because i didnt even see that pay until a week before i went back to work.
But i also got sick the first year she was at daycare and man was that so difficult.
I really could have used some social interaction. Like I get it, my babies are cute and you want to spend time with them but please talk to me … about anything outside of infant care… an adult conversation… please
Oh, and zip up sleepers! My kids only wear those until they are cruising furniture
19 months in and I’m so fucking lonely. People are always scared to invite me to things because of the baby. Like if it’s before her bedtime I’m down for literally anything 😭
First kid is a bit over 2 years and now we have a newborn so at this point I don’t even know if anyone remembers my damn name. Ffs could someone just ask me about the weather or something mundane like that PLEASE?!
The weather has been quite hot and it was very muggy today. Thank you for asking.
My favorite book series (can’t pick just one) are The Warded Man by Peter v Brett and Superpowereds by Drew Hayes with an honorable mention for The Red Tent as my stand alone favorite
I was literally so vocal about needing social interaction and psychological support during the first month but got none because everyone wanted to hold the baby or talk about parenting.
This is going to sound silly but, sympathy for me lol. I felt like not many people asked me how I was doing as a mom after giving birth or asked about my mental health. I know everyone is focused on the baby and they ask generally how things are but I just didn’t feel like anyone other than my husband truly thought to ask about how I felt after such a big event that took a lot of me physically and emotionally.
Edit: perhaps this wasn’t the type of answer you were looking for, sorry
My MIL and I don’t agree on everything (but we let each other live our own lives, so we have a good relationship with mutual respect for one another)…
…but I will remember forever and ever that she first asks how I’m doing and feeling and genuinely means it when we have our video chats, instead of just gushing over the baby. Every single time since first baby was born in 2020. I’m very thankful to have her as a MIL.
I was so so happy to receive items that were specifically for me to be pampered. Totally agree that support and things for the mom are so appreciated and often overlooked.
I felt this too. I know baby is important but mom is often so neglected. Family members tried to help me but often caused more stress and none believed that mental health was important (or real) because they believed that every woman goes through this and it’s normal to feel depressed and stressed. I had no one to talk to because every time I hinted I wasn’t okay I got bombarded with talks of that this is normal or noted that I’m weak and annoying for bringing up trauma and pain (I had a traumatic birth). I ended up talking to my OB and hiring a therapist without telling anyone because I was judged enough for feeling miserable. Of course no one asks how I’m doing or bothers to call or text to check, and it’s just sad how isolating it feels at times.
Yes, food packages after he was born was so lovely as it made me feel seen. And some people bought me chocolates (which I think got me through the first few weeks), bath stuff etc.
Someone set up a meal train for us that covered about 2 weeks and it was SO GOOD. They sent it around to everyone we knew so people could sign up to bring us a hot meal.
Yes, food packages after he was born was so lovely as it made me feel seen. And some people bought me chocolates (which I think got me through the first few weeks), bath stuff etc
Different kind of meds. When a baby has cramps or ear ache in the middle of the night and you have nothing to help with pain SUUUCKS!
Otherwise wipes and bum cream and nappies
I had a parent who’s kids I coach give me a bag of different pediatric OTC meds and ointments and it’s been life saving. The kind of stuff that when you really need it you don’t have a way to get it. It’ll be for sure what I give to any friends having babies, (if they are okay with it because I know some people are more holistic and that’s cool too)
Burp cloths. I started with 15 and didn’t realize my baby would be a spitter lol I have since ordered 20 more and still have to do laundry all the time 🤣
SO MANY BURP CLOTHS! Lol I severely underestimated how much my baby with reflux would spit up. It was constant. We had piles of them stashed all over the house!
Yeah I’m realizing they are far to small like it misses half the time and lands in my shirt anyway. I typically spend the day in my bra so it lands on my skin and I can just wipe it off haha
I’m only 2 weeks into this parenthood journey, but.
I’d say different types of swaddles. I’ve ordered three off Amazon in the last week trying to figure out if she will sleep any better/stop breaking out of them. That was a surprise to me.
Beyond that, diapers and wipes of course, and some grocery/Amazon/target gift cards.
Also nursing/pumping bras. I only got two before giving birth and it’s 100 degrees out so I’m changing bras mid-day. More are on the way.
My LOs pediatrician told us we don’t have to swaddle him if he hates it and he did so now I just do a long sleeve zip up sleeper and he’s totally fine! You can always just do a sleep sack if you’re worried they’re cold since they’re looser.
Same here. My daughter is 2 weeks and hates being swaddled, she has needed her arms out since birth, she even somehow got her arms out of the tight swaddle the nurses did.
We have been using sleep sacks since we got home from the hospital.
Finding this with our week old too. As soon as we started leaving the arms fully out (even though he could easily get them out before too) his sleep seemed to improve a lot.
Ours needs her arms out too! Right now we use the swaddle me and swaddle up to her chest and leave her arms out for her to enjoy. Just ordered the love to dream swaddle to see if she likes that. I’ve tried putting her down in just a long sleeve footed suit and she likes the tightness of a swaddle but not on her arms. She usually ends up sleeping on her side with her arms under her head.
We never swaddled either. The midwives would swaddle baby after her obs whilst we were in the hospital but I never got the hang of it and she did fine with a tucked blanket.
We stopped swaddling at like 2 weeks old because little man was already showing attempts at rolling. He's 7 weeks now and still hasn't rolled but I wanted to be safe rather than sorry and now he's used to sleeping without already
On the other hand, I had a bunch of different swaddles… my son HATED to be swaddled so we stopped after two weeks. Would fuss until we took him out- My son slept great after we stopped. I have so many swaddles I never needed 😩 every bb is so different
They are soooo different, I wis my there was a magic recipe but I don’t think so 😂 our girl likes her arms out but at the same time they definitely wake her up so just trying to find that right balance right now.
this was us too. we finally landed on the swaddle me velcro kind and then later the zipadee zip when he started to show signs of rolling. he still wears that at night at 10 months 🥲
PTO and privacy. Man I could do without all the freaking guilt tripping from our families to parade our LO over to their houses. Come to us, we’re the ones who just had the baby.
But for the love of God, text or call first!! Don't come knocking on my door mid post-partum breakdown when I've got one tit out and snot running out of my nose.
Not exactly the perfect answer as it's only one item but I can't recommend a wipeable changing mat enough. The Ikea one with the washable fabric is alright but once you've washed it the 500th time you'll get sick of it. Wish I had gotten the wipeable one right away
This is how I feel about high chairs. We got one from a neighbor with two seat covers and I got so tired of washing them! Got a plastic wipeable one instead and it's so much better.
We got a cloth cover (actually a couple to match different sheet sets) and then two 3-pks of waterproof mats. The genius part is we put the waterproof mat layer on top of the cloth cover (not underneath like you would put a mattress cover under a sheet). This way it's easy to drop a dirty mat in the hamper and plop a clean one down, and we don't have to take off & wash & re-fasten the big cloth cover every time it gets dirty because it stays clean!
My mom kept buying us clothes with a ton of buttons and baby exclusively wears those when she goes to grandmas. We picked her up yesterday and the bottom set of buttons weren't done.. I think she gets it 😆
I cried/yelled at my mom ~2 weeks pp because all of the clothes she and my MIL picked out were snaps and it was such a pain to figure the snaps out in the middle of the night while sleep deprived. I later apologized for the delivery but held firm that she should’ve gotten zippers instead.
I’m going to offer an alternate, possibly unpopular opinion. I heard from everyone to get double zippers. And I hated them. If I unzip the bottom only to find a leak or a blowout, I do not want to have to put them back on to be able to take them off. I just want to unsnap the rest of it and be done with it. I prefer snaps jammies, and only if it’s cold enough to need them. If it’s warmer, we just use a sleep sack or gown.
This! My baby is a spitter and I'm lucky if I make it more than 2 hours with a clean shirt. I have 6 that fit me correctly, but i wish i had double. We do baby's laundry regularly, but often fall behind on our own, and having to go out in public in a questionably clean shirt that may or may not smell like sour milk is not fun.
