MY ULTIMATE BABY ESSENTIALS LIST

I get a lot of questions in my Friday Q&A series about baby essentials and while this post on our baby registry is an exact copy of everything we registered for, I’ve been meaning to write an updated post with notes on which items we used and loved the most, several items I would swap out or skip entirely, which items we purchased over time after Teddy was born, and what items we’re purchasing duplicates of for baby #2. It’s a long one but I really hope it’s helpful for those of you who are expecting — please feel free to pass along to any moms-to-be in your life!

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*photo from my Uppababy stroller review

BABY GEAR WE LOVED

BABY GEAR I WOULD CHANGE OR SKIP

  • UPPAbaby Mesa car seat — started to feel snug well before Teddy hit the 35 pound weight limit (still nowhere close!) and 32″ height limit so we ordered the Nuna Rava. We’ll use this car seat again for baby #2’s first year but looking back, I wish we’d just started with the Rava from birth.
  • UPPAbaby Vista and Mesa travel bags — the Vista stroller would have been a pain to fly with (we ultimately bought the Doona for this purpose) and we hardly went anywhere due to Covid.
  • Halo Bassinest — got this thinking Teddy would sleep in our room for the first several months and learned quickly none of us were going to get any sleep with him in our room. Personal preference of course but definitely something I wish we’d skipped and saved on.
  • Jolly Jumper — this thing has an enormous footprint (we should have gone with the doorway version if anything), annoying to get the baby in and out of, and no more interesting to him than the Skip Hop jumper above.

*the Doona in action last February in Palm Beach… remember travel?! ?

ADDITIONAL BABY GEAR WE PURCHASED OVER TIME

  • Doona travel stroller and car seat — truly a game-changer the two times we flew with Teddy pre-Covid. I personally don’t feel like it’s as sturdy as the UPPAbaby Mesa or the Nuna Rava as an everyday car seat, but for travel it’s an absolute dream.
  • 4moms swing — I ordered this out of desperation after watching Teddy peacefully drift off to sleep in it at a friend’s house around 5 months old but ultimately I think Teddy was getting past the age of wanting to sit still anywhere by the time it arrived. Will be curious to see how much use it gets with baby #2 as I have several friends who swear by it with their newborns.
  • 4moms high chair — I ordered this when Teddy was around four months and getting ready to start solids. I admittedly chose it primarily for aesthetic reasons but we’ve been happy with it.
  • SlumberPod — another desperate purchase when Teddy went on a sleep strike in the travel crib this summer. It got us through a really rough patch and prompted me to add blackout shades to his bedroom at home. I wanted to be the chill mom who taught her baby to sleep anywhere; I was ultimately the exhausted mom who would buy anything anyone told me would get my child to sleep past 4 a.m. and this (and the blackout lining on his roman shade) did the trick.
  • Nuna Rava car seat — see above under baby gear I would change.

*photo from Teddy’s nursery

NURSING/FEEDING GEAR I LOVED

NURSING/FEEDING GEAR I WOULD CHANGE OR SKIP

  • Luna Lullaby nursing pillow — I never got the hang of or need for a nursing pillow. A regular pillow always did the trick in a pinch but generally I found it so much more comfortable to breastfeed sitting upright in the armchair in Teddy’s nursery.

*photo from Teddy’s nursery

BATHING GEAR WE LOVED

BATHING GEAR I WOULD CHANGE OR SKIP

  • Munchkin safety bath ducky — I think you get an instinct pretty quickly for baby’s ideal water temperature but this is a cheap purchase if it’s something you’re really worried about.

*photo of Teddy at one month

DIAPERING GEAR WE LOVED

DIAPERING GEAR I WOULD CHANGE OR SKIP

DIAPERING GEAR WE PURCHASED OVER TIME

  • Tubby Todd all over ointment — I ordered this out of desperation to clear baby acne around 1 month and I swear it works actual miracles on everything from dry skin to diaper rash. Highly recommend.

design darling baby essentials

*photo from Teddy’s nursery

SLEEPING GEAR WE LOVED

SLEEPING GEAR I WOULD CHANGE OR SKIP

  • Baby Merlin magic sleepsuit — a desperate purchase that never worked amazingly for Teddy, but could prove useful for baby #2 as every baby is different!

HEALTH & SAFETY GEAR WE LOVED

HEALTH & SAFETY GEAR I WOULD CHANGE OR SKIP

ITEMS WE’LL PURCHASE DUPLICATES OF FOR BABY #2

I so hope this is helpful for those of you who are expecting!!! I’ll link a few similar posts here that might be helpful as you enter the home stretch:

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