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Baby Registry: Feeding Products

I’ve had a lot of people asking me to compile a list of must have baby registry items. I wanted to knock all of it out in one post, but after I hit 1000 words on this post, I decided it was probably best to do it in sections. So today I’m covering feeding products to include on your baby registry.

Since there are multiple ways to feed your child in the beginning of their life (breastfeed, formula feed, pump and feed), keep in mind that all of this may not apply to you.

Must have baby registry feeding products! From bottles to bibs, these are the most popular feeding products to include on your baby registry.

1. Lanolin
Because your nipples will thank you. Lansinoh is the most popular brand of lanolin, and it works well. One tube will last you forever. And like I mention in my What to Bring Home from the Hospital post, see if you can get your paws on a couple Lansinoh samples because they’re the perfect size for diaper and pumping bags. I also HIGHLY recommend getting some of Dr. Newman’s All Purpose Nipple Ointment. Your OB-GYN will need to write you a script using this formula. While the prescription says to not substitute powders for creams, my pharmacist did substitute, and I felt like the cream worked just fine.

2. pacifiers
I’m not going to delve into the topic of nipple confusion. But I feel like pacifiers are important because most babies have a strong sucking reflex, and sucking has a soothing and relaxing effect on babies. I always tell my pregnant friends to put a few different brands of pacifiers on their baby registries because all babies are different. For the first month or so, Owen used Soothies, but then I tried out Mam pacifiers and he liked those more. He’s been using Mams ever since. At 12 months, I did scale the pacifier usage back, and he only gets a pacifier for naps and nighttime sleep.

3. feeding & holding pillow
I love, love, LOVE the Gia pillow. If I had the choice between a Boppy and a Gia, I’d go Gia 100%. All my Boppy did was collect dust. I did break it out when Owen was attempting to sit on his own– I’d position it behind him to help support his back because the Boppy is stiffer than the Gia. If you do get a Boppy, make sure you get the protective cover too. I call it a feeding pillow because you can use it to breast or bottle feed. You can also use it to support your arms as you snuggle your sleeping baby or toddler. When Owen was sick a few weeks ago, I broke out the pillow and used it so I could hold his 29 pound body more comfortably while he napped on me. Brad has even declared that it’s great to use for playing video games– gotta properly support those wrists. Hands down, put a Gia pillow and pillow cover on your baby registry.

o and me

4. breast pump
STOP! Don’t register for a breast pump until you’ve called your health insurance provider. Most should provide you with one, free of charge. That’s how I got my Medela Pump In Style. Under The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), it states, “Health insurance plans must provide breastfeeding support, counseling, and equipment for the duration of breastfeeding. These services may be provided before and after birth… Your health insurance plan must cover the cost of a breast pump. It may be either a rental unit or a new one you’ll keep.” Keep in mind that you won’t get a pump with a bunch of extras. This was exactly what I was sent.

When you’re in the hospital, make sure you see your lactation consultant. She may be able to give you bigger or smaller flanges to better fit you, along with some other extras. My LC hooked me up. Read more about that HERE.

5. breastmilk storage bags
I used these bags by Lansinoh. Because pouring breastmilk into a plastic bag can be unnerving (crying over spilled breastmilk is a real thing), I would put the bag in a tall cup, and then pour the breastmilk into the storage bag. Remember to freeze your bags flat– they’re a lot easier to store that way.

6. nursing pads
Nursing pads, because no one likes a wet shirt. There’s two kinds of nursing pads out there– disposable and reusable, you decide which will better suit your lifestyle.

7 & 8. bottles
Owen didn’t take a lot of bottles because I wasn’t away from him a whole lot, but when he did, we liked using these glass bottles from Dr. Brown’s because they flowed a lot slower than the plastic bottles. Those were nice when he was still exclusively breastfeeding. The plastic bottles were good for when he weaned at 11 months, and we gave him formula for a couple months. Dr. Brown’s bottles are very popular because they use positive-pressure flow for vacuum-free feeding, which simulates breastfeeding. They also reduce colic, spit-up, burping, and gas.

