Baby Registry Must Haves – The Everyday Stuff

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Hey guys! Welcome to part two of my must-have Walmart baby registry items series! I can’t even tell you how much I’ve enjoyed putting this series together. Honestly, I think it’s because it’s taking me down memory lane remembering all the moments where I needed these items in the first year of Molly’s life and Riley’s life. I was going to make today about must-have items in your nursery. But I decided to save that one for last because I think it’s the best one! Gotta save the best for last right? And that’s because all the items I’m recommending for that post are all about promoting the best sleep which trust me is absolutely crucial when you become a parent. You’re going to be doing everything and anything you can to find ways to get sleep.

Anyways, now that I properly teased the last part of my series let’s talk about part two. This blog post is all about general baby essentials! That means products that I love that I didn’t use in the kitchen, which was the first part of my series, and that I don’t use in the nursery, which will be the last part of my series. So this is basically everything in between. And well, I’m writing it in between! Everything is from Walmart so that makes it super easy for you to create a Walmart baby registry and add all these items. And if you don’t end of needing anything you get, you can easily return to a Walmart store or mail back – having options makes life sooo much easier. And you’ll need all the “easy” you can get once this little one comes into your life 😉

So let’s get into it.

Newborn Lounger

When you first take your little baby home, you’re going to want to hold them all the time. I remember being absolutely, utterly exhausted when we brought Molly home from the hospital and even though I knew I should put her down, I just wanted to hold her in my arms. That said, there will come a point where you need to put your baby down! Especially a few months in when the initial feelings of becoming a parent has slightly worn off and you’re just crazily sleep deprived and desperate for a break. Ha! This is where the newborn lounger/pillow comes in. We used this pillow for both Molly and Riley. It is the perfect little place to sit down your little one when they are sleeping in your arms need a break. And for the first three months of your babies life they will sleep a lot! So having a easy little cushion to put them on just makes life easier. My best friend Stef actually bought me this pillow when I was pregnant with Molly for my baby shower. So that’s why I wanted to beat it to be the very first item on this list! And she’s a mom of three so she knew what she was doing when she recommended this product to me and bought it for me when I was a newbie parent.

1. NEWBORN LOUNGER

Real quick before I move on from this one, I wanted to put a rock and play on this list, but recently they became discontinued because they’re not safe. And I really think that this newborn lounger is a good alternative. You could also use a dock-a-tot which is a safe alternative, but they’re a bit more expensive. But I say, hey why not throw it on your list because of somebody else is buying it for you go for it! Ha! Maybe your really generous Aunt Mary will snatch it up for you 😉

Baby Swing

Speaking off having somewhere to put your baby down, a good swing can change the GAME for you! (Yes this is also a sleep item – but again, it’s for sleep outside of the nursery) The first few weeks of your baby’s life, they will sleep a lot. Pretty much anywhere you put them they will zonk out. You can talk, watch TV, vacuum (the sound of a vacuum actually helps put some babies to sleep), heck you could have a party and your little one will nap peacefully next to you. But after that initial newborn fog wears off, things change in a major way! Now you’ll do anything and everything to keep everything quiet so your little one doesn’t wake up. This is where a good swing will SAVE you. Riley went from taking 30 min cat naps to taking 1:15 min naps when we got this swing. Trust me – add this swing to your Walmart baby registry. And thank me later 😉

1. BABY SWING

Baby Carrier

You 1000% need to put a baby carrier on your registry. I know this sounds silly but the one thing I always say that surprises me about parenthood is that there are basically never any breaks. It’s nonstop all day every day. So when you do need your hands free to get a few things around done around your house, you’re going to need to put your baby in a carrier. I used two different carriers with my kiddos. A wrap carrier and then a traditional carrier. A wrap carrier is really great for the first few months of your child’s life when they’re itty bitty. You can use a traditional carrier for this, but I just found the wrap to feel more cozy for them. I used a few different brands of wraps – I was very fortunate that I got multiple. This is one of the ones I used most. I was a size medium. But I was also sent a size small and the small is way too small for me. So make sure you look at the sizing and choose your correct size.

