Baby Registry Regret: What Baby Gifts, Toys, and More Did You Regret Putting On Your Registry?
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Here’s a fun thing I’ve been meaning to talk about for a while: baby registry regret! What did you consider to be the registry FLOPS — what items did you really regret putting on your registry (or otherwise buying for your baby)? I’ll acknowledge at the beginning that this can really be particular by child — I know that there wasn’t always overlap between what my sons liked when they were babies. Still, some of the things that would be on my list of my biggest baby registry regrets:
- the 3-in-1 Exersaucer: Here’s my thing with this one: we loved step 2 of the Exersaucer. But step 1 and step 3 just took up a ton of floor space and didn’t seem to get a lot of use with either boy. Fortunately I now see that you can get a $30 Exersaucer that is basically ONLY step 2.
- a mobile for the baby’s bedroom: I got one that was black and white with interchangeable cards (this one, I think) — but it turned out to be a PITA to change the cards, I kept knocking into the mobile trying to put the baby down, and so forth. With baby #2 I wound up getting “use” out of the cards by just taping them to the wall near the baby with painter’s tape — we had some near the crib (behind the slats where the kiddo couldn’t get them), some near his little Fisher Price swing, some near tummy time, etc. (And I now see that they have a smaller, clip-on mobile that might have been better for us because we could have moved it around…)
- Most baby clothes. I had crazy spreadsheets when I was registering for things — OK we need 6 onesies for newborn size, 6 onesies for “3 month” size, 6 onesies for “6 month” size, etc. Then I need 6 pants for newborn size, 6 pants for 3 month size… and on and on. Here’s what I truly used: 10 swaddle wraps and a ton of diapers, at least until the kiddo started rolling over, and then you could keep them in stretchies (footed sleepers) pretty much 24/7. Now, there’s an important caveat here: one of the best daycare tips moms here have shared is that they often felt like their kiddo got better treatment if they were “dressed cute” for daycare. (Little person, expression of personality, etc.) SO — make note of that if you plan on sending your kiddo to daycare at any point during their infancy. But if you’ve got an extended maternity leave, or have childcare that involves a stay at home partner, a grandparent, or a nanny, you probably don’t need too many baby clothes until you hit the one year mark.
- Fancy diaper bag. This one wasn’t on my registry because I bought it pretty much as soon as the stick turned pink, but I regretted the $350 diaper bag I bought before I knew how I’d be using in my bag (and how I’d be stocking in my diaper bag).
Ladies, do you have any baby registry regret? What do you regret putting on your registry or buying for your kiddo? Which were the biggest flops?
Psst: see the rest of our registry advice for working moms!
Pictured: Shutterstock / Photographee.eu. 
Mini pack n play! We thought we were so smart getting a smaller one that could function as bassinet/crib/travel crib…then our little giant outgrew it at 6 months (when the instructions said 0-18 months!) If you’re from a tall family, don’t get anything mini!
And fwiw, the used market for baby stuff is great on Nextdoor, Craigslist, etc. And it’s better for the environment to not just buy more junk.
This list is amazing..,Love a lot of the brands already and can’t wait to try some of the new things on baby #2
I registered for a cover that you put in the shopping cart so that your baby doesn’t have to touch the cart when he/she sits in the front part. So stupid and it is HUGE, and if I can recall, expensive!! I literally can’t imagine having to schlep that thing with me every time I want to go to the grocery store among every other thing you need to remember to bring with you for the baby when leaving the house. It’s just sitting and collecting dust.
LOL
The only really dumb thing that springs to mind was a container for wipes that attaches to your stroller. Jesus, self. Put them in a ziplock and shove them in the top of the diaper bag/backpack. If you need a wipe, you probably need something else in the diaper bag. If you don’t need something else in the diaper bag, you can probably use your hand.
Against advice of a 4 time mom, I put a ton of stuff on my registry that I didn’t really need. She advised me, every baby is different, so wait until the baby is here, and sure enough… yuppers. I think the comments above confirm that. There are a lot of things some babies use and others don’t. E.g. mine couldn’t drink a bottle unless it was warm, and guzzled 8oz frequently.
