(This was supposed to be up last weekend only it was lovely weather out and we went to the park instead 😉 Apologies!)
Here are my favorite items for the nursery and a few of our favorite toys. And by “our” I mean the baby, obviously. Although I do love that spinner thing. Amazon is definitely my favorite for creating a baby registry – they have such a wide variety to choose from and it is really convenient for friends and family!
1.) Oversized Stuffed Glider – We have a glider similar to this one but I recommend getting an oversized stuffed one because you are going to be falling asleep in it often and the wooden ones are just not so comfortable for that. Ours is great for rocking Scarlette to sleep now but after babysitting some of my nieces and rocking in their oversized stuffed chairs, I’m pretty sure that they are the best for middle-of-the-night infant feedings.
2.) Munchkin Arm and Hammer Nursery Fresheners – I really like these. I keep one in the top of our diaper pail, one in the basket on the dresser and toss one in my diaper bag. I have the lavender scent and my diaper bag always smells fresh so I think they work well.
3.) Halo Sleepsacks – Everyone will tell you to get them and they really are the best. It was a really long time before I was comfortable letting Scarlette have a blanket, due to my being all neurotic, but I didn’t want her to be cold! These were great for that. I used the fleece ones in the winter. We did not use the swaddle one for bedtime, only because I had to use it to bind her pretty tightly in order to keep her still while I put her feeding tube down and so she had terrible associations with swaddling, I think. She liked to have her arms free at night. But if you do swaddle, the swaddling ones work wonderfully.
4.) Crane Elephant Cool Mist Humidifier – This was a hand-me-down and it is fantastic. Register for one of these because you do NOT want to not have one when you wake up in the middle of the night and discover that your sick baby really, really needs one. Trust me on this.
5.) Safety 1st Furniture Wall Straps – Secure your dresser/bookcases/other furniture to the wall so they don’t tip over. This isn’t just me being neurotic, visit Meghan’s Hope and learn why it’s super important.
6.) Light Switch Dimmer – We switched out our light switch for one that is a dimmer and it is one of the best moves we made. A night light didn’t give me quite enough light to see by for middle-of-the-night feedings. And now I use it at bedtime, we dim the lights for getting into pjs/storytime before lights out and it’s a nice transition. And if I need to go in in the middle of the night, I don’t have to worry about the light waking her up.
7.) Munchkin Contour Foam Changing Pad + Carter’s Super Soft Dot Changing Pad Covers– We screwed this one into the back of her dresser and used it on top. It worked great and never moved around. I had two covers and loved these because of how soft they were. You could totally get away with just one though.
8.) Summer Infant Baby Touch Digital Color Video Monitor – This was one of my spendier purchases but well worth it. I can move the camera remotely to see her entire room, which is great now that she is older because I can let her play in there while I make dinner and still keep an eye on her. I reviewed it in full here.
9.) Baby Signing Time DVDS – I loved these. I know these are a personal preference but I thought that being able to use signs really did help Scarlette communicate better with me to lessen her frustration. It was a must have for us because of our speech therapy but I think they’d be helpful for anyone. You can read my full review of our experience using these here.
10.) Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Fun with Friends Musical Table – Scarlette still plays with this often. I like it because you can use it as a floor toy when they are little and then add the legs as they learn to stand and hold. Scarlette “cruised” this to get from activity to activity for a long time. We were sent a similar toy from another brand to review and we took it to the grandparents house because we liked the features on this one the best and Scarlette seemed a lot more into it.
11.) Sassy Developmental Wonder Wheel Suction Toy – Trust me. This will entertain your kid while they are in the high chair or the bumbo seat and you won’t have to pick it up a bazillion times. I don’t know what it is about this one specifically but Scarlette didn’t give a hoot about the other ones we had. This is the only thing that would do the trick.
12.) Baby Einstein Neptune Ocean Adventure Gym – This has had great longevity. She loved it when she was doing tummy time or just on her back and once she could sit up and play with it she would entertain herself for a long time. I registered for it just because it had such good reviews and I have to join in and say it’s a fave in this house.
13.) Fisher-Price Rainforest Peek-A-Boo Leaves Musical Mobile – We borrowed this while Scarlette was still in the NICU. She was fascinated by it. I loved that it had a remote so that I could turn it back on without her seeing me if I needed too. You can set it to music and motion so that the leaves move and the dragonfly does peek-aboo or to just music with a night light. (Also, cute picture of her in the NICU using it here :))
Related: My top 10 favorite baby items, My favorite baby gear, My favorite baby feeding/nursing items, My favorite bath/potty/toiletry items
Coming tomorrow: What not to wear buy, baby edition 😉
*This post includes some affiliate links. Please click the affiliate button below to see my full disclosure! Thanks so much for reading and sharing! ♥