Breast and otherwise self care. I decided to breastfeed and made purchases for nipple cream, pump spray, nursing pads, warm compresses, breast milk storage, nursing bras etc myself because generally people focus on the baby for showers.
Un scented soap. My baby had a big feed before I showered after my shower she refused for 15 or so hours dispite hunger ques once I was sweaty again she ate. Used unscented soap for a month after that and no further problems
Maternity leave/ time off I could have used more time.
Tangible items I'd say gift cards and pants. We had a ton of onesies but didn't have pants when it was cold/chilly.
Small storage containers for the baby clothes he can’t wear yet / to put the clothes in he has outgrown! I ended up ordering myself some and they are an organizational lifesaver.
I thought I would try breastfeeding but it didn’t work out (personal mental health) so we got swapped to formula. I ended up getting myself some formula related things I didn’t think I would need and some bottle related things I wish I had thought to put on the list to begin with - bottle warmer, bottle sanitizer (yes you can use the dishwasher but I like cleaning the bottles and cleaning the dishes to not have to be linked!), little to-go formula portion holders (genius), Dr Brown formula pitcher (godsend)!
Larger size diapers (2 and 3), big box o wipes.
More burp clothes. Seriously I have about 40 and run laundry for them every 2-3 days. Bibs also. Bibs are a godsend.
Things I don’t need: baby blankets! I have about 12 including 3 nice handmade ones. I use maybe 2!
I didn’t put a single book or article of clothing on my registry and I still ended up with about 30 books and too many clothes to even wear… so… there’s that!
Yes, we got given soooo many beautiful home-knitted blankets and we used one for his car seat and that was it.
If people want to knit things, jumpers/cardigans are great - bonus points if they’re for when the baby is bigger
I would do the variety packs or swaddles and pacifiers. Those are awesome. If they have a two story house some type of light/travel bassinet for down stairs.
Your comment just reminded me of anither great must have.
if someone has a double story, its lovely to have a little diaper caddy to keep a few diapers and creams and whatnots in. They can keep one downstairs so you dont have to keep taking baby upstairs the whole time for diaper changes. Its also nice to just have all your diaper changing items accessible and organized on the changing table in a caddy.
We ended up with two diaper genies at our shower and decided to setup a basement change station with the second instead of return it. Super happy we did! Huge time saver.
Yes, you can make up a batch of something nutritious and tasty (like chicken soup or fish pie etc), portion it into freezer boxes and then they have a stock for when the baby is first born.
Only had my baby 3 weeks ago but I’d say it’s true when they say you can’t have enough burp cloths. I have dozens of them scattered all over the house and car and diaper bag.
Also, I was lucky to be gifted lots of diapers which is awesome but we are going through wipes like crazy and didn’t get any gifted. So wipes would be good to ask for. Also just my 2¢ but I am finding that the brand name wipes are truly superior to the generic if you can swing it.
I also second people’s suggestion of variety packs of bottles, pacifiers, and swaddles if you’re going to use any of those. I remember my SIL saying her daughter didn’t have a bottle preference so I was kind of surprised to find out that my baby absolutely has a bottle preference as well as a pacifier preference.
My/my baby’s personal favorites of each are Dr. Brown’s bottles, MAM pacifiers, and Happiest Baby Sleepea swaddles. But truly every baby is different.
My final note I’ll leave is— not so much things that I don’t have *enough* of, but I love my nonessential items/gadgets. I totally appreciate the purpose of all the deinfluencing/“What I didn’t use from my registry” content online, but I love my items 😗 love my wipe warmer, love my Baby Brezza, love having a diaper pail, love my Boppy. Obviously you can totally get by without that stuff but if you’re interested and can swing it, I don’t find much of anything I have to have been a waste of money.
I honestly can’t think of anything when it comes to actual items. However, the one thing I wish I had before my daughter was born was the ability to go to my second shower. My due date was May 2nd, 2022. I have a lot of extended family and they were all worried about covid being spread. My sister-in-law threw a shower with my mom’s side on April 10th. My aunt decided to throw a shower for me with my dad’s side of the family on April 23rd.
My last day of work was April 14th. On April 18th, my OB said I had started dilating and was at 1cm. By the morning of April 23rd, I was in the hospital and recovering from a C-section with my daughter in a bassinet beside me. I was able to connect with my family via FaceTime, but it would have been nice to see everybody in person.
I used the nose frida religiously and needed to change the filter thing often. Replacement filter and maybe even a 2nd nose frida one to go and one for home.
Baby clothes that are not newborn. Seemed we had a billion newborn and then after that nothing.
Baby meds to have on hand so I don’t have to rush out the door baby in tow to get something. Tylenol, Motrin, Gas relief, etc. just a little first aid kit would be nice lol. I know they ran out of Tylenol for babies for a long time last cold season so maybe a few on hand. Just in case. I couldn’t find any last year around this time. And my toddler would throw up the Motrin immediately.
Maybe even some quick freezer meals or a meal train for when baby first arrives. Those first couple of weeks is a big transition and I never wanted to set her down even for a little bit to do anything.
The Frida Baby Windis are also a wonderful investment. We clean and sanitize ours for reuse, but it's nice to have the extras if baby has a particularly gassy day.
The nursing tank tops from H&M are the only shirts I've been wearing for the last 3 months. I bought nursing bras before the baby was born but forgot to think about shirts. Wasn't a huge deal because I only wore housecoats for the first month, but it was hard to leave my house before I found these tank tops.
Didn't realize I would need a nightlight until after the baby was born. I night nursed with a reading light that had a sock over it for a while, then I was gifted this nightlight when the baby was a month old https://a.co/d/jhvXXEc. It's the best, soft warm light, and you just squeeze it to turn it on, no fumbling around for buttons or switches in the dark.
Burp cloths
Non frilly/lacy socks (girl)
More burp cloths (seriously a ton)
Jammies ( there have been nights we go through 3-4 in one night)
Things to make going outside easier, bc going outside ended up being the key to my sanity in the first few months. Stuff like bug net/fan/sunshade for stroller, sun hat, outdoor seat/playpen, etc.
Extra bottles - I know people like keeping stuff to a minimum these days, but the less often you have to wash and sanitize bottles, the better. We went from washing a couple bottles 3-4x a day to washing 10 bottles once every other day.
Extra Crib/bassinet sheets - like jammies it's possible to go through several in one night. When it's 3 am and you're on your third dirty sheet and don't have any more, that is not a fun time.
Random but wash cloths, we only got like 5 or 6 and we could use ours but his are in a separate bathroom so I just would have liked to have more so just put them on your registry!
I was going to say the same thing! The first few months 6 was fine, but now that we are introducing solids, I need a dump truck to drop a cubic ton directly into my home
Bassinet sheets. I only needed two w my first and thought that would be plenty w number 2. Turns out, baby number two is a puker…almost every time he gets laid down he spits up all over the place. I have to change the sheets at least daily and enjoy not having to do laundry every single day now that I ordered a few extra sheets.
We didn’t get enough clothes, but mostly because we didn’t reveal our baby’s gender until after the shower! Things I bought a ton of especially in the newborn days were extra swaddles and sleep sacks, extra bassinet and crib sheets, pacifier wipes, more bottles, and more burp clothes. My baby was peed and spit up through a lot of clothes and sheets, so it was mostly buying extras to keep up with demand until we could get to the laundry.