Things my baby didn’t need (but yours might):
– a fancy Rockaroo. He loved the $20 jiggler way more
– any type of carrier. He refused to do the baby wearing thing. I bought two carriers. One he was ok with, the other he hated
– a lot of under 3 mo clothes… he mostly lived in a diaper and swaddle
– blankets. They tell you not to put these in the crib anyways. When they’re toddlers they’re more into blankets
– a fancy stroller. Now I don’t feel bad if the one I got gets dinged.
Diapers, it will take time to see what fits your kid.
My oldest was pamper’s baby (we tried cheap brands and she peed through every time)
My youngest, Huggies (they fit her better)
And yes to lots of baby containers! I loved having a second bouncy seat in the bathroom.
We only registered for newborn stuff and I am glad we did it that way. I was able to make much more informed choices about the exersaucer, high chair, etc. once I actually had a baby who was developmentally ready for the equipment. Example: I would have registered for a lovely wooden high chair. I actually bought an ugly, easy-to-clean one with a dishwasher-safe tray.
Can’t get this reply to thread properly. I pumped and bottle fed for the first several weeks and when I finally got a bottle warmer it was a game-changer. Our evil pediatrician had us convinced that we would make baby sick by giving her cold bottles. It took so long to warm them up under the faucet, and being a So Cal native I couldn’t stand wasting all that water.
Bath stuff, just because we got so many unsolicited baskets of baby shampoo, lotion, etc. from random people as gifts! Also swaddle blankets – my little guy busted out of anything that didn’t involve velcro. A couple of the blankets were nice to have around, but most of them went unused.
Call me crazy, but I actually wish we would have gotten more toys. We got TONS of stuffed animals, but not a lot of baby-friendly toys that he can pick up, grip, put in his mouth, etc. We are buying ones now at 4 mos that double as teethers.
8 ounce bottles. I didn’t realize they were only for formula and that breast-fed babies will never eat more than 4-5 ounces at a time. Since I exclusively breastfeed, those big bottles never got used. (We had a mix of a couple of different kinds of bottles — Dr. Brown, Avent, Lifefactory, and Comotomo — but after a bottle strike at 4 months, he now uses a single Joovy Boob bottle all day, every day while I’m at work.)
I also regretted my Skip Hop wetbag. It was really cute, but I threw it away after a month because the lining got holes in it after being washed. PlanetWise wet bags have been much more durable.
No other regrets, though! Looking through my registry (my baby is 8 months old now), I see lots of stuff that we used constantly and still use today. Glad I registered for a ring sling as it really opened up the world of babywearing for me when LO was just a few days old.
I actually think we did a really good job registering. My husband thought the baby had too many “beds” (rock n play, bouncy seat, pack n play), but shes 3 months and we’ve used them all!
Baby bottle warmer. Completely unnecessary when you can just run it under hot water. I blame hormones.
I had a minimalist registry I think; it didn’t include any clothes at all or anything that wouldn’t get used until my son was over 6 months or so. I got SO MUCH STUFF free as hand-me-downs or from local parent listservs, so I didn’t really care if a random free thing didn’t get used. I also was so ruthlessly practical (on a very tight budget) that I really appreciated the less practical keepsake things I got as gifts, like an engraved picture frame. I more regretted things I didn’t get that I later had to locate, which were hard to predict. E.g., burp cloths – I thought it was dumb to buy burp clothes and planned to just use dish towels or hand towels. Then I had a baby with reflux and we did not have enough towels to contain him. I didn’t register for a swing, and frankly would not have anyway since they are so easy to get free/cheap used, and then got a used one after my son was born in a panic. (This was not that hard though – I posted on our listserv and had 3 offers ranging in price from $0-50 in less than a day. I picked the free one and was happy enough with it). I do wish I had registered for a carrier since they are expensive and I couldn’t find the one I wanted used, but again, I thought I had the carriers I needed – I didn’t know until I had a baby that I didn’t like them.
I think a frozen meals + diapers + gift card shower could be awesome for someone cheap and practical like me.
I had that mobile – we put it on our changing table and we spent many many quality hours watching baby looking at it with great interest. Agree, however, that changing out the cards is terrible and should be redesigned.