“What do I need to have on my baby registry? Do I even need a baby registry? How much stuff could one or two tiny humans need?” 

These are questions I got all the time as a prenatal yoga teacher. 

One - I’ll tell you my opinion of what should be on your registry. 

Two - You absolutely need a registry. 

Three - Tiny babies sometimes need SO much stuff.

My argument for having a baby registry is primarily that people want to send you gifts and unless you have REALLY REALLY convinced your friends and family that you are a minimalist who needs NOTHING you will be getting a rocking horse - thousand baby onesies - twenty swaddles - fill in the blank here -  in the mail from well-meaning gift-givers. 

Having a registry helps friends and family focus on gifts you really want or need.

This will save you from wondering what your newborn is going to do with the rocking horse taking up space in the living room when the baby can’t even hold up their head yet. It will also save you from having to find ways to politely/awkwardly ask how much friends and family wanted to spend on your gift. Send them to your registry and they can choose for themself.

As for how much stuff babies need — every family is different. Some families get by with a few outfits, toys, and books and others will seemingly have opened up a children’s store in their living room. Almost all registries will have the same main sections of items that help parents feed, cloth, bath, and sleep their babies.  Over the ten years I’ve spent with families moving through baby’s first weeks, I’ve found five wonderful gifts I almost never see on registries. 

Before I get to these awesome present ideas, a shameless plug. Bodywork or postpartum doula care should absolutely be on every baby registry. When I was a solo postpartum doula about half of my clients received their care as a gift through donations from friends and at Mountain Mama Massage we have lots of clients - both new and returning- who “register” for massage therapy as their gift both postpartum and beyond. Bodywork for tired parents can be such a blessing during the first days, months, and even years!

For those of you who are looking for more tangible gifts, consider my Top-5-New-Parent-Gifts-I’ve-Never-Seen-On-A-Registry-But-Almost-All-New-Parents-Can-Use:

1.A Really Great Travel Mug

Trying to drink hot coffee while holding a squirming baby without spilling hot coffee on said precious child is hard! Remembering to drink the coffee while it’s still hot is even harder. Remembering where you set down your mug while you fed/changed/clothed babe is the nearly impossible. (Hint - It’s in the microwave where you were reheating it or on the bookshelf for no apparent reason.) Get a great travel mug to keep your beverage warm, nearby, and unspilled so that you can drink it whenever you remember. Added bonus - before bed, make a cup of tea and snack for whoever is taking the first night waking shift and put the tea in the travel mug to keep it warm for midnight sipping. I love my yeti and it sometimes even keeps my drinks too hot. 

2. Bluetooth Headphones

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve seen great wireless headphones save lives. I’m thinking about a client with a colicky baby (that means inconsolable crying 6-8 hours in a day over a series of days and weeks) who every night from 6-9 pm would put on her headphones, wrap her baby onto her body, blast great music into her ears, and dance laps around her kitchen while her babe cried and cried. Maybe you just want to lie on the couch and watch Game of Thrones without waking your baby. Maybe your hands are full of toddlers and babies and you still want to chat with your brother. Maybe you want to live stream the newest Phish show at concert volumes without ruining your baby’s ears.  Whatever the reason, now is the time to gift new parents with wireless headphones.

3. Himalayan Salt Lamp

FACT - Babies wake up in the night. FACT - An adult often wakes up with them. If a parent is breast/chestfeeding, they have hormones that help them with this night waking. But that doesn’t mean we need to wake the whole house. Salt lamps come in many shapes and sizes and the ones I love most are pink salt and give off a lovely warm glow that emits just enough light that you can see if your babe is dream squawking or actually awake, change a diaper, and breast/bottle feed without turning on all the lights and telling your body it’s time to wake up for the day. Keep it simple and pick this little lamp up from the local hardware (everything) store.

4. Memberships and Subscriptions

Costco, Instacart, GreenChef, libro.fm, AmazonPrime - This one takes a call to the new family to see what they need and want, but can be a great gift that they use throughout the year. Wholesale  stores are great for buying diapers and wipes in the bulk many families need. Grocery delivery subscriptions can save tired parents from choosing between a nap and going for groceries and working parents from deciding between stopping for groceries or playing with their kiddo before bed. Someone else is getting the groceries so do whatever you need! Meal boxes take the stress out of planning what to eat and instead you just get to enjoying the cooking and eating. Apps like libro.fm (basically an Audible where you are buying from your local bookstore) give access to audiobooks parents can play over their new wireless headphones during walks, naps, and commutes. 

5.  A Little Inspiration

Somedays being a new parent is an oxytocin filled joy ride. Other days are quite literally filled with sh*t. Gift inspiration to get through the hard days. It could be a box of uplifting words, an app designed to help new mamas get centered or send new mamas a daily self-love reminder, or a DIY set you create that totally gets the new parent’s sense of humor. However you want to send support and smile, let the new parents know you are here to help beyond the baby giggles.

Do you have any other favorite gifts to add to the registry? I would love to hear your ideas and help parents make better selections, more useful regisitries, and more supported transitions as their family grows.