There’s no shortage of innovative and must-have baby products on the market. But with so many items for new parents to pick from, creating a baby registry can be overwhelming.

While it can be tempting to add anything and everything that looks appealing to a registry, you likely won’t end up needing (or loving) every item you register for. On the flip side, you’re also bound to look back and wish you had registered for certain must-have baby products. Whether you’ve done your research, like using our baby registry checklist, or are starting to assemble your baby registry, here are 18 tried-and-true must-have baby products you’ll want to ensure are on it!

8 Basic Must-Have Baby Products for Your Registry

These essential must-have baby products are born of simple-yet-genius concepts:

1. A Classic Baby Seat: BabyBjörn Bouncer Balance Soft

It’s unrealistic to think you’ll always be able to hold baby. This is why finding a safe place for them to sit and relax is essential, and this bouncer from BabyBjörn is a favorite of ours and has been a family staple for decades! We love how this bouncer is lightweight, portable, and compact, and it grows with your baby. Just fold it up and take it wherever you need in the house or to grandma’s! The natural rocking motion is also super comforting to your baby. And they can use this bouncer until they’re 20 lbs or begin trying to sit up. At that point, just turn the fabric seat around, and they’ll be able to use it as a chair until they weigh 29 lbs. Boom!

2. A Simple Solution for Giving Medicine: Frida Baby MediFrida Accu-Dose Pacifier

Administering medicine to an infant isn’t always the most fun task, but it’s necessary from time to time. This paci-style medicine dispenser helps you give medicine seamlessly. It doubles as a regular pacifier and allows the medicine to bypass the taste buds, making the process as simple as it can be for you and your little babe.

3. An Easy Zip-Up Swaddle: Love to Dream Swaddle UP

While babies sleep often, it’s usually in short spurts. When you’re getting up to feed and change your baby multiple times in the middle of the night, or they wake themselves up due to the Moro reflex, having a good zipper swaddle makes life easier. You’re exhausted — the last thing you want to do is figure out how to swaddle them perfectly in a blanket that they keep breaking out of or wake them even more with loud Velcro. With this zipper swaddle, you can even zip from the bottom up for simple diaper changes. Parents (especially dads) rave about this one!

4. A Sound Machine: Hatch Rest+

This customizable sound machine allows you to select from 11 soothing sounds, endless nightlight color combinations, and unique time-to-sleep/time-to-rise programming. It even has a digital clock, so you’ll know the time without having to check your watch or phone as you rock your baby to sleep. The Hatch Rest also features an easy-to-use app, allowing you to control your kiddo’s settings from your phone. This is especially helpful for parents of light sleepers who can’t be bothered without waking. It’s a product you’ll be using for years!

5. A Humidifier: Carepod One Stainless Steel Humidifier

Having a humidifier is a must when you have a baby. Even if you don’t live somewhere that gets cold and dry, you’ll be glad to have one when your little one’s first cold strikes. The problem with humidifiers is you’ll quickly realize how annoying they are to clean and sanitize after each use. Well, not anymore! While the Carepod One has a hefty price tag, the quality is impeccable, it’s incredibly quiet, and it’s truly the easiest humidifier to clean ever. Parents love it! And you will, too.

6. An Easy Way To Mix and Refrigerate Formula: Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow Formula Mixing Pitcher

This dishwasher-safe pitcher allows you to mix up to four 8-ounce formula bottles simultaneously, ensuring fast access to your baby’s next meal with minimal clumping. Parents who exclusively formula feed love this product because you can prepare several bottles at a time and keep the pitcher in the fridge to fill a bottle when needed. It’s like making your own ready-to-feed formula! You might also want to add this product to your registry if you plan to pump, as it’s the perfect item for practicing the “pitcher method” before bagging your milk. The pitcher method is a technique for collecting and storing your expressed breast milk (usually from pumping) that’s collected throughout the day in a single container.^1,2

7. A Comfortable, Versatile Carrier: LÍLLÉbaby Complete All Seasons 6-in-1 Baby Carrier

A solid carrier is a must-have baby product for navigating the day-to-day. If you’re searching for one that will suit you and yours from the newborn stage well into toddlerhood, look no further than LÍLLÉbaby. With excellent lumbar support, mesh lining, and six carry positions, this is the only carrier you’ll ever need.

8. A Good Diaper Cream Spatula: Bumco Baby Bum Brush

After changing baby’s diaper, it’s common to apply some diaper cream or ointment on baby’s bum to help prevent or treat diaper rash. Normally, you have to use your hands to distribute and rub in the ointment. Instead, you can use this bum brush to apply diaper cream without getting your fingers and hands dirty. This is a parent favorite and a true must-have item for every registry!

8 Must-Have Splurges for Your Baby Registry

Family and friends will have different budgets and pricing preferences for gifts from your registry, so go ahead and add a few top-of-the-line items (even if you wouldn’t necessarily spoil yourself with them!):

1. A Space-Saving Travel System: Doona

Perfect for city dwellers, frequent travelers, or anyone wishing to add a dose of simplicity to everyday outings, the Doona is a one-of-a-kind car seat and stroller all in one. Being able to seamlessly transition from having baby in and out of the car makes this product a game changer. But remember, while this is an excellent option for infants up to 35 pounds, you’ll want to plan for a convertible car seat once your baby hits those metrics.

