Useful low budget registry items?

Ginja85

I've added & purchased most of the big ticket items; furniture, carseat, pnp, etc. I'd like to add things in the $10-$20 range that I'll actually use.

Any advice is welcome, there are only so many bibs & towels a baby needs & I'm out of ideas.

marigold32

If you plan to breastfeed, you'll want nipple cream of some sort (lanolin is the most common; I preferred non-lanolin) and breast pads. Whether or not you add that to your registry depends on your comfort level, but if I see those things on a registry I will always buy them for the mother.

marigold32

I'm just going to post as things come to me. I don't want to keep adding to my first one. What about socks? Headbands if you're having a girl and that's your thing?

Puppies+Rainbows+Unicorns

What others have said plus swaddle blankets with Velcro, bath toys, diaper cream, and nail clippers. Honestly, I would not stress about it...think I received two things off my registry and a ton of cloths and things not on it.

Ginja85

My guy bought everything boob related already lol.

Didn't think of the pacifiers thank you @baby_blessings‌

Will add socks @marigold32‌ thank you

Duffgurl

Comfy nose
Nail clippers (Healthcare/First aid kit)
Wipes
Gas drops (just in case)
Teething rings
Thermometer

Ginja85

Thank you @Puppies+Rainbows+Unicorns‌ @Tygandre‌ & @Duffgurl‌

marigold32

Baby bathtub or similar contraption. Infant toys (rattles, stroller toys). Teethers.

ETA: just saw that @Duffgurl‌ covered teethers. Sorry.

scaggsed

Washcloths, towels, baby shampoo (the things I got off a registry for the last shower I attended).
Maybe a car seat canopy? I don't know how much those even are.
Sun hat (spring babies!), swim diaper, I'm a FTM so I'm mostly making things up...

lindsayanne14

Destin/butt cream
Newborn mittens
Portable dirty diaper baggies for your diaper bag (arm & hammer makes some I think)

starshollow

Baby proofing supplies. You don't want to wait until you have a crawler to cover outlets and anchor furniture.

starshollow

Extra sheets, travel container for wipes

Jinkies726

I saw an idea at target the other day for visors in the car, those sticky ones for the back seat, that I thought would be good to add.

fiscally3

If you have a spot bot/handheld soap vac, extra soap.  It's a lifesaver with spit up and diaper changes gone wrong.

Ginja85

Thank you ladies for all the suggestions, they are appreciated.

hillbillywife

What about a nursing cover? I like the diaper idea too. I know at least at target's registry you can purchase the rest of your things at a discount afterwards so that would really help stocking up on diapers

Shadeauxe

Nosefrida, the snot sucker.

vickersh1

rsaj0807 said:

Nosefrida, the snot sucker.

Once again, eeeeeewweeeee!

I thought ewww as well but we bought one to use on our nephew to see if it was worth adding to our registry. Totally is! It is gross - but it works!

Ginja85

@rsaj0807‌ concept is completely gross but, I've used it to suck 3 jellybeans out of my nieces nose, lil bit of eeeewww gross will trump a $250 er copay anyday lol

Shadeauxe

Ginja85 said:

@rsaj0807‌ concept is completely gross but, I've used it to suck 3 jellybeans out of my nieces nose, lil bit of eeeewww gross will trump a $250 er copay anyday lol

That's smart! I had never really thought about it being used for more than boogers. I bet it would work on the ear too. My brother was bored in school once and decided to make tiny paper balls and stuff them in his ears (he was always doing stupid stuff like this). We had to take him to the doctor to get them to flush the paper out.

CivilMommy

extra sheets, diapers, wipes, creams, bath supplies, socks, onesies, bibs, bottles, nursing accessories, bottle brush, steamer bags for sanitizing bottles. aquaphor, triple paste, infant medication (advil & Tylenol), humidifier, baby gates, small toys, teethers, spoons, bowls, cups, sippy cups, baby food making supplies, scrapbook/babybook, swaddle blankets, sleepers...

islandmom79

MOtownMama said:

vickersh1 said:

rsaj0807 said:

Shadeauxe said:

Nosefrida, the snot sucker.

Once again, eeeeeewweeeee!

I thought ewww as well but we bought one to use on our nephew to see if it was worth adding to our registry. Totally is! It is gross - but it works!

