One thing I was told that I really appreciate when I was pregnant was that you really do not need much for the baby. It is ok if all you have is diapers, food (boobs are free, yay! well, for some of us that is;-)) wipes, a place for them to sleep, a carseat, clothes and tons of love. Everything else is optional so there is no reason to stress if you don't have them right away- your baby doesn't care.
FYI- I used this site to help me register
Great things to have that don't necessarily need to be brand new-
-baby swing (my baby takes naps in it everyday),
-bumbo or bouncer (Brody sits in one of these in the room with me while I clean or cook and is content, but I don't personally think you need both)
-good stroller (I have heard that Chicco is best and we love ours- I loved having the full travel system),
-baby carrier (our CHEAPO one from Target works just fine- read the reviews. It's Infantino brand and was $15.99. That being said- I don't have back problems),
-nursing cover (super easy to just make)
-baby swaddlers (the velcro ones are our bff's)
-boppy (makes nursing and holding baby so much easier),
-good monitor (we are looking into a video monitor. We wanted the monitor that detects breath and sets off the alarm if it is absent but since baby was next to us in his bassinet for the first almost 4 months, we think the video one is smarter. Plus, when he becomes a toddler it is nice to see what he is doing in his crib.)
To splurge-
-Carseat/travel system (see above)
-I have a manual pump that is already broken and find it very convenient to pump when we are leaving the house for awhile so I would recommend the Medella automatic pump. Plus, we figure I will use it for every baby we will have so it's worth the money.
-We got a rocker for cheap and while it does the job, I wish we would have spent more for a nicer one since I spend so much time in it.
Everything we bought was cheap/secondhand except the stroller
Useless for us-
-changing table (floor is just fine)
-diaper genie (may be nice if you have extra money but trash cans are just fine for us)
-wipe warmer (your kid is fine to feel a little cold. We aren't raising no wimp:-)) save your money.
Random-
-Don't buy a ton of newborn clothing- we got a lot as gifts and he fit just fine in the 0-3 months, they were just a little big
-Get clothes from garage sales but be careful when buying in advance if you aren't sure what the weather will be like when they are a certain age
- I liked the Lanolin pads vs. the cream for breast feeding comfort. Also a huge help was squirting milk on the nipple after a feeding to help soothe. Tmi? Pretty sure you shouldn't be reading if it is because you probably aren't pregnant.
-take everything you can from the hospital except the wall mirror. Hey, they said anything non-linen!
-I got a $20 Walmart diaper bag and it does just fine. I'd rather eat 3 (cough 7) meals a day then spend $300 on a stupid bag. I like shoes...
- we have a white noise app on the iPod for nighttime and baby loves it
Being a mom is the best thing ever- hope this helped.
