After moving 2 times in less than 2 months with a 4 month old and having to downsize our space immensely, I’ve learned a lot of the baby “essentials” aren’t that essential at all. I guess I wasn’t the typical expectant parent to begin with. My theory was the less stuff the better, but my husband had a different idea. He wanted the latest and greatest of everything so while doing our registry I was in charge of the scanner. When I got a phone call I asked Thomas to go scan diapers and wipes then come back. By the time I got off the phone our registry had almost 15 new items on it including car seat straps, a baby spa tub, and an 18 foot umbrella! We kept the umbrella on there just for laughs…luckily no one bought it for us. At out baby shower I recieved more car seat bases than diapers and by the time Olivia arrived her clothes took up the same amount of space in the closet as Thomas and I combined. Needless to say, our 1 bedroom apartment was quite cramped. When we decided to move in with family to save money for a couple months it was time to sort through the wants and needs.

My friends who have had babies have been all over the place when it come to registries. Some have a 1 page registry others have 20 pages. It’s interesting to see what some people view as a necessity. I know my mom “just HAD to get” a wipe warmer for me; then we joked around and she gave me a hard time about the baby’s butt being cold when I told her I wasn’t going to use it (the wipes were cold by the time they got from the warmer to the baby!). I guess it depends on where people are in their life and what resources they have when they have kids that dictates what they need. I know I didn’t have to worry about clothes because my cousin has 2 little girls so I got all their hand-me-downs. I think my mid-wife put it best at my 40 week check up “as long as your baby has clothes, a safe place to sleep, and food you’re good to go. The extra stuff is just nice to have”.

I look at the Babys R Us Must Haves Registry Check List and it’s kind of funny to me how much stuff is on there. Now I’m not trying to criticize people who have nice nurseries (believe me I wish we had one) I just think maybe they should drop the “must haves”…I know I know! it’s a sales thing for a business but I think it can cause unecessary anxiety for expectant parents. I looked at the list while making our registry and instantly thought back to a high school project I had to do on propaganda…guess you do use English class lessons later on in life. 🙂

So what are your new baby essentials? Check out my poll on our Facebook page and feel free to add your own answers!