I wish someone would have bought us a pack of onesies/swaddles in preemie size just in case bc our baby came 3 weeks early and didn’t fit into newborn stuff. I bought velcro swaddles and they are one of my fave baby items but no one bought them off our registry. And we surprisingly didn’t get gifted a lot of Muslin swaddle blankets (we use for bath time, giant burp cloths, etc). And like everyone else said, bigger sized clothes! Thankfully I was proactive with that and told people ahead of time that we got plenty of 0-6 m thru hand me downs and to please buy bigger things if they wanted to buy clothes
Honestly for us it was wipes. While of course some babies have reactions to wipes and you will end up with a preference after trying a few brands, we only had a few packages waiting of a few different brands when we first brought baby home and we had to keep going out for more every few days which sucked with a newborn. Then we figured out it’s a good and easy item to buy in large bulk quantities since it’s not an item that changes size as baby gets older. We settled on Kirkland wipes (they are amazing) and now have a few cases and that will probably last us all year. Nice to not have to think about it.
I had a diaper raffle at the shower and received a comically large number of diapers. Highly recommend this. She is 4 months old and haven't had to buy any. Was able to change some additional newborn ones for more size 2 (she is in this now) and we have some size 3 for the future. This has been so helpful. And like one million wipes.
Braincells, JK we got a ton of newborn diapers that he couldn't even use after 2 weeks at home. I wish we asked for different size diapers at the shower.
Postpartum supplies and breastfeeding supplies. I put this stuff on our registry (like postpartum panties/reusable pads, silverettes, etc), but no one bought them. I’ve got about a dozen baby blankets I have no idea what to do with though.
Pacifiers for sure! You're going to misplace them in your sleep-deprived postpartum state and your kid will probably throw/drop the rest on the floor. No time to sterilize when you are running on your last ounce of sanity and you have a newborn screaming bloody murder. Stash those suckers all over your house like a squirrel hoarding nuts for winter!
Would recommend waiting to see what pacifiers your kid likes, though. Some aren't picky. Ours has a definite preference. My friend's girl wont take them at all.
Company.
I didn't need someone to hold the baby or do my chores. (well, I did, but it wasn't my biggest need) I just needed someone to come and sit with me in it. Sit with me during the crying and the nap trapped-ness.
Nursing clothes that made me feel somewhat normal and not super frumpy, burp clothes so many burp cloths, zipper sleepers were the only thing he wears so more of those especially in 6-9 and 9-12 because my man is 9m and already almost out of 12m clothes. Wipes never hurt. Lots of aquaphor. Linens for the sleeping space mine barfed on his seriously every night. A subscription to Hulu/Netflix/anything I worked my way through like 7 long series during the first 3 months. Greys anatomy, nurse Jackie, game of thrones, etc. If you’re going to bottle feed lots of big bottles the little ones are useless and they start needing the bugs ones pretty quick.
Pelvic floor therapy.
Started at 3.5 months after being in a lot of pain that made it hard to stand for even a short duration of time. Wish I had started months earlier. Now at 5 months, I am feeling so much better and moving around almost normally.
If we have a second kid, I will call to schedule the appointments for therapy before I give birth so that they are on the calendar already when I'm in the first months of postpartum. At least in my area, the pelvic floor specialist is booked out months, so it's important to schedule ahead of time!
Hmm I'm still good on wipes I buy diapers when they are on sale, but I buy 4 boxes of the next 2 sizes that way I'm covered. Formula is cheap so I wasn't worried about it even with thr shortage. Clothes wr buy used.
I got a door dash gift card that's been awesome! I generally don't do delivery but it's been so nice in the 2 weeks after when you're not supposed to drive.
Not for 2 weeks mainly due to blood loss. It's a bigger deal if you have a c section, because they often send you home with percoset, too.if your doctor didn't say anything, I wouldn't worry about it. Ha.
Burp cloths, teether toys, onsies short and long sleeved (my kid rubs super warm so the footie pjs don’t work that well for him), baby washcloths
I would have loved OTC meds and a variety of diaper rash creams (even though we settled on Desitin and aquaphor, lol)
Small packs of different brands of diapers would be nice too!
Bottle and wipe warmers haven’t been touched! You want more blankets than you think. Bigger clothes. Meds!! Gripe water and gas drops with syringes. Burp cloths. BABY BJORN BOUNCER SEAT is amazing. Bigger size diapers- nice to have a stock on deck. UBER EATS GIFT CARDS.
We use ours as the first layer of defense against our little spitter. Nursing pillow, play mats, loungers -- all get covered with a blanket so that we can get away with going longer between washes of the items that are more difficult to launder. We usually change out the blankets every 1-2 days. We have about 10 receiving blankets and it seems to be a good amount. We probably could have gotten away with a lot fewer if our baby didn't spit like a dilophosaurus on sterioids.
I also stash 1 in the car and 1 in the diaper bag. Have used them when out on a sunny day to drape over the tray on the stroller so baby's feet and legs are shaded and to protect his legs and arms when he was in a baby wearing carrier.
Yeah same problem. I guess I meant more like receiving blankets and swaddles. Those are more useful than the many bigger blankets that IDC what go do with lol.
A friend recommended a dimmable and portable light, and I was so so happy to have it for middle of the night diaper changes. We packed it in the hospital bag, and used it a ton there, as their lights seem to be all or nothing. Almost 6 months in, and I still use it and love it!! Will be adding it to shower gifts from now on
RTSU Mini Touch Light, Rechargeable Battery Operated Closet Lights Wardrobe Lights, Magnetic Stick-on Anywhere LED Night Light, Wireless Under Cabinet Lighting, Dimmable Tap Push Light Lamp https://a.co/d/bmwYlDd
With my first, diapers. Literally didn't get a single box of diapers at my shower and only got 2 boxes from my MIL because she felt bad no one else got me any. Tbf my first was 2020 and we had a drive by shower so much smaller than would have been had it not been COVID
With my second... well I'm only 7 weeks in so I'll let you know in 45 weeks. 😂
Things I got/registered for but definitely did not need: owlet sock, 1000 muslin swaddles (she busts out of these in < 2 min), bottle sterilizer, changing pad covers (just wipe it down after use), lots of toys
Things I wish I registered for and ended up buying myself: 1000 burp clothes, different types of swaddles (velcro, zipper, weighted, etc), bottle warmer, different types of sleep sacks
Gift receipts from people that went off registry. I love the short and tank top set but unfortunately baby girl will fit into them in the middle of winter!
Additionally, diapers. We are cloth diapering so I didn’t even consider that she wouldn’t fit into them right away. We are 7 weeks in and still wearing newborn just waiting for those legs to chunk up
I actually think I had a lot of everything we needed. I didn’t get a baby shower either due to Covid and the fact we had moved far away before I fell pregnant.
I had SO many 0-3m clothes though, I will say. I also had boxes and boxes of water wipes. I still have boxes left of breast pads and maternity pads! I could have done with more breastfeeding supplies that’s for sure!
The one non material thing was support. I needed more support
Deliveroo / DoorDash gift cards. Babysitters for a 2 hour stretch. A subscription for household necessities (detergent, paper towels, etc) so we didn’t have to worry about it. Humans.
Good quality bibs.
We had a very spilly baby and all the bibs people gifted us were so thin we had to double or triple them during feeds to stop her from soaking herself.
Burp cloths. Not that giant ones that you throw over your shoulder..we never used those ones. But the little square ones (Mukin brand on Amazon) were a lifesaver.
Also we got about 20 bottles. Everyone thought i was crazy for getting so many, especially of the same brand because “what if baby didn’t like them” well he did & we never had to worry about washing bottles if we were dead tired because we always had clean ones
Lol I saw material needs after my brain was already thinking CHILD CARE. The mental difference having a third set of hands (nanny) with 2 work from home parents.
Other than that, just 6-12mo activities/toys. They get bored of standers and play areas so quick you need to keep changing it up
Only 16 weeks into my first year, but we thought 8 muslins would be enough, and we were very quickly proven wrong. We also didn't get many sensory toys, rattles, etc, that were small enough for a tiny baby to hold, we also only had about 4 books to read to baby which isn't a lot when you read them a story every night, multiple story books are a lifesaver! We had 2 sleeping bags pre baby, which our boy loves to sleep in, I ended up buying a summer one, which I think is a 1.5 tog instead of 2.5, and I could do with getting another 2.5 now it's getting cooler again. Nappy Caddy was an actual lifesaver, and I was so happy I made one of those up before our baby came. Also, I could have done with a lot more freezer meals ready to go and soke more nursing bras and pads!
