What You Actually Need Before Baby Arrives (and What Can Wait)

Or, how I accidentally spent seven+ months preparing to open a baby boutique.

I swear the second I got pregnant, Instagram and TikTok got together and decided my entire personality was now "expectant mother with an Amazon Prime account."

One day my feed was cute puppies, vacation ideas, and recipes I kept saving but never actually made. The next? It was nothing but pregnant influencers. Every video claimed it was one of the must-have baby products for first-time moms.

Except it was never one thing.

It was the rolling cart next to your bed. The rolling cart next to the couch. The postpartum cart next to the toilet in the bathroom. Five diaper stations throughout the house. (Five? As if I have a 30,000 square foot home and can't manage to walk to his nursery to change him.)

Then came the pumps. Not one. Two. A wearable one because I was obviously going to be pumping while running meetings, answering emails, and somehow looking put together in the office. A regular one because apparently I needed a backup 'just in case'.

Then I needed fifteen different bottle brands because, "You never know what your baby will like." Bottle sterilizers. Bottle dryers. Bottle brushes. Bottle organizers. Diaper cream spatulas. Wipe warmers. Sound machines. Three different swaddles because one stretches, one breathes, one is made from magical unicorn fabric... Honestly, I stopped keeping track.

Somewhere around week thirty-two I looked at my registry and thought... I wasn't preparing for one tiny little baby. I was preparing to open a Buy Buy Baby franchise. Looking back, half the items on my baby registry never even made it out of the box.

And honestly? It wasn't even the money that stressed me out. It was the pressure.

Every video made it seem like if I forgot one product, motherhood was going to completely fall apart. Like there was some secret checklist all the experienced moms had, and I was one missed Amazon order away from failing before my son even got here.

Now let's add pregnancy hormones, sleeping approximately fourteen minutes a night, and a baby using your bladder as a trampoline... You're going to buy some things. Ask me how I know.

And don't even get me started on the postpartum cart. Instagram had me convinced I was about to spend the next six weeks living next to my toilet. My bathroom looked like a tiny postpartum pharmacy. Numbing spray. Ice packs. Witch hazel pads. Cooling foam. Giant pads. Disposable underwear.

If someone had told me to keep a ceremonial candle next to the toilet for good luck, I probably would've bought that too.

And here's the funny part... I barely used ANY of it. Not because those products aren't helpful. They absolutely are for a lot of moms. They just weren't for me. That should've been my first clue that motherhood isn't about buying what everyone else loved.

It's about figuring out what you actually need.

Then my baby showed up. Over 6-weeks early, might I add. And he had the audacity to have opinions. Which honestly feels a little unfair considering the kid couldn't even hold his own head up yet.

He didn't care that I'd organized every drawer in the nursery or color coded his outfits in his closet. He didn't care that I'd strategically placed diaper supplies all over the house. He didn't care that I'd spent weeks comparing bottles online.

Nope. He liked one bottle. One. Dr. Brown's. Everything else was apparently offensive.

Now, I will warn you... If you've ever seen a Dr. Brown's bottle, you're probably already laughing. There are approximately 847 tiny little pieces. That's probably not scientifically accurate... but after washing them for the fourth time in one day, it certainly feels accurate.

Did I occasionally stand at the sink questioning my life choices? Absolutely. Did I happily keep washing every tiny little piece because it was the only bottle Sawyer accepted? Also yes.

That's motherhood. You complain... while immediately doing it again.

Then came diapers. I had newborn diapers stacked in neat little piles because... that's what newborns wear, right? Wrong. Sawyer arrived early and needed preemie diapers.

So there I was with a nursery full of diapers that were too big while Ben made an unexpected diaper run because our tiny little overachiever skipped right over my beautifully organized plan before we even left the hospital.

Looking back, that was probably my first real lesson in motherhood. Your baby doesn't know your plan. Your baby doesn't care about your registry. They're going to show up with their own little personality and politely rewrite everything.

Honestly, that theme carried through almost every product I bought. Take breastfeeding. I had this whole picture in my head of how it would go. I'd nurse him. We'd figure it out together. There'd be these sweet, quiet little moments that every newborn photographer somehow captures perfectly.