1. WRAP CARRIER | 2. TRADITIONAL CARRIER (seen above) | 3. AFFORDABLE CARRIER FOR $30

If you don’t want to get more than one carrier and only want one then this one is it! We used the Ergo Baby 360 carrier with both our kids. And it was the same one for both our kids. So they last! I don’t know the exact weight limits but you can carry your kid in this thing for a long time! Well into toddler hood! And it’s called the 360 carrier because they can face forward and backwards in it. And you realize once your child is older they won’t want to face you anymore. They want to be facing outward and seeing all of the things going on in the world that they’re constantly learning about.

A solid carrier like this can be expensive. This one’s $140. So definitely put it on your registry so you can hopefully have someone get it for you!

Car Seat

You absolutely need a car seat on your registry. It’s one of the first things you need when your baby is born to take them home from the hospital. In fact, the hospital won’t even let you leave with the baby without seeing them strapped into a car seat first. We used the Orbit car seat with Molly, but it no longer exists because it’s discontinued. But with Riley, we use the Maxi Cosi Mico Max Plus car seat. It’s got incredible safety ratings, it was really easy to install, and it’s easy to take it in and out of the car. And when I say it’s easy to install literally it’s two latches that you latch onto a bar in between your car seat cushions. And then with the click of a button it comes undone. Remember the days when the car seats were an absolute nightmare to install? In fact, I remember when we had Molly we were gifted one, I can’t remember the brand, and it’s seriously took us five hours to try to figure out how to put it in the car. And even after all that time we still couldn’t figure it out and we brought it to a professional installation place. And they even had a hard time figuring it out! So you definitely want to go with a brand that is easy to install and this one is absolutely a piece of cake!

1. CAR SEAT

4 Moms Playard

Okay technically this next item has to do with sleep, but it’s also for play so I thought I’d include it on this list. And it’s really not intended for sleep in a babies nursery – since it’s meant for sleep on-the-go or outside of the nursery. Anyway, I can’t recommend this item more! Pack and plays are also one of those items that you’ve seen and heard horror stories about! Where they’re so absolutely impossible to figure out how to open that it takes a parent hours to figure it out. My sister had one where I remember Kevin and I legit spent an hour trying to figure it out and eventually she had to come over to my moms house and do it for us. Some of them are just impossible! But this playard is foolproof. It literally has a button that you press in the middle and then a handle you pull up on and it collapses in one second flat. Then you throw it in the travel bag and hit the road. It’s also great because it is a safe play area when you need to put your baby down and do something. And I have a little cover that comes on top that you can use as a baby bassinet when your baby is very little. We actually used it as a changing table in our family room for the first nine months or so of Riley‘s life. We just recently moved it out of our family room and packed it up in the garage to use for trips. The pics below is of it folded up. It’s so easy to transport!

1. MY $12 TOP | 2. PORTABLE PLAYARD

We have a regular changing table in Riley’s nursery but that’s upstairs in our home. So we needed something downstairs but didn’t want to have to buy a whole nother changing table. This worked perfectly! When I tell you this is an item that you will use over and over and over again I mean it! And then of course we take it on the road with us when we travel for our kiddos to sleep in. A lot of hotels offer a crib that you can request to the room. But I’m always weirded out about how old those crib mattresses are. And, with Airbnb’s being so popular now, most of the time you have to bring something with you.

You can also buy this attachment that you can store diapers and wipes in, if you use it as a changing table. We got the storage caddy because we used it as a changing table for so long in our house. Literally we used it 7+ times a day for nine months straight. And like I said, now we have it in our garage ready to go when we need it for a trip. To be completely honest with you this might be one of my absolute favorite baby products ever. Because it’s one we got so much use out of.

1. PORTABLE PLAYARD

Baby Seat

We used this seat for Molly and then I believe we donated it and ended up buying a different one for Riley. I wish we had it because this one is so much better than the one we had for Riley. I think it’s because of the softer material. The one we got for Riley, which I won’t say the brand because I don’t wanna bash them, was very hard. It was like made of plastic all around and was made so he could sort of spin in it and look in all different directions. But the problem with the hard plastic was that his little baby legs didn’t want to go in and out of it. I remember feeling like I was going to hurt him every time I tried to get him in there. Whereas this seat is made of fabric and so easy to slide your baby in and out. And it has really good back support when they’re very little. I can’t remember how early we started putting Molly in it. But I believe it was earlier than recommended. Ha! It was just so convenient when we were doing something to sit her in there without having to worry about what she was going to get into.

