{"id":17994,"date":"2023-10-06T05:12:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T05:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.braunhealthcare.com\/ca_en\/?p=17994"},"modified":"2023-10-06T05:22:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T05:22:22","slug":"what-you-really-need-on-your-baby-registry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.braunhealthcare.com\/ca_en\/what-you-really-need-on-your-baby-registry\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Really Need on Your Baby Registry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source: MommyGearest.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past weekend, I sat with my expectant cousin and we went through her baby registry together. After all, as a veteran mom of two who used to focus her \u201cmommy blog\u201d solely on baby gear reviews, I have an opinion or two about the things you really need on your baby registry checklist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a baby registry list for someone living in a city without a vehicle might look a bit different from someone else\u2019s baby registry must-haves in more suburban or rural areas, there are some core need-to-have items and some nice-to-haves that should grace everyone\u2019s list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here Are My Tried-And-True Baby Registry List Ideas:<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere for baby to sleep. <\/strong>A crib, co-sleeper or hand-me-down Moses basket will do the trick. Babies will sleep just about anywhere, and they don\u2019t care about having a fancy nursery with million-dollar decor. Eventually, you\u2019ll need a crib and the best bang for your buck will be one that converts to a toddler bed and then a double bed; The K Man is nearly 11 and still using his! Always ensure that the one you choose complies with current crib safety regulations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something to transport the baby. <\/strong>This might be an infant car seat if you drive, or it could be a wrap or soft-structured carrier if you\u2019re a walker or plan on using only public transit. A great stroller is always awesome no matter where you live or what your lifestyle calls for. In any case, \u201cbabes in arms\u201d is merely a phrase. They get awfully heavy after that first week or two, and you\u2019ll want to be hands-free so you can do other important things (like hold coffee).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Oh, how we used to roll!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A nursing footstool. <\/strong>This one doesn\u2019t come up in a lot of \u201cmust-have\u201d lists floating around. Whether or not you plan to breastfeed, you may want a rocking chair or glider to make yourself as comfy as possible. But no matter where you sit to feed \u2014 with \u201cthe boob\u201d or a bottle \u2014 a nursing footstool makes the whole thing much more ergonomic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diapers.<\/strong> And a lot of them. Plus a good bum cream to help prevent and treat diaper rash (sorry, but it\u2019s inevitable).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A diaper receptacle. <\/strong>You can get fancy with a bin designed for diapers with scented bags that will mask the wafting poop smells, or you can DIY it with a bin you line yourself with scented bags \u2014 just make sure it has a lid that seals well. Even those doing cloth diapers will need somewhere leakproof and stink-proof to keep diapers until it\u2019s time for laundry! If you live in a region that accepts disposable diapers in compost bins, you might even be able to get away with something akin to a green bin lined with compostable liners. You just want to be sure you don\u2019t empty that sucker until garbage\/recycling day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Receiving blankets.<\/strong> From swaddling to cleaning up baby barf, you really can\u2019t have too many of these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottles & binkies. <\/strong>Go easy here. Your kid may not like any of the dozen bottle brands you try, so borrow a few from friends first to see what your baby prefers first. Have them at your house, sterilized with fresh nipples ready to go for the moment you decide to introduce a bottle. Pacifiers aren\u2019t too expensive, so you can put a couple of different brands and styles on your baby registry, but don\u2019t be surprised if nothing works and you become the human pacifier. Been there, done that \u2014 eventually, it ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good thermometer. <\/strong>Knowing when you need to be concerned about a baby\u2019s fever is hard if you aren\u2019t confident you\u2019re even getting an accurate temperature reading. Having a thermometer with a few important bells and whistles is the perfect baby registry item. I wish we\u2019d had something like the Braun ThermoScan\u00ae 7 Ear Thermometer<\/a> back when I was making baby lists. I\u2019ve tested this one out on my own kids this week and it reads incredibly accurately (oh, and it\u2019s sterile thanks to disposable lens filters) and very fast. In fact, it reads far faster than any of the digital thermometers we\u2019ve previously owned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Braun ThermoScan\u00ae 7 Ear Thermometer Has All Of The Right Bells And Whistles. (Photo Credit: Kristen Recalis Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fun fact:<\/em> did you know that the eardrum shares the blood supply of the brain\u2019s temperature control centre? That\u2019s why measuring anyone\u2019s temperature in his or her ear canal is ideal. The tip of the ThermoScan\u00ae 7 even warms up a bit so it\u2019s not too shocking when it goes into your little one\u2019s ear and that it reads accurately. But my favourite part of all is that you can select from three different age groups with Age Precision\u00ae technology to ensure the reading is age-accurate as well; this is key because clinical research tells us that what defines a \u201cfever\u201d changes from infanthood to toddlerhood and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s Not Always Easy To Make Your Babies And Kids Sit For Long To Take Their Temperatures \u2014 And With This Thermometer, They Won\u2019t Have To. (Photo Credit: Kristen Recalis Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Breastfeeding stuff. <\/strong>If you\u2019re planning to breastfeed, you might be tempted to add a breast pump to your baby registry checklist. May I suggest, however, that you consider renting one from your local hospital or home health-care retailer first to see if it\u2019s something you\u2019ll use long-term? I had every hope of pumping to allow my husband to do our babies\u2019 evening bottles, but my babies had other ideas. NEITHER of them would take a bottle, no matter what or how hard we tried. So that $450 breast pump we had gone largely unused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Just Hanging Out Nursing Miss Q, Around 18 Months. (Photo Credit: Kathryn Palmateer Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Things you will<\/em> need for nursing, however, include a couple of great nursing bras and tops, plus some reusable breast pads to ensure you can leave your house in the early days before your milk supply regulates (because, hello, leaks!). If you can afford to invest in an at-home lactation consultant in your first days and weeks home, that, too, should definitely be on the must-have baby list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organic cotton everything.