Here is my extensive list of Minimalist Baby Registry Must Haves. The products here are only ones we found to be useful and worth spending on. You will find a lot of organic and low-toxic products here, as well as toys, equipment and furniture geared to the Montessori approach.
Every family, their lifestyle and culture is so different so please take what fits your family and leave what does not. One thing I have learned in the past 11 months is despite the advice and wisdom “more experienced” parents have, God has blessed YOU with the insight and intuition needed to raise your baby. Everyone (just like me and this blog) will have their opinion on what works best, but YOU ultimately make the last call on what is best for your family!
I truly hope this list helps you make a more informed decision on preparing for your newborn!
#1 DIAPERING, BATH & CARE
- Circumcision Care: Petroleum jelly & Gauze- get as much as you can from the hospital
- Diapers– started with a variety of smaller packs of NB diapers to see which fit our baby best. Ecoriginals is our favorite disposable diaper. Use coupon code BAMIKKA for $30 off your first order of 6 packs of diapers. Esembly is our favorite reusable diaper system. Get 15% off your first Esembly purchase.
- Baby Wipes: Water Wipes
- The Honest Company Dry Baby Wipes– the only Honest product we use. We use this to dry his butt quickly, although you can air out their butts to dry too!
- My handmade Baby Booty Butter – Raw byRoque
- Small towel for sponge bath or reusable cotton rounds
- My handmade Baby Oil- Raw byRoque
- Baby Tub– we loved the Baby Patent one since we could weigh baby and see the temperature of the water, it is big enough also our baby out grew it at 5 months maybe?
- Electric nail file & clipper too!- I just started using this at 11 months! I wish we had this sooner though!
#2 SAFETY & EQUIPMENT
- Car Seat- Peg Perego Agio 4
- Stroller- Peg Perego Agio 4
- Baby Proofing Things:
- Safety 1st Plug Protectors – 36Pack
- Baby Proofing Edge Corner Guards– this is our favorite to use around the house: on furniture, wall corners and windowsill.
- Cabinet locks
- Big outlet cover– we use one of these for the outlet where out Hatch sound machine is plugged
- Outlet decoy panel– we use two of these: beside his floor bed and beside where we plop his carseat in our family room
- Adhesive lightweight furniture anchor– used for Montessori shelves
- Heavy furniture anchor
- Baby Carrier- Baby Bjorn Carrier Free or Baby Wrap- Solly
- Play Mat or Play Gym: Lovevery & Tiny Love or Topponcino– we loved using this around the house
- Bouncer chair (although Baby Bear had outgrown it by 3 months!)
- Diaper Bin: Dekor Plus Diaper Pail
- Diaper Caddy
- Changing Mat: Keekaroo
- Munchkin Brica Sun Safety Car Window Rollershade
#3 CLOTHING (weather appropriate)
- Hat/ Winter Hat 3-6 months
- Onesies– short sleeves and long, nb & 0-3. You do not need a lot of NB.. maybe 3-5 pcs is enough. My favorite brand thus far is Colored Organics, a bit pricer than Gerber or Carters, but the material is superb, stains clean out well and does not pile! (coupon code: MIKKAJACOBSON15)
- 3 Sleepers with zipper- Burt’s Bees or Colored Organics
- 2 Tshirts (coupon code: MIKKAJACOBSON15)- belly button healing
- 1 sweater (coupon code: MIKKAJACOBSON15)- we brought a 3 month sized sweater since Baby was born in the fall and he needed an extra outer layer!
- Mittens
- Fleece Booties– so much easier than socks because these actually stay on. Socks only started staying put for us at 11 months!
- Drool bibs– most useful when baby starts teething and drooling a lot. For us, that started at about 6 months. For reference, Bodie got his first tooth at 10 months. But some babies can get it as early as 3 months!
#4 SLEEP & BEDDING
We do a Montessori approach at home. With that being said, we are not purists. We started with the bassinet and at around 3-4 months when Baby was too big for the bassinet, we moved him to a crib which was second hand and given to us. (However, if we weren’t given a crib, we would not have asked for one.) Then, we used just the crib mattress on the floor and now at 11 months, Baby is on twin sized floor mattress.