9. formula dispenser
I never needed one of these, but I’ve been told by friends that they’re handy. They allow you to pre-measure baby formula so when you need to prepare a bottle, you just pour out the formula into the bottle. I chose this specific dispenser because the tall, cylindrical shape is perfect for slipping in and out of a diaper bag, and when your baby is old enough, you can put food in it as well. (I love products that can grow with a child.) And while this isn’t in the graphic and is slightly off topic, I’ve also heard great things about this formula pitcher, which allows you to prepare up to four bottles at a time.

10 & 13. dishwasher baskets
Sorry to skip around numbers there. But if you use Dr. Brown’s bottles, I suggest getting a couple of their dishwasher baskets because they organizes all the parts. A regular dishwasher basket also works well.

 11. bottle warmer
We never owned a bottle warmer, but I wish we did for those times Owen needed to take a bottle of breastmilk while I was away. It took forever to warm bottles with microwaved water (we would put a container of water in the microwave, heat it up, and then put in the bottle of breastmilk– never directly microwave a bottle of breastmilk or formula), so for our next baby we’ll definitely be investing in a bottle warmer.

12. steam bags
These inexpensive steam bags are great for sterilizing breast pump accessories, bottles, nipples, pacifiers, and cups. They’re well worth the money because they’re compact and you can use them multiple times. A baby registry must have.

 14. burp cloths
The only burp cloths I used were these DIY burp cloths my mom and I made. Every friend I give them to raves about them and usually asks me if they can buy some to give to friends and family members as baby shower gifts. If you don’t care about having cutesy burp cloths, invest in a package of these cloth diapers, which are super absorbent.

DIY burp cloths

15. bottle brush
Sometimes you really have to get in there and scrub bottles, nipples, pumping parts, and cups, so a bottle brush is imperative.

16. drying rack & accessories
We love our grass drying rack, although I wish I would’ve gone with the bigger size. The tree accessory is great for drying nipples and other small parts. If you’re bottle feeding, I suggest getting a couple trees.

17. roll-up bib
This bib is awesome because it rolls up, which makes it great for the diaper bag and traveling in general. I wipe it down with a baby wipe after Owen eats, but to get it really clean, I throw it in one of my trusty mesh bags and then put it in the washing machine. Then I hang it to dry. DO NOT put it in the dryer.

18. bibs
These bibs are great to use at home. I like them for a couple reasons– they collect any fallen food and they’re easy to clean. When they aren’t in use, I hang them on the back of Owen’s highchair.

bib storage highchair

19. highchair
Speaking of highchairs, this is the one we have for Owen. There are so many highchair options out there so think about what kind you would like. Would you prefer a stationary highchair because it’s unlikely you’ll be needing to move it often? Or would you prefer one with wheels? Do you just want one that mounts onto a chair? Metal or wood? But keep in mind that there’s no big rush to get a highchair right away. We actually put Owen’s highchair on his Christmas list because we didn’t want to store a highchair for 6 months until he would actually use it. You can always leave the highchair off your baby registry, and use gift cards to purchase one later.

20. spoons
Divert your eyes, baby-led weaners. I like these spoons because they serve their purpose and they’re inexpensive.

21. cup
After moving on from the boob and bottle, Owen transitioned to this transition sippy cup and then to a straw cup. Be careful with using traditional, hard spout sippy cups for too long because they can lead to lisps and other speech problems. Straw sippy cups are a better option because they allow for proper tongue placement in the mouth, and they help build strength for their oral motor skills.

Keep in mind that if you don’t get some of these items off your baby registry, you can roll them over to Christmas.

You can check out the other baby registry posts here:

If you’d like to quickly add things to your Amazon baby registry, I’ve created a baby registry with everything from the series. You can see the registry HERE.

Moms, what was your one must have feeding product?