<\/strong> I\u2019m not as crazy about off-gassing now as I was when my kids were babies and toddlers, but I tried really hard to ensure that any fabrics they\u2019d be close to for long periods of time or frequently (think face cloths, crib sheets, PJs) were made of organic fibres. This is more of a nice-to-have than a need-to-have, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onesies! <\/strong>All the onesies. Your baby can live in onesies and\/or sleepers for basically the first full year of life, save for those Instagrammable fashionista moments we all require for the baby book. (Spoiler alert: you may never<\/em> actually finish that baby book.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sleep sack. <\/strong>We used these with our kids until they went into actual beds (both transitioned from cribs to beds after age three), allowing us to keep blankets out of their cribs entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We Had Sleep Sacks For Every Season!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nail clippers. <\/strong>I still have and use the baby clippers I got for The K Man more than a decade ago. You might want to just file your baby\u2019s soft nails for the first few weeks while their little bodies are still flailing around like crazy because until you become a skilled clipper (and you will!), those sharp edges can cause some serious scrapes. On both of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Really good laundry detergent and stain remover. <\/strong>I cannot impress upon you how much laundry is in your near future. From the poop that somehow ends up at Mach 3 sliding down the arms of your baby\u2019s sleeper to the sheer amount of spit-up that comes out of these tiny humans, there\u2019s a lot of laundering that needs to be done. Big B was the ultimate baby stain remover and his brilliant system of using a spot cleaner first before throwing anything into the washing machine almost always meant success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toys, books & an activity centre. <\/strong>At first, you\u2019ll spend hours longingly gazing at your new miracle; but once the novelty wears off, you\u2019re gonna be thinking \u201cNow what?\u201d Reading \u2014 soft, interactive books are great for the first year \u2014 and playing with simple grab-toys can certainly begin right away and you can introduce an activity or jumping centres after about four or five months when your baby\u2019s neck is really strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A high chair. <\/strong>You\u2019ll probably start using one when your baby is six to eight months old, so this is a great baby registry item. Look for one that\u2019s easy to clean (just say NO to cushions!) with an option to pull right up to the family table. You don\u2019t need the Cadillac of high chairs here, because you\u2019re in for a world of hurt if you think you can keep crevices free of crumbs or any kind of upholstery clean even once a day, let alone after every meal time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The K Man\u2019s Birthday \u2014 Before Professional Cake Smashes Were A Thing\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A video baby monitor. <\/strong>Yes, to me this is an absolute must even if you live in a one-bedroom apartment. And while it doesn\u2019t have to be a product specifically for a nursery (with technology these days, you might even be better off getting something that can later be repurposed as a general security camera for another area of your home), it does need to be video-based to ensure that you know when going into your baby\u2019s room is the right move or not \u2014 sound only won\u2019t give you the kind of information you need in some situations to make a game-time assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One final item for your baby registry is a cool-mist humidifier<\/strong>. Humidifiers help soothe cold and flu symptoms, and keep the air moisturized (which is nice for dry, cracking nostrils thanks to all those boogers and can even work for kids who get serial nosebleeds), but they can even help babies who are well sleep better sometimes, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wrap It Up! The Vicks Mini Filter Free Cool Mist Humidifier Makes A Great Baby Shower Gift. (Photo Credit: Kristen Recalis Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Vicks Mini Filter Free Cool Mist Humidifier<\/a> is a far more compact humidifier than we ever had! It\u2019s also super-quiet, comes in three different colours and shuts itself off when it runs out of water. Speaking of water, filling the tank<\/a> is sooooo easy, which was always a bone of contention with our kids\u2019 first humidifier. Just be sure to keep any<\/em> humidifier you own really clean using the manual\u2019s instructions to prevent mould and other nasties from growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Vicks Mini Filter Free Cool Mist Humidifier (Photo Credit: Kristen Recalis Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pro Tip: This Product Comes With A Sample \u201cScent Pad,\u201d But You Don\u2019t Need One To Operate The Humidifier If You Don\u2019t Like It. Also, Using Distilled Water Instead Of Tap Water Can Help Reduce Scaliness Since It Has A Lower Mineral Content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oftentimes, the best baby registries include all kinds of things that are completely unnecessary (especially if you happen to live in a small space!). So, with that, I bring you\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things You Don\u2019t Need On Your Baby Registry List:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n