nurseandrea

Jasmine, I’m writing this to suggest what you need the first year, but I may also send other people here. Hopefully this is good generic advice as well! I strongly suggest using Amazon.com for a baby registry, the selection is a thousand times better than Babies R Us. Register for as much as you can think of- people will want to buy you presents! I registered for stuff to get us through the first year.

Birth to 3 months

The first few months you aren’t going to need much. In terms of clothing, for around the house, onesies are the way to go. Short sleeve ones are fine at first because your baby may spend most of the time wrapped in a blanket. I like the kind that wrap and snap across the chest so you don’t have to pull them over the baby’s head. Zutano, Babysoy, and a bunch of others make this kind of onesie. Get maybe 8 or so in newborn and size 3 months.
You also want a bunch of receiving blankets. Maybe 10. The flannel ones are great for swaddling baby. Logan spent most of his time swaddled for the first 3 months.
You’ll want a few one piece outfits for when you go out with baby. I think if you do a search for “baby footie” you’ll get the most results that way. I thought I would want to go out all the time, but I was wrong. It is a pain in the butt with a baby. But you can’t keep a baby swaddled in the car seat, so you need one piece outfits. There are a gazillion out there, register for 5 newborn size and maybe 5 of 0-3 month size.
Get a few baby socks. You probably won’t need them much. But they’re cute.
Baby bathtub, you don’t need anything fancy.
Baby washcloths, get a bunch they are cheap. Like 10-20 of them.
A couple hooded bath towels
Baby soap
Diapers and wipes.
Diaper rash cream- just in case
A diaper changing pad and covers for it that you can take off and wash. Otherwise the diaper pad is plastic and can be cold for the baby
A bunting– a one piece suit that is fleecy and cozy for if you go outside in the cold
Pacifiers- I LOVE Wubbanubs! Those are the ones that have the stuffed animal attached to them. The baby can cuddle the animal while sucking on the pacifier.
Books- start reading to the baby the day you get home from the hospital
For you- breast pads. You are quite likely to leak at times you do not want to be leaking. I like the cotton breast pads you can wash and reuse, I got like 20 of them.
Lansinoh nipple cream– just trust me one this one
If you are going to bottle feed at all, get some bottles. I use the Tommee Tipee kind but honestly it doesn’t matter what kind. I just like them because they are wide and easier to clean.
A car seat- obviously.
A stroller- when the kid is little, the ones where the car seat snaps into it are handy.
Diaper bag- something to put all the baby crap in when you go out
A diaper pail of some kind. Either a Diaper Genie or just a pail with a tight lid so you don’t have to smell them all the time!
Burp cloths- to put over your shoulder while you burp baby in case they spit up (they generally do). I just used plain cloth diapers, they were cheap and easy.
A baby monitor- these range from super cheap to super fancy, your choice
Baby mittens- so baby doesn’t scratch the heck out of their face! Get a few, they’re cheap.

3 to 6 months

At this age one piece outfits are your best friend. They don’t do well with separate pants at this age, as they are basically potatoes with legs. But the one piece footie outfits hide the fact that their bodies are still blobs. And super cute. Get like 6 or more of the 3 month and 3-6 month sizes. Yes those are different sizes. And all baby clothes brands fit a little differently. It is a pain in the butt.
Wearable blankets are awesome. Instead of having the baby have a separate blanket that they might pull over their face and block their breathing, you zip the blanket onto the baby. Most of them are sleeveless. We would have the baby wear either a one piece outfit or a long sleeve onesie then put wearable blanket on them. They’re super comfy for the baby. Get a couple.
Bibs- baby may start teething at any point, and if he or she drools a lot you may want some bibs. I just got a pack of like 10 of them, cotton ones. They will come in handy later when you start feeding solids, and also if you give any bottles. Babies are super messy eaters.
More diapers. Always more diapers!

6-9 months

Baby is less potato-like at this age so pants work better now. Around 6 months Logan got too long to wear one piece outfits very well, so we switched to long sleeve wrap onesies and pants. We get about 6 at each size. But we do laundry pretty often. You may want more.
Socks- if baby is wearing pants, you’ll need socks
Jackets- get one or two hoodies
Either a high chair or a chair that connects to one of your chairs. We have one like this: Booster and it is great, we strap it to one of our dining room chairs so he eats at the table with us
Spoons- soft plastic ones

Logan is only 8 months old at this point, so I’m going to stop here. But first a quick list of the crap that is a waste I think.

Pants before age 4 or 5 months- their legs are so short and stubby and they don’t like to have a waistband at that age, these are more trouble than they are worth.
Wipe warmer- OK babies do love warm diaper wipes. But if you warm them at home, they’ll have a fit when you are on the go and use cold wipes. And the warmer dries out the wipes. AND warm moist environments breed germs faster
Baby laundry detergent- we just use regular unscented detergent. And that way we can wash everyone’s clothes in the same load.
Crib bumpers- padded cloth that goes around the inside of the crib- these have been found to be dangerous.