Baby Registry Checklist
This registry checklist tracks what you already have against what a newborn actually needs, with a price beside each item so the list reads as a budget rather than a wish. Tick off what you own, borrowed or have been given, and what remains is the real gap and the real cost of closing it, typically $800 to $2,500 depending on how much is bought new. The list can then be shared with family, which is the point of a registry: relatives will buy something regardless, and a list makes it the pushchair rather than the fourth newborn outfit. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is stored on a server, so the list stays on your own device until you choose to share it. Start with what you already own or have been offered, because the most common registry mistake is listing everything a retailer suggests and receiving three of the cheap items and none of the expensive one.
Check off what you have. See what you still need and how much it'll cost. Share your list with family so they know what to get you.
What each stage actually needs
A registry written before the birth tends to cover the first two weeks in detail and the following ten months not at all, which is why so many households buy the same categories twice. Roughly, the first three months need sleep, feeding, nappies and a way to carry the baby, and almost nothing else. From three to six months, a play mat and something to sit in become useful, and clothing moves into sizes nobody bought. From six months, weaning brings a high chair, bowls and a great many bibs, and the house needs a first pass of safety equipment. From nine months, mobility changes everything: stair gates, cupboard catches and shoes that are actually walked in.
The practical consequence for a registry is to list the later items too, in larger sizes and for later stages, and to say on the list which stage each item is for. Relatives generally prefer buying something that will be used in six months to buying a duplicate of something already owned, and they cannot know which is which unless the list says so.
Sharing the list without awkwardness
A registry can read as a demand, and the way it is framed decides whether it does. Three things help. Include a wide price range, from a $6 packet of muslins to the pushchair, so that everyone can find something that fits what they intended to spend. Mark the items that are already covered rather than deleting them, so that the list reads as a plan rather than a wish. And say plainly that second-hand and hand-me-downs are welcome, which most people want to offer and few will offer unprompted.
On group gifting: the expensive item is the one relatives most often want to contribute to, and the absence of a mechanism is usually what stops them. Whether that is a formal group gift function or simply a note saying several people are welcome to go in together, saying so converts three small duplicate gifts into the one item that would otherwise be the largest line in the equipment budget.
Borrowing rather than buying
A large share of what a baby needs is used for a matter of months and then stored, which makes borrowing the cheapest option of all for several categories. Moses baskets, bouncers, play mats, newborn carriers and baby baths are all used for weeks rather than years and are routinely offered by friends whose children have outgrown them. Many areas also run toy libraries and nearly-new sales, and some hospitals and health services lend equipment such as electric breast pumps for medical reasons at no cost.
The two categories not to borrow are the same two not to buy used: a car seat, whose crash history cannot be verified, and a cot mattress, which should be new and firm for each baby. Everything else is worth asking about before it is bought, and the asking is usually welcome, the alternative for the lender is a loft full of equipment nobody is using, and most parents would rather see it used than stored for a second child they may not have.
What a newborn actually needs
The list of genuinely necessary items is shorter than any retailer's registry suggests. A safe place to sleep with a new firm mattress. A car seat, bought new, appropriate to the birth weight. Somewhere to change nappies, which does not have to be furniture. Nappies and wipes. Around six to eight sleepsuits and bodysuits in newborn and 0–3 month sizes, no more, because they are outgrown in weeks and arrive as gifts. Muslins, in quantity. A way to carry the baby: a pushchair, a sling or both. If formula feeding, bottles, teats and a way to sterilise. If breastfeeding, pads, cream and possibly a pump, which most American insurance plans are required to cover in full.
Everything beyond that is either optional, age-dependent or better bought once you know what your baby is like. A bouncer, a play mat and a high chair all have their moment, and none of those moments is week one.
Buy new, buy used, or skip
| Item | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Car seat | New | Unknown crash history on a used one, and the shell degrades with age |
| Cot mattress | New | Firmness and fit are safety matters |
| Cot frame | Used | Holds its function, loses its value immediately |
| Pushchair | Used | Buy the model that was expensive three years ago; check brakes and fold |
| Carrier or sling | Used | Check the buckles and the stitching |
| Clothing 0–3 months | Used or gifted | Worn for weeks; accept every offer |
| Breast pump | New, often free | Most US plans must cover one; shared use is not recommended |
| Changing table | Skip | A mat on a chest of drawers does the same job |
| Nappy bin | Skip | A pedal bin and a nightly trip works |
| Newborn shoes | Skip | They do not walk |
Making the registry work
- Put the expensive item on it. Group gifting on a pushchair or a car seat is normal and is what relatives usually prefer to buying something small.
- Include consumables in size 1 and 2, not newborn. Newborn nappies are outgrown fastest and are the size everyone buys.
- Add larger clothing sizes. Almost every gift is newborn size, so a baby ends up with nothing for six months onwards.
- Say what you already have. A list that shows what is covered prevents duplicates more effectively than a list of what is wanted.
- Check the return policy before the shower. Extended windows for registry items are common and worth knowing.
Once the list is settled, run the remaining total through the baby cost calculator to see it in the context of the whole first year, and read the money-saving guide before buying anything new: the equipment line is where second-hand buying saves most, and it is the one line where the saving costs nothing in quality.