The Ultimate Baby Registry Checklist for Minimalist Mothers

When I was pregnant with my first child, a friend with 6 kids of her own sat me down and helped me fill out an “actually-useful” baby registry checklist. That was immensely helpful, since I didn’t have the least idea where to start. (Initial attempts included lots of pink dresses and some cloth diapers, even though I was only 5 weeks pregnant and didn’t know the gender of my baby yet. I ended up having a boy – and using disposable diapers.)

Three kids later, I’ve come up with a similar list based on my own experience and have shared it with anyone willing (or not 😉 ) to listen, and have finally written it up “officially.” Here is my complete list of things you and baby actually need during the first year, with frugal living and minimalism set as a high priority (although I’m also including “splurge” items here in case you want to level up in any category).

I’m also including a free baby tracker that you’ll likely find immensely helpful during the first few weeks of your baby’s life, when everything seems chaotic and unpredictable … and wonderful. 🙂 (More information on this can be found at the end of this post.)

This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy for more information. 

With the overwhelming display of baby items constantly on parade for expecting mothers, it can be tempting to buy ALL THE THINGS.

But what does a baby really need?

Compare your dream registry (and budget) with this Ultimate Baby Registry Checklist for minimalist mothers to see if you’re buying too much for your newborn. You might want to save that money for when she turns two and starts having opinions about things ;).

But first … let’s start with the basics.

The best place for a baby registry

Whether you’re planning to buy things yourself or set up a registry to help others give you intentional, useful gifts, filling out an Ultimate Baby Registry Checklist is the best way to go. Here’s 6 reasons* why:

• HUGE selection of brands and styles
• Everything you need, all in one place (You can now add items from any website to your Amazon registry)
• 90 day return policy on most items
• Free shipping on most items
• Gift tracker – Keep track of gifts that were purchased from your registry and thank you notes that you’ve sent.
• 10-15% discount on remaining eligible items – so go ahead and fill up your list!

*Disclaimer: See website for complete and up-to-date details. Some of these conditions may change at some point. 

One more reason …

And one final compelling reason to create a registry on Amazon …

It may be tempting (especially to first-time parents in a dangerous new world of shiny, glittery baby “essentials”) to create a registry at a more expensive, name brand, baby specific store that your favorite celebrity shops at. But here’s the thing … if the generous loved ones in your life are willing to spend $10 (or $100, or $1,000 ?!) on your newborn, why not give them the opportunity to purchase several reasonably priced items rather than one $500 crib? After all, when all is said and done, you’ll still be left to buy the leftover items from your registry. If someone can comfortably and happily afford to buy you 5 things instead of 1 because everything is more reasonably priced … all the better for everyone involved :).

If you build your registry through Amazon, you can pick the best price point for what you — and baby — need.

Based on my own experience with 3 babies (and 4 moves in that time frame – which nudged us into the minimalist mind frame out of necessity), I’ve compiled a complete list of items that are actually useful – and ones that just aren’t worth the money. I’ve broken this down into 12 categories of baby-life and subcategories of “Need,” “Want,” and “Don’t Need.”

As I perused the wide, wide world of Amazon to gather items for this list, I chose the following things based on these considerations. The following list of items (in the “Need” and “Want” sub-categories) are my top picks out of all the similar listings because they are:

• affordable
• serve multiple purposes whenever possible
• last through a few stages of baby’s life (baby won’t outgrow the need for a certain item within a month)
• can’t be easily replaced by another gadget
• natural, when reasonable
• easy to move and store when not in use
• simple to use and clean – and doesn’t get baby used to elaborate tricks to find comfort

I hope you find this list helpful as you consider what to buy (or request) for your new baby. No matter what you end up getting, enjoy this stage of life as much as possible!

Final tips:

• Before you finalize your choice for any item, check the other color options (if there are any); often times a certain color will be cheaper than others. If price matters more than style, add this one to your list.
• Neutral colors may be less fun, but are sooo much more practical if you even Think that you might someday have another baby.
• All items are based on what I’ve personally used and found helpful. Use your own discretion, however, if you feel that something else may be safer or better for your baby. I’m not claiming that anything listed here is the safest thing for a baby because I want each parent to make that choice based on current best practices, doctor’s recommendation, and their own knowledge of the industry and their own baby. Choose (baby registry items) responsibly and love (your baby) completely! 😀

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Sleeping

Need

A Pack ‘N Play is not as popular of a bed choice as a crib, but is so much more practical! It’s cheaper, stores easier, and doesn’t have bars for baby’s legs to get caught in as he does gymnastics in his sleep. (True story of a toddler) And if you get one with the additional raised bed for newborns and a changing mat, it will serve multiple purposes and work through multiple stages of babyhood. (We used ours for all our kids until they were ready to transition to a regular bed – huge money savings!)

