When you put together a baby registry, you're quickly buried under recommendations from every direction. Here's an edited list: only what actually gets used, sorted by category.
Sleep: the essentials first
Your baby's sleep directly determines yours. This is the category where it's worth investing.
- Sleeping bag (or sleep sack): essential from birth. It replaces the blanket and removes the risk of it slipping over baby's face. Plan for at least two different TOG ratings depending on the season.
- Breathable cot bumper: protects baby from draughts and the cot bars. Choose a mesh model, safer than the old padded versions.
- Baby monitor: pointless if you sleep in the same room for the first few months, but quickly indispensable once baby moves to their own room.
- Night light: not essential in the early months, but very handy for night feeds without switching on the ceiling light.
Bath time: two or three items are enough
Bathing a baby doesn't require much. The main risk is being under-equipped and handling the end of the bath in a panic.
- Hooded bath towel: the hood covers the wet head straight away. Get two, so one is always dry while the other is in the wash.
- Adaptable baby bath: a bath with a newborn insert is more than enough. No need for several.
- Washing products: one fragrance-free product for body and hair covers you until age 3.
Feeding
Even if you're not sure you'll breastfeed, put a nursing pillow on the list anyway: it doubles as a support cushion for baby and a pregnancy pillow.
- Nursing pillow: essential for positioning baby without wrecking your back. Choose a firm model with a removable, machine-washable cover.
- Breast pump, bottles, bottle warmer: wait and see whether you breastfeed before buying everything. Some maternity units lend equipment for the first weeks.
Outings and transport
The pram is often the biggest purchase on the list. It deserves real thought based on your lifestyle (flat, house, city, countryside).
- Baby carrier or wrap: independently of the pram, it lets you keep baby against you hands-free. Very useful on public transport, on stairs, or to calm baby quickly.
- Group 0+ car seat: mandatory from the day you leave the maternity ward if you have a car. Put it at the top of the list if your budget is tight.
- UV tent: not an urgent buy, but essential for summer outings to the beach or garden. Babies under 6 months shouldn't be in direct sunlight.
Clothes: less is more
Babies grow fast. Very fast. Newborn size often lasts 4 to 6 weeks. There's no point stocking 20 bodysuits in the 1-month size.
- 5 to 7 short- or long-sleeved bodysuits per size
- 3 to 5 sleepsuits or pyjamas
- 1 or 2 going-out outfits
- Socks (they vanish on their own)
Wait for the newborn gifts before buying the 3-month size: friends and family will often cover it.
Things you buy before the birth and barely use
A few items show up on every list but turn out to get little use in practice:
- The muslin bath cloth: often replaced by the hooded towel from the very first days
- The bath thermometer: useful the first few weeks, but your elbow does the job just fine
- The head cushion: not recommended in a baby's cot before age 2
- Decorative booties: cute but useless while baby isn't walking yet
The essentials people forget
These items lack the glamour of the others but save you a lot of hassle:
- Nasal aspirator (indispensable from the first cold)
- Baby nail clippers with curved blade
- Nursing pads (if you breastfeed)
- Disposable nappy bags for outings
- A mop and bucket: not glamorous, but you'll need them within weeks
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