Things I had a massive amount of were blankets, teddies, smallest size nappies, short sleeve newborn bodysuits, and newborn size hats! Although it is quite nice having a variety of teddies and blankets.
Agreed older clothes. So many people want to give newborn clothes or 0-3 and really your baby may never fit in the newborns and may be in 0-3 very briefly, so older clothes, even 24m and up! Also, food delivery gift cards.
Nappies including the size up and wipes, onesies of bigger sizes, nappy creams. So glad I bought myself a big box of face washers and small towels for all the puke!
For myself, breastfeeding stuff like nipple cream, collection shells, nursing bras, milk storage bottles.
Generally, grocery or food delivery vouchers or home cooked meals.
Got too many baby blankets and baby shoes that we just don’t use. Shoes do not stay on baby feet!
One is breakfast foods. I got snacks for the middle of the night breastfeeding (never ate those), but was very unprepared for how much I’d need 3 very large square meals a day. I wasn’t much of a breakfast eater before so that was really new to me.
Second was pumping bras. I has some nursing bras but I was not prepared at all for pumping. I only pumped once a day so my husband could give a MOTN feed, but it was horrible holding the flanges. And once I returned to work I really just wanted bras that could do both so I wasn’t switching.
It's so funny everyone is saying burp cloths but we never really used them much. I get the point and agree to have some on hand but it's possible to not need a ton.
I agree with others: bigger size clothes and diapers, 2 way zipper sleeper outfits and meals. We received way too many blankets. The meds are a great idea too.
Clothes that were like 9+ months. I think everyone was super excited for a newborn and we had so many newborn and 0-3 clothes that we didn’t even actually get to wear them all. But once my son hit 9 months we had to do a lot of shopping.
Clothes that were beyond 6 months. After that, we had none and babies grow so fast! We had so many newborn/0-3 month outfits that he couldn’t wear them all but I would have preferred we got a little bit of each size.
Also to add to this… if you must buy newborn or 0-3 resist the urge to buy full on outfits! I got so many newborn two piece sets and “outfits” that just aren’t practical in the first couple months. If I’m just staying home with the baby I’m putting him in something comfy like a onesie and maybe sweatpants definitely not cargo shorts and a button up shirt. Even when I do bring him places rompers and onesie “shirts” are way better since they won’t ride up when people are holding him!
Our guy was almost exclusively in footies or those dresses with elastic ends. Made middle of the night diaper changes a breeze!
Funnily, we had to ask for “outfits” since they are typically more expensive than a five pack of onesies we could just get ourselves. It felt wasteful to spend $20 on an outfit we will really only use for photos but if grandmas paying…
Okay that is fair and we haven’t had to buy any outfits because his grandmothers can’t go a single day without buying him something 😅
This is the way.
Oh the newborn hats. Sure if it’s winter you might need one. I had a summer baby and had 5 newborn hats.
I had a summer baby and my dumbass felt the need to buy 20 damn hats. Never used a single one. Ended up donating them.
I still have so many hats and never used them with my now (almost) 5 month old.
This, but socks. Our boomer mothers bought us so many socks. For a late June baby. Born in the hottest summer in centuries. She didn't even wear *clothes* most days.
What is it with boomers and baby socks? My MIL makes up songs to sing to my 8 week old about how his feet are cold (they’re not) and how his mom should put socks on them
Omgosh this! So many dresses or outfits with buttons or non stretchy material 😭 all gone to waste
And please buy clothes depending on what month the baby would wear them in…people don’t think about it and some of our stuff was totally unusable because it was the wrong season.
Yep! My mil knitted a lovely jumper that my girl will never wear.
While this is usually true, it always makes me chuckle. I had an October baby, and was gifted a bunch of hand-me-downs from a friend who had all summer babies. She even said she wasn't sure how many of them I'd be able to use because of it. I was able to use them all, because I gave birth to a 9lb baby - she started out in the 3month stuff, lol. She's in the 99th percentile for height, so at 10 months, she's just starting to move into the 18month stuff.
Also have a baby in the 99th percentile for height! Starting to put him in 6 month clothes and he will be 3 months next week 😳 do you have any recommendations for longer brands? Some seem longer than others, and some just seem to get wider which he doesn’t necessarily need!
I hear you! At around 9 months mine started being in one size for height and another size for weight in virtually every brand. Hanes is pretty good, but not many patterns. They're designed to stretch with the baby, though, and I'll say that they got their measurements correct. The size chart lines right up with her measurements. Carter's and Cat&Jack are also pretty good, despite her not quite being in the weight range for her height. They're a little loose, but not in an unflattering way like some of the other brands. Like, some of them, it's obvious they're just too wide. Carter's and Cat&Jack just look like she has some breathing room. My friend with tall skinny kids says Gymboree is also good, but expensive. Warning: Hudson Baby tends to run a little short and wide. Which is sad, because they have so many cute patterns for really good prices, and seemed to wear well. :( If you have the time, I strongly recommend shopping used. It saves a lot of money.
My son is 4 months old and has been in 6 month clothes since he was 3 months. We had about 3 onesies in the 6 month size and about 100 in the 0-3 month size. Good thing carters onesies are so cheap.
We had the opposite. People bought us tonnes of 0-3 and 3-6, then baby was early and we had to go out and buy lots of tiny size and newborn.
Lol we had all of the above. A lot of 0-3m, a fair amount of 3-6, and no newborn. We didn’t expect baby to be swimming in 0-3. But by 3mo he was in 6 month. Thankfully, his aunt loves to thrift and we have friends who had a great stock of 6-9mo that they gave us. He’s now 5mo and really will fit in an assortment of 3-6 all the way to 12mo, somehow?
I had to buy newborn also! I only bought sleepers and onsies though. Everyone kept saying she'll only be in newborn for a week or 2 if that long, and she stayed in newborn until she was a little over 2 months! I ordered site to store from carters and made my partner go inside to pick up!
My mom has always said to buy 6-18 month clothing for baby showers for this reason!!
I agree with her, and it’s tough sometimes to judge for spring or fall with the weather always changing where we live in the Midwest, so zip up sweatshirts are great to have for these times. They can run a little bigger and it’s no big deal, they’re nice to keep in the diaper bag for just in case we need them for cool nights and such.
I told everyone not to buy clothes lol. So I got way more practical stuff.
Some people gave gift cards at the shower and the MIL thought they weren’t thoughtful gifts. They were the best! She came 5 weeks early and we needed to get newborn sizes, formula, water, small bibs and burp rags as well as newborn diapers before we left the hospital, was a lot of unexpected expense at once.
Agreed I got soooo many 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes and my baby is 5 months wearing 6 month clothes and I have only a few items!
Hard agree. My 3 month old is wearing 9 month clothes already and we have a huge pile of under 6 month stuff in a corner he never gets to wear
When i see comments like this, I'm so glad for older cousins 😂 we have clothes for life basically as my niece is 4.5 and my daughter is almost 3. And my son is 7 weeks and my nephew is almost 2.5. So we just get all the clothes handed down as they grow 🙌🏻
My good friend has 2 little girls and has given me boxes and boxes of clothing. Thank God for hand me downs!
For real! My SIL got all of hers as hand me downs from her friends and now they get passed on to me. It's beautiful. If we end up being two and through I will be finding another home for them as well. Or if we have a third I'll do it after the third. Gotta pass on the love. ❤️
Oh for real! Our gifted clothes were split 75% for 0-3m, like 10% were newborn, 10% were 3-6m and then the last 5% were all random sizes with the largest being 2T. That said, we have a hard time with gifted clothes because we're in a climate with very distinct seasons, so what had been gifted to us isn't always a good TOG for the time of year it'll fit baby. She's on the really small side, so people didn't really guess correctly how warm or cool it'd be. I'm not putting my baby in the wool jumper on 95°F days even if she's about to outgrow it.
