As I'm finally getting used to this baby thing, I wish I could go back and tell myself what has and has not been useful. There is a huge gap in age between my kids, and there are so many products out there now that I swear did not exist 20 years ago. So I've compiled a few lists. Keep in mind that I am trying to be as frugal as possible (as we had to drastically cut our income so I could be home more with the baby), I try to be conscious of our carbon footprint (trying to avoid buying new if possible), and I appreciate things being simple and practical. I hope this is helpful for others, or possibly helps people who would like to buy baby gifts that are outside the box and are generally more practical. If you have any items to add to the lists below, I would love to hear them. I'm in the process of getting together gifts for pregnant friends / family, so anything that you found very helpful would be helpful to me.
These things are easily found used. I was able to acquire many of the items through friends, through my local buy-nothing group, or at a much cheaper price (often free) used online. I would not add any of these to my baby gift registry.
- Baby bottles (I prefer glass ones, there are so many out there)
- Baby bathtubs
- Clothes for 0 - 6 months
- Boppy pillows. They are everywhere!
- Baby towels, which I honestly have only used a few times. Usually we just use regular towels, and the baby doesn't seem to care that his towel doesn't have ears on them.
- Muslin Blankets. These are great for everything. I keep one in each car, one in the diaper bag, one in the stroller, etc. They're great to use as spit rags, to cover the car seat / stroller from the sun and wind, to swaddle, the list goes on.
- Swaddles
- Bibs
- Pack and Plays. I have 2 and have yet to use it for anything other than a cat bed. As soon as you announce your pregnancy, someone will ask you if you need a pack and play.
- Crib Sheets
- Bouncy Seats
- Toys for babies, especially the ones they walk behind
- High Chairs
Here is my list of things that are surprisingly useful, but are harder to find used / online / free. Some of these were already on my registry, and some are items I wish I had added.
- Consumable items such as lotions, gripe water, gassy drops, saline drops, and boogie wipes.
- A battery operated nasal aspirator. Just trust me.
- Cloth diapers. These have been my favorite frugal item. If you are considering it, let people know. You may be surprised at who may offer you their used stash. I also had cloth diapers and inserts on my baby registry list, so have not bought any cloth diapers myself but have a fairly decent collection. This has saved us quite a bit of money so far.
- Reusable wipes containers, mostly the small portable ones.
- Wet bags. I use these for cloth diapers, but they can be used for anything! Keep them in a diaper bag for unexpected messes while out. If there is something super gross that needs to wait until wash day, you can quarantine them in the bag so they don't smell up the house. They'll also come in handy later on when we can go to the pool and party like it's 2019.
- Nipples for baby bottles. I do not want to use used nipples. I wish I had added all the different stage nipples because that would have been really useful. Side note, I really wanted mason jar baby bottles because they spoke to my inner hipster. Instead, I just sterilized my old mason jars and ordered comotomo nipples with some rust proof stainless steel rings. This worked well because my baby would ONLY use comotomo nipples at first and those bottles are very expensive.
- A humidifier. Get one in advance so you're not running out to the drug store at 2 am.
- A dock a tot. There are also lots of non-brand ones that are nice. You will want to dock your tot at some point.
- A really nice foam play mat. This was an impulse buy, but we use it every day! Easy to fold up and clean, and very gentle on mom's knees.
- Strong command hooks. You'll be surprised at what you suddenly want to hang on the wall after baby.
- Black out sheets. I know this seems somewhat strange, but you'll be glad you added it to your gift registry when the baby hits that first beautiful sleep regression.
- Clothes for 9 months +. I'm not sure why this is so much harder to find used. I guess babies are just rougher on clothing when they hit 8 months.
- Cool baby sleep suits, like the zippity zip or the magic merlin puffy thing.
Things that we did not need.
- Wipes / Bottle warmers
- Sterilizer. I just boiled water, plus the ones for the microwave never seem to fit everything just right.
- White noise machine. I eventually stopped using the one we got and just plugged in my old phone with a white noise app.
With the money we've saved, we've been able to splurge a little bit on ourselves. These may also make great baby gifts, because mom and dad are tired and need presents.
