What to put on a baby registry for the first three months

The house of a first-time parent tends to hold a wipe warmer, a bottle steriliser the size of a microwave and two full sets of newborn clothes. The steriliser gets used daily, the wipe warmer never, and the newborn clothes last eleven days before the baby grows out of them. This list is what belongs on the registry instead, sorted by the situations you will actually be in.

Feeding, by breast or bottle or both

If you plan to breastfeed, ask for a proper electric pump, two nursing bras in different sizes (your size will change), breast pads and a tube of lanolin cream. A feeding pillow sounds like a luxury until the fourth feed of the night. Then it is the best thing anyone gave you.

For bottles, whether from the start or as a top-up, you want four to six bottles in two sizes, teats with different flow rates, and a steriliser. Add at least eight muslin cloths. Babies bring milk back up more than anyone warns you, and you will be through four cloths by lunch. A bottle warmer and a formula dispenser you can fill in advance earn their place at three in the morning.

A bed with nothing in it

The cot needs a firm mattress that fits with no gap at the edges, and three or four fitted sheets so one can always be in the wash. Everything else stays out: no pillows, no duvet, no bumper, no soft toys. They look cosy in the shop and they are a suffocation risk in the cot.

For the first weeks a bedside cot or a Moses basket means you can reach the baby without getting up. Swaddle wraps or a sleeping bag in the right tog help a newborn settle. A monitor is worth asking for, even a basic audio one, so you can sit in the garden while the baby naps. Blackout blinds and a white noise machine both help the baby learn that dark and quiet mean sleep. Plenty of parents hold out against the white noise machine for a month on principle. Most of them cave, and wish they had caved sooner.

Clothes in sizes the baby will grow into

Do not stock up on newborn size. Ask for a few bodysuits and sleepsuits in newborn, then more in 0 to 3 and 3 to 6 months, and a couple in 6 to 12 for later. Envelope necks and poppers or zips matter more than the print: you will be changing this child on a bed in the dark.

Scratch mittens stop the baby clawing its own face, and a soft hat helps with warmth in the early weeks. Then add whatever your season needs, a padded snowsuit for a January baby or a sun hat for a July one. And bibs, lots of them. Waterproof ones for feeds, soft cotton ones for the constant dribble in between.

Bath and nappy changes

A small baby bath that sits in the big bath or on the kitchen counter is easier on your back than leaning over the tub. Add a non-slip mat, a bath support so both your hands are free, fragrance-free wash, a few soft flannels and a hooded towel.

A newborn goes through ten to twelve nappies a day. Have a pack of newborn size and a pack of size 1 in the house before the birth, because you do not know how big this baby will be. Add nappy cream, cotton wool, wipes and a changing mat. Put a second mat upstairs if your bedroom and bathroom are on different floors. You will not want to carry a screaming baby down a staircase at 4am.

The car seat and the pushchair

The car seat is the one item that is not optional. You cannot leave the hospital by car without it. Choose an infant seat or a convertible one that meets the current standard, and if a base makes the daily click-in easier, ask for the base too. Many parents go for a travel system where the seat clips onto the pushchair frame. It is expensive, which makes it a good candidate for grandparents to buy together.

For the pushchair, be honest about where you live. A compact model for city pavements and shop aisles, a bigger set of wheels if you will be on gravel and grass. A sling or carrier is worth having as well. It frees your hands and calms a grizzly baby faster than any amount of rocking.

Put all of this on one list and share the link before the baby shower. Friends can reserve what they will buy, so you get one steriliser instead of three, and expensive items like the travel system can be split between several people. You can create a baby registry in an evening and add things as you think of them.