What to add to a Sinterklaas baby registry and what to leave off

A baby's first Sinterklaas brings a wave of presents from grandparents, aunts and neighbours who have been waiting all year for an excuse. Left to themselves they buy the same plush elephant and the same size 56 outfit the baby grew out of in October. A registry steers that, as long as it mixes the things you will use every day with a few that are only there for the photo.

What parents actually run out of

Muslins, burp cloths and fitted cot sheets. Nobody has enough of them and they go through the wash daily, so a pack of six muslins is a better gift than it looks. For clothes, list sizes 74 and 80 (roughly 6 to 12 months); newborn sizes last a few weeks and most parents already have a drawer full.

Bath things are easy to add: a hooded towel, a mild wash without perfume, a bath thermometer. On the feeding side, put bottles on the list if the baby is bottle-fed and nursing pads if not. Both are the kind of thing nobody buys as a present unless it is written down, and both run out.

Toys that do something for a developing baby

Under six months a baby needs very little: something to grip, something to chew and something with contrast to look at. A Sophie la Girafe or a similar rubber teether, a set of black-and-white contrast cards and two or three board books cover it. A soft rattle with different textures earns a place. A light-up piano with twelve songs does not, at least not this year.

A memory book, the kind with a page per month for a photo and a few lines, is a gift for the parents more than the baby, and it only gets filled in if it is sitting on the shelf in the first weeks. Put it on the list now.

Winter comfort for the baby and the parents

Sinterklaas falls at the start of winter, so seasonal gifts get used straight away. A winter sleeping bag (2.5 tog for a bedroom of 16 to 20 degrees) is what the safe-sleep guidance in most European countries recommends instead of loose blankets in the cot, and a thick footmuff for the pram matters more than any outfit. Keep the soft blankets for the sofa and the car seat.

A nightlight with a dim, warm setting makes the 3 a.m. feed less of a shock for everyone, and a humidifier takes the edge off dry air when the heating runs all day. Parents count too. A nursing pillow, a wool throw for the feeding chair and a thermos that keeps tea hot for the length of a cluster feed are the gifts that still get mentioned in February.

Setting up the registry itself

Spread the prices. Grandparents want to give the pram or the car seat; a colleague wants to spend a little on socks and a dummy clip. Both need to find something. For the pram, car seat or baby monitor, write down the exact brand and model, and for a car seat check it carries the i-Size (R129) label, so nobody buys a well-meant older model. Add the due date or the baby's current age at the top; it saves the "is this too big" question. If the big items are out of one person's range, several people can contribute to one gift together, which is how many families end up with the pram they wanted.

Leave two or three purely fun things on the list: a stuffed animal, a Sinterklaas outfit for the photo, a first pair of tiny shoes that will never be walked in.

A few gifts worth keeping

A blanket with the baby's name and birth date embroidered gets used for years and then kept. Books in Dutch (Nijntje or Dikkie Dik, next to the picture books in your own language) build a small library and tie the gift to where Sinterklaas comes from. Those are the ones still around when the child is five.

Start the list before the family starts asking. Create a baby registry, paste the links, and let the grandparents and aunts pick something that is in daily use by the second week of December.