Registries can be so overwhelming, and there is so much you have to get when you have a new baby on the way! Now that we are through the “infant” stage with Little Lion, we have been able to get a feel for what we really needed and what we didn’t. There are quite a few things that were used very short term and have been filed away for next time already, and LOTS that have been taken to our local children’s consignment stores to be sold. While most of these things were nice to have (even if they were short lived) we really could have gone without them.


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1. Bibs – Why oh why did we end up with 1000 bibs after our shower? Yikes! Since we didn’t have a baby who spit up a lot, and we used burp cloths when he drank his bottles/nursed, we didn’t use bibs at all until he started eating solids at 6 months. By then he had just about outgrown the infant ones, and they weren’t nearly long enough to provide enough coverage for Baby Led Weaning. We got rid of them all and purchased two large wipeable bibs with a pouch to collect food at the bottom. They can be washed in the sink and are dry by the time we eat again. I keep one with the high chair and one in the diaper bag, and that is all we need.

2. Dishwasher Basket – Since we don’t have many bottles, we don’t wash them in the dishwasher. We have one of these and it has not been used once.

3. Extra Crib Sheets – We really only need 2 of these, so that we can rotate while one is being washed.

4. Bumbo – We hardly used this at all. It was nice to take when we went camping so that LL had a place to sit and didn’t have to lay on the hard ground…but we didn’t use it much at home. LL has always wanted to be able to wiggle, and he didn’t like being contained.

5. Bouncy Seat – We ended up not using this at all once we purchased a swing. We did save it in case our next baby happens to like it better, but we could have done without for sure if we had gotten the swing in the first place.

6. Jumper – Unfortunately, LL’s legs were too short to use this jumper. By the time he was tall/heavy enough to actually touch the ground, he was standing on his own, and then shortly later he was walking. I suppose it may still be fun for him to try even though he is mobile, but we definitely could have done without it. We got this as a compromise when we decided not to get an exersaucer or jumperoo, but really we didn’t need any of them. LL has always been more content to move on his own.

7. Sleep Sacks  – Once LL was free of the swaddle, he became mobile pretty quickly. He never liked the sleep sacks (I think they got in his way when he was trying to roll). Since he has been old enough to roll front to back and back to front, we have let him sleep with a blanket instead. We have two of the Halo sleep sacks, which are very nice, but we just never really needed them.

8. Extra Receiving Blankets – I think we got as many of these as we did bibs! Everyone loves to buy super soft blankets for babies, but we have far more than we will ever use. Skip the receiving blankets altogether. We ended up needing 3-4 blankets for swaddling, 3 blankets for warmth (I like to keep one in the car, one in the crib and one in the stroller), and one to lay on the floor or ground outside.

9. Reclining High Chair – We didn’t use any of the reclining features of our high chair, and we have never used the cloth cover (we took it off and stored it so we could easily wipe down the seat). I wish we had skipped the high chair altogether and gotten this booster seat instead. They serve the same purpose, but the booster looks to be easier to clean and is a lot cheaper.

10. Boppy Pillow – This was helpful when I was nursing, but only for about a week until I got the hang of it. I found myself using regular pillows from the couch or bed instead anyway, and it was never used after that. Totally could have skipped this one, and I am glad we got ours used for $5!

11. Extra Bottles – LL has been exclusively bottle fed since he was 4 months old, and we have been perfectly fine with only having 1 4oz bottle and 3 8oz bottles. Since I am at home with him, I take 30 seconds to wash them after we use them.

12. Extra Clothes – We could have gotten by with far fewer clothes than we actually have. 6-7 tops, 3-4 pairs of pants and 5 sleepers in each size, plus weather appropriate gear and socks (and shoes once he started walking) were really all we needed.

What baby items could you have lived without?