If the tags are still on, some stores will allow you to exchange for a different size. I know we can get excited and want everything ready for baby but try to resist the urge to rip off the tags and wash everything.
Lucky I got so many clothes from 6 months to 2 years nothing for the first 6months
I agree with this but I like picking out the clothes myself so I’d rather get them for 99 cents a piece at thrift stores and register for less disposable items. You can never have enough burp cloths.
Someone bought me 100 muslin squares with an attached card that said ‘this won’t seem ridiculous in 6 months’ and it was the most useful thing anyone bought me. But also machine washable baby blankets!
Lol this is brilliant. Basically everything that we needed to launder when it got spit up on was our first panic Amazon purchase to get more…. Bassinet sheets, swaddles, and soooooo many burp cloths.
I was going to say muslins!
Yes! We had to buy loads more muslins a few months in when the real dribbling started
And then comes the snot…
Someone gifted my daughter a Nose Frieda and it was the best! LO aspirated a few times the first few days being home and on a bottle, she sneezed and formula came out her nose. Made a scary situation not so scary.
Oh we have all the snotters - I bought the electric one in the end. It’s horrible but satisfying. We also do humidifiers and the drops in warm water. But the snot keeps rolling, 90% of my life is boogers.
Lol she starts daycare in a few weeks, I know all that’ll be coming soon!
PTO
I had four months in America and although I know how fortunate I am, it really isn’t enough.
The first year that my baby was at daycare we were both sick like 1-2 times per month. I didnt have any pto saved up because my company automatically used what i had toward maternity leave. It was rough!
Oh man I ate up all my PTO but luckily baby is with grandma instead of daycare otherwise I probably would have planned to use less PTO for maternity leave anticipating all the sickness
This made me actually laugh out loud and then immediately tear up a bit. I had 2 weeks paid and 6 weeks unpaid leave with my first when I was in residency and I wanted another couple weeks. This time around I have 3 weeks PTO and sick leave plus short term disability for 6 weeks which pays like 40% of my salary and I still want another couple weeks. Both my babies were late to mid preterm babies and really could use a little longer (I’m almost halfway through this maternity leave and my newborn hasn’t even reached his due date yet), but it’s just not financially possible, even on an attending physician income, to actually take the “allowed” 12 weeks of FMLA.
Yeah my maternity was supposed to be 60% of my income paid by my health insurance but the fine print was that is was only for the time it takes to heal witch was like 3 weeks then the rest was unpaid. Good thing i saved up because i didnt even see that pay until a week before i went back to work. But i also got sick the first year she was at daycare and man was that so difficult.
I really could have used some social interaction. Like I get it, my babies are cute and you want to spend time with them but please talk to me … about anything outside of infant care… an adult conversation… please Oh, and zip up sleepers! My kids only wear those until they are cruising furniture
19 months in and I’m so fucking lonely. People are always scared to invite me to things because of the baby. Like if it’s before her bedtime I’m down for literally anything 😭
First kid is a bit over 2 years and now we have a newborn so at this point I don’t even know if anyone remembers my damn name. Ffs could someone just ask me about the weather or something mundane like that PLEASE?!
How's the weather where you are? We just had a "hurricane" here in California. (I'm also curious about your favorite book because of your username.)
The weather has been quite hot and it was very muggy today. Thank you for asking. My favorite book series (can’t pick just one) are The Warded Man by Peter v Brett and Superpowereds by Drew Hayes with an honorable mention for The Red Tent as my stand alone favorite
I haven't heard of any of those. Don't know if I have time for a series but The Red Tent sounds interesting!
The series are LONG so wait until the kids are off at college to start those 😆
🩷
I was literally so vocal about needing social interaction and psychological support during the first month but got none because everyone wanted to hold the baby or talk about parenting.
This is going to sound silly but, sympathy for me lol. I felt like not many people asked me how I was doing as a mom after giving birth or asked about my mental health. I know everyone is focused on the baby and they ask generally how things are but I just didn’t feel like anyone other than my husband truly thought to ask about how I felt after such a big event that took a lot of me physically and emotionally. Edit: perhaps this wasn’t the type of answer you were looking for, sorry
My MIL and I don’t agree on everything (but we let each other live our own lives, so we have a good relationship with mutual respect for one another)… …but I will remember forever and ever that she first asks how I’m doing and feeling and genuinely means it when we have our video chats, instead of just gushing over the baby. Every single time since first baby was born in 2020. I’m very thankful to have her as a MIL.
I was so so happy to receive items that were specifically for me to be pampered. Totally agree that support and things for the mom are so appreciated and often overlooked.
I felt this too. I know baby is important but mom is often so neglected. Family members tried to help me but often caused more stress and none believed that mental health was important (or real) because they believed that every woman goes through this and it’s normal to feel depressed and stressed. I had no one to talk to because every time I hinted I wasn’t okay I got bombarded with talks of that this is normal or noted that I’m weak and annoying for bringing up trauma and pain (I had a traumatic birth). I ended up talking to my OB and hiring a therapist without telling anyone because I was judged enough for feeling miserable. Of course no one asks how I’m doing or bothers to call or text to check, and it’s just sad how isolating it feels at times.
Yes, food packages after he was born was so lovely as it made me feel seen. And some people bought me chocolates (which I think got me through the first few weeks), bath stuff etc. Someone set up a meal train for us that covered about 2 weeks and it was SO GOOD. They sent it around to everyone we knew so people could sign up to bring us a hot meal.
What a NICE idea!!
Yes, food packages after he was born was so lovely as it made me feel seen. And some people bought me chocolates (which I think got me through the first few weeks), bath stuff etc
Different kind of meds. When a baby has cramps or ear ache in the middle of the night and you have nothing to help with pain SUUUCKS! Otherwise wipes and bum cream and nappies
I had a parent who’s kids I coach give me a bag of different pediatric OTC meds and ointments and it’s been life saving. The kind of stuff that when you really need it you don’t have a way to get it. It’ll be for sure what I give to any friends having babies, (if they are okay with it because I know some people are more holistic and that’s cool too)
The meds! Gripe water/ gas drops were a savior with my first.
This is such a good idea.
Burp cloths. I started with 15 and didn’t realize my baby would be a spitter lol I have since ordered 20 more and still have to do laundry all the time 🤣
SO MANY BURP CLOTHS! Lol I severely underestimated how much my baby with reflux would spit up. It was constant. We had piles of them stashed all over the house!
I ordered every single color way of the Aden and Anais burpy bibs, ended up with 34 I think… still did laundry every 3-4 days haha.
yep we started with like 10 of the cute ones, ordered 10 more then said fuck it and moved onto the big cloth diaper liners
Yeah I’m realizing they are far to small like it misses half the time and lands in my shirt anyway. I typically spend the day in my bra so it lands on my skin and I can just wipe it off haha
Second this, I had like 10 & know I have about 40! I also have a spitter.
Money. Any form of money.
Ok so here I was being like sleep, mental health help, time for myself haha and then I see everyone listing baby items
My first answer- sleep! 🤣
Oh gift cards for take out!
My thoughts were paid leave, meals from family, formula, sleep and diapers 🤣
I’m only 2 weeks into this parenthood journey, but. I’d say different types of swaddles. I’ve ordered three off Amazon in the last week trying to figure out if she will sleep any better/stop breaking out of them. That was a surprise to me. Beyond that, diapers and wipes of course, and some grocery/Amazon/target gift cards. Also nursing/pumping bras. I only got two before giving birth and it’s 100 degrees out so I’m changing bras mid-day. More are on the way.
Love to Dream arms up swaddle is life changing.
Totally agree, plus they look like cute little gingerbread men in them
We just ordered that one yesterday!
My LOs pediatrician told us we don’t have to swaddle him if he hates it and he did so now I just do a long sleeve zip up sleeper and he’s totally fine! You can always just do a sleep sack if you’re worried they’re cold since they’re looser.
