I hope to educate, inspire and empower you to connect with your body and find food and fitness freedom. Here on the blog I share all of my top tips on movement, nutrition, mindset and motherhood.
Holistic Health Coach helping women reclaim their wellbeing.
My husband and I very meticulously created our baby registry together. I spent so many hours reading reviews, watching Youtube videos, and looking at articles. Looking back, we did an excellent job at choosing the items that we purchased for our first baby but we also definitely learned from the experience too!
Today I’m sharing the items that I would recommend splurging on, and the items that are just as good secondhand, borrowed, or bargained!
Getting a video baby monitor was really important to me. In hindsight, it helped ease some of the postpartum anxiety that I experienced and I love being able to see that my baby is safely sleeping in his crib. I would also recommend getting a monitor that doesn’t work via wifi. This allows it to be transportable and you can take it with you if you need to! We have this one. Rocking Chair
Of course this is on my list for splurge, and it also goes hand in hand with the stroller. A lot of companies make carseat stroller duo’s that work easily together. I recommend finding a car seat that has high safety ratings, is brand new (this is important! please do not EVER buy a used car seat. If a car seat is in an accident of any kind it is deemed unsafe, and when you buy a used car seat you do not know the history of it) and is hopefully compatible with your stroller. My husband and I were deciding between the Nuna Pipa Lite and the Uppababa, but went with the Uppababy since it easily attaches to our stroller and I couldn’t be happier!
Our most used baby item! We opted to go with our dream stroller and car seat combo (purchased on Black Friday for extra savings) the Uppa Baby Vista stroller and car seat combo. We have used this stroller every single day for 8 months, in sunshine, rain, and snow! It folds easily to transport in your trunk and goes smoothly over the bumps. If you live in an area that doesn’t have sidewalks or pavement perhaps consider getting a sturdier stroller such as a jogging stroller to take for walks so the baby doesn’t jostle around.
Save sleep is extremely important in newborns. I highly recommend getting a new mattress for your baby. You never know how long a used one has been used for and they may be indented and uneven. We bought a foam mattress that is GreenGuard certified and love it.
If there is ONE takeaway from this blog post, please do not overlook this section! Looking back, I wish I had invested in postnatal education and support for both myself, my baby and my partner. Instead we struggled and scrambled and suffered. I do not want this to happen to you! You can find a list of my favorite perinatal educational resources on my “resources” tab – it is a freebie of mine!
I thought that I wanted the fancy changing pad that cost over $100 (this one). I’m glad we didn’t get it! No need! I ended up changing diapers pretty much everywhere, on the floor, couch, etc. We bought THIS ONE! and it’s worked perfectly. We use it without a cover and it is wipeable and clean always.
I adored looking through the Pottery Barn websites and oohing and ahhing at the beautiful cribs. It gave me great inspiration! However, the crib is an awesome place to save since cribs are not used for very long. We found a gently used crib on Facebook Marketplace and the family lovingly passed it down to us. Save some money here!
Used books can be so fun! A lot of folks on Facebook marketplace or a secondhand baby store offer them in boxes or bags. We actually asked for books instead of cards for our baby shower and it was a fun way to build our little library! Now when we read them, we know who gifted it to us because I wrote their names in the front cover!
Although a birth class may feel IMPERATIVE at the moment, I would emphasize postnatal and newborn care over birth preparation. Your birth experience is largely out of your control. You lean into your bodies plan and it happens and is over within a few days. The postpartum period is challenging, beautiful and much longer. I did not feel prepared for postpartum and would encourage you to invest in postpartum classes and support.
There are a ton of diaper brands out there and we’ve tried a lot! The best option: Target Up & Up. They don’t leak or cause rashes. Our second favorite brands are Huggies Little Snugglers and The Honest Co.
For newborn diapers (don’t buy a ton!) but definitely get The Honest Co. to start with. They are super soft and didn’t cause any rashes on the sensitive baby skin.
We did not have a great experience and I would say to avoid: Seventh Generation (leaked & scratchy), Luvs, Pampers (rash!),
The target fragrance-free wipes are awesome! No need for expensive wipes to wipe the pee and poo 🙂