1. BABY SEAT

Jumper

Speaking of things that are easy to put your kid in to keep them occupied, we also used and loved his Jumper. The exact “ocean theme” jumper that he had is sold out, but this one is the same, but more of a “globe” theme. We didn’t have this for Molly but we got it for Riley. It was just one of those things that he absolutely loved jumping in. So when we needed a minute to get something done or if he was getting fussy in one scenario we would put him in the jumper and he would happily bounce for hours if we let him. It also plays music, which he loved! We usually would limit his time in there to 15 to 20 minutes or so. But I think babies are allowed to go longer I’m not quite sure. I also feel like it’s a great way for them to get a little bit of exercise especially before I can walk.

1. SIMILAR JUMPER

Floor Foam Mat

Whatever you do – do not buy a play mat that comes in those jigsaw pieces that you put together. They will never stay together because your kids will rip them up and I feel like so much little pieces of dirt and debris gets in between them. I know this because we got one like that for Molly. And by the time she was mobile she was ripping it up and pieces were just all over the place. However, we had a foam mat like this for Riley. I can’t even tell you how many of you guys sent me messages asking for details on it. I don’t know if this is the exact brand we had but I think it is. I just liked it because of the subtle gray and white pattern on one side. It is reversible and has a fun pattern on the other side. But you guys know me I like my white and neutral colors. Ha! It’s definitely pricier than the jigsaw foam mats, but I think it’s worth it. And once again if this is an item you can get somebody to get you off your registry, you’re golden.

1. OUR EXACT PLAY MAT

I was just going through my phone and found this pic too so I thought that I would add it in!! My jeans are only $16!!!!!!! And they are absolutely incredible quality for being so inexpensive. I’ve also linked my top. It is henley-style button down, and I am LOVING the sleeves. Did I mention that it’s only $11?? So my entire outfit is under $30! Talk about a steal!

1. $16 JEANS | 2. $11 TOP | 3. OUR EXACT PLAY MAT

Reversible Cloth Bibs!

I just realized that I left these out of the Must Haves for the Kitchen! We love these reversible cloth bibs in our household!!! The reason that we love them so much is that they are a soft waterproof like cloth that are super easy to wipe off. You can rinse them, or wipe a little dish soap on them and add some water and they are perfectly clean! You can just lay them on a towel to dry, or hang them from a hook. We store ours on the handles of our window sill above the kitchen sink, within grabbing distance of the high chairs! We also throw them in the washing machine every once in awhile too. You really can’t beat the ease of these. We started using them with Molly because she really didn’t like the hard ones, and honestly we will never use anything else!

1. REVERSIBLE BIB

I also love that the design and fabrics alternate and that you can reverse it to either side. We use all of Molly’s for Riley too! Even the more girly ones, we just flip them to the reverse side with the more solid color, and they easily turn more “boyish”. Another great thing about them is that they have a magnet at the back to attach them, and you don’t have to fumble with any hooks or holes! They seriously make life so much easier, and the kids don’t mind having them on at all! Plus they last forever!!! We’ve had some of Molly’s since she was an infant and they still look like new. OH, did I mention that there is also a pocket that catches all the food they drop? And the pocket is on both sides. I highly recommend registering for one of these!

There you have it. I LOOOOVE all of these items and I really think you will too! If you are expecting, start your Walmart baby registry today and add these things!!! You’ll be sooo glad you did! And let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. And please share the items that YOU love that I haven’t put on this list! In my last post both Lindsay Burns and Leslie suggested the Baby Brezza as a must have in the kitchen so I am adding that here for you guys to check out and giving Lindsay and Leslie a shout out like I promised!!!! If you guys suggest something I like below and I mention it in my next blog in this series, I will give YOU a shout out too! Stay tuned for part three of this series – baby must have in the nursery! My final and most important one in the series!!!!

And HUGE thank you to Walmart for partnering with me on this series! It’s been one of my favorites ever!

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