- Safe sleeping space: Bassinet- Design Dua
- Bassinet Stand
- Crib or Twin Mattress
TL Care Organic Cotton Thermal Swaddle Blanket or TL Care Organic Cotton Sweater Knit Swaddle (if birthing in the cold seasons! This has still been useful for us during strolls in the cold) - 2 Receiving Blankets
- Waterproof Mattress Encasement
- Organic Fitted Sheet
#5 SLEEP
- Swaddle from hospital or other blanket swaddles- 3 weeks, it was great since we got to practice swaddling at the hospital then do it at home, kicking possible suffocation hazard- FREE
- Swaddle Me– 7-14 pounds/ 26 inches, but i dunno if ours shrunk because he outgrew it so quickly, $33 for 3 pcs, 3 stages, others 0-6 for $25 material isnt high quality
- Halo Sleepsack– $25, 0-6 months, loved it, but arms out
- *Halo Swaddle– $25, comparable to the dreamland without the weight, but we did not try it
- Ollie Swaddle– $59, our second fave newborn swaddle, great material Oeko Tex certified, grows with baby, the velcro enclosure reminds me of the inside of the Dreamland Baby, perfect for controlling Moro reflex but I noticed our baby’s legs had started escaping when he got stronger and at night, this would bother him
- Dreamland Baby Weighted Sleep Sack & Swaddle $89 + free shipping (coupon code MIKKA15)- our FAVORITE newborn swaddle!! (see video review here)
- Sound machine: Hatch or Yoga Sleep for travel (coupon code:MIKKAJACOBSON15OFF)- very essential for nap/bedtime routine
- Baby Monitor: VTech Digital Video Monitor with Remote Access
- Pacifier: MAM – we started with the one from the hospital, then tried out the free ones from baby registry welcome gifts
- Black out curtains
- Taking Cara Babies First Five Months Course Bundle– very valuable information that hubby and I watched and got to learn together. As new parents, this helped inform us on sleep practices that could help us and baby.
- BabyWise Book– an easy read about helping baby adjust to the world outside our womb while helping keep us mamas sane
See end of blog for more educational resources that helped us form our way of parenting. Don’t get me wrong, we are still learning, from reading, others’ experiences and our own. It is a journey of growth and we are all blessed to have a plethora of resources and professionals to help us figure out what is best for our families!
#7 (BREAST)FEEDING & PUMPING
- Breast Pump- Medela Pump in Style (picked Medela since it was low-key, no fuss with 4 buttons and a high-quality hospital-grade pump)
- Bottles- Medela & Dr. Brown’s
- Nipples- Dr. Brown’s Level 1 Flow
- Milk Storage bags- Medela & Sharpie to write date & oz.
- Baby dish and toy cleaner– we got this and still use it since we have a lot left, although Castile soap or Branch Basic concentrate would be safer!
- Medela Quick Clean Breast Pump Bottle Brush
- Burp cloths
#8 TOYS
Make sure to read my blog about Baby Bear’s favorite newborn toys over here. Also, you do not need a lot of materials or play things during this period, although it is very exciting to get them all. Remember, you have your baby for the long run, save your money! But if you were to buy, invest in the more educational kind of toys that are appropriate for their developmental stage.
- Lovevery “The Looker Playkit”– Having educational age-appropriate toys that helped our baby with his development (which is mostly visual in the newborn stage) has been very useful. So subscribing to the lovevery kit has been so convenient for us and until now Bodie has been playing with these toys. Not to mention the spiral mobile, which has helped a lot during diaper changes.
- Black and white cards / books
- Mobiles- MontiKids (Get $75 off using this link) or DIY
- Board books and picture books- we have a lot and asked for a number too.. maybe I will do a separate blog about this. 😀
#9 MAMA AND HOME
- Stain remover: Puracy– so far the best low-toxic one, we use this until now that our Baby is 11 months)
- Lactation consultant: BB Babies– Breastfeeding life saver! I couldn’t have survived without Beth!)
- Nursing cover: Cocoon by We are Amma– we also loved using this to cover Baby while wearing him using our BabyBjorn Carrier or Carseat/nursing cover– we still use this now especially when riding shopping carts or sitting in restaurant highchairs.
- My handmade Nipple Cream- Raw byRoque
- Lactation snacks- Boobie Superfoods (15% off using code MIKKA15)
- Water additive- Boobie Hydro Mom (15% off using code MIKKA15)
- 1 gallon water jug– Keeping hydrated was one of my selfcare goals postpartum!
- Nursing bra: Spanx– a lil of a splurge but this was like a gift to myself for birthing our baby. Still my favorite until now 11 months postpartum & Kindred Bravely– more affordable luxury alternative but sizing was a pain, I should have just stuck with my Spanx and saved money since none of these fit me now.
- Nursing pads: KeaBabies– do not get too much!
- Milk catcher: Purifyou– 2 cups are enough
- Baskets to house toys – still use these until now in different sizes
#10 EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
- Curious Baby Activity Cards– helpful in showing me what activities are great for baby based on developmental stage, saved us so much time!
- Taking Cara Babies First Five Months Course Bundle– so valuable in helping baby with sleep rhythms
- Montessori Baby & Montessori Toddler– easy reads to understand the Montessori approach, parenting tips and how to set up your home for your children to peacefully thrive
I think this is all we have for Baby Bear’s newborn stage that we still get to use until now! Let me know if there are any products you think should be on here!
DISCLAIMERS. This blog is solely an expression and documentation of MY journey as a new mom.
Cliché as it may be: our baby is different from your baby— all babies are different. My journey as a woman, wife & mother is different from yours— we are all different. My partnership with my baby looks different from your partnership— because surprise surprise, things are just different. I do not claim to be an expert in motherhood or being a wife. These are all my opinions, my own research and my own journey.
It is my hope that this blog helps you navigate yours a little bit easier.
This blog contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. There is no additional cost to you. This helps support the blog and allows me to help support my family too!
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