Instead, Sawyer spent time in the NICU and never latched. I remember feeling like I'd somehow already messed something up. Looking back, I wish I could hug that version of myself because she was trying so hard to do everything "right."

The reality was... nothing was wrong. Our journey just looked different.

So I became an exclusive pumper because at that point I didn't care what feeding looked like. I just wanted to help my little boy grow stronger and come home.

If you've never pumped while feeding your baby a bottle at the exact same time, let me paint the picture. You're hooked up to a machine making milk... while feeding your baby milk you pumped three hours ago. It's completely backwards.

I remember sitting there one afternoon laugh-crying because I realized this was absolutely nothing like I'd imagined motherhood. And yet somehow... it was exactly what Sawyer needed.

Motherhood rarely looks like the picture you created in your head. And that's okay. Actually... sometimes it's even better. Not easier. Definitely not easier. Just... different.

After we finally got settled at home, I remember standing in the nursery looking around thinking... "Okay... what are we actually using?"

Because let me tell you, nothing humbles you faster than realizing the products you spent months researching are still sitting in their original packaging while something completely random has become the MVP of your day.

For us, one of those was the SNOO. I know. It's expensive. Trust me, I had to talk myself into it more than once. But here's something you'll learn about me really quickly. I'm willing to spend money on convenience if it genuinely makes life easier.

Some people collect designer handbags. (Queue my previous self before marriage and motherhood…) Apparently, once becoming a mother, I chose to collect sleep everywhere I could. And if there's one thing new parents quickly realize, it's that sleep is worth more than almost anything.

The SNOO gave me not only sleep — but peace of mind. I loved having Sawyer right next to our bed without him taking over the entire room, and once he got used to sleeping in it, that thing basically became another member of the family.

When I say we took it everywhere... I mean everywhere. We figured out you could take the legs off, which meant it somehow ended up at our family's cabin, Yellowstone, and more than one friend's house during nap time. I'm sure we looked ridiculous unloading what basically resembled a tiny spaceship everywhere we went. Didn't care. If Sawyer slept... we all won.

If you've been researching baby products worth buying, this is one I'd happily recommend if it fits your budget. My answer is simple. If it's within your budget and sleep matters to you as much as it mattered to us... I'd buy it again tomorrow. Without hesitation.

...There were a handful of products that survived all my overthinking and earned permanent residency in our house.

The Hatch was another one. For once, the internet wasn't lying. We still use it every single night.

What the internet conveniently forgot to mention was that I absolutely did not need to hand over another ninety-nine dollars a year for the premium subscription before my child had even taken his first breath. Apparently pregnant me thought Sawyer was going to come out of the womb requesting premium sound libraries.

Turns out... the free version is fantastic. White noise? Yep. Nightlight? Yep. Schedules? Yep. Everything we've actually used was already there.

If I could go back, I'd happily keep that hundred bucks and put it toward something we were constantly buying... like diapers. Or energy drinks. Or takeout. Honestly, all three probably saved my sanity more than premium white noise ever could.

Speaking of things we actually used... burp cloths. I don't know who originally told me to register for a dozen, but they deserve a hug. Actually... make it two dozen.

I'm convinced burp cloths disappear into the exact same black hole as baby socks because I swear I had one over my shoulder, one in the diaper bag, one in the nursery, one in the car, and somehow every single one of them was dirty at exactly the same time.

We had the Lovely Care muslin burp cloths, and I'd buy those again in a heartbeat. They were soft, they washed beautifully, and they were actually big enough to catch something. Which, if you've never experienced baby spit-up before, let me just tell you... it has an impressive ability to completely miss the tiny decorative burp cloth you thought was going to do the job.

Now, while we're on the subject of fabric... can we please talk about swaddles? Because I registered for all of them. Muslin. Velcro. Zipper. Blankets that somehow promised to make my baby sleep twelve uninterrupted hours. (Spoiler alert: they did not.)

The stretchy swaddles won. Every single time. There was something about having a little bit of stretch that made wrapping up a wiggly newborn so much easier. Muslin blankets absolutely had their place too. We used them all the time as stroller covers, impromptu changing mats, light blankets... honestly, they're one of those products you'll randomly find yourself using for everything.