Want

A small, portable bed like this is perfect for moving around the house to give baby instant naps – the hammock shape cuddles the baby, the incline helps them not choke on their own spit-up (sorry … calling it like it is here), and the motor and curved legs make it easy to rock manually or automatically.

If you already have a crib, you can add one of these inserts to produce a similar effect. (But it’s not mobile, since you probably won’t be moving the crib around the house all day long.)

Don’t Need

Nursing

Need

If you’re exclusively nursing, these are the only two things you’ll really need. But …

Want

Don’t Need

Bottle Feeding

Need

And formula – although I have no advice on this one. You’ll likely need to experiment with different kinds to see what works best for your baby.

Want

This brand is a great alternative to plastic baby bottles, and the complete set comes in multiple sizes so you can use pieces interchangeably as baby grows.

Don’t Need

You don’t need a fancy bottle warmer (although it is convenient!).

Sitting

Need

Want

There are So Many Gadgets on the market for giving baby a place to sit – things that can bounce, rock, swing, sing, and in most other ways replicate the human touch. But honestly, babies really just want you. Since you probably can’t hold them 24/7, though, you might want to look into giving them an occasional peaceful place to sit. And if you have a colic-y baby, by all means, do everything you can afford to keep that baby happy and yourself sane!

Don’t Need

Eating

Need

Want

I couldn’t decide whether to put these 3 items in the Need or Want category because they’re so useful. Ultimately, though, you could make do without all of these. But they are all pretty cheap and really helpful, so I’ll just leave them here. 🙂

The plastic/rubber bibs with a pocket on the bottom save you time on clean-up. The mesh feeding things are sooo helpful for getting baby used to solid foods that they are not ready to chew yet (apple slices, frozen fruit, etc. – Again, follow your doctor’s recommendation on food guidelines.). And the re-fillable pouches are great for on-the-go snacks … and will save you oodles of money over buying the disposable kind in the grocery store. (Use these for applesauce, yogurt, or any homemade baby food.)

Don’t Need

Rides (Car and stroller)

Need

If you can, buy a stroller and car seat that go together. Most companies sell infant car seats that click into strollers. That means you can move a sleeping baby from the car to a stroller and continue on your way without a crying, fussing baby! #momwin

I like this version because it’s a great infant car seat and the stroller serves two purposes – you can click the car seat into it while baby still fits in the car seat, and when he is older, he can ride in the stroller the regular way. It also has a very large storage area and a sun shade and cup holders … watch the video review to see all the fun features :).

Want

These hanging toys are fun, although not necessary. You can attach this to the car seat or stroller to help keep baby happy and busy while you are driving.

The mirrors are really helpful if you can position them right; it helps you keep an eye on baby while you’re keeping your eyes on the road.

Don’t Need

Baby-wearing

Clothes

Need

This is probably the part of your registry that you will have the most fun with and want to personalize the most, so I won’t offer too many opinions on this topic ;). I will say, though, that an inexpensive pack of white onesies in each size range will be very helpful, especially if you consider them as “disposable clothes.” Baby’s clothes will get so messy and it will be a huge relief to not have to care about removing stains if you know that you’ll just “use up” these onesies and get rid of them when you move on to the next size.

Want

With that being said … you will probably still have several cute outfits that you do want to keep nice. You can do your best to save them from the spit-up stains and food spills with these super cute baby bibs; then you’ll only need to change out the bib and keep the outfit on (big sanity-saver!), knowing that your baby still looks dashingly handsome! 🙂

Don’t Need

Blankets

Need

You’ll need a set of receiving blankets.

Ok, I say “need” a bit loosely here. But you’ll find these helpful in so many ways! Here’s a short list of ways that we’ve used these versatile pieces of pretty cloth ;):

• blankets
• impromptu nursing covers
• burp rags or clean-up-all-kinds-of-baby-bodily-fluids rags
• rolled up and used as “bumpers” next to (not sleeping!) baby
• draped over a car seat or stroller as a sun shade (leaving openings for fresh air to flow through)
• laid over a changing table so we could easily change it out and keep the area clean
• “picnic blanket” to put on the grass so baby can lay down outside for a bit
• etc. …

Want

If you’re going to take it up a notch, these incredibly soft baby blankets are wonderful, especially during warmer weather. Plus, they get softer with every wash, they’re large enough to use for swaddling, and they have the cutest prints!