I have the Frida but ended up buying this one. It's a battery operated nasal aspirator. 9


@MOtownMama‌ Does that aspirator work well? I bought the nose frieda last time but I have been curious about this battery operated one.

hillbillywife

snowbigdeal said:

angi3o said:

Ginja85 said:

@rsaj0807‌ concept is completely gross but, I've used it to suck 3 jellybeans out of my nieces nose, lil bit of eeeewww gross will trump a $250 er copay anyday lol

Small crochet needles work great as well! (My little sister had an addiction to sticking stuff in her nose)

This sounds...dangerous.


It's essentially what they use in the er to dig stuff out. My dads a doctor and all three of us kids have had plenty of experience sticking stuff in wherever. That's the only way I know.

Scarlettg

FTM here, so I'm not sure if this is worth it or not, but what about stuff like the special laundry detergent you're supposed to use?  Teeny tiny clothes hangers?  A mesh bag for washing teensy baby socks so they don't get lost?  And I read in a blog about a woman who layered waterproof sheets with regular crib sheets so that if baby had a blowout in the middle of the night she could just remove the offending sheet and waterproof sheet to reveal a clean bed underneath, so maybe extra waterproof and crib sheets?  Otherwise, I know Target has an option for gift cards, so maybe folks on tighter budgets will just go that route and you can combine them for some of the bigger things you might need.

topaz7777

Velcro swaddle, breast milk freezer bags if you plan to pump, baby food/formula, diapers, wipes, infant tylenol

RNmama2b

I'm loving all of these ideas, I'm a FTM struggling with my registry as well! This is so helpful! I'm not sure where you're registering at but my sister uses the disposable bibs from Target-what's not to love about just throwing them away when finished instead of having to worry about cleaning a messy bib off and toting it home in the diaper bag! Definitely not the most environmentally friendly idea but I'm thinking I'm going to have to try it out!

Shadeauxe

Scarlettg said:

FTM here, so I'm not sure if this is worth it or not, but what about stuff like the special laundry detergent you're supposed to use?  Teeny tiny clothes hangers?  A mesh bag for washing teensy baby socks so they don't get lost?  And I read in a blog about a woman who layered waterproof sheets with regular crib sheets so that if baby had a blowout in the middle of the night she could just remove the offending sheet and waterproof sheet to reveal a clean bed underneath, so maybe extra waterproof and crib sheets?  Otherwise, I know Target has an option for gift cards, so maybe folks on tighter budgets will just go that route and you can combine them for some of the bigger things you might need.

I never needed Dreft. I don't use a ton of detergent anyway. It is the agitation in the washer that cleans the clothes, not the soap. I use about 1 tsp of eco friendly powdered detergent and vinegar as a fabric softener. This is what we do for the whole family, not just the baby.

As for the mesh bag, I use it. Not so they don't get lost but because I had a friend whose washer died because those stupid tiny socks weasled their way out into areas no clothes should go.

Shadeauxe

rsaj0807 said:

Scarlettg said:

FTM here, so I'm not sure if this is worth it or not, but what about stuff like the special laundry detergent you're supposed to use?  Teeny tiny clothes hangers?  A mesh bag for washing teensy baby socks so they don't get lost?  And I read in a blog about a woman who layered waterproof sheets with regular crib sheets so that if baby had a blowout in the middle of the night she could just remove the offending sheet and waterproof sheet to reveal a clean bed underneath, so maybe extra waterproof and crib sheets?  Otherwise, I know Target has an option for gift cards, so maybe folks on tighter budgets will just go that route and you can combine them for some of the bigger things you might need.

I never needed Dreft. I don't use a ton of detergent anyway. It is the agitation in the washer that cleans the clothes, not the soap. I use about 1 tsp of eco friendly powdered detergent and vinegar as a fabric softener. This is what we do for the whole family, not just the baby.

As for the mesh bag, I use it. Not so they don't get lost but because I had a friend whose washer died because those stupid tiny socks weasled their way out into areas no clothes should go.

------------- For one thing, I had no idea that vinegar could be used as a fabric softener. And for two, I fell victim to a sock getting stuck where it shouldn't. It was a pain in the ass to fix.

The clothes don't come out smelling like vinegar either, so it's nice.