- Nice coffee and tea
- Nice(r) things for mom, such as lotions and bath bombs. My incision still hurts and I'm tired, so smelling nice has been a really nice boost. Organic / natural items are nice, because then I don't have to worry that I'm smearing chemicals all over the baby.
- Extra bedsheets because the baby will split up all over your bed when the other sheets are dirty.
- Can you gift youtube premium? Because when you're up at 2 am pumping, youtube premium is really nice.
These things are easily found used. I was able to acquire many of the items through friends, through my local buy-nothing group, or at a much cheaper price (often free) used online. I would not add any of these to my baby gift registry.
- Baby bottles (I prefer glass ones, there are so many out there)
- Baby bathtubs
- Clothes for 0 - 6 months
- Boppy pillows. They are everywhere!
- Baby towels, which I honestly have only used a few times. Usually we just use regular towels, and the baby doesn't seem to care that his towel doesn't have ears on them.
- Muslin Blankets. These are great for everything. I keep one in each car, one in the diaper bag, one in the stroller, etc. They're great to use as spit rags, to cover the car seat / stroller from the sun and wind, to swaddle, the list goes on.
- Swaddles
- Bibs
- Pack and Plays. I have 2 and have yet to use it for anything other than a cat bed. As soon as you announce your pregnancy, someone will ask you if you need a pack and play.
- Crib Sheets
- Bouncy Seats
- Toys for babies, especially the ones they walk behind
- High Chairs
Here is my list of things that are surprisingly useful, but are harder to find used / online / free. Some of these were already on my registry, and some are items I wish I had added.
- Consumable items such as lotions, gripe water, gassy drops, saline drops, and boogie wipes.
- A battery operated nasal aspirator. Just trust me.
- Cloth diapers. These have been my favorite frugal item. If you are considering it, let people know. You may be surprised at who may offer you their used stash. I also had cloth diapers and inserts on my baby registry list, so have not bought any cloth diapers myself but have a fairly decent collection. This has saved us quite a bit of money so far.
- Reusable wipes containers, mostly the small portable ones.
- Wet bags. I use these for cloth diapers, but they can be used for anything! Keep them in a diaper bag for unexpected messes while out. If there is something super gross that needs to wait until wash day, you can quarantine them in the bag so they don't smell up the house. They'll also come in handy later on when we can go to the pool and party like it's 2019.
- Nipples for baby bottles. I do not want to use used nipples. I wish I had added all the different stage nipples because that would have been really useful. Side note, I really wanted mason jar baby bottles because they spoke to my inner hipster. Instead, I just sterilized my old mason jars and ordered comotomo nipples with some rust proof stainless steel rings. This worked well because my baby would ONLY use comotomo nipples at first and those bottles are very expensive.
- A humidifier. Get one in advance so you're not running out to the drug store at 2 am.
- A dock a tot. There are also lots of non-brand ones that are nice. You will want to dock your tot at some point.
- A really nice foam play mat. This was an impulse buy, but we use it every day! Easy to fold up and clean, and very gentle on mom's knees.
- Strong command hooks. You'll be surprised at what you suddenly want to hang on the wall after baby.
- Black out sheets. I know this seems somewhat strange, but you'll be glad you added it to your gift registry when the baby hits that first beautiful sleep regression.
- Clothes for 9 months +. I'm not sure why this is so much harder to find used. I guess babies are just rougher on clothing when they hit 8 months.
- Cool baby sleep suits, like the zippity zip or the magic merlin puffy thing.
Things that we did not need.
- Wipes / Bottle warmers
- Sterilizer. I just boiled water, plus the ones for the microwave never seem to fit everything just right.
- White noise machine. I eventually stopped using the one we got and just plugged in my old phone with a white noise app.
With the money we've saved, we've been able to splurge a little bit on ourselves. These may also make great baby gifts, because mom and dad are tired and need presents.
- Nice coffee and tea
- Nice(r) things for mom, such as lotions and bath bombs. My incision still hurts and I'm tired, so smelling nice has been a really nice boost. Organic / natural items are nice, because then I don't have to worry that I'm smearing chemicals all over the baby.
- Extra bedsheets because the baby will split up all over your bed when the other sheets are dirty.
- Can you gift youtube premium? Because when you're up at 2 am pumping, youtube premium is really nice.