The baby swaddle blankets are helpful as well, although if you learn how to use a large blanket for swaddling, you won’t really need these fancy ones with flaps and velcro.

Don’t Need

You don’t need too many blankets … but then again, the more you have, the less laundry you’ll have to do ;).

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Burp Rags

Need

During the first few months (at least!), you’ll need a lot of burp rags. It’s best to have enough to scatter around the house in abundance – and you probably still won’t have one when you need it ;).

There are a ton of cute options to choose from (that are fairly inexpensive) but if you really want to save money, just go old-school and buy a large set of cloth diapers – they’re built to absorb a lot of fluid!

Want

If you want to splurge just a little tiny bit, go ahead and buy cute burp rags. They’ll get so messy, but you will see them a lot, so if it makes you happy to use pretty spit-up rags, go ahead and spend the extra couple dollars ;). Just make sure to buy A LOT of them!

Don’t Need

If you can (and want to) sew, you can get away with not buying any burp rags – you can instead buy a large piece of flannel fabric and cut it into squares, then cut up a towel (great project for re-purposing old towels!) into matching size squares (or rectangles) and sew them together. (You could just cut up a towel, but the edges would get so frayed and messy that it wouldn’t be worth it.)

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Bath Time

Need

Although you can just use the kitchen sink to wash your baby, it’s worthwhile to buy one baby bathtub that can adjust to fit different sizes as your baby grows. I like this one with the insert for newborns, that also can be used in two different positions to fit babies and toddlers. You’ll also need some “tear-free” baby shampoo (that doesn’t mean baby won’t cry!) and some soft washcloths.

Want

You might want a cute, hooded, snuggly soft towel and colorful bath toys … they’re certainly fun but if you’re looking to cut corners, you can definitely do bathtime without these features. 

Don’t Need

You don’t need a fancy bathtub for newborns – this stage lasts only a few weeks and you can make do with some towels placed in a kitchen sink. That being said, if you do decide to buy a newborn-specific bathtub just to make life a little bit more simple, this is the one I would recommend:

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Little Things

And finally … these are a few of the little things that you may not even think about until the moment that you need them.

Baby fingernail clippers – or 2 because you’ll probably lose 1 ;).

A “snot-sucker” – seriously, this rips the bandaid off the myth of the picture-perfect baby … but it just might be the most helpful thing you’ll ever buy. When baby can’t breathe because her nose is stuffed up, please don’t use a bulb syringe … just do a quick google image search to see what the inside of one of those things looks like after a few weeks of use. 0_0. These “snot-suckers” may seem strange, but they’re much more sanitary and about equally uncomfortable for baby ;). Baby will rest easier and you will honestly get over the gross factor when you get that extra hour of sleep yourself!

 

Start Here

FREE Baby Tracker

Once baby arrives, you’ll need to start making note of the times she eats, sleeps, and gets a diaper change. Although phone apps can seem helpful, I have always found them too overwhelming to keep up with, since you have to use them very intentionally and carefully – otherwise you’ll end up with data that says your baby has been nursing for 4 hours on the left side while simultaneously sleeping 5 hours and getting 2 diaper changes in a day … all because you forget to use the stop/start buttons at the exact time and it’s too much work to go back and edit information. I’ve always ended up using a paper-based system for simplicity and accuracy, and I wanted to share this one with you to help make your days a little bit easier to manage.

 

This baby log will help you keep track of feeding, changing, and sleeping times for your newborn. This will be very helpful as you learn to navigate your new life and schedule with a baby on board. You can monitor trends and track progress towards your own goals for baby’s development, share it with your baby’s pediatrician or other caregivers, and refer back to it when you forget what side you last nursed on (or if you want to tell a friend exactly how many dozens of diapers you’ve changed in the past week!).

Get your free baby tracker here. (No email required.)

If you’d like a more in-depth version with multiple layouts designed to match different stages of your baby’s first few years of life, you can check out the premium version here. 

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Related posts:

• Poem to my newborn daughter – Your Bright, Wide Eyes
• (new post coming soon) The benefits of a paper-based baby tracker
• (new post coming soon) The secret suffering behind breastfeeding: Dysmorphic Letdown Syndrome
  

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