Scarlettg

Shadeauxe said:

rsaj0807 said:

Scarlettg said:

FTM here, so I'm not sure if this is worth it or not, but what about stuff like the special laundry detergent you're supposed to use?  Teeny tiny clothes hangers?  A mesh bag for washing teensy baby socks so they don't get lost?  And I read in a blog about a woman who layered waterproof sheets with regular crib sheets so that if baby had a blowout in the middle of the night she could just remove the offending sheet and waterproof sheet to reveal a clean bed underneath, so maybe extra waterproof and crib sheets?  Otherwise, I know Target has an option for gift cards, so maybe folks on tighter budgets will just go that route and you can combine them for some of the bigger things you might need.

I never needed Dreft. I don't use a ton of detergent anyway. It is the agitation in the washer that cleans the clothes, not the soap. I use about 1 tsp of eco friendly powdered detergent and vinegar as a fabric softener. This is what we do for the whole family, not just the baby.

As for the mesh bag, I use it. Not so they don't get lost but because I had a friend whose washer died because those stupid tiny socks weasled their way out into areas no clothes should go.

------------- For one thing, I had no idea that vinegar could be used as a fabric softener. And for two, I fell victim to a sock getting stuck where it shouldn't. It was a pain in the ass to fix.

The clothes don't come out smelling like vinegar either, so it's nice.

I actually knew about the vinegar thing, though I've never tried it.  One thing I HAVE used it for (unfortunately) is getting smells out of fabric.  Specifically, my wonderful cat peed on a blanket we had on the floor.  I washed it with hot water on a heavy-duty cycle with detergent and a generous amount of white vinegar... boom!  Smell is gone!  

Shadeauxe

Scarlettg said:

Shadeauxe said:

rsaj0807 said:

Scarlettg said:

FTM here, so I'm not sure if this is worth it or not, but what about stuff like the special laundry detergent you're supposed to use?  Teeny tiny clothes hangers?  A mesh bag for washing teensy baby socks so they don't get lost?  And I read in a blog about a woman who layered waterproof sheets with regular crib sheets so that if baby had a blowout in the middle of the night she could just remove the offending sheet and waterproof sheet to reveal a clean bed underneath, so maybe extra waterproof and crib sheets?  Otherwise, I know Target has an option for gift cards, so maybe folks on tighter budgets will just go that route and you can combine them for some of the bigger things you might need.

I never needed Dreft. I don't use a ton of detergent anyway. It is the agitation in the washer that cleans the clothes, not the soap. I use about 1 tsp of eco friendly powdered detergent and vinegar as a fabric softener. This is what we do for the whole family, not just the baby.

As for the mesh bag, I use it. Not so they don't get lost but because I had a friend whose washer died because those stupid tiny socks weasled their way out into areas no clothes should go.

------------- For one thing, I had no idea that vinegar could be used as a fabric softener. And for two, I fell victim to a sock getting stuck where it shouldn't. It was a pain in the ass to fix.

The clothes don't come out smelling like vinegar either, so it's nice.

I actually knew about the vinegar thing, though I've never tried it.  One thing I HAVE used it for (unfortunately) is getting smells out of fabric.  Specifically, my wonderful cat peed on a blanket we had on the floor.  I washed it with hot water on a heavy-duty cycle with detergent and a generous amount of white vinegar... boom!  Smell is gone!  

Vinegar is awesome and so cheap. It has so many uses. I have used it as a smell remover also. We had a mattress protector that got packed damp into the moving boxes and stayed in there for weeks. It smelled FOUL when we finally unpacked it. I tried washing it 10 times and could not get the stink out. I put it in a tub of water with a gallon of vinegar for a few hour and bam, stench gone.

It's also great for stains in conjunction with the sun, a trick used by many cloth diaperers.

BuckyC

Jinkies726 said:

I saw an idea at target the other day for visors in the car, those sticky ones for the back seat, that I thought would be good to add.

Not to be an alarmist, but be very careful of what you put in the backseat of the car with baby. In the event of an accident, anything not permanently attached to car can become a projectile possibly hurting baby. They warn against the suction cup attached shades and mirrors for this reason.

lacey0482

I used those cheap prefold cloth diapers for burp cloths allll the time. Definitely a must for me.