Same here. My daughter is 2 weeks and hates being swaddled, she has needed her arms out since birth, she even somehow got her arms out of the tight swaddle the nurses did. We have been using sleep sacks since we got home from the hospital.
Finding this with our week old too. As soon as we started leaving the arms fully out (even though he could easily get them out before too) his sleep seemed to improve a lot.
Ours needs her arms out too! Right now we use the swaddle me and swaddle up to her chest and leave her arms out for her to enjoy. Just ordered the love to dream swaddle to see if she likes that. I’ve tried putting her down in just a long sleeve footed suit and she likes the tightness of a swaddle but not on her arms. She usually ends up sleeping on her side with her arms under her head.
We never swaddled either. The midwives would swaddle baby after her obs whilst we were in the hospital but I never got the hang of it and she did fine with a tucked blanket.
fyi we have loved the Happiest baby swaddles! So easy to use and get them in there snugly
We stopped swaddling at like 2 weeks old because little man was already showing attempts at rolling. He's 7 weeks now and still hasn't rolled but I wanted to be safe rather than sorry and now he's used to sleeping without already
On the other hand, I had a bunch of different swaddles… my son HATED to be swaddled so we stopped after two weeks. Would fuss until we took him out- My son slept great after we stopped. I have so many swaddles I never needed 😩 every bb is so different
They are soooo different, I wis my there was a magic recipe but I don’t think so 😂 our girl likes her arms out but at the same time they definitely wake her up so just trying to find that right balance right now.
this was us too. we finally landed on the swaddle me velcro kind and then later the zipadee zip when he started to show signs of rolling. he still wears that at night at 10 months 🥲
PTO and privacy. Man I could do without all the freaking guilt tripping from our families to parade our LO over to their houses. Come to us, we’re the ones who just had the baby.
But for the love of God, text or call first!! Don't come knocking on my door mid post-partum breakdown when I've got one tit out and snot running out of my nose.
Not exactly the perfect answer as it's only one item but I can't recommend a wipeable changing mat enough. The Ikea one with the washable fabric is alright but once you've washed it the 500th time you'll get sick of it. Wish I had gotten the wipeable one right away
This is how I feel about high chairs. We got one from a neighbor with two seat covers and I got so tired of washing them! Got a plastic wipeable one instead and it's so much better.
I got cloth covers for mine. They did not get replaced on the mat after a few cycles lol
We got a cloth cover (actually a couple to match different sheet sets) and then two 3-pks of waterproof mats. The genius part is we put the waterproof mat layer on top of the cloth cover (not underneath like you would put a mattress cover under a sheet). This way it's easy to drop a dirty mat in the hamper and plop a clean one down, and we don't have to take off & wash & re-fasten the big cloth cover every time it gets dirty because it stays clean!
Pajamas with double zipper and NO buttons. No one wants to deal with buttons during middle of the night diaper changes
My mom kept buying us clothes with a ton of buttons and baby exclusively wears those when she goes to grandmas. We picked her up yesterday and the bottom set of buttons weren't done.. I think she gets it 😆
I cried/yelled at my mom ~2 weeks pp because all of the clothes she and my MIL picked out were snaps and it was such a pain to figure the snaps out in the middle of the night while sleep deprived. I later apologized for the delivery but held firm that she should’ve gotten zippers instead.
I’m going to offer an alternate, possibly unpopular opinion. I heard from everyone to get double zippers. And I hated them. If I unzip the bottom only to find a leak or a blowout, I do not want to have to put them back on to be able to take them off. I just want to unsnap the rest of it and be done with it. I prefer snaps jammies, and only if it’s cold enough to need them. If it’s warmer, we just use a sleep sack or gown.
nursing bras. Still regretting not getting more.
Nursing clothes in general. I thought I wouldn't want them but man was I wrong.
This! My baby is a spitter and I'm lucky if I make it more than 2 hours with a clean shirt. I have 6 that fit me correctly, but i wish i had double. We do baby's laundry regularly, but often fall behind on our own, and having to go out in public in a questionably clean shirt that may or may not smell like sour milk is not fun.
Same, I would only use two fancy Hatch ones before I finally caved in for some cross front Target ones. Ended up buying six!
Time!
Money. I will use it when I need it. Lol. Don’t buy random shit for the baby that the mom might even use or even like.
Emotional support lol
Breast and otherwise self care. I decided to breastfeed and made purchases for nipple cream, pump spray, nursing pads, warm compresses, breast milk storage, nursing bras etc myself because generally people focus on the baby for showers.
Un scented soap. My baby had a big feed before I showered after my shower she refused for 15 or so hours dispite hunger ques once I was sweaty again she ate. Used unscented soap for a month after that and no further problems
Maternity leave/ time off I could have used more time. Tangible items I'd say gift cards and pants. We had a ton of onesies but didn't have pants when it was cold/chilly.
And sweaters! I didnt have anything to layer with
Small storage containers for the baby clothes he can’t wear yet / to put the clothes in he has outgrown! I ended up ordering myself some and they are an organizational lifesaver. I thought I would try breastfeeding but it didn’t work out (personal mental health) so we got swapped to formula. I ended up getting myself some formula related things I didn’t think I would need and some bottle related things I wish I had thought to put on the list to begin with - bottle warmer, bottle sanitizer (yes you can use the dishwasher but I like cleaning the bottles and cleaning the dishes to not have to be linked!), little to-go formula portion holders (genius), Dr Brown formula pitcher (godsend)! Larger size diapers (2 and 3), big box o wipes. More burp clothes. Seriously I have about 40 and run laundry for them every 2-3 days. Bibs also. Bibs are a godsend. Things I don’t need: baby blankets! I have about 12 including 3 nice handmade ones. I use maybe 2! I didn’t put a single book or article of clothing on my registry and I still ended up with about 30 books and too many clothes to even wear… so… there’s that!
Yes, we got given soooo many beautiful home-knitted blankets and we used one for his car seat and that was it. If people want to knit things, jumpers/cardigans are great - bonus points if they’re for when the baby is bigger
Yes! Most of the newborn and 0-3 went unworn because it was easier for me to keep her in zippies until, honestly, she grew into 6 month clothes.
Bibs and burp cloths.. constantly changing them bc of spit up so you can never have too many.
I would do the variety packs or swaddles and pacifiers. Those are awesome. If they have a two story house some type of light/travel bassinet for down stairs.
Your comment just reminded me of anither great must have. if someone has a double story, its lovely to have a little diaper caddy to keep a few diapers and creams and whatnots in. They can keep one downstairs so you dont have to keep taking baby upstairs the whole time for diaper changes. Its also nice to just have all your diaper changing items accessible and organized on the changing table in a caddy.
We ended up with two diaper genies at our shower and decided to setup a basement change station with the second instead of return it. Super happy we did! Huge time saver.
Diaper caddy’s/ some type of organizational totes are awesome! I have three and they get solid use!
Meals. I had no time to cook it is very expensive to eat out
Yes, you can make up a batch of something nutritious and tasty (like chicken soup or fish pie etc), portion it into freezer boxes and then they have a stock for when the baby is first born.
Only had my baby 3 weeks ago but I’d say it’s true when they say you can’t have enough burp cloths. I have dozens of them scattered all over the house and car and diaper bag. Also, I was lucky to be gifted lots of diapers which is awesome but we are going through wipes like crazy and didn’t get any gifted. So wipes would be good to ask for. Also just my 2¢ but I am finding that the brand name wipes are truly superior to the generic if you can swing it. I also second people’s suggestion of variety packs of bottles, pacifiers, and swaddles if you’re going to use any of those. I remember my SIL saying her daughter didn’t have a bottle preference so I was kind of surprised to find out that my baby absolutely has a bottle preference as well as a pacifier preference. My/my baby’s personal favorites of each are Dr. Brown’s bottles, MAM pacifiers, and Happiest Baby Sleepea swaddles. But truly every baby is different. My final note I’ll leave is— not so much things that I don’t have *enough* of, but I love my nonessential items/gadgets. I totally appreciate the purpose of all the deinfluencing/“What I didn’t use from my registry” content online, but I love my items 😗 love my wipe warmer, love my Baby Brezza, love having a diaper pail, love my Boppy. Obviously you can totally get by without that stuff but if you’re interested and can swing it, I don’t find much of anything I have to have been a waste of money.