2. A Time-Saving Formula Dispenser: Baby Brezza Formula Pro Advanced With WiFi

Though an automatic formula dispenser isn’t necessary, it’s a wonderful luxury that can make your bottle-preparing days a breeze. We would know because we’ve used them with our babies! The Baby Brezza Formula Pro instantly mixes, heats, and dispenses formula in seconds, allowing you to stress less over fidgeting with the can (and all the other moving parts of mixing a bottle). You no longer have to try to remember how many scoops you just poured when you’re functioning off of limited sleep. You’re welcome. Basically, think of this as a Keurig for your baby’s formula bottle! It also has WiFi capabilities, so you can even make a warm bottle right from your phone. (see our review of the Baby Brezza Formula Pro and review of the Baby Brezza Formula Pro Mini)

3. A Less Restricting Breast Pump: Elvie Hands-Free Breast Pump

A wearable breast pump, like the Elvie, is a dream for pumping mamas. Traditional pumps are bulky and limiting; however, this is necessary for a good double electric pump. But the Elvie allows you to pump while tending to your baby, being on the go, or getting things done at home or work! If you plan on pumping a lot, this is the perfect secondary pump. Or, if you plan on occasionally pumping when necessary, this could be the right pump for you since you aren’t tethered to an outlet and can pump anywhere — even on the go!

4. A Breathable Crib Mattress: Naturepedic Organic Baby Crib Mattresses

The place your child will spend more of their life than any other place is their crib. Choosing a high-quality crib mattress is essential since they’ll be lying on and breathing in the materials. This is why we choose organic, specifically Naturepedic. You can rest assured that your baby will sleep soundly and safely with Naturepedic’s breathable and waterproof crib mattress. Many parents purchase this mattress for its peace of mind, but you’ll also love its washability, softness, and comfort.

5. A Baby Sleep Monitor: Owlet Dream Sock

Another product praised for the reassurance it gives while baby sleeps is the Dream Sock. It tracks sleep quality indicators (including heart rate, oxygen, movement, and wakings) and provides alerts when your little one’s patterns fall outside their normal range. Parents claim to get more sleep with the Owlet Smart Sock because they feel like they have a night nanny watching over their baby as they sleep. Whether you’re a worry-prone parent or want to track sleep data as precisely as possible, the Dream Sock is an invaluable tool for new parents.

6. A Lightweight Portable Crib: Guava Family Lotus Travel Crib and Play Yard

A lot changes when you have a baby in tow, including travel. This lightweight, folding travel crib boasts a simple set-up and can be carried like a backpack or luggage-style, making it a convenient option for taking on the go. We’ve tried many travel cribs, and this product’s ease of use, compact composition, and intuitive design make it a stand-out travel crib/pack ‘n play. Even more, it features a floor-resting mattress, eliminating the weight limit that most traditional travel cribs inherently have.

7. Less Cleaning for Parents: Momcozy KleanPal Pro Baby Bottle Washer

At some point, you’ll need to give your baby a bottle. If it’s only from time to time, washing the bottle and its part isn’t so bad. However, if you formula feed or exclusively breast pump, baby bottles are necessary for every feed, and washing all those bottles every day becomes quite a chore. Enter Momcozy’s baby bottle washer! This bad boy washes, sanitizes, and dries up to four bottles at a time for you. While it might not seem like much, this saves you time from doing a chore you probably don’t enjoy, allowing you to spend more time with your baby. It’s not mandatory, but it’s become a popular luxury!

8. The Smart Nursery Monitor: Nanit Pro Baby Monitor

Whenever your little one transitions into their nursery for naps and bedtime, it’s always nice to keep an eye (and ear) on them. Baby monitors have gotten a lot smarter over the years, and one that’s gotten tons of buzz (and praise) is this one from Nanit. Their Pro Baby Monitor lets you check on baby from anywhere with their 1080p HD video livestream. It also has a Breathing Motion Monitoring system that’s sensor-free. Plus, you can hear and speak to your baby with the two-way audio and view up to two cameras at once with the split screen. The quality of video and sound is impeccable! You’ll also receive sound and motion alerts, you can track the temperature and humidity in the room, and you can soothe your baby to sleep with a selection of nature sounds, white noise, and lullabies.

2 Unconventional (But Hugely Helpful) Baby Registry Items

Here are two more hugely beneficial registry items to consider requesting:

1. Gift Cards (Food, Spa, Stores, Etc.)

Many parents today are creating their registries on third-party platforms, like Babylist and MyRegistry. These baby registries allow you to put anything on your registry, including gift cards! (see our picks the best baby registry sites) Guests would love to give something not only for baby but for the parents, too. Think about gift cards from Uber Eats, spa services (like massage, nails, etc.) for when you can finally step away and take some “you time,” stores like Target, or any of your favorite restaurants. The list is endless! You’ll be so grateful for these and will certainly use them after the baby is born.

2. A Meal Train

Sure, a meal train might not be the first thing one thinks of when creating a baby registry. However, nothing compares to the gift of homemade, ready-to-serve (bonus points for hot) food delivered right to the front door of any new baby’s home. Plus, plenty of people genuinely want to help new parents in ways that are needed in the postpartum phase. Food preparation is definitely one of them.

With an abundance of high-quality, must-have baby products available for modern-day parents, new moms and dads are bound to have personal preferences for necessities. Still, we can all agree that anything intended to ease the transition into raising tiny humans is golden. The must-have products in our list are some of the most sought-after ones that seasoned parents wish had been on their registry. If you’re still building yours, hopefully, this list helps keep you from registry regret down the road.