missab

I don't have any small stuff suggestions that haven't already been made, but I do have a different suggestion: Not sure if anyone else has done this, but I went and did my (FTM) walk through with a knowledgeable Buybuy Baby consultant, registered for a bunch of stuff we "needed" and then sent the links to my registries (also Baby List) to a few of my closest friends with kids and asked them to basically serve as my registry consultants, telling me what products they do/don't recommend, what I have too much/too little of, what I'll never need etc. They also then were able to tell me easily what stuff they already had and could easily hand down. I feel SO much more confident in what we registered for now and I think having friends who have similar lifestyles/living conditions really helped to whittle my registry to just the things I actually need/will use (important to us since we don't have a lot of space). Anyway, the consultant we worked with at Buybuy Baby was great and I ended up with lots of small stuff on the registry, so if that's an option where you are, I'd highly recommend it.

kread8

Ok, I haven't read all the words yet so this will likely have repeats.  But things I would make sure that are on your registry that are smaller/less expensive:

swaddlemes/woombies/swaddle sleepsacks, NOSEFRIDA (seriously, this is important!), aquaphor, triple paste, gripe water, aiden & anais blankets (I prefer the bamboo ones, they're softer and bigger), infant toys - make sure you have an oball on there - those things are pure gold for infants, teething rings/toys, you could put some children's books on there (for later obviously), bottles (but not a lot of any one

Ginja85

Thank you ladies for all the suggestions, off to BRU later today to add many of your suggestions. Its hard baby shopping when you're a late bloomer & all your friends kids are teenagers LOL. Thank you again ladies for taking the time.

cwiceangel

With the vinegar thing. I wash our towels in it when they start to not soak up water. It gets the softener residue off.

We are getting so many clothes already (hand me downs) for the baby that my mom told her sisters and my cousins no clothes. Because they'd go insane with it. And at the shower were decorating onesies so were just supplementing the ages I'm lacking. I'm so anti games at showers so making clothes is taking the place of that. I've also read that putting the cute stuff on your registry is pointless because by the time people shop what you put on isn't in the stores any longer. So food for thought on that if you're thinking about seasonal things. Obviously the plain onesies aren't going anywhere.

Cheap stuff I put on:
Pacifiers, nipples for bottles (we've already got bottles), the dryers for bottles, baskets that go in the dishwasher for the little parts, laundry detergent, boogie wipes (don't get the grape scent it's awful. Smells like chewable Tylenol), bath stuff, I did put the socks that look like shoes because I love them, toys and books.. You'll find stuff when you register. You can always add and remove stuff later.

RNmama2b

missab said:

I don't have any small stuff suggestions that haven't already been made, but I do have a different suggestion: Not sure if anyone else has done this, but I went and did my (FTM) walk through with a knowledgeable Buybuy Baby consultant, registered for a bunch of stuff we "needed" and then sent the links to my registries (also Baby List) to a few of my closest friends with kids and asked them to basically serve as my registry consultants, telling me what products they do/don't recommend, what I have too much/too little of, what I'll never need etc. They also then were able to tell me easily what stuff they already had and could easily hand down. I feel SO much more confident in what we registered for now and I think having friends who have similar lifestyles/living conditions really helped to whittle my registry to just the things I actually need/will use (important to us since we don't have a lot of space). Anyway, the consultant we worked with at Buybuy Baby was great and I ended up with lots of small stuff on the registry, so if that's an option where you are, I'd highly recommend it.

I love this idea and am going to have to do this!

RIngReady

You can also register for  the things baby will use when they get a older, and those tend to be inexpensive and colorful so they tend to be easy purchases for people. Sippy cups, bowls, plastic flatware, silicon bibs, outlet covers, child medication (tylenol, gripe water ect.) bath toys are all great to have. 

JaneShops

Loving the lists above, but to add (sorry for duplicates)..
Stroller accessories (cup holder, tray, purse books)
Skip the special baby detergent, just go for 1 with natural ingredients if you don't want to do vinegar route
Hamper
Toy chest, closet storage / organizer
Nursery decor like framed art
Changing pad, and couple covers
Bath items
Baby sunscreen
Baby toys, cloth books
Teether, hard bpa-free & maybe a couple soft organic cloth rattle types
2-3 different kinds of pacifier & a pacifier clip
Car seat protector, back seat mirror
Disposable diaper bag (like dog poppie bags) for when you're out
Sealed wet bag
& multi use organic pads. Maybe 1-2 being water resistant?
Baby on board sign, or window decal.

n0soup4u

If you use target to do a registry it will help you by providing very important key categories. Ex: for the feeding category you will be able to click on bottles, bowls, utensils, etc and then add whichever items you with to the registry. IMO i found that target has the most user friendly registry creator.