Registering for baby is so much fun that it’s easy to get carried away. You read all the recommendations suggested and you think you need to put one of everything on your registry. In reality, your baby doesn’t need half of what’s suggested. Here is what you can skip.

1. Crib bumpers. While they looked really nice on our crib before Joey was born, we had to take them down as soon as he went into the crib. Because of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) it is recommended that babies don’t have anything in their crib for the first year. By the time they can have it, they will be climbing and could potentially use it to step on and climb over the crib. At least that is definitely what Joey would have done. Instead, invest in a mesh crib bumper. It is much cheaper and you can put it in the from the beginning. The mesh makes it breathable, yet it keeps your baby from being able to stick their hands through the slats.

2. You don’t need a swing AND a vibrating rocker. It gets to be a lot of clutter for things that basically do the same thing. Pick either or. We went with a vibrating rocker for a few reasons. One, it was easy to fold, pick up, and move from room to room. During the day, Joey hung out in the living room, we moved it to the kitchen while we ate, and it came upstairs with us at nighttime. Most of the swings we found didn’t seem that easy to move.

3. Don’t waste your money on shoes until your child is ready to begin walking. First, if your baby is anything like Joey was, we lost socks left and right because he was always kicking them off. I would have been so upset if I spent money on nice shoes and he lost one. Or both. They also say it’s best for kids to be barefoot while learning to walk, so until they are ready to walk around outside of your home, shoes are really not a necessity.

4. A wipe warmer. I never found our wipes to be cold. We stored the extra packages in the house in a warm spot (not in the garage or basement) so they were pretty much always room temperature. And if you feel they are a bit cold, just bunch them in the palm of your hand and make a fist around them for a few seconds. This will warm them up the old fashioned way. Joey never once complained about his wipes being too cold. I think to a point, the cold was soothing for him.

5. A diaper stacker. To be fair, we do have one, but the drawer works just as well! And now that Joey is a toddler, he goes right to the diaper stacker and easily pulls all the diapers out. So it’s better to keep them where they can’t reach anyway.

6. Some random items you don’t need are baby lotion (our doctor said not to put any lotion on a new baby’s skin), Orajel (I’ve heard nightmares about this being unsafe for baby so please do research before using), and baby Q-Tips (because of how they are designed for safety, it’s very hard to get them to clean anything. Instead, when I noticed ear wax, I would very gently remove it with my fingernail while I was breastfeeding so he was distracted).

So while you might be saying, “But this is what my shower is for!” think about it this way- if you don’t register for items that you really don’t need, then your guests will give you more gift cards or practical items such as diapers, wipes, and toiletries for baby. TRUST me, once you see how much a newborn pees and poops, instead of having an unused swing sitting around the house, you will much rather have a couple boxes of diapers in its place!