But if someone told me I could only choose one? Give me the stretchy swaddles. Every time.

Actually... that reminds me of another decision I spent an embarrassing amount of time researching. The stroller. If you're comparing baby travel systems and trying to decide what belongs on your baby registry, here's why I chose the Vista instead of the Doona.

If you've ever looked at strollers online, you know exactly what rabbit hole I'm talking about. I looked at the Doona. I almost convinced myself the Doona was the answer. And listen... I completely understand why people love it. If you're constantly hopping in and out of the car, traveling light, or living in a city, I totally get the appeal.

But that's not me. I'm a planner. Some people (my husband..) might call it overpacking. I prefer to think of it as being aggressively prepared. There's a difference.

I like having extra diapers. Extra clothes. Extra burp cloths. Extra snacks. Extra everything.

So the UPPAbaby Vista ended up being the perfect stroller for us because it actually held everything I insisted on bringing without making me feel like I was balancing grocery bags while pushing a stroller.

And yes... I got the Evelyn Meadow Green color. Zero regrets. It's still gorgeous. And we still use it 16 months later.

Every baby registry checklist has products you'll use every day... and products you'll wonder why you bought.

So let's address the elephant in the nursery. The wipe warmer.

I wanted to love it. I really did. Warm wipes? Who wouldn't want warm wipes? If someone handed me a freezing cold towel or a warm towel, I know which one I'm choosing.

The problem wasn't the idea. The problem was... everything else. The wipes dried out constantly. I'd finally get a fresh pack in there and somehow they already felt dry and sad by the time I needed another diaper change.

Then one day it leaked. Not just a little. All over my changing table. All over my diaper caddy.

Which, by the way, I absolutely loved. It was cute, white, and everything had a perfect place. Loved enough that I sanded it down and repainted it instead of throwing it away.

The wipe warmer, however? Let's just say it didn't make the cut.

And honestly, I think that's when something finally clicked for me. The goal isn't to buy what everyone else loves. The goal is to figure out what your family actually uses. Those are two completely different things.

...It took me a while to realize that motherhood isn't about finding the perfect product. It's about finding the products that make your life easier. Sometimes that's the expensive thing everyone says isn't worth it. Sometimes it's the cheapest thing in your diaper bag.

Case in point? Dog poop bags. I know. Stay with me. This might be the weirdest item on my list of baby registry must-haves, but I promise it's earned its place.

I don't remember who originally told me this little hack, but they deserve some sort of parenting award because I have recommended it to almost every new mom I've talked to since.

Throw a roll of dog poop bags in your diaper bag. That's it. They're perfect for dirty diapers when there isn't a garbage can nearby. They're perfect for blowout clothes you absolutely do not want touching the clean clothes. They're cheap. They trap the smell. They barely take up any room.

It's one of those products that has absolutely nothing to do with babies... yet somehow became one of my favorite baby products. Pregnant me would've laughed if someone had told me I'd be standing in Target one day thinking, "Thank goodness I packed dog poop bags." Mom me? Completely gets it.

Actually... speaking of the diaper bag... can we talk about how many diaper bags I convinced myself I needed? Because the answer is embarrassing.

I bought a backpack. Then I bought one with a built-in changing station because that looked absolutely revolutionary on TikTok. Then I bought one for Ben. Then I bought another one because I liked the pockets better. Thought it was bigger. Or something.

Looking back, I genuinely don't know where I thought we were going. The moon? Because the amount of stuff I packed for a quick trip to Costco looked like we were leaving the country.

After trying all of them, I kept reaching for the exact same one. A simple quilted Mommore tote. No fancy built-in changing station. No hidden cooler pockets. No twenty-seven secret compartments. It was just... easy. And my husband didn't mind carrying it around without me there.

It fit everything I needed without making me feel like I was wearing a hiking backpack every time I left the house. Which, by the way, happened a lot sooner than people expected.

One thing I wish people talked about more is that life doesn't stop just because you have a baby. At least ours didn't.

We traveled. We went to the cabin. We went to Yellowstone. We packed Sawyer up for road trips before I think some people expected us to leave the house.