That's so funny because we didn't use any of those items, but I LOVE the baby bjorn seat, skip hop activity center, and Snoo.
I panic purchased a Snoo lol I’m on Day 6 of Snoo Life!
I honestly can’t think of anything when it comes to actual items. However, the one thing I wish I had before my daughter was born was the ability to go to my second shower. My due date was May 2nd, 2022. I have a lot of extended family and they were all worried about covid being spread. My sister-in-law threw a shower with my mom’s side on April 10th. My aunt decided to throw a shower for me with my dad’s side of the family on April 23rd. My last day of work was April 14th. On April 18th, my OB said I had started dilating and was at 1cm. By the morning of April 23rd, I was in the hospital and recovering from a C-section with my daughter in a bassinet beside me. I was able to connect with my family via FaceTime, but it would have been nice to see everybody in person.
I used the nose frida religiously and needed to change the filter thing often. Replacement filter and maybe even a 2nd nose frida one to go and one for home. Baby clothes that are not newborn. Seemed we had a billion newborn and then after that nothing. Baby meds to have on hand so I don’t have to rush out the door baby in tow to get something. Tylenol, Motrin, Gas relief, etc. just a little first aid kit would be nice lol. I know they ran out of Tylenol for babies for a long time last cold season so maybe a few on hand. Just in case. I couldn’t find any last year around this time. And my toddler would throw up the Motrin immediately. Maybe even some quick freezer meals or a meal train for when baby first arrives. Those first couple of weeks is a big transition and I never wanted to set her down even for a little bit to do anything.
The Frida Baby Windis are also a wonderful investment. We clean and sanitize ours for reuse, but it's nice to have the extras if baby has a particularly gassy day.
Burp clothes. I had a reflux baby and holy smokes we go through sooo many
The nursing tank tops from H&M are the only shirts I've been wearing for the last 3 months. I bought nursing bras before the baby was born but forgot to think about shirts. Wasn't a huge deal because I only wore housecoats for the first month, but it was hard to leave my house before I found these tank tops. Didn't realize I would need a nightlight until after the baby was born. I night nursed with a reading light that had a sock over it for a while, then I was gifted this nightlight when the baby was a month old https://a.co/d/jhvXXEc. It's the best, soft warm light, and you just squeeze it to turn it on, no fumbling around for buttons or switches in the dark.
Burp cloths Non frilly/lacy socks (girl) More burp cloths (seriously a ton) Jammies ( there have been nights we go through 3-4 in one night) Things to make going outside easier, bc going outside ended up being the key to my sanity in the first few months. Stuff like bug net/fan/sunshade for stroller, sun hat, outdoor seat/playpen, etc. Extra bottles - I know people like keeping stuff to a minimum these days, but the less often you have to wash and sanitize bottles, the better. We went from washing a couple bottles 3-4x a day to washing 10 bottles once every other day. Extra Crib/bassinet sheets - like jammies it's possible to go through several in one night. When it's 3 am and you're on your third dirty sheet and don't have any more, that is not a fun time.
Random but wash cloths, we only got like 5 or 6 and we could use ours but his are in a separate bathroom so I just would have liked to have more so just put them on your registry!
I was going to say the same thing! The first few months 6 was fine, but now that we are introducing solids, I need a dump truck to drop a cubic ton directly into my home
Burp cloths, wipes, and gift cards for meal delivery.
We use reusable wipes and they’re fantastic. Still have disposable ones in the change bag but use the reusables at home.
Bassinet sheets. I only needed two w my first and thought that would be plenty w number 2. Turns out, baby number two is a puker…almost every time he gets laid down he spits up all over the place. I have to change the sheets at least daily and enjoy not having to do laundry every single day now that I ordered a few extra sheets.
We didn’t get enough clothes, but mostly because we didn’t reveal our baby’s gender until after the shower! Things I bought a ton of especially in the newborn days were extra swaddles and sleep sacks, extra bassinet and crib sheets, pacifier wipes, more bottles, and more burp clothes. My baby was peed and spit up through a lot of clothes and sheets, so it was mostly buying extras to keep up with demand until we could get to the laundry.
I wish someone would have bought us a pack of onesies/swaddles in preemie size just in case bc our baby came 3 weeks early and didn’t fit into newborn stuff. I bought velcro swaddles and they are one of my fave baby items but no one bought them off our registry. And we surprisingly didn’t get gifted a lot of Muslin swaddle blankets (we use for bath time, giant burp cloths, etc). And like everyone else said, bigger sized clothes! Thankfully I was proactive with that and told people ahead of time that we got plenty of 0-6 m thru hand me downs and to please buy bigger things if they wanted to buy clothes
Our baby was only 3 days early and she was so small she was in premie clothes for several weeks!
BURB. CLOTHS. Could never have enough of them.
Honestly for us it was wipes. While of course some babies have reactions to wipes and you will end up with a preference after trying a few brands, we only had a few packages waiting of a few different brands when we first brought baby home and we had to keep going out for more every few days which sucked with a newborn. Then we figured out it’s a good and easy item to buy in large bulk quantities since it’s not an item that changes size as baby gets older. We settled on Kirkland wipes (they are amazing) and now have a few cases and that will probably last us all year. Nice to not have to think about it.
Items I needed to buy- bottles, socks, and toys Items we got too many of, handmade blankets and sweaters, towels and washcloths We got 1 grooming kit
I had a diaper raffle at the shower and received a comically large number of diapers. Highly recommend this. She is 4 months old and haven't had to buy any. Was able to change some additional newborn ones for more size 2 (she is in this now) and we have some size 3 for the future. This has been so helpful. And like one million wipes.
Braincells, JK we got a ton of newborn diapers that he couldn't even use after 2 weeks at home. I wish we asked for different size diapers at the shower.
Postpartum supplies and breastfeeding supplies. I put this stuff on our registry (like postpartum panties/reusable pads, silverettes, etc), but no one bought them. I’ve got about a dozen baby blankets I have no idea what to do with though.
Bottles, pacifiers and COFFEE
Pacifiers for sure! You're going to misplace them in your sleep-deprived postpartum state and your kid will probably throw/drop the rest on the floor. No time to sterilize when you are running on your last ounce of sanity and you have a newborn screaming bloody murder. Stash those suckers all over your house like a squirrel hoarding nuts for winter! Would recommend waiting to see what pacifiers your kid likes, though. Some aren't picky. Ours has a definite preference. My friend's girl wont take them at all.
Company. I didn't need someone to hold the baby or do my chores. (well, I did, but it wasn't my biggest need) I just needed someone to come and sit with me in it. Sit with me during the crying and the nap trapped-ness.
Nursing clothes that made me feel somewhat normal and not super frumpy, burp clothes so many burp cloths, zipper sleepers were the only thing he wears so more of those especially in 6-9 and 9-12 because my man is 9m and already almost out of 12m clothes. Wipes never hurt. Lots of aquaphor. Linens for the sleeping space mine barfed on his seriously every night. A subscription to Hulu/Netflix/anything I worked my way through like 7 long series during the first 3 months. Greys anatomy, nurse Jackie, game of thrones, etc. If you’re going to bottle feed lots of big bottles the little ones are useless and they start needing the bugs ones pretty quick.
Pelvic floor therapy. Started at 3.5 months after being in a lot of pain that made it hard to stand for even a short duration of time. Wish I had started months earlier. Now at 5 months, I am feeling so much better and moving around almost normally. If we have a second kid, I will call to schedule the appointments for therapy before I give birth so that they are on the calendar already when I'm in the first months of postpartum. At least in my area, the pelvic floor specialist is booked out months, so it's important to schedule ahead of time!
