I made the mistake, very early in my pregnancy, of googling "what to put on my baby registry." To be fair, to have landed on this post, you likely either follow me on social media or also googled the exact same thing I did  to end up here. If you're in the process of getting your registry together, then you're well aware of how insane and varied different people's "essentials" lists are. Everyone is different, and every one needs/wants different things so what someone might swear they could never have made it through without, you'll find little use for.

Personally, baby registries are the one place where I am a big fan of minimalism. Until your baby gets here and you have a sense of what you need and don't, it's best to stick to what's crucial. I know, I know, how can you be expected to resist cute baby shoes (literally, no your baby can't wear them yet and if you get them, you baby will wear them for all of 2 weeks at most because they grow like weeds in those early days), wipe warmers (a waste of space, money and time) or that sleep promising Snoo bassinet (more on that later).

It's so easy to get carried away stocking your registry with things you want your baby to have. It makes sense. You love your little one and want him or her to have the very best of everything, and they definitely deserve it. But, excess won't help you. You'll just end up with a bunch of baby shit in storage that you never used, taking up space in your already cramped house (not that I know from experience).

This essentials list might not be as robust as some others you'll come across, but in my humble opinion, it's a damn good start. My mama says "eat the fish but leave the bones" and that applies here. Take what works for you from this guide and leave what doesn't. I hope you find it helpful!

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Where The Hell Should I Host My Registry?

Great question and the first one you need to ask yourself. As with all things baby registry the answer is...there are a lot of options. I could go through them all but what a massive waste of time. I have three that I used, friends of mine use/used and I very much loved so that's what I'm going to include here.

• Babylist
  The Big Kahuna of baby registries because it makes your life that much easier. With Babylist, you can pull everything you want together from different store fronts all together in one seamless site. No more sending people different links to different places so that can grab items off your list. With this site, you are able to add things like "money fund for mama's healing vagina." (which you should 1,000% do lol)
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• Amazon
  Ahh the mighty Amazon. The website where you can order lube and and a glow-in-the-dark pacifier for your fussy baby at the same damn time. I love Amazon. My husband does not, but that because I literally get a box from them every other day. Oh well. As far as a baby registry goes, it isn't my favorite. The website doesn't have that same cohesive feeling that Babylist provides but it's fantastic for one-off items that aren't easy to find. Another place that Amazon truly shines is their subscriptions offerings.
  
  If you have someone willing to sign up for one on your behalf (or maybe folks willing to go in as a group) it would be nice to register for a years worth of diapers or wipes or both.

• Buy Buy Baby
  Think of this place like Toys R' Us but for parents. Almost anything you want or need for your baby, is here. I love the fact that they also offer the option for group gifting and they price match. They also have little registry starter kits if you don't know what you're into design wise for your nursery. Super helpful.

Your Registry Essentials

I hope this list is helpful! You can check things off and share it with your friends if you like. You'll see links here and those are for items I used/still use for Nola and absolutely recommend.

What Isn't On This List

• Wipe Warmer - It will dry out your wipes meaning you'll have to replace them fast and trust me, your baby doesn't care.
• Snoo - I really wanted to love this but for us it was a waste of money. I ended up co-sleeping with Nola anyway so it wasn't worth the splurge. For what it's worth, we sold it to a friend of ours and her daughter loved it. But for the price (and the amount of time baby will use it) it's best to spend your money elsewhere.
• Crib bumpers - They may be cute but they're a literal suffocation hazard for your baby. Best to not get them at all.
• Newborn outfits - they grow so quickly that you won't have time to really get them into anything. I would register for a few clothes in all of the sizes (0-3, 3-6, 6-9 etc.,) but for the newborn phase? Just plain onesies that are easy to change diapers in/get spit up out of.