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12 Comments

  1. Liz Michaud says:

    I think the main thing is that you shouldn’t register for a whole lot of the same thing when it comes to feeding. You just don’t know what you need until baby is here. If you invest in a ton of one kind of soother, sippy cup, bottle, or none (thinking you will only breastfeed) you may be stuck and have to go out and buy more of different kinds. I got all advent bottles and my little guy hated them. So I tired to return them but I didn’t get a receipt (they were gifted at my shower).

    In retrospect I would use my gift cards to buy a couple different ones after baby arrives and have just a few on hand.

    I always hand washed all bottles and sippy cups so I found those dishwasher things useless (I registered for one!). Also I never used a bottle warmer – just used a kettle to boil water into a measuring cup and put the bottle in that. You should NEVER but breast milk in the microwave!!! 🙂

    1. I totally agree about registering for a few different brands of things.

      And yes, good point on the microwaving breast milk. We would heat up a container with water in the microwave and it took forever for that to warm the cold breastmilk.

  2. My two cents: skip the sippy cups altogether. When baby is learning to drink from something other than breast or bottle, I give them sips from an open cup, working up to having them help hold it until they can do it solo. That just my preference though…I like that my kids understand how liquids work (tipping=spilling) before I introduce a spill-proof option. By the time they’re old enough to need take-along hydration, there are a lot of kids water bottles out there.

    1. I can see where you’re coming from. I like a combo of drinking from an open cup and straws because straws make kiddos use and strengthen muscles in their mouth they don’t typically put to use, which, in return, helps with speech development.

  3. I also received a baby food steamer/processor to make my own baby food. It came with tons of little containers too. I really loved it for making apple sauce and things like that. It’s one of those things where you have to decide if you would rather spend money on baby food jars, or spend time making your own. It’s definitely a trade off. I loved saving money since somebody had gifted the maker to me, so I only spent money on the apples or bags of peas or carrots or whatever you want to make. I felt good that I knew it was all natural, and I could make 8 jars of food with 2 apples, instead of $1 for 2 jars. I could also freeze them, then pull them out and put into the fridge the week we planned to use them. I really loved finding new ideas and foods to make, and I also loved saving money and it was so easy!

    1. Nice! You can save a lot of money by preparing food at home. And I love how you can buy reusable food pouches now. (Owen loves fruit and veggie pouches.) I made some of Owen’s baby foods but I never got any fancy baby-related gadgets. I loved buying the big bag of organic veggies at Costco (for like $6 a bag). I’d take some out, steam them with this contraption (http://amzn.to/1YyhTCW) in a pot, puree in our food processor, and store in small Mason jars. I went with Mason jars because I figured I could use them for years.

  4. My only recommendation here would unless you are set on formula feeding, hold off on registering for things like a formula dispenser and bottle warmer. You never know how long you will be able/want to nurse. I ended up nursing for a year and going straight to cow’s milk in a cup. I thought that pumping and bottle feeding would be a bigger part of our first year then it was. I registered for (and got) a ton of bottles and only really needed a few. I also got a few 8 oz bottles which I’ve never used since my little guy only ever took about 5 oz of breastmilk at a feeding. This is where Amazon gift cards are glorious! I did a lot online shopping those first few weeks!

    1. Good tip, Lindsey! Yeah, I wish people would’ve laid off all the unnecessary baby clothes at my shower and gifted Amazon gift cards instead. 😉

  5. I don’t comment often, but I love your blog! Just a suggestion- for next babies, I would highly recommend the Kiinde system for pumping/bottle feeding. We purchased it for our 2nd kiddo, and I LOVE it. It’s so nice not having to transfer milk to a bag, then back to a bottle, and there’s a lot less parts to wash!

    1. Thanks so much, Jamie! I haven’t heard of the kiinde system– I’ll have to look it up because I’m all about less hassle and things to wash! 🙂

  6. Just an FYI- Not all insurance companies are required to provide breast pumps. If your insurance company and/or health plan was grandfathered in under Obamacare, then not all mandates apply. It is important to check with with your insurance company and health plan.

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