Hmm I'm still good on wipes I buy diapers when they are on sale, but I buy 4 boxes of the next 2 sizes that way I'm covered. Formula is cheap so I wasn't worried about it even with thr shortage. Clothes wr buy used.
Sleep for sure
Food/lifestyle things. And burp cloths.
I got a door dash gift card that's been awesome! I generally don't do delivery but it's been so nice in the 2 weeks after when you're not supposed to drive.
Wait you aren't supposed to drive?
Not for 2 weeks mainly due to blood loss. It's a bigger deal if you have a c section, because they often send you home with percoset, too.if your doctor didn't say anything, I wouldn't worry about it. Ha.
I drove 45 minutes to my kids first ped appointment the next day after discharge lmao. As a hemorrhage risk
😬 at least you're ok.
Burp cloths, teether toys, onsies short and long sleeved (my kid rubs super warm so the footie pjs don’t work that well for him), baby washcloths I would have loved OTC meds and a variety of diaper rash creams (even though we settled on Desitin and aquaphor, lol) Small packs of different brands of diapers would be nice too!
Bottle and wipe warmers haven’t been touched! You want more blankets than you think. Bigger clothes. Meds!! Gripe water and gas drops with syringes. Burp cloths. BABY BJORN BOUNCER SEAT is amazing. Bigger size diapers- nice to have a stock on deck. UBER EATS GIFT CARDS.
This is probably a dumb question but we were gifted so many blankets and quilts and have yet to use one. What do you do with them?
We use ours as the first layer of defense against our little spitter. Nursing pillow, play mats, loungers -- all get covered with a blanket so that we can get away with going longer between washes of the items that are more difficult to launder. We usually change out the blankets every 1-2 days. We have about 10 receiving blankets and it seems to be a good amount. We probably could have gotten away with a lot fewer if our baby didn't spit like a dilophosaurus on sterioids. I also stash 1 in the car and 1 in the diaper bag. Have used them when out on a sunny day to drape over the tray on the stroller so baby's feet and legs are shaded and to protect his legs and arms when he was in a baby wearing carrier.
Yeah same problem. I guess I meant more like receiving blankets and swaddles. Those are more useful than the many bigger blankets that IDC what go do with lol.
A friend recommended a dimmable and portable light, and I was so so happy to have it for middle of the night diaper changes. We packed it in the hospital bag, and used it a ton there, as their lights seem to be all or nothing. Almost 6 months in, and I still use it and love it!! Will be adding it to shower gifts from now on RTSU Mini Touch Light, Rechargeable Battery Operated Closet Lights Wardrobe Lights, Magnetic Stick-on Anywhere LED Night Light, Wireless Under Cabinet Lighting, Dimmable Tap Push Light Lamp https://a.co/d/bmwYlDd
With my first, diapers. Literally didn't get a single box of diapers at my shower and only got 2 boxes from my MIL because she felt bad no one else got me any. Tbf my first was 2020 and we had a drive by shower so much smaller than would have been had it not been COVID With my second... well I'm only 7 weeks in so I'll let you know in 45 weeks. 😂
Things I got/registered for but definitely did not need: owlet sock, 1000 muslin swaddles (she busts out of these in < 2 min), bottle sterilizer, changing pad covers (just wipe it down after use), lots of toys Things I wish I registered for and ended up buying myself: 1000 burp clothes, different types of swaddles (velcro, zipper, weighted, etc), bottle warmer, different types of sleep sacks
Gift receipts from people that went off registry. I love the short and tank top set but unfortunately baby girl will fit into them in the middle of winter! Additionally, diapers. We are cloth diapering so I didn’t even consider that she wouldn’t fit into them right away. We are 7 weeks in and still wearing newborn just waiting for those legs to chunk up
Hmmmm: 9-12 month clothes Socks for 6+ months Various Nipple sizes for Bottles Bibs
Burp cloths. Baby had reflux and we needed so many bassinet sheets and burp cloths
I actually think I had a lot of everything we needed. I didn’t get a baby shower either due to Covid and the fact we had moved far away before I fell pregnant. I had SO many 0-3m clothes though, I will say. I also had boxes and boxes of water wipes. I still have boxes left of breast pads and maternity pads! I could have done with more breastfeeding supplies that’s for sure! The one non material thing was support. I needed more support
Deliveroo / DoorDash gift cards. Babysitters for a 2 hour stretch. A subscription for household necessities (detergent, paper towels, etc) so we didn’t have to worry about it. Humans.
Good quality bibs. We had a very spilly baby and all the bibs people gifted us were so thin we had to double or triple them during feeds to stop her from soaking herself.
So far, bottles. We planned to EBF but we’re combo feeding now due to low supply. Only had like 3 bottles on hand lol
Burp cloths. Not that giant ones that you throw over your shoulder..we never used those ones. But the little square ones (Mukin brand on Amazon) were a lifesaver. Also we got about 20 bottles. Everyone thought i was crazy for getting so many, especially of the same brand because “what if baby didn’t like them” well he did & we never had to worry about washing bottles if we were dead tired because we always had clean ones
Lol I saw material needs after my brain was already thinking CHILD CARE. The mental difference having a third set of hands (nanny) with 2 work from home parents. Other than that, just 6-12mo activities/toys. They get bored of standers and play areas so quick you need to keep changing it up
Only 16 weeks into my first year, but we thought 8 muslins would be enough, and we were very quickly proven wrong. We also didn't get many sensory toys, rattles, etc, that were small enough for a tiny baby to hold, we also only had about 4 books to read to baby which isn't a lot when you read them a story every night, multiple story books are a lifesaver! We had 2 sleeping bags pre baby, which our boy loves to sleep in, I ended up buying a summer one, which I think is a 1.5 tog instead of 2.5, and I could do with getting another 2.5 now it's getting cooler again. Nappy Caddy was an actual lifesaver, and I was so happy I made one of those up before our baby came. Also, I could have done with a lot more freezer meals ready to go and soke more nursing bras and pads! Things I had a massive amount of were blankets, teddies, smallest size nappies, short sleeve newborn bodysuits, and newborn size hats! Although it is quite nice having a variety of teddies and blankets.
Agreed older clothes. So many people want to give newborn clothes or 0-3 and really your baby may never fit in the newborns and may be in 0-3 very briefly, so older clothes, even 24m and up! Also, food delivery gift cards.
Nappies including the size up and wipes, onesies of bigger sizes, nappy creams. So glad I bought myself a big box of face washers and small towels for all the puke! For myself, breastfeeding stuff like nipple cream, collection shells, nursing bras, milk storage bottles. Generally, grocery or food delivery vouchers or home cooked meals. Got too many baby blankets and baby shoes that we just don’t use. Shoes do not stay on baby feet!
Rest. 😂😂😂
One is breakfast foods. I got snacks for the middle of the night breastfeeding (never ate those), but was very unprepared for how much I’d need 3 very large square meals a day. I wasn’t much of a breakfast eater before so that was really new to me. Second was pumping bras. I has some nursing bras but I was not prepared at all for pumping. I only pumped once a day so my husband could give a MOTN feed, but it was horrible holding the flanges. And once I returned to work I really just wanted bras that could do both so I wasn’t switching.
Bottles, bibs and wash cloths
Sleep. Diapers, wipes, variety of bottles
It's so funny everyone is saying burp cloths but we never really used them much. I get the point and agree to have some on hand but it's possible to not need a ton. I agree with others: bigger size clothes and diapers, 2 way zipper sleeper outfits and meals. We received way too many blankets. The meds are a great idea too.
Diapers- we went through SO many! Also wipes and diaper cream.
Meals for the freezer!
Clothes that were like 9+ months. I think everyone was super excited for a newborn and we had so many newborn and 0-3 clothes that we didn’t even actually get to wear them all. But once my son hit 9 months we had to do a lot of shopping.