Not because we were trying to prove anything. Because that's the life we enjoy.

Did it require more planning? Absolutely. Did I pack way too much? Without question. Would I do it all over again? In a heartbeat.

I think that's actually why I loved the UPPAbaby Vista so much. Everyone compares it to the Doona, and I get why. The Doona is incredibly convenient. But convenience looks different depending on the family. For me, convenience wasn't having the smallest stroller. Convenience was having room for everything I insist on bringing.

Extra diapers. Extra clothes. Extra burp cloths. Blankets. A toy that somehow immediately gets thrown on the floor. My emotional support water bottle.

If you've met me in real life, you know I'm a planner. I like being prepared. Ben calls it overpacking. I call it being aggressively prepared. The Vista let me be exactly that without making me feel like I was playing a game of Tetris every time I loaded the stroller basket.

Now... while we're talking about things I loved... baby carriers.

I really wanted to be a wrap mom. You know the moms I'm talking about. They effortlessly tie twelve feet of fabric around themselves while casually sipping coffee and somehow the baby is perfectly snuggled against their chest.

I watched the tutorials. I practiced. I tried. I never once felt like I knew what I was doing. Every time I looked down, I was convinced Sawyer was either too loose, too tight, too low, too high... I was stressed before we even left the driveway.

So I finally admitted defeat. I bought a structured carrier from GROWNSY. Game changer. It clipped. It adjusted. It made sense to my brain. Most importantly... I actually felt confident wearing it. And felt cute doing so. And if motherhood teaches you anything, it's that confidence is worth a whole lot more than looking cute on Instagram.

Now... Ben's carrier? That's a completely different story.

My mom bought him one of those tactical baby carriers mostly because I thought it was hilarious. Picture desert sand camouflage. Velcro patches. Enough MOLLE webbing to make it look like our infant was headed into a special ops mission.

I laughed so hard when it showed up. Do you know who laughed harder? Every dad that saw it. Ben wore that thing everywhere, and I lost count of how many random guys stopped him just to ask where he got it. It turns out tactical dads are a whole community I knew absolutely nothing about. Who knew?

One thing I haven't talked about yet is probably the product people ask me about the most. The monitor. You'd think picking a baby monitor would be simple. You'd think wrong.

Just like everything else, I somehow ended up trying multiple. We finally landed on a Momcozy monitor for home, and honestly, I've been really happy with it. It does exactly what I need it to do. I can see Sawyer. I can hear Sawyer. I don't need it making me breakfast or sending me weather updates. I just need to know if my child is awake.

We also grabbed a less expensive one for travel because we traveled so much during maternity leave. And yes... I know that probably sounds crazy to some people. "You traveled with a newborn?" We did. A lot.

There are definitely stories coming later about traveling with a baby because I learned so much through trial and error, but one thing I realized pretty quickly is that babies are actually pretty adaptable. Adults are usually the ones panicking. The more we brought Sawyer with us, the more confident we became.

Were there blowouts? Absolutely. Did naps happen in weird places? Also yes. Did I occasionally pack enough supplies to survive an apocalypse for a two-night trip? Without question.

But we made memories. And looking back, I wouldn't trade those memories for a perfectly followed nap schedule.

Now... let's circle back to something I almost forgot. The Diaper Genie. I know. Not exactly the sexiest baby purchase you'll ever make. But hear me out. Buy it. Then immediately buy the Scent-Be-Gone deodorizer packets to go with it. You're welcome.

There really isn't a funny story here other than the fact that babies somehow produce smells that should be scientifically impossible for someone that weighs under twenty pounds. The Diaper Genie did its job. The Scent-Be-Gone packets made it even better. Sometimes the boring recommendations are the best recommendations.

Kind of like the baby bathtub we ended up using. I honestly couldn't tell you the exact brand without looking it up because by that point I had stopped obsessing over finding "the best" everything.

What I remember is this... it had the little newborn insert. Sawyer fit in it perfectly. As he grew, we took the insert out and kept using the same tub. That's it. No complicated features. No app. No Bluetooth. Just a bathtub that held a baby.

