Baby Gear : What We Love, Use, Hate, Found No Use For (And lots of other opinions)

Written By Molly Johnston

Transportation/Strollers::

  • I have only the best things to say about our Nuna Pipa Car Seat. Super lightweight and breathable - the light colored shade and ventilation has been perfect for Hawaii. Nordstrom randomly has sales!

  • We use that car seat with the adapters for the Uppababy Vista and Baby Yoyozen. The Vista is amazing except we probably used the bassinet attachment maybe 3 times? It has great storage, handles all terrain and is super smooth. Cons- heavy, large, don’t love using adapters with it - if I lived in a walkable neighborhood, I would use it everyday! With the Nuna car seat, I sort of wished we had just done a Nuna stroller but oh well.

  • Yoyozen was bought for travel and has quickly become my daily stroller as it is super easy for restaurants and quick errands since it is small and folds right up. I actually just replaced this for the Nuna TRVL to have has our travel and quick errand stroller and loveee it! The TRVL doesn’t need adapters for the stroller - it just pops right on! And it also has a one hand fold which has been amazing for solo travel. It doesn’t fold up as much as the Yoyo though. (I got the Cybex Librelle originally and just sold it - I realized I wanted/needed something to use with the infant car seat)

  • This Mirror - attach to the back seat to be able to see the car seat from the front row, so you can see what they are up to back there!

  • Window Shade

  • Travel bags for stroller & car seat

  • Portable sound machine - definitely nice to have one for busy places or as they get used to being in the carseat.

Sleeping::

  • Maxi Cosi Bassinet - we love this,  in hindsight, it would have made more sent to just use the pack n play that we have as it has a bassinet attachment

  • Maxi Cosi Pack n Play - so easy and has extra room to throw in some diapers/sound machine when traveling

  • Ollie Swaddle - wish we had used it from day 1 instead of actual swaddles. This is on the pricier side, but something we used every night!

  • Hatch sound machine

  • Humidifier - we needed this when in CA over the winter

  • Tried the swaddleme swaddles, but didn’t love. Some people swear by them

  • Avoid PJs with buttons - zipper or magnets are the way to go!

  • Infant optics monitor

  • We were gifted so many beautiful swaddles beyond the registry. You will acquire lots,  but my favorites have been Mushie, Angel Dear, CocoMoon, Kahakai, Elli-o Hawaii

  • Kyte sleep sacks - we use the 0.5 TOG since it’s hotter here and when it’s too hot, she just sleeps in Pjs without the sleepsack.

Feeding::

I exclusively breastfed for the first four months, introduced formula when she was four months and, now, we do a combo of breastmilk, formula, solid foods, purees, etc. I have only used my pump (Medela was the brand that came free with my health insurance) once and just didn’t like it at all. For my supply, the Haaka has been the perfect way to collect extra milk to build a stash.

Now that she’s doing solids (also wished I had registered for more older baby stuff to have it ready!)

  • Lalo high chair

  • Infantino Island high chair attachment

  • Bumkins Splat Mat for under high chair

  • Suction plates and bowls

Bouncers/loungers::

  • BabyBjorn - used since she was itty bitty and she never really loved it, but it gave us an option of somewhere to put her when we wanted to put her down/her something done

  • Mamaroo - we bought it on sale and have used a handful of times. I would have just tried to find it used and resold it once she got too big

  • SnuggleMe lounger - used this a lot the first two months as a spot to put her while on the couch, but haven’t use it much since. Nice to have somewhere to put them when lounging at the beginning!

Carriers::

  • Ergobaby Embrace - this came free with our Ergobaby carrier on Black Friday and it was the only carrier we used until recently - sooo easy to use/put on/adjust! But just for newborn as they can’t see out

  • Now a big fan of our ErgoBaby Omni Dream carrier so she can face outwards

  • Tried the Solly baby, but sold it because I didn’t like wrapping & didn’t feel totally secure with her in there

  • We have the baby bjorn, but I haven’t tried it yet. People who have the Artipoppe swear by it, but it seemed to hot for the weather out here.

Postpartum::

  • Frida - literally all of their products!

  • Nursing tanks- I just got some at Target and lived in those the first few weeks and wear them when traveling with a cardigan or zip up sweatshirt for easy access haha

  • Robe, Slippers & Cozy blankets

  • Earth Mama Nipple Butter

  • Advil/whatever pain meds they prescibe, Colace and pre-natal/postpartum vitamins

  • Aerie has some nice nursing bras!

  • Bodily for their postpartum undies

  • Google “padsicles” for a little DIY project - definitely made and used a lot!

  • Period pads - I was soo surprised by how long the bleeding lasts after childbirth (we are talking like 6+ weeks..). You will be given some at the hospital, but good to have a stash waiting for you!

Toys::

Diapering::

  • Keekaroo changing pad

  • Pehr portable changing pad - We love this one, but any portable changing pad is handy and I found it useful to have a set of extras in a bag in the car just in case (Another great option is the Skip Hop Changing Pad)

  • Diapers - Kirkland, Millie Moon, Pampers

  • Wipes - We actually really like the Amazon brand & Kirkland makes good ones as well. You will literally end up with them in every bag/car/room, so never too many wipes!

  • Do NOT like Honest diapers or wipes

  • Diaper rash cream - Boudreaux Butt Paste.. what a name lol

  • Diaper pail - Ubbi Diaper Pail - no need for special bags

  • Whale squishy night light on diaper table for night changes - we were gifted one and use it whenever we do late or early changes since it was in a different room than where we were all sleeping - also great to bring for travel

Bathing::

  • Frida 4-in-1 Grow-with-Me Bath Tub since we don’t have an actual bathtub - we also got their travel one, which was handy and good for bathroom sink baths

  • Babo products - we use the Sensitive Baby Fragrence Free wash and shampoo along with body lotion

  • Hooded towel & little wash clothes

Clothing:

Majority of our clothes are from Target (they carry Carter’s also) & Old Navy, but a lot of other brands we love are -

Tenth & Pine, Kickee Pants, Little Ones shop, Guomi, Magnetic Me (LOVE for pajamas), Quincy Mae/Rylee & Cru, Mori (ribbed line is so cozy!), Petite Lem and The First brand (found a lot on Nordstrom Rack - nice quality neutrals with tasteful patterns), Little Sleepies (grows with them and the material is amazing), Kyte (sleep sacks)

Hawaii brands we love- coco moon, kahakai, Keiki depot, Elli-o

*for PJs, skip any with buttons & just do the zip ups

Things to share as you decide what to register for..

You will be gifted so many swaddles! I wish we had done some sort of diaper raffle or whatever because diapers are expensive and it’s a trial and error to see what you like best!

I was happy to have a handful of NB size clothes because she was pretty little even at 8 lbs.

Wish we had gotten an electric nail file! Those nails are so sharp! In my opinion, there is no need for a wipe dispenser or warmer.

Molly Johnston
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