It's funny how motherhood slowly changes your priorities. When I was pregnant, I wanted the best version of everything. After Sawyer arrived, I just wanted things that worked.

Which brings me to one product that surprised me the most... the wearable breast pump.

Remember how I said pregnant me had grand plans of pumping while answering emails and conquering the world? Yeah... that lasted about five minutes.

I bought the Elvie because everyone talked about how freeing it was. For me? It just wasn't. It's one of the few baby products I wouldn't buy again, at least for my situation. I never got the output I needed, and every time I used it I found myself wondering if I was doing something wrong. Let's just say, it didn't suck… which sucked.

Turns out... I just responded so much better to a traditional pump. After using the Medela pump in the NICU, I bought the Medela Sonata because it felt the closest to what I'd already been using. It was incredible. Night and day difference. If you're exclusively pumping, or even pumping regularly, that would be the one I'd spend money on again. Not because someone on TikTok told me to. Because it actually worked for me.

Then there was the Owlet. I wanted to love it. I really did. Everyone said it would give me peace of mind. Instead... it gave me anxiety.

Every notification made my heart race. Every disconnect had me checking on Sawyer. I found myself staring at an app more than I was looking at my actual baby. One day I finally took it off. And you know what surprised me? I slept better.

Again... that's just my experience. I know parents who absolutely swear by it. It just wasn't my peace.

And I think that's probably the biggest lesson buried inside this entire article. Motherhood has a funny way of humbling you.

Before Sawyer was born, I thought success looked like having the perfect nursery, the perfect registry, and every product everyone recommended. Now? Success looks a whole lot different.

Success is finding the bottle your baby actually drinks from. It's figuring out how to pump while simultaneously feeding a hungry newborn and somehow laughing about how ridiculous the whole situation is.

It's realizing your expensive wipe warmer ruined your favorite diaper caddy... repainting the diaper caddy... and deciding the wipe warmer is the one that's getting kicked out of the house.

It's discovering that dog poop bags belong in every diaper bag. It's loading a SNOO into the back of your SUV because your family is going to Yellowstone and you're absolutely bringing the bassinet with you. It's realizing that the stroller everyone else loves isn't necessarily the stroller that's right for your family.

And maybe most importantly... it's learning that your baby doesn't need the mom with the perfect registry. They just need their mom.

If I could sit down with pregnant me one more time, I'd tell her to stop trying so hard to prepare for every possible version of motherhood before she'd even met her son. I'd tell her to stop believing every influencer with an Amazon storefront. I'd tell her to leave the tags on the expensive gadgets until she knew she'd actually use them. I'd tell her not to stress when breastfeeding didn't look the way she'd imagined because feeding your baby is what matters, not how you get there.

I'd tell her to trust herself a little more. To laugh a little more. To stop comparing. And I'd absolutely tell her to buy the dog poop bags. Trust me on that one.

If you're still wondering what to buy before baby arrives, here's the truth... You are going to buy something you never use. You are going to forget something you thought was essential. Your baby is going to surprise you. Probably more than once.

And six months from now, you'll be sitting across from another pregnant friend saying... "Oh my gosh... let me tell you what I actually used."

And you'll smile because you'll realize something. You figured it out. Not because you had the perfect registry. Not because you bought every trending baby product. But because, somewhere between the middle-of-the-night feedings, the emergency diaper runs, the NICU visits, the road trips, and the mountain of burp cloths... you became exactly the mom your baby needed.

And if you're still wondering whether you need five diaper stations... start with one. Amazon Prime will still be there tomorrow. ❤️

And if six months from now you catch yourself telling another pregnant mom to pack dog poop bags... congratulations. You're officially one of us.

If you're building your registry right now: SNOO. UPPAbaby Vista. Hatch Rest (skip premium). Dr. Brown's Bottles. Stretchy Swaddles. Muslin Burp Cloths. Medela Sonata. Mommore Diaper Bag. GROWNSY Carrier. Diaper Genie + Scent-Be-Gone. Dog Poop Bags.

I'd wait before buying: five diaper stations, a wipe warmer, the Owlet, fancy bottle cleaning gadgets, every bottle brand, every postpartum product TikTok recommends, and a wearable pump — unless you already know you'll respond well to one.